“It was an opinion, but I won’t lie, Sam, it stung. You jumped to conclusions about me based on a set of circumstances I had no control over. And the more you slammed her, the more I resented it. It got so I was afraid to tell you the truth, afraid that any admission about my real name would result in you leaving me. My heart belonged to you from the first night you came to the museum. I didn’t know then you felt so strongly about lying. Once I did, I was so deeply in love with you, I didn’t know how to tell you the truth.”
Hope flared in his eyes. “You did tell the truth. You’re Rikki Salerno. You’re the woman I fell in love with. I shouldn’t have let it bother me that you’d omitted telling me you were also Marguerite Sims. I shouldn’t have been such a pig about her. I had no grounds. I have no defense.”
She looked away, unable to meet his gaze as she asked the next question. “What about that last thing you said?”
Sam slid off the bench, landing on his knees next to her without relinquishing his grip on her hand. His face remained grim, his eyes anguished and apologetic. “Rikki, I’m so sorry about that. You’ve never been just a pair of breasts to me. Honestly, I never really saw that aspect of you when I looked.”
She snorted, the sound harsh and unladylike. “How could you not? They aren’t exactly invisible.”
“They are when the only thing you can see is a woman who isn’t afraid to be a friend to a child who is being bullied. A woman whose loyalty to her family and friends is unparalleled. A woman willing to bravely reveal embarrassing pictures of herself to save the career of a man who’s been an utter ass to her, a man undeserving of rescue.”
He drew her fingers to his lips and kissed them, sending a thrill up her arm to pop like a camera flash in her chest. “I haven’t thanked you for that. I was too busy nursing my wounded ego to pick up the messages from Edwards. It took Gunnar’s fist in my face to bring me to reason. What you did means the world to me.”
Lifting her other hand to his cheek, she traced the skin where she knew a sexy crease would appear if he’d smile. Oh, God, she wanted him to smile. “That truth needed to be told as quickly as possible. Mr. Edwards was really decent about it. He had Sarah Willis sit in and asked me to show the pictures to her. I admit, even that was uncomfortable, but Sarah was very professional. It was almost as easy as knowing my grandfather had seen them. Trust me, that’s an experience I don’t care to ever repeat.”
Mission accomplished. He smiled, popping his beloved dimples. Her heart melted.
She freed her hand from his and brought it to his cheek, caressing his face. Holding his gaze, she lowered her head toward him until their lips met. It was a slow, easy kiss, from her heart to his. Sam grasped her shoulders and angled his head to deepen the embrace. The touch of his mouth against hers was like fire and rain, hot and moist, a combustible combination.
The world, out of kilter for the past three months, righted itself on its axis. She was breathless and giddy by the time their lips parted.
“Does this mean you’ve forgiven me for my behavior?” Sam whispered against her lips, ticklish and teasing.
Rikki grinned and then sighed as he traced the shape of her smile with his tongue, stalling her answer. Once he’d finished she said, “Yes, but only if you forgive me for my deception. I should have told you the truth.”
He leaned his forehead against hers and shut his eyes. “There is nothing to be sorry about. You omitted an aspect of you that didn’t really matter anyway. I’m in love with you...with Rikki, and Marguerite. I’ll always love whoever you are.”
Shifting away from him, she held his gaze, searching for the truth of his words. Butterflies trembled in her stomach again. Another truth needed to be told.
“As long as we’re confessing, I have one more thing to tell you.” Drawing a deep breath, she found his hand and drew it to her belly. “Do you remember what happened that first night we made love?”
His gaze dropped to where his hand caressed her body, then darted back to her face, confusion morphing toward wonder at the speed of light.
The months of anxiety about how he’d take the news, how he’d react, faded away, replaced by joy flooding her heart. She wished she had a camera to capture his expression. She was going to remember it until the day she died.
“You’re pregnant? Oh, God… You’re pregnant!” He whispered the words through a broad grin while tears slipped from his eyes. “We’re having a baby? You forgive me and we’re having a baby? I love you so much.”
Blinking away tears, Rikki smiled. “Sam, I never stopped hoping we’d get here, back to where we belong. With each other. I never stopped loving you.”
Sam leaped to his feet and pulled her up along his chest, crushing her in a tight, loving embrace. Closing her eyes, love and happiness rushed through her. Rikki welcomed the sensation of being home in his arms. For all the shadows they’d walked through individually in the past few months, they’d emerged into the light together.
Gemma Brocato
Gemma’s favorite desk accessories for many years were a circular wooden token, better known as a “round tuit,” and a slip of paper from a fortune cookie proclaiming her a lover of words; some day she’d write a book. All it took was a transfer to the United Kingdom, the lovely English springtime, and a huge dose of homesickness to write her first novel. Once it was completed and sent off with a kiss, even the rejections addressed to “Dear Author” were gratifying.
After returning to America, she spent a number of years as a copywriter, dedicating her skills to making insurance, and the agents who sell it, sound sexy. Eventually, her full-time job as a writer interfered with her desire to be a writer full-time and she left the world of financial products behind to pursue an avocation as a romance author.
Connect with Gemma on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gemma.brocato, Twitter: @gemmabrocato or on the web at www.Gemmabrocato.com
Also by Gemma Brocato
Five Senses
Cooking Up Love
Hearts In Harmony
Lyrical Press books are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2014 GEMMA BROCATO
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Lyrical Press and the L logo are trademarks of Kensington Publishing Corp.
First Electronic Edition: OCTOBER 2014
ISBN-13: 978-1-61650-616-2
Table of Contents
EXPOSED TO PASSION
Dedication
Acknowledgements
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
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Gemma Brocato
Also by Gemma Brocato
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Exposed to Passion (Five Senses series Book 3) Page 27