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... listened to her, and looked at her, and felt the old, hated stirrings of lust.
To hell with that. He'd marry her because he had to. Because it was logical-but he should have kept quiet until he'd worked out the details. Then, maybe, she wouldn't be looking at him as if he'd lost his sanity.
"Excuse me?" she said, after what seemed like an eternity slipped by. "I thought-I thought you said..." Her voice faded away. His first inclination was to fill the silence by telling her she'd misunderstood. He could still back away from a plan that made his gut churn. No. There was too much at stake. He had an obligation to his brother's child and he'd fulfill it. So he composed his features and spoke as calmly as if he were laying out a new plan for one of his managers.
"I said that you're going to marry me."
She stared at him while the seconds dragged on. He'd wondered what her reaction would be, wondered what effect his words would have on her. What he hadn't figured was that she'd laugh.
"Marry you?" she said, gasping for breath. "You're asking me to..."
"Yes," he snapped, and she laughed harder. It enraged him. She'd have leaped at his proposal nine years ago. It would have been a commitment of love for him. For her, it would have been a ticket out of the trailer park.
What a fool he'd been, not to have seen through her.
"I'm not asking you," he said coldly. "I'm telling you. You're going to be my wife."
"Cole." Faith shook her head. "I know it's an old custom in some places, that a man is obligated to take care of his brother's wife by marrying her, but-"
"I don't give a damn for old customs and I sure as hell don't feel any obligation to you." He folded his arms over his chest. "My responsibility is to Ted. You're not fit to raise his son alone."
"Not fit to raise... What are you, a one man morality committee? You walked out of-of your brother's life. Let's not pretend you've suddenly turned into a paragon of virtue."
He jabbed his hands into his pockets, curled them into fists, told himself it would only make things worse to grab her and shake her.
"You were the reason for the trouble between Ted and me, you and your determination to snare a Cameron any way you could."
"And what woman wouldn't want that prize," she said sarcastically.
"Ted's gone. All that's left of him is his son. And, for Peter, all that's left of his father is me."
"Blood is thicker than water, right?" Faith folded her arms. "If it is, how come you didn't speak to Ted for years?"
"I was wrong. I admit it, I made a mistake-and I'm not going to make another. I'm going to see it that the boy s raised the way Ted would have wanted." He took a breath, then let it out. "If you think this through, you'll see that this is the right thing for Peter."
Her eyes narrowed. "And I'm sure you'll see why I'm telling you to take your feelings of guilt and stuff them. In other words, go to hell. I'd sooner marry the devil than marry you."
Faith stalked into the living room, plucked a throw pillow from the couch and punched it into shape. It was either that or punch him in the face. How could he stand there and tell her such a thing? Marry me, he said, as if he were king of the world and she were some pathetic peasant...
...And how could her heart have given the tiniest lurch, as if the years had rolled back and the man she'd once loved really was asking her to share his life?
His hand closed on her shoulder. "You're making this difficult."
"Am I?" She could feel her throat constricting. "Ah. I see. You thought I'd hear your little speech and tumble into a graceful heap, romantic that I am."
"I never took you for a stupid woman, Faith, but you sure as hell are being stupid now."
"Such is life. Console yourself with the thought that I'll look back someday and kick myself for turning down this magnificent offer."
"Let me spell it out for you, okay? You're broke. Your rosy future depends on fast-talking me into letting you stay on in this house-or convincing me to give you money so you can make that supposed new start. What are you planning? A crummy furnished room in Atlanta? A job flipping hamburgers? That's some hell of a life you've worked out for Peter, isn't it?"
It was a frighteningly accurate description of what she feared lay ahead but she'd never admit that to him.
"You've been watching too many old movies," she said Coolly.
"Think about Peter. You claim to love him-" "You-you son of a bitch!" Faith turned around and jabbed her finger into Cole's chest. "Don't you dare even suggest I don't love my-child. He's everything to me."
"If that's true," Cole said softly, "then let me raise him as my son."
