by Ivy Raine
Marta opened one eye. “Something with a cute nickname.”
Stash studied her belly. “Well, I think the name Eva’s pretty cute.”
“Eva?”
“Yeah. We can call her Evie. That’s cute, don’t you think?”
“It is,” she said. “But why Eva?” Marta’s feathers ruffled. “That’s not an old girlfriend’s name is it?”
“Yep. Well, actually,” he said, correcting himself, “it’s my first girlfriend’s middle name.”
Pushing herself up on her elbows, Marta took a swipe at Stash with her foot. “What was so special about her?”
“She was my first true love, of course.” He wrapped his legs around Marta’s flailing limbs. “Estelle Eva Steele.”
Marta became still. “Your mother? Why didn’t you tell me her middle name was Eva?”
Stash shrugged. “It just never came up.”
Feeling another tiny bump, Marta rubbed her side. “I like it - a lot.”
“What about yours?”
Pregnancy fog clouded Marta’s thinking. “My what?”
“Your mother’s middle name.” Stash raised a brow. “My God, woman! I hope you’re not passing that on to my child.”
Marta laughed. “Rose. My mother’s middle name is Rose.” She looked at Stash. “Eva Rose Steele. It’s beautiful!”
Stash’s gorgeous smile – the one that got her into trouble in the first place – made the day even brighter. “I know it’s a common theme for the caveman among us to declare we want a boy to continue the blood line, but I must be a more evolved mouth breather because I really want a girl.” He raised a finger. “Just don’t tell any of the guy friends that I don’t actually have. Got it?”
Marta stretched and kissed the tip of his nose. “Promise.”
Stash leaned in. “Seal it with a real kiss, beautiful, or it doesn’t mean a damn thing.”
Though she didn’t want to, Marta pulled away when the breathing got heavy. Stash was known to get a little brazen, open air or not. “And what if it’s a boy,” she said, extracting his hand from her swollen breast.
“Bradley, of course.”
“Um, won’t that be a dead giveaway that we know?”
“We think we know, beautiful. As far as he’s concerned, we don’t know a thing. We just happen to like the name.” Stash lay back with his hands laced behind his head. “And I do like the name more than he could possibly understand. Without him I’d probably be six feet under right now.”
Marta tried not to think about that scenario, but Stash was right. The waiting list for getting a kidney is extremely long and he was near the point of desperation. She choked up when she thought about everything Brad went through, with only Lindi in on the secret. Lindi. Loyal, trustworthy Lindi who was yet to say a word. But Marta knew. The pieces came together little by little: the coinciding ‘Disney vacation’, the additional time off from work, the mysterious new scar that Jennifer had inadvertently seen when Brad’s shirt rose up as he was removing his apron. Yep. He was one of a kind and she was the little black and white puppy – he loved her enough to let her go.
“I say,” Stash said with a yawn, “that we name our first-born Eva, the second one Bradley, the third one Lindi, the fourth one –,”
“Whoa! How many of these are you planning on?”
“Five, of course. I want my little executives to fill my boardroom table.”
Marta looked down at her chest, already swollen double in size, and wondered just how many times her skin could expand before it refused to go back. “Why don’t we get this one here, first, and then we’ll talk.”
“Maybe the next one will be twins,” said Stash, ignoring Marta’s quick elbow jab. He rolled onto his side and propped his head up with his hand. “You know what I want?”
His eyes devoured her and she could almost reach out and grab the energy between them. At that moment, she felt closer to him than ever. As she looked into his eyes, Marta felt a twinge of fear – the same fear that crept into her mind late at night. Though she tried to remind herself that Stash was well now, the thought of losing him was wedged firmly in the back of her head.
Stash closed his eyes and shook his head. “Stop getting distracted,” he said to himself. “You’re a married man, now. A day or two without sex won’t kill you.” He took a deep breath and refocused. “I just want you to be happy, Marta Steele. I want you to have a lifetime of days like this. No more tears. No more anger. No more being afraid of life. I plan on being around until our kids have gray hair, so get that thought through your lovely, little head. Got it?”
A tear crept to the corner of Marta’s eye and slid down her cheek and into her ear. “How did you know?”
Stash laughed. “When I can’t even get a good argument out of you, I know you’re holding back for a reason. I want my woman to spit fire if the need arises, whether I deserve it or not.”
Marta clutched at his arm and pulled him close. “Promise me,” she whispered, swallowing hard to keep the tears in check. “Promise me you’ll be around when number five gets married.”
Stash gathered her up in his arms. “I promise, beautiful. As a matter of fact, I promise to be around when we’re so old we forget we have five. I promise you I’ll help you blow out the candles on your birthday cake when your hair shimmers with silver and your lovely melons droop to your knees.”
Marta nearly choked on her own spit. “So that’s what happens after five!” she said, laughing.
“Actually,” Stash confessed, “I’ve heard that happens after one. Not that I’ve ever actually witnessed it first hand,” he said, deflecting the words forming on Marta’s lips, “so maybe it’s just an urban legend. After all, melons are melons whether it’s a watermelon or a cantaloupe. Right?” He rubbed his index finger into the furrow between her brows. “Besides, I prefer watermelon.”
“And you won’t crave cantaloupe after a year or two?” Marta knew Stash and his father were different men, but she still wondered if he’d inherited the cheating gene. That thought, however, was banished forever when his eyes locked with hers in a gaze more intense than she’d ever experienced.
“Never, beautiful.” The words, though simple and ordinary, took on a life of their own. “Not so long as I have one breath left in me. You’ll never have to worry about that – ever.” He put his sweaty forehead against hers. “You’re real. You’re perfection…and you’re mine. Forever.”
Marta closed her eyes and burned the moment into her soul so when the bad days come – and they always do – she’d have this memory to lean on and pull her through. Never did she imagine that she could love someone as much as she loved Stash and their baby, and she prayed that life would be kind to them and allow him to fulfill his promise to her. She reached up and stroked the perpetual stubble on his perfectly formed chin.
“Forever,” she whispered. “I promise.”
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Ivy’s Other Books
Mixed Signals
Knot Again – Part 2 of the Mixed Signals series
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http://www.ivyraine.bravejournal.com/
Ivy’s going to be busy over the next six months! With the sequel to ‘Love of Steele’ already in the works and the third installment of the Mixed Signals saga well under way - along with a few other little projects - Ivy doesn’t expect to see the light of day. Knot Again, due out in 2015, is the third installment of the Mixed Signals series. We’ll go along with the whole crew, dashed to the shores of a deserted island somewhere in the Pacific. With Susan six months pregnant, the captain eternally drunk, and Molly stowed away, the fun’s only just beginning. Throw in a cute cabin girl who has her sights set on Ryan, a crazy dog who bites everyone but Rachel, a purple rash that seems to be contagious, and a few pre-term labor pains, and you’ve created the perfect storm of chaos.
Will they be rescued before someone loses an eye? Find out in 2015!
Ivy Raine loves writing, cappuccinos, and anything soft and fluffy. When she’s not writing, Ivy can be found doing one of two things: communing with nature or examining the backs of her eyelids – both extremely satisfying ways to spend a few hours of each day. Feel free to drop Ivy a line. She’s always happy to hear from her fans! [email protected]