B008DKAYYQ EBOK

by Joyce Lamb

  She grinned at her brother. “I hope the Tooth Fairy is prepared to pay such a hefty price.”

  “We’ve had a conversation,” James replied.

  “Dad says he had to negotiate,” Austin said. “Isn’t that cool?”

  Bailey laughed. “That is cool. Your dad’s looking out for you.”

  James dropped a hand onto Austin’s shoulder. “Come on, kiddo, we need to go if we’re going to be on time for the previews.”

  As they made their way back down the steps, she heard Austin shout, “Here comes Cole!”

  Austin and the two men exchanged greetings on the stairs, Austin showing Cole his missing tooth, before Cole walked into her apartment and shrugged off his jacket. He grabbed her against him and planted a wet one on her lips, rubbing his cold nose over her cheek.

  “Your nose is freezing!” she protested, laughing.

  “Yeah, but it’s not wet.”

  “Does that mean I have to take you to the vet?”

  “As long as you don’t get me neutered.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, nipping his chin.

  “Hey, did you just bite me?”

  “Uh huh, what’re you going to do about it?”

  “How about blindfold you?”

  She laughed. “We’ve been together for nine months, and I had no idea you’re kinky.”

  He pulled a red bandanna out of his back pocket and snapped it out of its folded shape.

  She drew back to look at him with an arched brow. “For real?”

  He grinned. “Trust me?”

  “With my life.”

  “All right then. Turn around and let me put this on you.”

  As he secured the handkerchief over her eyes, she said, “Will this take long? The lasagna and garlic bread are almost ready to come out of the oven.”

  “And here I thought that heavenly scent was you.”

  “Nope. I left off the eau du garlic tonight.”

  He pressed his mouth to the curve of her neck. “Mmm. You smell fantastic anyway.”

  His warm breath and lips against her skin, his low voice near her ear, made her pulse stumble, then sprint. She laughed, a little breathless. “Geez, Cole, I had no idea a blindfold could be such a turn-on.”

  “It all depends on who’s doing the blindfolding.” He led her to the chair by the sofa. “Okay, sit.” When she was seated, she sensed his pause. “Who’s the present for?” he asked.

  “You.”

  “Really?” he said, a pleased smile in his voice. “What’s the occasion?”

  “Hello? It’s Christmas.”

  “Not for a few days.”

  “You’re getting one of my presents early.”

  “Hmm. A surprise.”

  “Yes. It seemed you were working on delivering one yourself just a moment ago.”

  “Oh, yeah.” He chuckled. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Just trust me. Don’t move.”

  She heard him go to the front door, open it and close it. Alone, she settled into the chair, her stomach fluttery. In a way, she was eager for him to get whatever he was up to over with so they could move on to what she was up to. Her palms went damp as she thought about it, and she folded her hands in her lap. Patience.

  Cole returned and set something on the coffee table in front of her.

  “Can I open my eyes?”

  “Not yet. Is there an outlet somewhere?”

  She angled her head to the right. “Behind the side table.”

  “Ah, I see it.”

  The air shifted, and she sensed he’d just gotten on his hands and knees to plug something into the outlet.

  “Cole?”

  “Just hang on. I’m almost ready.”

  A plastic bag rustled, and then she heard the sound of tape being stripped off a roll.

  “Are you wrapping my present now, right in front of me?”

  “Sort of. And it’s not really in front of you if you can’t see it.”

  She sighed. “Do you always leave things until the last minute?”

  “I’m a reporter, aren’t I? I consider deadlines merely suggestions.” He tore off another strip of tape. “Done. You can remove the blindfold.”

  Smiling, she lifted the bandanna. Sitting before her on the coffee table was a MacBook Pro with a big red bow taped to the top. She gasped. “Oh my God. You got me a new Mac?”

  “Not quite.”

  She glanced up at him. “I don’t get it.”

  “Turn it on.”

  She reached forward to press the power button just as he produced an external hard drive from his back pocket and plugged it into the computer.

  Bailey froze, eyeing the hard drive and wondering why on earth he’d gotten her an external hard drive, too. And then it hit her. She met his eyes, almost afraid to ask.

  “Is that mine?”

  He grinned. “Yep.”

  “Like, mine mine? From before?”

  “Yep.”

  Her heart fluttered and clenched. “Oh, God. Really?”

  “Let’s look.”

  He sat next to her and used the track pad to move the arrow to the external hard drive icon where he double clicked. Multiple folders popped up, organized by date.

  “James graduates from high school.”

  “Dad leaves for Italy.”

  “A.J. gets a tattoo.”

  “Austin turns two.”

  Choking up, Bailey covered her mouth with her hand and glanced up at Cole, who was watching her, beaming.

  “Where … how …” She trailed off, unable to speak.

  “Kathleen called the day before yesterday. She came across them among the tons and tons of evidence the feds had collected, some of it from Dixon Ramsey’s apartment.”

  “I didn’t think I’d ever see this stuff again.” She scanned the folders, wanting to make sure they were all there, that nothing got erased by accident. That was when she spotted the one that didn’t belong.

  Cole asks Bailey to marry him.

  She reached out and grasped Cole’s forearm. “Wait, what? Oh my God.”

  Cole grinned as he pulled a camera out of one pocket and pointed it at her. “Smile.”

  She laughed, and he snapped the shot.

  He handed her the camera. “Now you do me.”

  Still laughing, tears welling in her eyes, she looked at the screen to frame the photo. He gave her a goofy grin, and she pressed the button.

  Then he plucked the camera from her hands, bounded over the coffee table and set the camera on a book shelf, taking the time to set the shot. He scrolled through the menu to the timer then pushed the trigger.

  He returned to the sofa and knelt beside her on knee, digging a black velvet box out of his other pocket. “Bailey Chase, will you marry me?”

  She smiled and laughed and grabbed his face to plant a big wet kiss on his mouth just as the flash went off.

  Cole chuckled. “That’s going to be a good one. Assuming you say yes.”

  “Yes.” Bailey threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again. “Yes, yes, yes.”

  “I was hoping for just one ‘yes,’ but four will work.” He held up the sparkling ring. “Want this?”

  She extended her left hand, and he slipped the marquis-cut diamond set in gold on her ring finger. “It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

  “Like you,” he said.

  She kissed him again, taking her time, savoring him. “I love you so much.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose. “I love you, too.”

  Then he drew back from her and tenderly combed his fingers through her hair. “I don’t mean to be impatient or anything, but I’m ready for mine now.”

  “Yours?”

  “My present.”

  “Oh!” Her stomach gave a lurch as she reached for the small box and handed it to him.

  He shook it, his brow furrowing at the answering internal clatter.

  Thank God, he wa
sn’t one of those people who took forever to unwrap a gift. He ripped the paper off with flourish, lifted the lid off the box and peered inside. “What the—”

  Baffled, he drew out a light green baby rattle. His widening blue eyes met hers over the top of it. “Are you—”

  “Yes.”

  He looked stunned, unable to speak.

  Bailey laughed nervously, irritated at how loudly her heart drummed in her ears. “I know it’s a surprise.”

  His gaze shifted to hers, and his eyes looked watery all of the sudden. “You’re having a baby.”

  She reached for his hand. “We’re having a baby.”

  “Wow.” He looked awed.

  “Is that okay?”

  Confusion narrowed his eyes. His brain clearly wasn’t firing on all cylinders. “What?”

  “That we’re … we didn’t … that this is a—”

  He suddenly dragged her against him and hugged her close. “Oh my God, we’re having a baby!”

  She laughed as he rained kisses on her eyes, her nose and then settled his mouth on hers and kissed her breathless.

  And then he set her back from him, his eyes shining as he searched her face. “Are you okay, though? Is it … are you—”

  She cupped his face between her palms and looked him in the eye, grateful beyond words that they’d found each other. “I’m fantastic.”

  He smiled, his delight written all over his face. “So what are we going to name him?”

  “Um, him?”

  “I’m thinking something that makes him sound super smart. Like Albert or …” He trailed off as though giving it deep thought.

  “Albert?” she repeated, alarmed. “Really?”

  He grinned. “I’ve got it. Elliott.”

  She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his, love for him swelling inside her. “After my dad.”

  “Works if it’s a girl, too,” he said, putting his arms around her.

  She relaxed against him and sighed. “Thank you, Cole.”

  “For what?”

  “For being you.”

  The End

  Other Books by Joyce Lamb

  Relative Strangers

  Caught in the Act (2004 RITA finalist)

  Found Wanting

  Cold Midnight

  True Vision (2011 winner of Daphne du Maurier award for romantic suspense and HOLT Medallion for Best Book by a Virginia Author)

  True Colors (2012 RITA finalist)

  True Shot (2012 RITA finalist)

  Visit Joyce online at JoyceWrites.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook and Twitter. You might also be interested in her USA Today blog, Happy Ever After, that celebrates all things romance novels.

  Excerpt of Found Wanting (available now as an e-book)

  By Joyce Lamb

  Prologue

  When the doorbell rang, Alaina stopped dusting, slightly annoyed at the interruption. She had only begun cleaning, and because it was one of her least favorite things to do, it had been hard to get motivated. Pausing at the stereo to turn down Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, she mentally prepared the usual excuses as she went to the door.

  “I bought from the kid down the street.”

  “My child is selling them, too.”

  “Have all the magazines I need, thanks.”

  “My higher power is chocolate.”

  But when she opened the door to the icy Colorado air, she wasn’t prepared for the woman shivering on her porch. She had not seen her in nine years, had thought she would never see her again.

  The woman, overcome by emotion, threw her arms around Alaina. Alaina didn’t hug her back. Instead, she pulled her mother into the apartment and, after scanning the quiet apartment complex to see whether they had been observed, shut the door. Her hands on her mother’s arms, Alaina gave her a slight shake. “How did you find me? Were you followed?”

  “Followed? Why would I be followed?”

  “Just answer me. How did you find me?” She checked her watch. Jonah was due home from school in half an hour.

  “A private detective found you.” Seeming to regain her composure, Eve smiled through her tears and grasped Alaina’s face in her palms. “Look at you. You’re so grown up, so beautiful.” Tears welled again. “Your father’s eyes.”

  Alaina noticed that the past nine years had ruthlessly aged her mother. She was only in her middle fifties, but she looked eighty, her face creased and sagging with exhaustion. Last time Alaina had seen her, her hair had been a chestnut brown, but now it was pure white. And bags underscored her sad, faded blue eyes.

  “What private detective, Mother? Someone you hired?”

  “Yes, of course. Someone I hired.”

  “Did you tell anyone you were coming to see me?”

  “No. I told them I had a fundraising conference.” Eve was the wife of a corporate CEO, and she’d chosen charity as her career, using the power and influence of her husband to benefit the underprivileged.

  “What about Addison?”

  “No, I didn’t tell your sister.”

  Alaina turned away, jammed a hand through her hair. Another look at the clock. Twenty-five minutes before Jonah was due. Ten minutes earlier, and she could have picked him up at school before he got on the bus.

  It didn’t matter that her mother said she had told no one. They would have to move—again. Resigned, she went into Jonah’s bedroom, grabbed the suitcase out of his closet and started throwing in clothes. Her hands were shaking, her heart hammering. She didn’t think, just plowed through the same routine she had plowed through just a year before in Madison, Wisconsin.

  “What are you doing, Ali?” Eve asked from Jonah’s bedroom door, then she seemed to notice the room, and her expression turned wistful. “Where is my grandson?”

  Ali. She hadn’t been called that in fourteen years. Because she wasn’t that person anymore. Alaina glanced at her mother, saw that her eyes had teared up, then went back to her furious packing. Eve had never understood and never would, so Alaina didn’t bother trying to explain.

  “It’s time for you to come home, Ali,” Eve said. “It’s time for you to bring Jonah home.”

  Alaina stopped packing to stare at her mother. “And you think all will be forgotten the minute I walk in the door?”

  Eve’s lower lip trembled. “I miss you. Your father misses you.”

  Alaina snorted. “Yeah, right.”

  Eve stepped into the room. “We’ll work it out. Your father—”

  Alaina whirled on her. “I can never come home, Mother. I’m a fugitive. The minute I show up, I’ll be arrested.” She snapped the suitcase closed, dropped it by the door and went into her own bedroom to begin emptying drawers.

  Eve, looking appalled, followed. “I don’t understand why you would think that. Yes, you made mistakes, but there’s no—”

  “Hello, ladies.”

  Whirling from the closet, Alaina saw him blocking the door. She didn’t waste time on surprise or fear. She just lunged for the bedside table, fumbled with the drawer and had the gun in her hand before he could grab her. Cocking it, she aimed it at his chest, praying he wouldn’t call the bluff. There wasn’t a bullet in the house.

  Layton Keller raised his hands, palms out, a relaxed smile on his lips. Alaina’s finger flexed on the trigger, and for a moment, she wished for bullets. She and Jonah would never have to run again.

  Eve stared at her daughter in astonishment. “What on earth are you doing?”

  “Don’t come any closer,” Alaina said to Layton. “I’ll shoot.”

  Layton’s smile spread. “Sure you will.” He was as handsome as ever. Blond hair and blue eyes, square jaw and perfect, white teeth. He worked out regularly, not an ounce of fat on his hard, lean body. She remembered his strength, remembered how powerless she’d been beneath him. The gun started to shake, and she braced it with both hands.

  “Would you mind leaving Alaina and me alone? There’s something we need to talk about,�
� he said to Eve, ever the gentleman. He had won over hundreds with his charm and good looks. He knew how to get what he wanted, and if he didn’t get it, he took it. By brute force.

  When Eve didn’t move, Layton tossed car keys at her. “My car is parked out front. Why don’t you go wait in it? We’ll be out in just a few minutes.”

  Eve glanced at her daughter, clearly shocked by the weapon in Alaina’s hands.

  “Just go,” Alaina said, not wanting her mother to get caught in any crossfire.

  Eve backed out of the room, and Layton kicked the door shut behind her. “Alone at last,” he said, grinning. “I’ve missed you, Ali. I’ve missed your fire, your passion.” He positioned himself in front of the door, the only escape route. “When does he get home?” he asked.

  She gauged she had fifteen minutes before her nine-year-old son charged through the door. “He’s staying at a friend’s house until tomorrow.”

  “You’re a terrible liar. Pity that no one ever saw that but me.” He stepped toward her, his grin broadening when she edged back. “No bullets, huh?”

  She threw the gun at his head. He ducked, charged her. She had nowhere to go. He caught her around the middle, threw her onto the bed and, as she tried to scrabble away, straddled her. The air lodged in her chest, and Alaina fought the violent memory of him on top of her a decade ago. She clawed at his face and got only air. He backhanded her twice before she lay still, stunned and tasting blood.

  Breathing heavily, he pinned her hands on either side of her head. “Ah, memories.”

  He nuzzled her neck, and panic choked her. Not again. God, not again.

  “You changed your perfume,” he said near her ear. “I like it much better than that cheap, lemony scent you used to wear.”

  Biting back the fear, she tried to focus on figuring out how to get him out of the house.

  He smiled down at her, his eyes as empty and cold as ever. “What? You don’t recall our night together as fondly as I do? Then perhaps a re-enactment is in order.” With one hand, he ripped her blouse open.

  Alaina shrieked in rage, gnashed her teeth, snarled at him. Her fist glanced off his temple before he restrained it again. Rearing up, she slammed the top of her head into his chin and saw stars. He grunted once before toppling sideways off the bed. Alaina didn’t comprehend what had happened until she saw her mother standing over him with a heavy, cast-iron skillet held high in one hand, ready to nail him again if he moved.