“Molly and Julian, you guys felt that love for each other before you could spell it. And I’m just glad you didn’t listen to me, Moo, when I filled your head with warnings and my own fears. I’m glad you listened to your heart.”
People clapped and drank, and Kate sat down only to hear Garrett’s sexy voice coming through the microphone next. “For the better part of my life I’ve thought it my duty to protect Molly from your claws, little bro.”
Julian threw back his head and let out a great peal of laughter, soon joined by all the other guests, and Garrett winked at Molly. “I got to be the ogre separating you two for years, for which I hope you won’t always hate me, Molly.”
“I forgive you if you finally kiss my sister!” Molly shot back, throwing him a white rose she’d plucked from the centerpiece.
Garrett caught it and laughed, then glanced at Kate and held it in the air, as if promising to give it to her. Tucking it into his pocket, he glanced back at the groom.
“There’s no denying that I got to be the voice of reason when Kate and Molly came into our lives, Jules. Because I knew better than you that we were both done for.”
He turned his attention to his new sister-in-law next. “Molly, my brother loves you more than anything in the world,” he told her, lifting his glass now. “And if you take care of my brother, I promise I will not only kiss your sister, but I will not rest until I make her my wife.”
The guests whooped and cheered, as Julian stood to slap him on the back and everyone seemed to glance at Kate for a moment. Their smiles almost pleaded with her not to be stupid and just snatch up this man for herself.
And she would.
Of course she would.
She knew Garrett would want an answer, but before she could give him anything, he would need to know that she was pregnant.
Oh, God. She was having his child, and he loved her. He. Loved. Her.
The hours sped by. Soon, they were served the artichoke hearts with a special tangy mustard sauce, a variety of meats, an assortment of vegetables and desserts to spare.
By the time Molly and Julian were ready for the first dance, Garrett made his way to Kate, and she rose to her feet, anticipation making her heart race. She didn’t know if she could postpone her answer until she had a chance to talk to him about the pregnancy. There was impatience etched across his features, as though he’d been waiting too long already to hear her acceptance and he wouldn’t wait anymore.
He would want an answer now—she could see it in his eyes. Eyes that wouldn’t stop staring at her.
* * *
Garrett’s heart crashed into his rib cage as he approached Kate, who looked so warm and inviting as she waited for him to get close.
He let his gaze drift down her body, taking in the perky breasts encased in that corset dress he’d seen her try on, the form-fitting fabric that hugged her shapely hips and the skirt that flared over her legs. She wore her hair loose. Long and wavy and so damned glossy it looked like satin, it tumbled past her shoulders. Feather earrings clung to her little ears. And her eyes...
When he looked up at her eyes and found them staring at him with shy vulnerability, he almost couldn’t take it, he wanted her so much.
He wanted these people gone, wanted her intimately, in his arms.
“Dance with me,” he said quietly as he gently pulled her into his arms. She hooked her arms underneath his, and her hands curved over his shoulders from behind as she pressed her body to him and tucked her face under his chin.
He closed his eyes and savored the feel of her as she drew an invisible pattern with her fingertips along his back. She moved fluidly against him, like she belonged in his arms.
His insides thrummed with impatience as he held one arm around her waist, then slowly reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the velvet Tiffany box. He clasped her left hand and slid the ring onto her finger, then lifted her hand so that she noticed the jewel as he kissed her knuckles, one by one.
He’d never been so impatient in his life.
He couldn’t understand how he’d waited to claim her for so long, for he couldn’t handle another second of wondering if she was still planning to move somewhere else.
“I need to hear you say yes,” he murmured, tucking her hand under his arm as he kissed her ear softly. Her hair caressed her shoulders as she angled her head backwards an inch or two, and she looked at him with those blue eyes, shining with tears and emotion.
I love you, she’d said.
He was burning to hear it again.
“Say it, Kate,” he pressed her, cupping the back of her head in one hand. Impatiently he fitted his lips to hers and hungrily searched inside her mouth for her response. When her tongue pushed back thirstily against him, she set him on fire. He splayed his hand at the small of her back and pressed her tightly to him as he dragged his mouth up to her ear. “Tell me yes.”
She grabbed his jaw and turned his head so she could whisper, “I need to tell you something first.”
He groaned, already burning with desire, needing to be with her. “Tell me after you’ve said yes.”
She smiled. “You’d take me anyway? Whatever I have to say?”
He shot her a solemn gaze. “Yes, Kate. I would. Tell me yes, and then tell me what you want to say to me.”
“Yes, I’ll marry you. We’re having a baby.”
He drew back, staring wordlessly. His astonishment was so complete, his disbelief so overwhelming, he wasn’t even breathing. “What baby?”
“Our baby, Garrett. We’re having a baby.”
“You’re pregnant,” he said, as if in a daze.
She bit her lower lip, her eyes shining with wariness and excitement and concern.
He shook his head to clear it, but it was full of one thought. Baby. Father. Parents. She’ll give me a child.... She loves me.... She’ll give me a baby....
“Kate...when were you going to tell me this? When?”
“I’m telling you now.”
“And you were still going to Florida without me?”
Kate wiped away her tears.
“Were you?” he demanded.
“No,” she admitted. “I’m not going anywhere. This is my home.”
He was shocked. Suddenly he bent and kissed her stomach. “You’re not joking me?”
“No. Molly’s pregnant, too, but don’t say anything.”
He straightened again and seized her by the shoulders. “Holy hell, you have to say yes now.”
“It was yes before, Garrett. It’s...always yes. I’ve dreamed this. I’ve wanted it for so long.”
He was reeling.
He looked at her and felt that same hot punch to his solar plexus. Then he pulled her back against him, infinitely closer.
He raised a languid hand to stroke the shell of her ear with the back of one curled finger. “Kate...” he murmured adoringly.
She gave him a smile, her eyes glowing. “Yes, Garrett?”
Jamming his fingers into her hair, he tipped her head back so she held his gaze. “God, we’ve wasted so much time, Kate.”
“You said you weren’t afraid. To love somebody.” She cupped his jaw. “I am. I was. I won’t be anymore. I’m going to love you like crazy if you let me.”
“I’ll not only let you, I’ll encourage you. I’ll do anything possible to make it true.” He stroked her belly with one hand, and her scalp with the other. “Have you gone to the doctor?”
“I was going to. I kept hoping Beth and Molly were wrong. That you wouldn’t marry Cassandra. And maybe...I’d try one more time to make you love me. Be honest with you this time. No more sneaky tactics to get your attention.”
“Kate, you couldn’t be sneaky if you tried.”
“Garrett, I didn’t want to trap yo
u into marriage, please know that.”
“I know, Freckles. You don’t need to tell me this. But didn’t you know? You trapped me with these ages ago....” He stroked her seven freckles that he adored, then let his finger drift down to the flesh of her lips. “Trapped. Caught. I hardly ever got to chase you and I know you wanted me to.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did.”
“All right then, I did.” She started running across the gardens, and for a stunned moment, he didn’t realize she was heading back to the bedroom where he’d just proposed. Then everything in him burst to action and he chased after her.
Eleven
Garrett drove them over to his apartment, and their excitement made the air crackle between them.
She loved how he’d chased her, and caught her. The crazy man had tickled her. They’d danced together, laughed, enjoyed each other. Kate had never felt so free or happy. Garrett had never looked so content, his face never faltering from the dazzling white smile that curled her toes and warmed her tummy.
Now he led her down the hall of his apartment, and her body was going crazy from wanting him.
Their footsteps were rushed as she tried unfastening her dress and Garrett tossed his tux jacket on the floor, then left a trail of clothing to his room—bowtie, shoes, socks, vest.
“I can’t wait,” he said as he jerked off his snowy-white shirt.
Kate was breathing in little pants at the sight of him bare-chested. He watched her struggle to unlace her dress from the back for a moment, then said, “Turn around, let me get that.”
His voice was gruff with desire, and her legs trembled as he got her dress undone. He eased the top half of her dress down to her waist, and then she caught her breath when his thumbs caressed her back in slow circles. She shuddered when he set a kiss at the nape of her neck as he started easing the dress off her hips, then splayed his hands over her rib cage and pressed her back against him before turning her around.
She wasn’t wearing a bra and she mewed softly when his hands covered her aching breasts. Then she tilted her face upward as his mouth searched for and found hers.
He teased her with his tongue and rubbed her nipples with his thumbs. His body rocked against her, and Kate couldn’t stand the agony.
“Garrett...”
All her emotions had spun and churned for days and weeks, and now she needed him inside her.
With her dress pooled at her ankles, he caressed his hands along the sides of her stockinged thighs. “Do you want me?” His low, erotically textured voice drove her insane.
“So much,” she gasped, pushing against him so she could feel how much he wanted her, the proof in the erection straining against his dress slacks.
“Do you love me?” He palmed her between her legs, where a pool of heat had already gathered at the apex.
“Like nothing in my life.”
He squeezed her sex in his palm. “I love you, Kate.” He dragged his tongue along her neck and down her shoulders as he hooked his fingers around the waistband of her stockings and tugged off the clinging material. He urged her onto the bench at the end of the bed as he removed them, and she sat and watched his dark head as he bent to tongue a wet path down her bare legs. Tingles of pleasure raced through her body. He tossed the stockings aside, and Kate edged back onto the bed, tossing away some of the decorative pillows as he unfastened his slacks and got naked.
He was beautifully masculine, tanned and hard, and swollen with desire for her.
“The last time I was with you has haunted me,” he whispered as he started lowering his body over hers, his arm muscles flexing. Swallowing with a little sound of need, she spread her thighs to welcome him and he settled between them, his urgency matching hers as their tongues tangled heatedly.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about it for a second, either,” she admitted, nipping his mouth, then kissing his jaw, anxious to claim him like he was claiming her.
He teased her breasts with his thumbs, then grazed the straining peaks with his teeth. She moaned, and he lapped her with his tongue to make her delirious.
“You like that, Freckles? You like my mouth all over you?”
“I love everything you do to me.”
He chuckled softly, his breath bathing her nipple tips as he mouthed her breasts, alternating from one to the other. He caressed them until she couldn’t wait and was pumping her body eagerly for his penetration.
He primed her with one finger, then two. “I’ll be careful with you,” he vowed, and kissed her lips. “And you.” He kissed her stomach, and Kate’s heart unwound like a ribbon when she realized he was talking to their unborn child. “Freckles, I wanted this. You. I wanted something of ours.”
“Then make me yours,” she whispered.
He gripped her hips and meshed his mouth to hers as he entered her. She arched up for his thrust, clutching him. “Garrett.”
He grabbed the sides of her thighs and kept them slightly raised as he inched deeper into her body. She tossed her head back with a grimace of pain that became absolute, exquisite pleasure when he was fully inside.
She was so turned on that every time he pulled out, her sex muscles clung to him, preventing him from leaving her. She wanted more of him, all of him, inside her.
She cried out when he started thrusting harder and deeper, and an explosion of colors rushed through her mind, stretching her nerve endings until they snapped and released. He growled and strained above her, and they rode out the pleasure together.
“That was amazing,” she gasped when Garrett rolled over to the side and pulled her up against him. “You’re so amazing.” She hugged him, and he returned her hug, his arms hot and tight around her.
He clasped the back of her head and stared meaningfully into her eyes. “Every night from now on I want you sleeping in my arms.”
“I’m not complaining.”
He adjusted her against him so that he was embracing her from behind and his hands were splayed on her stomach. He spoke close to her temple. “If he’s a boy, we’ll name him after our fathers. Jonathan David Gage. And a girl...you’ll drive me crazy if you give me a girl.”
“You’re the one giving it to me,” she laughingly answered, and he turned her face by the chin and brushed her freckles with his lips.
“Always so contrary, my Kate.”
“Garrett? Pinch me.” He pinched her bottom, and she squealed.
He chuckled, clearly liking it. “Ask me to pinch you again.”
“One’s enough. I’m convinced I’m not dreaming now.”
“You have a lovely bottom. If you let me pinch it again, I’ll kiss it afterward.”
She laughed. Feeling little tingles in her body, she nodded, and she felt the pinch that made her squeak, and then she felt his kiss, with tongue. It made her moan softly and cuddle back to him, wondering when she could have him again.
“Convinced it’s no dream?” he murmured, brushing her hair behind her forehead.
With a smile that almost hurt, she turned over and pressed her face into his chest and stroked her fingers absently across his nipples, growing thoughtful. “Now what was it you were saying about a half brother?”
“You’ll meet him soon,” he told her. “He looks like me, actually.”
“Wow, that good?”
He laughed. “Don’t even think about staring for a moment longer than necessary.”
“Why would I when I have you?” She tucked her head under his chin. “Why didn’t we know about him?”
“Mother didn’t want to know about him. But I think it’s time we set the past behind us, don’t you, Kate?”
“Yes, Garrett. I agree wholeheartedly.”
Twelve
Sitting on her front stoop, Kate spotted Garrett’s si
lver Audi turning around the corner and her smile widened. As soon as the car came to a stop, she started for the passenger door.
He couldn’t even get out, she got in so fast. “Hey,” she said.
His car smelled of him, of leather and spices, deliciously male, and it almost made her dizzy.
“Hey.” He reached out and squeezed her hand, bending over and kissing her lips softly. “You look good.”
She smiled. “So do you.”
Once they arrived at the clinic, Kate filled out the paperwork while Garrett sat, enormous in the little chair out in the waiting room, pulling and pulling at his tie. There were pictures of babies and pregnant women hanging on the walls, but he only had eyes for Kate as she walked back toward him.
Soon, they were led inside to the ultrasound room.
Kate was lying down patiently as the doctor came inside, greeted them and pulled up her robe. After the doctor smeared a cold gel on her stomach, a little blob appeared on the screen.
Garrett had been standing back, but now he approached, his eyes on the screen.
“There we go,” Dr. Lowry said.
Garrett peered at the screen, and Kate reached for his hand and squeezed, suddenly extremely excited. He squeezed back even harder, and smiled down at the screen.
“That noise you hear is the heartbeat,” the doctor explained.
They were both silent as they registered this. Then the doctor took some measurements, and estimated the date of conception to be...of course, the night she accosted Garrett in his bedroom when he was sick.
“Thank God for strep,” he said to himself, and his eyes glittered when he looked at her, as though that was the best thing that could have ever happened to him.
Sharing this with him was incredible. Irrevocable. She could feel the connection as they watched their child on that screen together.