Her Spy to Hold (Spy Games Book 2)
Page 20
She believed that too.
Epilogue
They’d been together for two years. Five months ago they were married.
Irina was packing for a three week vacation in Barbados. Kale was in the shower, humming a really bad version of a Sam Smith song. They’d decided to make Regina, Saskatchewan their home because her mother’s health had declined and her father needed the occasional respite from nursing.
Fortunately Irina’s consultancy work kept her as busy as she wanted to be. Right now she’d freed up her schedule because Kale had been away for the better part of two months, and although she’d joined him for a weekend here and there, they were looking forward to spending alone time together without any outside commitments or interruptions. This was to be their delayed honeymoon. Kale wanted to surf. She planned to sit in the sun on the beach and catch up on her comic book reading. He’d kept up his end of their bargain while she was about ten issues behind.
She also had something to tell him and she wasn’t sure how he’d take it.
She was pregnant.
They’d decided to stop using precautions and let nature take its course, but neither one had expected nature to be paying such rapt attention. She was happy, and excited, and terrified, all rolled into one pregnant and hormonal package. Kale had an uneasy relationship with his father, she had discovered, which made him nervous about his own abilities in that department. The fault, from what she’d observed, wasn’t Kale’s. While she liked his family overall, and his youngest brother in particular, his father came across as pompous and entitled sometimes. Fortunately—or not, depending on whether she asked Kale his opinion—her reputation impressed the senior Mr. Martin enough to satisfy him with his son’s choice in a wife.
The suitcase was open on the rumpled bed and Irina was standing over it, trying to decide whether to pack bikinis or stick to a one-piece since she wasn’t very tall and the baby bump, fast approaching three months, was already noticeable when Kale came up behind her. He nuzzled the side of her neck, cupping her abdomen with his palms. His wet hair, unbound, soaked the collar of her nightie.
“When were you planning to tell me about the baby?” he whispered into her ear. “My birthday? Because that’s six months away.”
She spun around in his arms. Her eyes widened. “How did you know?”
“After everything we did last night, you think I wouldn’t notice the places where you might have—” He stopped and reconsidered whatever words he’d planned to utter. “Changed shape in the past month?”
She ran her palms over his broad, naked chest, her elbows pressed into his rock-solid stomach a few inches above the towel knotted at his hips, her heart beating hard for a couple of reasons. “You OK with it?”
“Have a little more faith in me. I’m a trained observer. I learn from other people’s mistakes. I’m already nailing this whole husband gig. The dad part’s going to be a piece of cake.” He patted her belly with such pride in his eyes it made the baby do twirlies inside her. “This little dude will be rock climbing by his first birthday.”
“What if the little dude’s a girl?”
“Then she won’t be getting out of this house until she’s at least thirty-one.”
“No double standards I see.” Irina kissed his chin, which was all she could reach while in her bare feet. “That’s OK. She’ll be so busy learning to write code she’ll never miss the outdoors.” She chewed on the inside of her lip and stared at the base of his throat. “Are you as scared as I am?”
“I’m not at all scared. You shouldn’t be either.” Kale kissed her, his happiness contagious. “We’re an awesome couple. We’ll be even more awesome parents. We’re going to love this baby until it begs us for a brother or sister to deflect all our attention. This kid won’t be able to make a move without us finding out. We’ve got connections and skills.”
Irina sighed with relief. “I’m happy you’re happy, but suddenly I’m also a little terrified on this poor child’s behalf.”
He sobered, turning serious. “I promised when you came to London to find me that things would work out and so far we’ve been doing just fine. Now I’m going to promise you that a baby is going to make things even better. And if we have more kids down the road imagine how fantastic our lives will become.”
Irina had never been much for imagination. Until Kale came along her world had been about technology and scientific data. It amazed her sometimes how much things had changed, not just for her, but him as well. Things were changing again.
And for better, not worse.
Note to Readers
Thank you for choosing Her Spy to Hold, the second book in my Spy Games series. Kale and Irina were a fun couple to write. And in case anyone is interested, long boarding really has happened on the North Mountain in Nova Scotia. You can find it on YouTube. Crazy kids.
Canada prides itself on its freedom of information policies and public disclosure, and CSIS, Canada’s spy agency, isn’t exempt. If you read the actual Canadian Security Intelligence Act, however, you’ll note there’s a great deal of ambiguity to their mandate, and my Spy Games characters have chosen to exploit it. They are spies, after all.
Next up is Harry and Lies’s story in His Spy at Night. Her name is actually Marlies because I like it (if we’d had a daughter that would have been her name), but when I shortened it, wow, was that name appropriate. The proper pronunciation is Lees, with a soft s, by the way, but still…
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank Author E.M.S. for their formatting expertise; Syd Gill of Syd Gill Design for the beautiful cover; and Nancy Cassidy of The Red Pen Coach for her editing skills.
And of course, a special thanks to Annette Gallant for being my first reader and a great friend.
About the Author
Paula Altenburg lives in rural Nova Scotia, Canada, with her husband and two sons. Once a manager in the aerospace industry, she now enjoys working from home and writing fulltime. She should probably get more exercise. Visit her at www.paulaaltenburg.com to view more of her work and to sign up for her newsletter. You can also follow her on Twitter: @PaulaAltenburg and friend her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PaulaAltenburgAuthor.
Other Contemporary Romance Titles
by Paula Altenburg
Spy Games series:
Her Spy to Have—Book One, available now
Her Spy to Hold—Book Two, available now
His Spy at Night—Book Three, coming in September 2016
Broken Hearts series:
I’ll Love You Forever—Book One, available now
Book Two—TBA
Book Three—TBA
From Tule Publishing:
Her Secret Love
From Entangled Publishing:
Her Secret, His Surprise
Desire by Design
Read on for an excerpt from His Spy at Night, Harry and Lies’s story.
Excerpt from
His Spy at Night
Harry and Lies’s story
by Paula Altenburg
His Spy at Night, Harry and Lies’s story:
She liked that Harry was a gentleman throwback to another generation. It set him apart. She enjoyed having him pull out her chair and open doors for her too. Every woman liked being made to feel special. But not when it came to her job.
“This isn’t embassy business,” she reminded him.
He was undeterred, brushing off her objections as if she hadn’t spoken. “We’re going back to Plan A. I’m pursuing you. It gives me an excuse to stay close so I can help if you need it.”
“I’ve already got Plan B established. No one at the embassy is going to believe your sudden interest in me.”
“No?” The look he gave her made the already small room shrink to a mere postage-stamp size. He tugged at one of her curls, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger. “I’m single and I like beautiful women as much as the next man.”
He was playing her own game with her in order t
o get his own way. While she could hardly complain about the tactics he used she preferred honesty from him. While not completely predictable he was one hundred percent dependable. She trusted him because of it.
And that gave him the advantage, because he certainly did not trust her in return.
All she could do to retaliate was call his bluff.
She stepped in close, placing her hand on his chest. It was solid, like he was, and warm beneath the crisp cotton fabric of his shirt. Her palm prickled with heat. He was only an inch or so taller than she was. If she’d been wearing heels she’d have at least one advantage over him. She met his gaze and read interest. Her breathing quickened, leaving her head spinning. He really did find her attractive. There was an advantage for her in that too.
He had the most beautiful mouth, the lower lip slightly fuller than the top. It was generous and firm, and the color of raspberries in early August. She’d have one little taste. Then he’d call a halt, conceding Plan A was ridiculous.
She pressed her mouth to his, nipping that full lower lip between both of hers and gently tugging. She stroked it with the tip of her tongue. He tasted delicious. Her heart began pounding. A sizzle of heat shot through her belly. Caution kicked up a ruckus inside her head, letting her know in no uncertain terms that she’d made an error in judgment. In this one area he wasn’t trustworthy.
Not in the least.
Rather than draw back to neutral territory and regroup, as she should, she threw herself on a landmine. She slid her arms around his neck. His hands came to rest on her back, crushing her breasts to his ribs. A knee nudged her thighs apart. His tongue brushed against hers and her legs threatened to collapse. Harry, far from passive, could kiss.
The coffeemaker coughed, spitting the last of the hot water through the filter to signal the end of its cycle, interrupting the moment. Harry’s hands slid down her back to her hips. He lifted his head, his expression as steady and serious as always.
He had nerves of steel.
“I’ll introduce you to Vanderloord during intermission,” he said, as if the matter were settled. Lies, bemused, couldn’t find the right words to argue. He’d proven his point. Her mind was a blank. He eased her aside, his fingers gently biting into her skin before they released her, and slid past her to get to the counter. “You get the coffee. I’ll carry the pastries.”
She was filling two mugs with the dark, steaming brew before it struck her that this was her home, not his, and they weren’t at the embassy pretending he was her boss, and she didn’t have to do everything he said.
Haven’t read the first book in the series, Her Spy to Have, yet? Check out Chapter One here.
Her Spy to Hold
Copyright © 2016 by Paula Altenburg
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover design by Syd Gill/Syd Gill Designs
Edited by Nancy Cassidy/The Red Pen Coach
Digital formatting by Author E.M.S.
Published by Paula Altenburg
Stewiacke, Nova Scotia Canada
B0N 2J0
ISBN: 978-0-9937166-3-8
www.paulaaltenburg.com
Table of Contents
About HER SPY TO HOLD
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
Note to Readers
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other Contemporary Romance Titles by Paula Altenburg
Excerpt from HIS SPY AT NIGHT
Copyright