‘Yes.’ She nodded miserably.
‘When you said a few minutes ago you were inexperienced in things, you meant falling in love, didn’t you …?’
She gave a self-derisive laugh. ‘I’ve never been in love. I’ve had two lovers, spent one night with each of them, and they were both utter disasters!’ She grimaced.
‘Forget about them.’ Jaxon reached up and cradled each side of her face, his love for her shining out of his liquid grey eyes. ‘We’re going to make love, Stazy. Real love. And it’s going to be truly beautiful.’
‘Yes, please …’ she breathed softly.
‘You haven’t agreed to make an honest man of me yet,’ he reminded her huskily.
‘Is that a condition of the beautiful lovemaking?’ she teased.
‘I do have my reputation to think of, after all …’
Stazy laughed huskily at the dig as she threw herself into his waiting arms. ‘In that case—yes, I’ll marry you, Jaxon!’
‘And have my babies?’
Babies. Not only Jaxon to love, but his babies to love and cherish. ‘Oh, God, yes …! ‘she accepted emotionally.
‘Then you may now take me to bed, Dr Bromley.’
She chuckled at his prim tone. ‘If you think I’m going to sweep you up in my arms and carry you off to the bedroom before ravishing you then I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed!’
‘I’ll do the sweeping.’ Jaxon did exactly that. ‘You can do the ravishing.’
‘With pleasure, Mr Wilder,’ Stazy murmured throatily. ‘With the greatest of pleasure.’
And it was.
Just over two years later …
‘I’m truly impressed,’ Jaxon murmured teasingly in her ear as the two of them stepped down off the stage to the rapturous applause of his peers, after going up together to receive yet another award for Best Screenplay for Butterfly Wings. ‘I think you thanked everyone but the girl who made the coffee!’
‘Very funny,’ Stazy muttered as she continued to smile brightly for the watching audience as the two of them made their way back to their seats.
Jaxon chuckled. ‘And after you were once so scathing about the length of the speeches made at these awards, too!’
‘Just for that, you can be the one to get up to Anastasia Rose if she wakes in the night!’ Stazy dropped thankfully back into her seat, her smile completely genuine now as she thought of their beautiful six-month-old daughter waiting for them at home. Geoffrey had opted to stay with his beloved great-granddaughter rather than accompany them to another award ceremony that he had declared would be ‘far too exhausting at my age!’
‘I’ll have you know that Anastasia Rose and I have come to an arrangement—I don’t wake her up if she doesn’t wake me up!’ Jaxon grinned smugly.
‘Really?’ Stazy turned in her seat to look at him. ‘Does that mean we can have our own very private celebration later …?’
Jaxon chuckled. ‘Insatiable woman!’
She arched teasing brows. ‘Are you complaining …?’
‘Certainly not!’ He kissed her warmly—something he had done often during their two-year marriage, whenever and wherever they happened to be.
They both knew and happily appreciated that life, and love, didn’t come any better than this …
* * * * *
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
® and TM are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
First published in Great Britain 2012
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited.
Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road,
Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Carole Mortimer 2012
SBN: 978-1-408-97321-9
Table of Contents
Cover
Praise for Carole Mortimer
About the Author
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Copyright
The Talk of Hollywood Page 16