What a Westmoreland Wants Read Free

he opened his mouth to speak. Then there were his looks, which made her understand perfectly why Jackie Barnes and quite a number of other women had gone bonkers over him. In addition to being tall, with a raw, masculine build, he had thick chestnut-brown hair that fell to his shoulders. Most days he wore it pulled back into a ponytail. He’d made today an exception and it cascaded around his shoulders.
    Gemma had once overheard him mention to her sister, Megan, that his full lips and dark hair came from his African-American mother and his green eyes and his square jaw from his father. She’d also heard him say that his parents had met on an airplane. His mother had been a flight attendant on his father’s flight from the United States back to Australia. He’d told Megan it had beenlove at first sight, which made her wonder if he believed in such nonsense. She knew there was no such thing.
    “So what do you think of Dillon and Pamela’s news?”
    Callum’s question cut into her thoughts and she glanced up to meet his green eyes. She swallowed. Was there a hint of blue in their depths. And then there was his dimpled smile that took her breath away.
    “I think it’s wonderful,” she said, suddenly feeling the need to take a sip of cold water. “There haven’t been babies in our family in a long time. With Chloe expecting and now Pamela, that’s two babies to spoil and I can’t wait.”
    “You like children?”
    She chuckled. “Yes, unfortunately, I’m one of those people who take to the precious darlings a little too much. That’s why my friends call on me more often than not to babysit for them.”
    “You could always marry and have your own.”
    She made a face. “Thanks, but no thanks. At least no time soon, if ever. I’m sure you’ve heard the family joke about me never wanting to get serious about a man. Well, it’s not a joke—it’s the truth.”
    “Because of what you witnessed with your brothers while growing up?” So he had heard. Any one of her brothers could have mentioned it, especially because she denounced their behavior every chance she got. “I guess you can say I saw and heard too much. My brothers and cousins had a reputation for fast cars and fast women. They thought nothing about breaking hearts. Ramsey usually had a steady girl, but Zane and Derringer were two of theworst when it came to playing women. As far as I’m concerned, they still are.” Unfortunately, she’d overheard one of Zane’s phone calls that very morning when she had stopped by to borrow some milk.
    “I can clearly recall the times when Megan and I, and sometimes even Bailey, who was still young enough to be playing with her dolls, would be the ones to get the phone calls from love-stricken girls in tears after being mercilessly dumped by one of my brothers or cousins.”
    And they were females determined to share their teary-eyed, heart-wrenching stories with anyone willing to listen. Megan and Bailey would get them off the phone really quickly, but Gemma had been the bleeding heart. She would ease into a chair and take the time to listen to their sob stories, absorbing every heartbreaking detail like a sponge. Even to the point at which she would end up crying a river of tears right along with them.
    She’d decided by the time she had begun dating that no man alive would make her one of those weeping women. And then there was this inner fear she’d shared with no one, the fear of falling in love and having the person abandon her one day…the way she felt whenever she thought about her parents. She knew she had no logical reason for feeling abandoned by them because she was certain if they’d had a choice they would have survived that plane crash. But still, as illogical as it might be, the fear was there for her and it was real. She was convinced there was no man worth a single Gemma Westmoreland tear or her fears, and intended to make sure she never shed one by never giving her heart to anyone. She