A Baby Between Friends
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Kathie DeNosky
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What Are Best Friends For? More than anything, Summer Patterson wants a baby. What she doesn't want is a husband. Thankfully, her best friend, Ryder McClain, makes the perfect sperm donor. Ryder is loyal, undeniably sexy and the one man she trusts — the only reason she agrees to conceive their baby naturally. When baby-making nights with Summer blaze like the West Texas sun, Ryder feels the heat. He never expected Summer to say yes to sharing his bed. Now he's falling for her — and the prospect of fatherhood — while hiding a secret that could destroy her faith in him forever.
Epilogue
“I’m telling you, they’ll both be girls, Jaron Lambert,” Mariah insisted.
Jaron stubbornly shook his head. “And I’m telling you, they’re going to be boys.”
Ryder stood with his brothers, watching Mariah and Jaron debate the gender of the babies Summer and Bria were going to have. “Do you think it’s crossed their minds that we might have one of each?”
Sam shrugged as he took a swig of beer from the bottle in his hand. “I doubt it. I don’t think it matters to either one of them what sex the babies are. They just like to argue.”
“So who’s next?” T.J. asked, grinning like a fool.
“Next for what?” Nate asked, distracted. He had his eye on a willowy redhead across the dance floor, and Ryder was glad to see that his brother had finally gotten over that little nurse up in Waco and was moving on.
“The next to get married, genius,” T.J. shot back.
“My money is on you and that neighbor of yours, T.J.,” Lane said with a grin.
“I keep telling you, I’d rather go buck naked for eight seconds on a porcupine than to take up with the likes of her,” T.J. said, shaking his head. “She’s still letting that stud of hers jump the fence and get with my mares.”
Ryder blocked out his brother’s complaints about his neighbor and the horse she couldn’t seem to keep at home as he scanned the crowd, looking for his wife. When he spotted her in that gorgeous white wedding gown, he caught his breath. He doubted there would ever be a time that the sight of her didn’t have that effect on him.
“It might be you, Lane,” Ryder said, checking his watch. Another hour and it should be socially acceptable for him to take his bride and leave the wedding reception to start their honeymoon.
“Getting married isn’t part of my life plan,” Lane quipped. “The ranch I won last month in that poker game in Shreveport is as close to settling down as I intend to get.”
They all looked at Nate for a moment. His attention had already turned from the redhead to a curvy brunette.
“That’s a sucker bet if I ever saw one,” Lane said, laughing.
“While you all carry on about who the next will be to take dip in the marital pool with me and Sam, I’m going to dance with my wife,” Ryder announced, turning to walk across the dance floor.
When he approached Summer, her smile caused his body to tighten and he wished like hell they were already on that island in the Caribbean where they were spending their honeymoon. “Could I have this dance, darlin’?”
She placed her hand in the crook of his arm as she smiled up at him. “This one and all of the dances for the rest of my life.”
“That’s sounds like a good idea to me,” he murmured, taking her in his arms. When she rested her head against his chest, he kissed her forehead. “Are you happy, Summer?”
“I’ve never been happier, Ryder.” Leaning back to look up at him, the love shining in the depths of her eyes sent his hormones into overdrive. “You’ve given me every one of my dreams.”
“And you’ve given me every one of mine, darlin’.” He grinned. “All except for one.”
“Which one is that?” she asked, clearly intrigued.
“As beautiful as you look in your wedding gown, when you were walking down the aisle toward me, all I could do was stand there and daydream about the moment I get to take it off you,” he whispered close to her ear.
She shivered against him and he knew she was looking forward to starting their lives together as much as he was. “I’ve been dreaming about you doing that, too.” Smiling, she kissed him tenderly. “I love you, cowboy.”
“And I love you, darlin’.” Grinning, he took her by the hand and started toward the door. “Now, let’s go somewhere a little more private and I’ll see what I can do about making both of our dreams come true.”
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