Abruptly, she ended the kiss. “Wait a minute,” she said, tipping her head back to look up at him. “The firm doesn’t handle cases for the county.”
He chuckled and that arrogant grin she loved so much fell back into place. “We do now,” he said. “That’s why Lionel came to see me yesterday. Without me, there would be no business from the county, or Mass General.”
“Those greedy rat bastards,” she said with much less heat.
Sebastian shrugged. “It’s business, Joey.”
Maybe so, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. She slipped out of his embrace and tucked her hand around his arm. Slowly, they walked toward the house. “How did they find out about us?” she asked him.
He shot her a “get real” look that made her laugh. “Our argument wasn’t exactly discreet.”
“Oh, yeah,” she said with a teasing smile. “You yelled.”
He stopped walking. “You yelled first.”
She snuggled closer to his big warm body and smiled. “Yes. I do that sometimes.”
He shook his head and chuckled. Despite the cold, they resumed their slow stroll toward the house.
“I debated about telling you all this,” he said, “but I figured with the way you flipped when I didn’t immediately tell you what was happening with Gilson, I’d better not take a chance.”
“Smart man,” she said, then lifted her lips to his for a quick kiss. He obliged and she felt the tingle all the way to her half-frozen toes.
The kiss ended all too soon for Joey’s liking, so she stole another, then another.
He settled his hands on her shoulders to stop her from attacking him again. “There’s something else I need to tell you,” he said.
He looked all too serious, but she wasn’t worried. Not any longer. Sebastian loved her. He hadn’t said the words, but she didn’t need words when she had actions that spoke volumes. The man had given up his job for her. A position she knew from their conversations was important to him. If that didn’t say he loved her, then nothing ever would.
“Uh-uh. Me first,” she interrupted. “Remember the dare I told you about the other night? Well…”
Standing outside her grandparents home in the freezing cold, she told him how she’d believed the dare she’d drawn was about her revealing the information she’d learned about their mother’s past to her sisters. She paused only long enough to gauge his reaction to her telling of the sordid details of Daisy Winfield’s secret life, breathing a quick sigh of relief when he showed no outward signs of revulsion. Not that she seriously believed for a moment Sebastian would judge her because of her mother’s past, but then again, she’d recently learned that just about anything was possible. Who would’ve dreamed that a Winfield was one generation away from a ten-dollar hooker?
“But I think I missed the spirit of the dare,” she said. “What I told them wasn’t what was in my heart, it was what was weighing on my mind.”
“Joey—”
“Shhh, let me finish,” she said with a frown. “There’s a difference, I think. Maybe what I’m supposed to do is trust the people I love with what’s in my heart.” She reached up and cupped her gloved hand against his cheek. “It’s you, Sebastian. You are in my heart and I love you. That’s the real secret that I’ve been carrying around.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but she gently tapped his lip with her finger to shush him. “I think I fell in love with you from the minute you tried to pick me up with that sorry five dollar bill at the jukebox.”
He just stared at her with a big, goofy smile on his face. “Can we go inside now? It’s freezing out here.”
Playfully, she poked him in his side. “I lay my heart on the line and all you can think about is your own personal comfort?”
He laughed and hauled her close. “I thought it’d be more romantic if was able to say I love you, too, without my teeth chattering.”
Her heart soared. God, she loved him so much, and was prepared to spend the rest of her life doing just that. “Even if I’m not pregnant?” she asked, feeling a tiny stab of insecurity.
“If you are, great. And if not,” he shrugged, “then maybe we should wait to have a wedding first. Buy a house. That kind of thing.”
“Hmm,” she murmured, then planted a quick, hard kiss on his lips. She looped her arm through his again and started toward the house. “I’ve been told a wedding first, baby second, is supposedly the Winfield way. Although I’m sure Grandmother could manage to organize one hell of a shotgun wedding, if necessary. Caterers tremble in fear of her, you know.”
As they rounded the corner, Brooke suddenly appeared, nearly colliding with them. “What are you two doing out here?” her sister chastised. “The family has been waiting. Dinner is due to be served in fifteen minutes.”
“Kissing and making up,” Joey said to her sister.
“So I figured, as did everyone else who’s been watching from the window.”
Joey looked to the window and laughed, waving to Katie, Liam and David. “Sebastian. My sister, Brooke.”
Brooke extended her hand, which Sebastian shook. “How do you do?”
“Very well, thank you,” Brooke replied formally. “Come on. Grandmother is waiting.”
“Well,” Joey said as the trio approached the front entrance, “are you sure you’re up for facing the Winfields?”
“A word of warning,” Brooke said as she reached for the latch. “Evil-Lyn is her usual uncharming self tonight. She’s already tried to insult Katie and made a snide comment to Grandmother about your tardiness.”
“I hope Grandmother told her to stuff it.”
Brooke laughed. “No, but the Admiral came close to whacking her with his cane until David pretended to trip over it.”
“Family,” Joey whispered to Sebastian. “Can’t live with ’em, but couldn’t live without ’em.” She studied his face, which showed no outward signs of trepidation. The man was a rock. Something, she decided, which wasn’t such a bad thing to have on her side. “Are you absolutely sure you’re ready for this? We could sneak off for a burger.”
“It’ll be fine,” he said, and hugged her just a little closer. She certainly hoped so, because if there was one thing she was dead certain about it was that her family might always be in her heart, but her soul belonged to Sebastian.
* * *
Despite Sebastian’s initial apprehension, he actually felt surprisingly relaxed with Joey’s family. He’d even survived not-so-subtle interrogations by the grandmother, Evelyn, a lovely woman in her mid-seventies, and the dreaded Great Aunt Josephine. He’d managed to deflect the rather pointed questions about his relationship, or lack thereof, with his absent father from the cousin Joey had called Evil-lyn. The nickname fit, in his opinion.
He didn’t know if he’d ever become accustomed to having dinner served by actual servants, and wondered how Joey would feel about dinner with his mom at her small home in South Boston. No fancy fare like he’d enjoyed at the Winfield estate tonight, but whatever his mom served, it’d be hot and good, and eaten at the kitchen table with love, plenty of laughter and casual conversation.
There was nothing casual about the Winfields, with the exception of Joey’s sisters. The family was what Sebastian would characterize as politely reserved. The grandfather, whom everyone referred to as the Admiral, was the silent type, but the old gent had an evil eye that he kept shooting Sebastian’s way so that it had him wanting to loosen his tie. The old guy wasn’t all bad. He had a definite soft spot for his granddaughters, evidenced by the way his stern gaze would light up whenever they spoke with him.
Shortly after dinner, the Admiral excused himself for the evening. The snooty aunt and her obnoxious daughter also left, while the rest of the family retired to a formal sitting room where tea, coffee and a small variety of delicate dessert pastries were served.
Winged chairs and sculpted settees were situated around rosewood tables atop plush white carpeting. A blazing fire roared in the enormou
s fireplace, tall enough for him to stand inside. According to his mother, he’d once lived in such luxury, but he was too young to remember it, so he never missed it. He’d never craved the Stanhope wealth, but a few bucks sure couldn’t have hurt when he was growing up or racking up student loans to get through college and law school. Still, everything he had, he’d earned, and no amount of money could replace the sense of pride and accomplishment he’d achieved on his own.
Beside him on one of the settees sat Joey. She’d worn a sedate black dress that revealed little, but showed off her slim figure to perfection. Her shoes, however, were sparking a particularly interesting fantasy.
“Lindsay should be here,” Joey said to Brooke while passing him a cup of black coffee.
“Give it time,” her sister replied. “Grandmother told me you’d temporarily lost your wits and practically demanded she invite Lindsay tonight.”
“Grandmother exaggerates,” Joey said, but sent a quick smile in her grandmother’s direction. The Winfield matriarch pretended to pluck an imaginary piece of lint from her sleeve.
“I doubt that,” Katie said. “You can be so pissy sometimes, Joey. Really. Someone should warn Sebastian about your temper.”
“I don’t have a temper,” Joey countered.
Sebastian chuckled at that, but wisely kept his thoughts to himself when he received a warning glare from Joey. The grandmother in question sent a sharp-eyed stare in her granddaughter’s direction, which Joey pretended to ignore.
“David,” Evelyn said, directing her attention to Brooke’s date. “Brooke tells us you’re returning to the team.”
“I’ve only been invited to training camp, ma’am,” David answered politely.
The conversation turned to baseball and predictions of how the Sox would perform in the upcoming season now that David was back on the team. A detail which David refused to admit to, but they all believed otherwise.
Liam, Katie’s fiancé, commented on the Patriots win over the Steelers in the previous day’s playoff game, followed by varying predictions as to which teams had a chance of making it to the Super Bowl. The Patriots, of course, topped the list of contenders.
“So,” Joey said once they reached the carriage house some time later, “were they as bad as you thought they’d be?”
“Who? Your family? They were fine.”
“Sure they were,” she said dryly.
He followed Joey into the bedroom, where she kicked off her shoes and shrugged out of her coat. “I thought your family was nice.” He yanked off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt.
“Ha!” Joey said, as she tugged off her dress. “My Great Aunt Josephine is a snob of the first order. And my cousin Eve has a stick so far up her ass, it’ll have to be surgically removed. And if you didn’t notice, the Admiral was giving you the look all night long.”
Oh, he’d noticed all right. He sat on the chaise and removed his shoes and socks. But it was obvious to him that her family loved her a great deal. He could put up with a snob and stick-up-her-ass cousin if he had to. He’d make damn sure to stay out of range of the Admiral’s cane in the future, too.
Naked and unashamed, Joey came to stand in front of him and looped her arms around his neck. “He must’ve determined you were harmless, or he never would’ve gone off to bed so early.”
Sebastian had his doubts. The man was in his mideighties, but sharp as a tack. He wouldn’t have put it past the old coot to have hired Liam and David to keep an eye on him during his absence.
He slid his hands over Joey’s curves. “Do we have to talk about your family right now?”
“I thought you liked them.”
“I do, but I have a naked woman in my arms and there are so many other things I’d much rather discuss.”
He stood and she wiggled closer. “Oooh, like what?”
“Like how much I love you,” he said, slipping his arms around her and pulling her tight against him. Her naked breasts brushed enticingly against his chest, hardening him in a flash.
“I do like the sound of that,” she said, then lifted her face to his for a kiss.
He kissed her, deeply, soundly and with everything he held in his heart. The heart she’d stolen with one sassy comeback and a sexy glint in her lovely blue eyes.
Two weeks later… “What do the directions say again?” Joey stared down at the white stick. She gripped the edge of the bathroom counter, afraid to breathe. She was only five days late. Nothing to panic over. She’d never been perfectly regular anyway. Once she’d gone as long as eight days without seeing her period, but she hadn’t been in a relationship at the time and hadn’t thought twice about being so late.
Sebastian read the insert. “You’ll see either a plus or a minus.”
Joey let out a frustrated steam of breath. “Yeah, but what does that mean?”
She didn’t really believe she was pregnant. She had none of the symptoms, and she’d researched plenty.
God, what had she ever done before Google?
She had no nausea and no breast tenderness. She hadn’t experienced a single episode of lightheaded ness, either, but she had been tired lately. Although the fatigue could easily be explained since she and Sebastian had spent every single night together since they’d kissed and made up two weeks ago.
He peered over her shoulder. “A plus means you are, a minus sign means you aren’t.”
“It’s blank.”
He checked his watch. “It’s only been a minute, sweetheart.”
It had been longer than that, like just over three weeks, but she didn’t need to remind him. In all honesty, until this very moment standing in his bathroom on a Saturday morning waiting for the results, these past couple of weeks, he’d been more concerned about a possible pregnancy than her. No, not concerned, she realized. More like excited by the very possibility they’d created a child together.
Suddenly, he tossed the instructions on the counter, covering the test strip.
Joey gasped. “What are you doing?” She reached to move the sheet of paper, but Sebastian grabbed hold of her hand to stop her.
She attempted to tug to free her hand, but he tightened his grip. “Sebastian?”
He pulled in a deep breath, then let it out in a rush. “Marry me, Joey.”
Confused, she looked up at him. The tenderness in his eyes momentarily stole her breath. “Haven’t we already had this discussion?” Albeit a casual discussion with no set plans and no date. Just an abstract discussion or two of their future, leaving no doubt in either of their minds that they’d marry—eventually. She wasn’t so old-fashioned to believe she needed a husband to have a baby, but she knew Sebastian felt differently. She understood his concerns stemmed from his own lack of a father, but she’d reassured him countless times, regardless of what happened between them, he would always be a part of his son or daughter’s life. If she were pregnant, that is.
He let go of her hand and from the pocket of his khakis, he produced a deep blue velvet box. Carefully, he opened it, revealing a stunning princess cut diamond solitaire engagement ring. “Before we know the answer to what’s on the stick, tell me you’ll marry me.”
“You know I will,” she told him. “I love you, Sebastian. You know that.”
“I want to know that you’ll marry me whether or not you’re going to have my baby.”
She couldn’t help it. She smiled at him. “I think I’m the one who’s supposed to be insecure about that sort of thing.”
He smiled back at her and wiggled the little jewelry box in front of her. “Yes or no, sweetheart?”
She took the ring box from him and set it on the ceramic tiled counter, then closed the distance between them. Looping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down for a hot, open-mouthed kiss. When they finally came up for air, she looked into his dark chocolate eyes, filled with love and hope for the future, and whispered, “Yes, I’ll marry you, Sebastian Stanhope.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” he said, then reach
ed around her and plucked the instruction sheet from the counter.
Together they leaned over and stared at the strip, and little blue minus sign.
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