In His Brother's Place Read Free

want his
son to have all the advantages money can buy—a home to be proud of, a quality
education, social and cultural opportunities—advantages you can’t afford to give
him.”
    She pulled her son closer. “I can give him love. And when my
business picks up I’ll be able to give him other things, too. If you think I’d
accept one cent of your money—”
    “Money isn’t what I had in mind, Angie.”
    Her eyes flashed in unmistakable horror. Did she think he was
plotting to take the boy away from her? Picking up on his mother’s distress,
Lucas whimpered.
    “Hear me out,” Jordan said. “I’m inviting you and Lucas— both of you—to come and live at the ranch. There’s
plenty of room in the house. You could have as much privacy and independence as
you need. You could even continue with your web design business, if you choose
to. As for Lucas—”
    “Stop right there! It’s out of the question.” Angie had gone
rigid. Lucas squirmed in her arms, looking as if he were about to cry.
    “I said, hear me out. When I’m finished you can make up your
mind.”
    With a sigh she boosted Lucas off her lap. “Go back in your
room and play,” she said. “If you’re good, we’ll make popcorn and watch cartoons
tonight.”
    As the boy scampered away, she turned back to face Jordan.
“What were you thinking when you came up with this idea?” she demanded. “Your
mother would barely speak to me when Justin was alive. Having me in the house
now, even with Lucas, would be miserable for her—and for us.”
    Jordan shook his head. “Two years ago, after my father died, my
mother moved to a retirement condo in town. She says she’ll never go back to the
ranch. Too many memories.”
    “So you’re there alone?”
    Jordan wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was. The
two of them alone together in the house at night with Lucas asleep.... He
squelched the idea before his imagination could seize on it and run off to
forbidden places. He had every reason to despise this woman. But that didn’t
mean he wouldn’t relish having her in his bed. Not that that would ever happen.
She hated him for that single, amazing, train wreck of a kiss just as much as he
hated himself.
    “The ranch is never lonely,” he said. “You’d be there with the
housekeeping staff and the stock hands, and of course, you’d have a car. You’d
be free to come and go as you like.”
    She glanced down at her hands. In the awkward silence, he read
her unspoken question.
    “You wouldn’t see that much of me,” he volunteered. “I spend
three or four days a week at my office in town. And I do a lot of traveling.
Even when I’m home, I don’t wander around looking for company.”
    The only sign she’d heard him was the rise of color in her
cheeks. He knew what she must be thinking. Hell, he’d been thinking the same
thing from the moment he saw her.
    He took a slow breath. “Let me make this clear. If it’s me
you’re worried about, know that I won’t lay an improper hand on you or do
anything to make you feel uncomfortable. All I want is what’s best for my
brother’s son.”
    Her head came up. “If you want what’s best for him, you’ll go
away and leave us alone.”
    Jordan squelched the impulse to reach out and seize her
shoulders. “Blast it, woman, look around you. In this neighborhood, your boy
can’t even go outside to play. Think of the life he could have on the ranch—open
spaces, animals, caring people to look after him—”
    “No!” She flung the word at him. “I’m not going to sit here and
let you tell me that I’m not capable of raising my son on my own, with my own
resources. This apartment may not be the lap of luxury, but we’re doing just
fine here without the help of you or anyone else. Listen to me, Jordan. My
parents were migrant farm laborers. They worked in the fields from sunup to dark
so their children could have a better life. Sometimes we slept on the ground.
Sometimes we barely had