Sarah's Child by Linda Howard

whose names I cant even remember. We know each other; we know what to expect. And were friends; we can talk to each other about the office, about a hundred things that we have in common. Wed have a partnership that a lot of people would envy.
    He had it all worked out, all the logical reasons why a marriage between them would work. Their home would be an extension of the office, with sex as the icing on the cake. She could just see them, tidily putting folders into their respective briefcases, then falling on each other with feral desire, office decorum shattered under the fierce need to blend their bodies together in the ancient ritual that ensured the survival of the species.
    Abruptly his hands tightened on her, and she could feel him tensing against her body. Before you make up your mind, theres something you should know. A harsh note, barely revealed, told her how much he didnt want to say what he was thinking, but in a negotiation, the negatives were always weighed, as well as the positives, and he was treating this like a business merger.
    I dont want children, he said harshly. Ever. After losing Justin and Shane, I cant bear being around children. If you want children, then Ill back off now, because I cant give them to you. Pain twisted his features; then he controlled himself, and an expression of bleak resignation settled in place. I just cant get over His voice trailed off, and she felt his shoulders draw up, as if bracing themselves under a burden that showed no signs of lifting.
    Sarah swallowed, wondering how many marriage proposals were followed by a bluntly honest statement from the prospective groom on why the woman shouldnt marry him. How many women would want to marry a man who offered companionship instead of love, a man who didnt want a family, a man who would be gone on frequent trips? And she remembered what hed said the night hed packed up all the boys thingsthat he hadnt been able to sleep in the same bed with a woman since Dianes death. She wouldnt even be able to share the nights with him! A woman would have to be crazy to accept such a proposal, Sarah thought. Crazy in love.
    She stepped back from him and looked at his hard dark face, the face that had lived in her dreams for years. She thought only briefly of her dream of raising a houseful of children, his children, then gently told her dream goodbye. Those children lived, after all, only in her dreams, while Rome was very real, and if she turned him down now, heaven might slip forever out of her grasp. So he didnt love her; he cared for her, respected her, enough to want to make their relationship legal. Miracles did sometimes happen, and as long as they lived, there was always the chance that he would grow to love her. But even if he never offered her his heart, he was offering her all that he could. She might turn him down, out of pride, but pride wouldnt replace the living warmth of the man. Pride wouldnt make love to her with the swift hard passion hed shown her the night before. With a womans intuitive wisdom, she knew that, so long as he desired her so strongly, she had a chance of warming his wintry heart again.
    Yes, she said calmly. Now what?
    Her brief matter-of-fact acceptance didnt shift him off balancehis only reaction was a deep intake of breath that swelled his chestthen he pulled her against him again. What Id like to do is strip you naked and take you on the nearest flat surface I can find
    Sarah interrupted, groaning. The floor again, she protested teasingly.
    Or the table. Or the cabinet top. The powerful reaction of his body told her that, while his words were teasing, his body was serious. Sarah held her breath, wondering if her already stiff muscles could survive an amorous encounter on the hard tile of the kitchen floor. Clasped against him as she was, she couldnt see his face, or shed have cried out at the passion etched on his features.
    Rome held her tightly to him, wanting to absorb her into his flesh. The relief that