Free HIGHLANDER: The Highlander’s Surrender Bride (Scottish Alpha Male Pregnancy Romance) by Serena Vale, Tencia Winters Page B

was a strange light of determination growing in his silver blue eyes, and it made it impossible to look away. A long moment of tension-filled silence held between them, wrapping around them. Finally, he spoke.
                  “I want to offer you a deal.”

Chapter 3
    Layla glanced nervously down at the crumpled slip of paper in her hands, re-reading the scrawled address written there for at least the hundredth time. She looked up at the bold, gold plated numbers on the gate in front of her. Yes, they did match, just as they had the last several times she checked.              
                  She couldn’t see much beyond the wrought iron gate except for a small path, the home itself obscured by trees, but she had grown up in Boston and Layla knew that this was one of the most exclusive, expensive areas in the city.
                  She also knew she was stalling. Trying to avoid the real reason she was still standing there, hesitating. Unbidden, the conversation with the stranger, who had turned out to be none other than Dominic Strokowki, replayed again through her thoughts. He had been brutally honest with her, but he had also offered her a way out. A way to put her crumbling life back together.
                  Dom had told her all about his parent’s heartbreaking death, and Layla could still remember the awful look in his eyes, desolate, alone. Exactly how she felt, still reeling from her own mother’s death. That moment had solidified a bond between them, and she could feel it even now.
                  As sad as it had been, hearing about his parent’s accident, even worse was what had followed. He had laid it all out starkly, not trying to seduce or sugar coat. His father had denied him everything, his fortune, the business, his entire inheritance, his very birthright, only to be released after he was married and had a child.
                  And for some completely unknown reason, he had decided that Layla was just the person he needed. And I need him, she thought to herself, even though she hated finding herself dependent on a stranger.  She had gotten yet another notice this morning. She had mere days to come up with over fifty thousand dollars or the bank would take her home. The home her single mother had raised her in, loved and cared for her in all of those years.
                  Doubts swirled through in a torrent. What he wanted from her…could she really give him that? Marry a man she barely knew, have a child with him? A wave of molten heat spread through her at the thought. He was devastatingly handsome, and exuded a raw sexuality that was impossible for her to resist. She wanted him that much she knew. Her body clenched in pleasure at the idea of feeling his big hard body pressed against hers, the contrast of his pale skin against her dark until they were both so entwined…
                  Mentally, she shook her head, trying to banish the images that were conjured at the thought. Her heart was racing, and she could feel the hot blush staining her cheeks a dark scarlet under their normal mocha hue. She pressed both hands to her face, trying to calm herself.
                  Layla had made her decision the night before, staring at an ever growing mountain of bills and threats from debt-collectors, she realized that she didn’t have much of a choice at all. She didn’t have anyone to turn to. The only other person she had in the world was gone, and she was left alone. Just like Dominic .
                  Taking a deep breath, she moved to press the call button next to the gate, but just as she was about to press down it opened, seemingly of its own accord. Startled, Layla glanced around, but didn’t see a camera or anything that would have alerted whoever was inside. Fortifying herself, she stepped onto the property, and headed down the short lane to the house