“I should take you out some night, and you can wear this dress again.” His hands touched her bare back. “We’d need a sitter.”
“Annie volunteered to host a sleepover next weekend.” She trailed her fingers along his jawline. “The girls would love that and so would we.”
“Even better,” he whispered, brushing his lips against hers. He sunk into the kiss, into her warmth and love, losing any sense of time until the treehouse door whipped open.
“Showtime,” Paige announced in a loud voice.
“Of course,” Cora responded, breaking the kiss, but keeping his hand in hers. “I can’t wait to see what you’ve created.”
“Come and sit.” Paige pointed to the sofa.
“It looks so lovely,” Cora complimented the staging.
William had helped them build a little platform at the end of the room and he’d hung the curtains they’d taken from the dining room windows for their stage. The girls had even prepared a snack of cheese and crackers that they left on a table. William had added two glasses of wine to set the right mood.
“A Musical Review by Paige, Melody, and Haley Lawrence,” Paige announced before disappearing into the playroom of the treehouse. The triplets came out together, dressed in their Princess Halloween costumes and sang selections from their favorite movies. They didn’t always stay on beat or on pitch together and sometimes the lyrics got muddled, but William and Cora applauded loudly, whistling and shouting for more when they were done. The girls bowed, taking their curtain call.
“And now for Act II,” Melody declared, and they all disappeared into the playroom.
“What’s Act II?” Cora asked him quietly as she leaned against his side.
“I’m not telling,” William said, content to wait. He had his arm around Cora’s shoulders and three precocious children that he’d begun to think of as his own waiting to entertain them. He didn’t know if he deserved this much in life, but he’d take it. Every minute of it.
“Here they come,” Cora said, her voice excited. The girls barreled through the door, two in puppy costumes and one dressed as a boy in overalls and a straw hat. “Where did you get those clothes?” she whispered to William.
“Ben leant them to me.” He and Cora had become good friends with Ben and his wife in the past months.
“You have been sneaky,” Cora observed and turned her attention to the skit that told the story of one good dog, played by Haley, one bad dog Paige, and the little boy Melody who wanted them all to be friends. Early in the play, the bad dog ran away and hid from the others. After much searching and calling for him, he was found sleeping under a potted palm the girls had borrowed from the living room. The three returned home to be together. The skit ended with the triplets, playing their respective parts, hugging each other.
William saw a tear in Cora’s eyes when it was over, while she was applauding. She jumped to her feet to congratulate the performers.
“There’s one more act,” William said, catching Cora mid-stride as she moved to hug the girls. She turned to him.
Behind Cora’s back, Melody frantically shook her head at William and mouthed “that’s it.”
“One more.” He took Cora’s hand and led her back to the sofa. “You wait here. Girls, I need your help, but you’ve got to change costumes again.” He went through the door to the playroom and gathered the girls to him. “I have one more role for you to play tonight. No squealing now when I say what it is. I don’t want to give anything away.” He looked at each one, waiting for them to nod their understanding.
He took a breath and said in a low voice. “I’m going to need three flower girls for a proposal scene.”
Melody, the romantic of the bunch, bounced up on her toes, catching on first to where he was going with this. The others were right behind her. Haley had to clap her hands over her mouth to keep her excitement in.
“Can we be real—” Paige couldn’t contain herself.
“Shush!” Her sisters said together.
“Yes,” William whispered. “You can be flower girls at the wedding, but I need your help to propose, so put your Princess outfits back on.”
They hurried, quickly removing their other costumes and helping each other wiggle into the fancy dresses. William did up zippers and tied bows for them, something he couldn’t have imagined himself doing before.
“We’re ready,” Paige declared.
“Not quite.” William took down a box he’d left in the room earlier that day. He removed three crown-style wreaths he’d picked up at the florist. He hadn’t known exactly what to get, but he’d described the girls and what he wanted to do, and the florist had taken it from there.
“So pretty,” Haley breathed. The wreaths had pink and white rosebuds with long ribbons to trail down the girls’ backs.
William placed one on each girls’ head before taking a dozen long stemmed red roses for Cora from the box. His propensity for making plans was paying off. He’d thought it all through. Now, all he had to do was enact it. “Go out one at a time, walk slowly like you see flower girls do in the movies, and stand next to Cora. I’ll come last. Ready?”
He opened the door, gesturing to Paige to go first, knowing she could put on a show. She placed her hands in front of her and held up her head.
“What’s this?” Cora exclaimed as Paige walked toward her, but the girl had buttoned up her lips and would only smile.
Melody went next, making an almost graceful curtsy when she reached Cora. Those dance classes were paying off, William chuckled. He had to give Haley a little nudge out the door, but her smile was as wide as the other girls as she made her way toward Cora.
Cora had risen, and the three girls formed a semi-circle around her. They all turned to look as he entered the room.
“Oh,” Cora gasped, seeing the roses and the small blue velvet box he’d pulled from his pocket. “Oh, my!”
The girls parted enough to let him near her. He dropped to one knee in front of Cora, offering her the roses. She took them, her eyes bright as they met his. He flipped open the box, revealing the engagement ring he’d purchased and got a collective “aahh” from the triplets.
“Melody, Haley, and Paige,” he addressed the girls first. “I love you so much, and I want to officially be your family. Will you let me?” Technically, he was still one of their guardians, but he wanted to be a father to them as well.
After a quick glance between them, they said “yes” collectively as though he’d coached them. He gave each a kiss on the cheek, watching Haley blush a deep rose color.
“Cora,” he took the hand she held out to him. He’d expected to feel nervous at that moment, but the nerves left when he realized this was where he was meant to be. “That just leaves you. I never thought I wanted love or a family, and I certainly never thought I’d find them, but I have. I love you more than I ever thought possible, and I never want to leave your side again. Will you be my wife so we can make this family complete? Cora, will you marry me?”
“Yes, and yes,” she breathed as he raised her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it.
“May I put the ring on you?” he asked.
She nodded, tears in her eyes, as he slipped the diamond solitaire onto her ring finger.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, and the girls leaned in to look. “What do you think?” She held her hand so they could see the ring clearly.
“Perfect,” Paige and Melody said together.
“So pretty,” Haley added.
William looked at his girls, all of them, and felt a rush of emotion. They were his and always would be. Before he could get too caught up in his thoughts, Cora pulled him to his feet and stepped closer to him, the roses caught between their bodies.
“I think my flower girls are going to have to hold these for me.” She handed four roses to each girl until her hands were free. Then, her arms went around his waist and she tilted her face to his.
“I love you more every day,” she said wit
h a smile.
“So long as you love me forever.” William kissed her as the girls joined arms and circled around them.
End of The SEAL’s Unexpected Triplets
Do you love sexy, protective Navy SEALs? Then please keep reading for previews from, The SEAL’s Baby Deal and my 99c book The SEAL’s Baby Arrangement.
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About Katie
It isn’t a big surprise Katie Knight ended up writing romances about the stellar, studdly men of the Navy SEALs; after all, she was a K-9 trainer for the SEALs and met her own Navy SEAL hero husband while preparing one of their K-9 partners for combat. A few years after their marriage, her and hubby decided to retire with their K-9 partner, Sam, to raise their children in the Midwest. It wasn’t long after that before Katie decided to write her own stories featuring the men of the SEAL teams and the women who love them.
When not imagining dangerously romantic scenarios for her heroes and their feisty heroines, Katie enjoys hikes with her husband and Sam, spending time with her children, and long runs (on and off the beach).
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BLURB
Navy SEAL David Hettinger has never wanted kids—not with his job…and not with a past that has shown love isn’t for him. But when his lifelong best friend, Eleanor Thornton, shows up looking gorgeous and asking for a big favor, he’ll have to rethink his stance on playing Baby Daddy.
Wildlife photographer Ele knows she wants a baby—romantic partner not included. A heartbreaking marriage and messy divorce have her convinced that a traditional family is not for her. And who better to make a no-strings-attached baby with than her BFF David? He has zero interest in parenthood or a serious relationship. Besides, she’s always wondered what it would feel like to be wrapped up in those sexy, alpha male arms…
When their babymaking soon leads to a positive pregnancy test, David and Ele are each secretly disappointed that their contracted time is cut short. Especially after David is deployed, leaving Ele to give birth to their daughter on her own. Its only when she reunites with David while on assignment in the African rainforest that their passion that never went away is reignited. But when the area is gripped by a dangerous insurgency, all of David’s fears about getting too close come rushing back. How can he possibly have a future with Ele when he can’t guarantee they’ll survive the day?
Love is life’s greatest adventure in this sizzling SEAL romantic suspense from Katie Knight!
Grab your copy of The SEAL’s Baby Deal
Available February 20, 2020
www.LeslieNorthBooks.com
* * *
EXCERPT
Chapter one
“Here’s a pen, Sergeant Hettinger,” the attorney said. “Just sign on the dotted line to make it official.”
David blinked at the ballpoint held out to him for a moment before glancing at the woman beside him at the table. He’d known Eleanor Thornton since they’d both been five years old. Twenty-five years later, they were still best friends. They’d laughed together, played together, had more than one unfortunate camping adventure together.
Now, if he signed this contract, they’d be making a baby together.
Lord help him, he wasn’t sure if he was ready for this. True, Ele would do the raising—the paperwork he was about to sign was very clear about that—but he still worried they were rushing this decision. Even though he and Ele wouldn’t be bringing their child up together, this would still change everything between them, wouldn’t it? A tiny frisson of icy fear shivered through him, prompting him to turn to Ele and ask one last time, “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes. Absolutely,” she said, without hesitation. She’d lost weight, he noticed, since the last time he’d seen her. Then again, that had been over a year prior, so of course she’d changed. That’s what people did, right? Physically, her cheekbones were more prominent now, as was that tiny hollow at the base of her throat. Her eyes were the same though. Bottle green and way too perceptive, like she could see into his soul. Those soft curves of hers were still the same too. Plump and perfect and just begging for his hands to cup and hold and caress.
Not that he was going there. Sure, obviously they’d be doing the deed to make the kid and all, but he planned to keep things as…well, clinical wasn’t the right word either. Ugh. He just didn’t want the sex interfering with their friendship, that was all.
So, to get through this deal, he needed to stick to their agreement and keep his head on straight. Never mind that he’d been secretly crushing on Ele since they’d been kids. Nope. If there was one lesson he’d learned well from his parents, it was that when it came to matters of the heart, giving was much more important than receiving—meaning unless you earned love or deserved it, then you absolutely should not be taking it in from anyone. And, well, since David hadn’t done anything to earn or deserve love from Ele, he needed to steer clear of any feelings like that toward her.
Besides, what they had was great. Friendship, affection, camaraderie.
No messy emotions. No heartbreak. No strings attached.
Which, in theory, should’ve made this whole contract thing a plum assignment for David. He’d get a few nights of sex with the woman of his dreams to accomplish the baby-making deed, then he could race off to his next SEAL mission without looking back. He could work his desire for his best friend out of his system and then have plenty of time to pull himself together before they crossed paths again.
Now, if you would’ve polled the other single, straight, red-blooded guys on David’s SEAL team, the answer should’ve been a no-brainer. But, as usual, David was overthinking it all, like he always did. And sure, his talent for analyzing information to death came in handy at work, since his specialty was intelligence gathering and vetting. But his peculiar talents had always been both a blessing and a curse. An eye for details and a tendency to listen to others rather than putting himself forward made him an excellent soldier and a good friend to have. But they also made him tend to be more introverted when it came to things beyond logic. Things like expressing his own wants and needs.
He tapped the tip of the pen against the contract paperwork and reminded himself that this wasn’t about him—it was about Ele.
Ele had never really asked him for anything during all their years of friendship. She’d remained loyal to him through thick and thin, showering him with love and support through all the obstacles he’d faced. Now, for the first time, she needed something from him. Didn’t that mean he was obligated to sign this contract?
Plus, if he kept focusing on it as his duty, then maybe he could convince himself that’s all it was.
“David? Seriously,” Ele said, jarring him out of his thoughts. “Please sign the contract so we can all get out of here.” She gave him a pointed look. “I’m sure Mr. Swinhart has a busy schedule today.”
The attorney nodded slightly, watching him from behind his desk with all the warmth of a dead carp. “Yes. Time is money, Sergeant Hettinger. Everything in the contract is straightforward, just as we discussed. You supply Ms. Thornton with y
our… donation. And once a viable pregnancy is in place, your part is over.”
“Uh, right.” He glanced between the two of them before frowning down at the documents again.
Just sign the stupid thing already. You know it’s the right thing to do. You owe Ele for all she’s done for you. It’s the least you can do for her after all she’s given you.
David had never really longed for kids. He’d been too busy building his career in the military. He’d always figured he’d have children someday, in the distant future, maybe.
Ele, on the other hand, had always wanted to be a mom. And while he totally understood why she hadn’t had kids with her asshole ex-husband—there had been no time for a baby when she was busy getting bullied by her giant, whiny infant of a spouse—it had been eight blessed years since she’d kicked Jack the Hack to the curb. During that time, he’d always expected her to find someone new.
But she’d insisted that after twenty-four months in purgatory married to Mr. Wrong, she was too tired to search for Mr. Right again. She’d spent the years since the divorce building up her business, flying all over the world as a freelance photographer. But the big thirtieth birthday knocking at the door must have made her shift her priorities and decide that now was the time—and that David was the man she wanted to make the baby with. She said she’d already known that David was compatible with her in all the ways that mattered—background, beliefs, personality. She’d insisted making a baby with him was the perfect solution her loneliness problem. He’d been so blindsided at the time that he’d dumbly agreed to everything, without really considering the ramifications of his decision. And now, with Ele and the attorney both watching him like hawks, it was too late to back out.
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