He slid the paper from her fingers and read. His eyebrows climbed until they tangled with his hairline. “You’re pregnant?”
According to her blood work she was, but how could that be? Could they even determine something like that after so short a time? She shook her head. “It must be a mistake.”
She started to sit up, and he pressed a hand to her uninjured shoulder and pushed her back down. The focused intensity in his eyes stilled her movement. Neither spoke as he stripped her of her clothing. In less than a minute, she lay naked under his penetrating gaze. He dropped to his knees beside the bed, and his big hand came to rest on her belly.
Rough with emotion, his voice echoed the wonder in his eyes. “My baby, our baby, is no mistake.” Leaning forward, he wrapped his arms around her middle and pressed his mouth to her belly, just below her navel. When he lifted his head, his eyes were suspiciously bright.
Nicky speared her fingers through his thick hair, sure her heart would burst with joy and wonder.
He rose to his feet and climbed onto the bed beside her. Pulling her close, he lowered his mouth to hers and made love to her mouth with a gentleness that stroked her soul and heated her blood.
She neared the point of no return when he broke the kiss and lifted his head to stare into her eyes. “I’d given up on love, Nicky. I never dreamed I’d have a family again, but you and Alex feel like family already. I love you both, and need you in my life. I need the three of you.”
Every doubt and fear she’d carried for the last five years melted away. Even the weight of grief over her father’s death softened at the promise in Rhy’s eyes. As with her, life had stolen his dreams, but love had given them back.
She brushed a lock of hair from his forehead. “Is that a proposal? Because I have to warn you, I can be stubborn and difficult.”
That sexy, single dimple popped in his cheek with his grin. “You don’t say?”
Happier than she could ever remember being, she laughed.
“Marry me, Nicky. I promise, I’ll do everything in my power to make your dreams come true.”
She cocked her head and studied him. “I’ve always wanted my own security specialist.”
Rhy laughed, deep and full. “Is that a yes?”
She nodded and lifted her head until her lips brushed his. “How about you start fulfilling that promise right now?”
He grinned, covered her mouth with his, and did.
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Acknowledgments
Huge thanks to the many people instrumental in seeing this book to fruition. Especially Laura Stone, my levelheaded editor, for sticking with me when others would have headed for the hills; Dawn Dowdle, my agent, for believing in me; and the Floozies of Romance, my writing gurus, for understanding and encouraging me to breathe when my world took a fatal hit and pursuing my writing was the last thing on my mind.
About the Author
Mackenzie Crowne lives with her high school sweetheart husband, a neurotic Pomeranian, and a blind cat. She calls Phoenix home, because the Southwest feeds her soul. Though her family and friends claim she’s a princess, she disagrees. After all, one can’t raise two rambunctious boys to wonderful men without getting a little dirt under her nails. A lover of the romance genre, her resolve to share her stories with others was sharpened by a bout with breast cancer. Today she is a multi-published, award-winning author and an eight-year survivor living the dream.
Her friends call her Mac. She hopes you will, too.
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