It was only early October, but winter was heading their way in a hurry. He never should have agreed to bring her up here today, but Kate was like a dog with a bone when she wanted something.
She’d been determined to get another look at the house site before the snow hit. She was working on the design so the architect could have the plans in time for the crew to get started on it as soon as winter was over. The woman was like a force of nature. She wanted everything done right and in her time.
“Kate! If you’re not out here in ten seconds, I’m going back to your place without you!” An empty threat, and they both knew it.
“You know,” Kate said as she came toward him, “if you were walking around with a bowling ball on your bladder, you’d move a little slowly, too.”
Nine months pregnant and she still took his breath away. How could he love her more every day? She was frustrating and intriguing and everything he’d ever wanted in his whole damn life.
“Yes, you’re right,” Sean said, hustling her into her coat and easing her toward the door. “Men are miserable human beings and women should rule the world. Just get in the car, okay?”
“Relax, Sean,” she said, stopping on the front porch to look around. “We’re not going to be stuck, and I’m not having the baby here.”
“Damn right you’re not,” he said, closing the door behind them and locking it up. Once the baby was born, he and Kate were thinking of moving up here and waiting out the winter. Kate’s little bungalow was too small for the three of them, plus all of the office equipment Sean needed to get his work done for the company.
He was looking forward to the quiet. The solitude. And even being snowed in with Kate again—after the baby was born.
“It’s nice that Jenny and Mike had their little boy yesterday,” Kate was saying dreamily as he helped her down the front steps. “Now our Kiley and their Carter will only be a day apart in age.”
“Yeah,” he muttered, keeping her moving toward the car, “it’s great. Wait.” He stopped dead when what she’d said sunk in. “How do you know Kiley’s coming today?” Suspicion then panic settled over him like a radioactive cloak. “Are you in labor?”
She grinned at him, went up on her toes and kissed him. “For the last hour or two. You’re going to be a daddy today, Sean! Isn’t that amazing?”
Joy, wonder, then one more time, panic. “We’ve got to get you to the hospital. Walk slow. No bumps. Don’t breathe too hard.”
She laughed and when he got her tucked into the car and raced around to the driver’s side, he heard another peal of laughter and told himself women really were the stronger sex. Why wasn’t she terrified?
Sean threw the car into gear and headed down the mountain as quickly as he could. Storm clouds gathered and began to surge forward, like an army on the march. He couldn’t worry about them, though, because in the passenger seat, Kate groaned.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine,” she muttered and shifted uncomfortably on the seat. “That one was much stronger, though. Just hurry, Sean.”
When she started the panting and breathing, Sean’s heart leaped into a wild gallop so frantic he almost forgot to breathe himself. The mountain road had never seemed so long or so twisty. He had to take his time or they’d go flying off the edge, but he had to hurry because he was not going to deliver his first child in his car.
Twenty minutes later, he pulled into the hospital lot and parked the car, not caring if it was legal or not. Kate was wincing and moaning regularly now. When he helped her out of the car, she grabbed hold of his hand and twisted with the strength of someone twice her size.
Sean gritted his teeth and went with it, steering her inside and standing by helplessly as orderlies appeared and whisked her into a wheelchair. She looked back at him as she disappeared down a long hallway, and Sean felt that thread of panic again when he lost sight of her.
But a few minutes later, he was in the labor room with her, and she battled and raged to bring their baby girl into the world. Sean’s heart twisted every time a pain claimed her, and he would have given every dollar he had to change places with her. Anything would have been better than watching the woman he loved suffer.
“Don’t look so worried, honey,” she said, voice broken in between gasps. “This is normal. Everything’s just moving really fast.”
“This is fast?” He felt like they’d been doing this for days. “I was wrong before. Not six kids. One’s enough. God, I swear I’ll never touch you again, Kate.”
She laughed, delighted, then gasped as another pain slammed home. “I’m not going to hold you to that, sweetie. Oh, Sean, she’s coming.”
Doctor Eve Conlon bustled in, and to Sean the woman looked like she was fourteen years old. Lots of curly, thick hair, big brown eyes and a wide smile. “How’re we doing?”
“Kate says the baby’s coming,” Sean blurted. “How’re you?”
Eve laughed. “Take a breath, Sean. I’m just going to take a look, Kate.”
When the brief examination was over, the doctor smiled and announced, “Kate’s right. She’s doing everything in a hurry. Your daughter’s on her way.”
The next half hour was nothing but a blur for Sean. He’d never been so scared and elated all at the same time. Admiration and love for his wife soared as he watched her bring their baby into the world with a fierce determination that staggered him.
All he could do was hold her hand and look on in proud amazement when the doctor laid their gorgeous, screaming daughter on Kate’s chest. Kate laughed and cried and smoothed her hands over their baby’s tiny body, and Kiley, as if sensing she was just where she was supposed to be, settled right down and looked directly into her father’s eyes.
Reverently, he reached out to touch her tiny hand, and the baby’s fingers curled around one of his fingers in an instinctive grasp that took a firm hold on his heart, as well. “Happy birthday, Kiley Ryan,” he whispered.
Love rose up and spilled over inside him, and Sean was humbled by it all. She was less than a minute old and already, Sean loved her more than he would have believed possible. He’d never known he could feel so much, so quickly. He looked at his beautiful wife and realized he had never guessed what it would mean to love a woman so completely.
“Thank you,” he whispered and bent to kiss Kate. “Thank you for her and for everything you’ve given me since the day I met you.”
“I love you, Sean,” Kate said.
“Don’t ever stop.” Sean laid his hand over Kate’s and together, they cradled their daughter—their future.
* * * * *
If you loved this novel pick up all the books in the PREGNANT BY THE BOSS trilogy from USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen Child
HAVING HER BOSS’S BABY
A BABY FOR THE BOSS
SNOWBOUND WITH THE BOSS
* * *
And look for these other fun and sexy reads from USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen Child
AFTER HOURS WITH HER EX
THE FIANCÉE CAPER
* * *
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Keep reading for an excerpt from THE SEAL’S SECRET HEIRS by Kat Cantrell.
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The SEAL’s Secret Heirs
by Kat Cantrell
One
Royal, Texas was the perfect place to go to die.
Kyle Wade aimed to do exactly that. After an honorable discharge from the navy, what else lay ahead of him but a slow and painful death? Might as well do it in Royal, the town that had welcomed every Wade since the dawn of time—except him.
He nearly drove through the center of town without stopping. Because he hadn’t realized he was in Royal until he was nearly out of Royal.
Yeah, it had been ten years, and when he’d stopped for gas in Odessa, he’d heard about the tornado that had ripped through the town. But still. Was nothing on the main strip still the same? These new buildings hadn’t been there when he’d left. Of course, he’d hightailed it out of Royal for Coronado, California, in a hurry and hadn’t looked back once in all his years as a Navy SEAL. Had he really expected Royal to be suspended in time, like a photograph?
He kind of had.
Kyle slowed as he passed the spot where he’d first kissed Grace Haines in the parking lot of the Dairy Queen. Or what used to be the spot where he’d taken his high school girlfriend on their first date. The Dairy Queen had moved down the road and in its place stood a little pink building housing something called Mimi’s Nail Salon. Really?
Fitting that his relationship with Grace had nothing to mark it. Nothing in Royal proper anyway. The scars on his heart would always be there.
Shaking his head, Kyle punched the gas. He had plenty of time to gawk at the town later and no time to think about the woman who had driven him into the military. His shattered leg hurt something fierce and he’d been traveling for the better part of three days. It was time to go home.
And now he had a feeling things had probably changed at Wade Ranch—also known as home—more than he’d have anticipated. Never the optimist, he suspected that meant they’d gotten worse. Which was saying something, since he’d left in the first place because of the rift with his twin brother, Liam. No time like the present to get the cold welcome over with.
Wade Ranch’s land unrolled at exactly the ten-mile marker from Royal. At least that was still the same. Acres and acres of rocky, hilly countryside spread as far as Kyle could see. Huh. Reminded him of Afghanistan. Wouldn’t have thought there’d be any comparison, but there you go. A man could travel ten thousand miles and still wind up where he started. In more ways than one.
The gate wasn’t barred. His brother, Liam, was running a loose ship apparently. Their grandfather had died a while back and left the ranch to both brothers, but Kyle had never intended to claim his share. Yeah, it was a significant inheritance. But he didn’t want it. He wanted his team back and his life as a SEAL. An insurgent’s spray of bullets had guaranteed that would never happen. Even if Kyle hadn’t gotten shot, Cortez was gone and no amount of wishing or screaming at God could bring his friend and comrade-in-arms back to life.
Hadn’t stopped Kyle from trying.
Kyle drove up the winding lane to the main house, which had a new coat of paint. The white Victorian house had been lording over Wade land for a hundred years, but looked like Liam had done some renovation. The tire swing that had hung from the giant oak in the front yard was gone and a new porch rocker with room for two had been added.
Perfect. Kyle could sit there in that rocker and complain about how the coming rain was paining his joints. Maybe later he could get up a game of dominos at the VA with all of the other retired military men. Retired. They might as well call it dead.
When Kyle jumped from the cab of the truck he’d bought in California after the navy decided they were done with him, he hit the dusty ground at the wrong angle. Pain shot up his leg and it stole his breath for a moment. When a man couldn’t even get out of his own truck without harm, it was not a good day.
Yeah, he should be more careful. But then he’d have to admit something was wrong with this leg.
He sucked it up. The only easy day was yesterday. That mantra had gotten him through four tours of duty in the Middle East. Surely it could get him to the door of Wade Ranch.
It did. Barely. He knocked, but someone was already answering before the sound faded.
The moment the door swung open, Kyle stepped over the threshold and did a double take. Liam. His brother stood in the middle of the renovated foyer, glowering. He’d grown up and out in ten years. Kyle had, too, of course, but it was still a shock to see that his brother had changed from the picture he’d carried in his mind’s eye, even though their faces mostly matched.
Crack!
Agony exploded across Kyle’s jaw as his head snapped backward.
What in the... Had Liam just punched him?
Every nerve in Kyle’s body went on full alert, vibrating with tension as he reoriented and automatically began scanning both the threat of Liam and the perimeter simultaneously. The foyer was empty, save the two Wade brothers. And Liam wasn’t getting the drop on him twice.
“That’s for not calling,” Liam said succinctly and balled his fists as if he planned to go back for seconds.
“Nice to see you, too.”
Dang. Talking hurt. Kyle spit out a curse along with a trickle of blood that hit the hardwood floor an inch from Liam’s broken-in boot.
“Deadbeat. You have a lot of nerve showing up now. Get gone or there’s more where that came from.”
Liam clearly had no idea who he was tangling with.
“I don’t cater much to sucker punches,” Kyle drawled, and touched his lower lip, right above where the throb in his jaw hurt the worst. Blood came away with his finger. “Why don’t you try that again now that I’m paying attention?”
Liam shook his head wearily, his fists going slack. “Your face is as hard as your head. Why now? After all this time, why did you finally drag your sorry butt home?”
“Aww. Careful there, brother, or people might start thinking you missed me something fierce when you talk like that.”
Liam had another thirty seconds to explain why Kyle’s welcome home had included a fist. Liam had a crappy right hook, but it still hurt. If anything, Kyle was the one who should be throwing punches. After all, he was the one with the ax to grind. He was the one who had left Royal because of what Liam had done.
Or rather whom he’d done. Grace Haines. Liam had broken the most sacred of all brotherly bonds when he messed around with the woman Kyle loved. Afghanistan wasn’t far enough away to forget, but it was the farthest a newly minted SEAL could go after being deployed.
So he hadn’t forgotten. Or forgiven.
“I called your cell phone,” Liam said. “I called every navy outpost I could for two months straight. I left messages. I called about the messages. Figured that silence was enough of an answer.” Arm
s crossed, Liam looked down his nose at Kyle, which was a feat, given that they were the same height. “So I took steps to work through this mess you’ve left in my lap.”
Wait, he’d gotten punched over leaving the ranch in his brother’s capable hands? That was precious. Liam had loved Wade Ranch from the first, maybe even as early as the day their mother had dropped them off with Grandpa and never came back.
“You were always destined to run Wade Ranch,” Kyle said, and almost didn’t choke on it. “I didn’t dump it on you.”
Liam snorted. “Are you really that dense? I’m not talking about the ranch, moron. I’m talking about your kids.”
Kyle flinched involuntarily. “My...what?”
Kids? As in children?
“Yes, kids,” Liam enunciated, drawing out the i sound as if Kyle might catch his meaning better if the word had eighteen syllables. “Daughters. Twins. I don’t get why you waited to come home. You should have been here the moment you found out.”
“I’m finding out this moment,” Kyle muttered as his pulse kicked up, beating in his throat like a May hailstorm on a tin roof. “How...wha...”
His throat closed.
Twin daughters. And Liam thought they were his? Someone had made a huge mistake. Kyle didn’t have any children. Kyle didn’t want any children.
Liam was staring at him strangely. “You didn’t get my messages?”
“Geez, Liam. What was your first clue? I wasn’t sitting at a desk dodging your calls. I spent six months in...a bad place and then ended up in a worse place.”
From the city of Kunduz to Landstuhl Regional, the US-run military hospital in Germany. He didn’t remember a lot of it, but the incredible pain as the doctors worked to restore the bone a bullet had shattered in his leg—that he would never forget.
But he was one of the lucky ones who’d survived his wounds. Cortez hadn’t. Kyle still had nightmares about leaving his teammate behind in that foxhole where they’d been trapped by insurgents. Seemed wrong. Cortez should have had a proper send-off for his sacrifice.
Snowbound with the Boss Page 16