Laura Peters and Tane Carlson were to be married years ago. They had run into each other at work (Tane being the boss and Laura being in the typing pool) and Tane had pursued her wholeheartedly, taking it slow and proposing as soon as he found out she was a virgin. Things were great until a chance conversation about children led to Tane proclaiming that he never wanted any and Laura running away in tears. Now 4 years later Tane has tracked Laura down to a bookstore she runs and bought out her lease. He wants her back and has been searching for her ever since she left. But Tane has a temper and Laura has a child she needs to consider now – and keep hidden since he's actually Tane's. She married David a friend from the group home she grew up in when she learned she was pregnant but he knew she loved Tane. Now widowed dare she hope Tane has changed his mind and could love her and Jamie?
I don't know how considering that Tane practically kidnaps, threatens and blackmails her into spending any time with him, but she does. Tane's a pretty mixed bag himself – on the one hand there are great qualities shown in the way he bonds with Jamie before even realizing that's his son is great, as is the way he originally apologized for not being a virgin while being so pleased that she was when he first proposed and the way he finally offers Laura her freedom near the end of the book, but that's all counterbalanced with scenes like Tane telling Laura how she ruined him for other women so that for the last 4 years he's only been able to use women for sex and that “none of them liked being treated as whores, and it made me hate and despise myself as well as them”...overall it's the negatives that stick with me making me reluctant to ever pick up the book even knowing that I like the ending...
