The Stud Read Free Page B

was determined to get it all out. "Adoption is terrific for people who can't have children of their own, but I can. I'm perfectly healthy. I've been seeing a doctor who says I shouldn't have trouble conceiving. "
    "Is he volunteering to help you?"
    "Yes, " she said, thinking in medical terms until Spencer's faint leer stopped her short. "Not in that sense. He's willing to help me with artificial insemination, which, as I see it, is a viable solution to the problem. "
    "Artificial insemination?"
    "You know, where—"
    "I know what it is. I just can't believe you want to go in for it In fact, I can't believe you have this problem at all. There must be scads of men out there who'd marry you in a minute. "
    "Yes, " she acknowledged, holding her chin firm.
    "But?"
    "I said it before. To marry just to have a baby is absurd. I'd marry for love, but since love hasn't bit me in the face—"
    "Don't you date?"
    "Some. "
    "And you've never felt compatible enough with any of those guys to talk about having a child together?"
    "None of them fitted the bill for what I want in the father of my child. "
    "Are we talking stellar genes here?"
    "Stellar?" She averted her eyes from his. "I suppose. I'd be a fool not to be talking that. What woman wouldn't want the father of her child to be brilliant and handsome and healthy and tall and athletic—"
    "I get the point, " Spencer cut in dryly.
    "Mmm. " She took a breath and regrouped. Looking over the sound, which was more soothing than meeting Spencer's probing eyes, she said, "I want the best for my baby. Kids nowadays have enough to face without having to worry about inborn deficiencies. I've looked into using a sperm bank. "
    "A sperm bank. "
    She kept her gaze on the water. "In theory, I could find a donor with all or most of the traits I want for my child. "
    "A sperm bank, " Spencer repeated in a drone that brought her head around.
    "I know you think the idea is ludicrous. Caroline said you might, but the fact is that it's done all the time. There's an increasing number of women in my position, wanting babies but for one reason or another not having a father for the child. That's one of the purposes of sperm banks. That's why artificial insemination has evolved into a science from an art. "
    He looked as though he wanted to laugh but was controlling the urge. "Artificial insemination is fine. So are sperm banks, but I still can't imagine why you'd want to use either. Come to think of it, I can't imagine why you weren't married years ago. You're pretty and smart and rich. "
    "Right, " she drawled, "I'm rich, which means that some men would marry me just for that. I've had men tell me they loved me, when what they really meant was that they loved what I owned. "
    "They don't all mean that. Some of them must be sincere. You're a nice person, Jenna. You're easy on the eyes and on the mind. If I stayed put long enough, I could fall in love with you myself. "
    She took his comment lightly, as it had been offered. "But you won't stay put long enough, which is why you're just right. "
    His face went blank. For an instant, the only sounds were the water on the rocks, the bell buoy's jingle and the cry of a gull. Then he said, "Back up. You lost me. "
    Embarrassed that she had let the punch line slip before she should have, Jenna complained, "That's because you keep interrupting me. Will you let me take this step by step, Spencer? Let me say my thing?"
    "Okay. " He straightened. "Say your thing. " He seemed suddenly so much taller sitting beside her, that she felt foolish and insecure and presumptuous. She was sure Spencer wouldn't do what she wanted. He had his own life. If he wanted to father a child, he would have already found a way to do it He was resourceful.
    Resourcefulness. Another trait she admired. Another trait she would wish for in a child of hers.
    Taking courage from that thought, she went on. "I'm perfectly comfortable with the idea of artificial insemination. Some woman inseminate