by Nora Roberts
I’ve ever loved. Ever will love.” Smooth as silk, he drew her close to let his lips play over hers. “I want to make promises to you, and for you to make them to me. I want more children with you. I want to be here when they grow inside you.”
“Oh, Luke.” If she hadn’t known better, she would have sworn she smelled orange blossoms. Marriage, she thought. It was so ordinary, so commonplace. So exciting. “Promise you’ll never, ever call me the little woman.”
“I’ll swear it in blood.”
“Okay.” She pressed a hand to her mouth, as if shocked the word had escaped. Then she laughed and said it again. “Okay. You’re on.”
“No pulling back,” he warned, lifting her up to spin her in a circle.
“I never welch.”
“Then the next time we’re onstage, it’ll be introducing Callahan, and his beautiful wife, Roxanne Nouvelle.”
“Not on your life.” She punched his shoulder when he dropped her to the ground.
“All right. Just Callahan and Nouvelle.” He arched a brow. “It’s alphabetical, Rox.”
“Nouvelle and Callahan. I’m the one who taught you your first card trick, remember?”
“You never let me forget. Deal.” He shook her hand formally. “Nate’s going to have himself two legally married parents and a dog. What more could a kid want?”
“It’s so conventional, it’s scary.” She combed a hand through her hair. “And about that dog—”
“Jake’s out walking him. Don’t worry. Mike hasn’t chewed up anything worth talking about for an hour. And don’t bother with that hard-ass line, Roxy. I saw you feeding him chocolate chip cookies this morning.”
“It was a plan. I figured if I fed him until he got fat, he wouldn’t be able to waddle upstairs and pee on the bedroom rug.”
“You scratched his ears, made kissy noises and let him lick your face.”
“It was a moment of insanity. But I’m feeling much better now.”
“Good, because there’s just one more thing.”
“Just one more.”
“Yeah. We’re giving up stealing.”
“We’re—” She really had no choice but to sit down. “Giving up?”
“Cold turkey.” He sat beside her. “I’ve given this a lot of thought, too. We’re parents now, and I’d like to make another baby as soon as possible. I don’t think you should be doing second-story work with a baby on board.”
“But—it’s what we do.”
“It’s what we did,” he corrected. “And we were the best. Let’s go out on top, Roxy. With Max, it was the end of an era. We’ve got to start our own. And Christ, what do we do if Nate does grow up to be a cop?” He was kissing her fingers again, and laughing. “He might arrest us. What kind of guilt is that to lay on a kid, sending up his own parents?”
“You’re being ridiculous. Children go through stages.”
“What did you want to be when you were four?”
“A magician,” she said on a sigh. “But to give it up, Callahan. Couldn’t we just . . . cut back?”
“It’s cleaner this way, Rox.” He patted her hand. “You know it is.”
“We’ll only steal from really rich men with red hair.”
“Bite the bullet, babe.”
Letting out a groan she sat back. “Married, starting a business and going straight all at once. I don’t know, Callahan. I may explode.”
“We’ll take it one day at a time.”
She knew he had her. The image of Nate, all three feet of him, wearing a badge and tearfully locking her behind bars was too much. “The next thing you’ll be telling me we should start doing kids’ birthday parties.” When he made no response, she sat bolt upright. “Oh God, Luke.”
“It’s not that bad. It’s just . . . well, the other day when I took Nate to nursery school, I sort of got into this conversation with his teacher. I guess I promised we’d do this little act for the Christmas party.”
There was silence for a full minute, then she began to laugh. She laughed until she had to hold her sides to keep her ribs intact. He was perfect, she realized. Absolutely perfect. And absolutely hers.
“I love you.” She surprised him by throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him hard and long. “I love who you turned out to be.”
“Same goes. Want to neck in the moonlight?”
“You bet I do.” She pressed a finger to his lips before they met hers. “One warning, Callahan. If you go out and buy a station wagon, I’m turning you into a frog.”
He kissed her finger, then her mouth, deciding he’d wait for a more opportune moment to mention the Buick he’d put a deposit on that morning.
As Max would have said, timing was everything.
