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spend the rest of her life with, nor was he the kind of father Louisa would need. Better no father than a wild hellion womanizer, who'd never be able to settle down and be a faithful husband and devoted parent.
    Jake pulled out his credit card, handed it to the salesclerk at the florist shop in the Marshallton Mall and waited for her to ring up his order. He knew that if he were going to persuade Donna to marry him, he'd have to woo her first. He hadn't ever really thought about marriage. Not seriously. He'd figured that he was meant to die an old bachelor. But having a child changed all that. His own father had been a worthless bum and his grandfather had been a stern, cold care-giver. He wanted better for his daughter. Sugar Baby deserved a devoted, full-time father. A man who'd be around when she needed him. And the only way he could give his baby girl what she needed most from him was by marrying her mother.
    He didn't kid himself about the chances for a happy marriage. Donna wasn't in love with him and he wasn't in love with her. But the sex they'd shared had been damn good, some of the best he'd ever had. And marriages had succeeded on far less. He was past the age to expect both passion and love in a relationship. He'd be more than happy to settle for passion—and possession of his child and the woman who'd given birth to her.
    "We'll deliver those to your wife's suite this evening, Mr. Bishop," the blond salesclerk said. "She's going to love two dozen pink roses."
    "I hope she does."
    "She will." The young woman smiled flirtatiously at Jake. "Congratulations on becoming a father. I take it, from your ordering pink roses, that it was a girl."
    Jake grinned broadly. "Yep. Nine pounds, five ounces. And she looks just like me."
    "Lucky little girl. She must be beautiful."
    "Ah, shucks, ma'am, you'll make me blush," Jake said. "By the way, do you happen to know where the nearest toy store is?"
    "Toyland is on the second level here at the mall. Just take the escalator and it's the third store on the outside right."
    "Thanks." Jake signed the sales slip, pocketed his credit card and tipped his Stetson to the smiling clerk.
    Within half an hour, Jake had chosen the items he wanted, paid for them and headed back to the hospital. When he arrived outside Donna's suite, a giant pink teddy bear under one arm and two big baby dolls under the other, he met his brothers.
    "Well, well, what have we here?" Caleb asked. "Looks like the proud new papa has been on a shopping spree."
    "Where's your women folk?" Jake asked. "And Tallie and Peyt?"
    "Peyton had an emergency at the capital, so he had to rush back to Nashville," Hank said. "Tallie went with him. She said to tell you and Donna that she'd be back for the christening or the wedding, whichever comes first."
    "Sheila and Susan are in there with Donna," Caleb said. "They're admiring the roses you sent. I think they're trying to persuade the mother of your child that you aren't such a bad guy."
    A plump, middle-aged nurse's aide rolled a cart past the Bishop brothers, paused outside the door to the Magnolia Suite and sized up the three men. "Which one of you is the daddy?"
    "Me," Jake replied.
    "Well, come on in and join your wife for a steak dinner, compliments of the Marshallton Women's Center." She opened the door and rolled the cart inside, all the while whistling to herself.
    "A steak dinner, huh?" Jake followed the aide into the suite.
    He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Donna sitting propped up against several pillows. She'd brushed her hair and pinned it to the top of her head. Wispy strands curled about her face, to which she had applied a light coating of makeup. Lipstick and blush in some bright shade of pink colored her lips and cheeks. And she wore a hot pink satin bed jacket.
    She was the prettiest thing he'd ever seen. An auburn-haired angel with a body that would tempt the devil. She was still a little swollen and her face was still round from the pregnancy, but