by Hart, Lane
Before I can find her, I get pelted with somethin’ soft on my back. What the fuck?
Turnin’ around, I barely raise my arm in front of my face before I’m bombarded with objects flyin’ at me from all directions. There’s no booin’ from the crowd, only cheers, so it doesn’t make sense why they’re throwin’ shit at me. I look down at the ground and see whatever they’re throwin’ pilin’ up in a puddle around my feet. My legs give out and I hit my knees when I finally realize exactly what’s rainin’ down on me.
Strugglin’ to see through blurry eyes, I scoop up several small balls of cotton with a shaky gloved hand to look closer at them. Undoin’ a blue bundle first and then a pink and yellow set just to be sure, I’m left holdin’ six tiny baby socks in the palm of my hand.
Claire’s pregnant.
I’m gonna be a father.
My heart swells in my chest when I look up, out into the crowd again, but can’t find her. There are a million questions runnin’ through my mind that I need to ask her. Is she okay with all this? We’ve only been married for six months, and haven’t agreed to start a family. Claire just finished her second semester at NC State majorin’ in art education. Oh shit, will she have to drop out? I know how important gettin’ this degree is to her, because of her sister. Claire wants to share her love of art with patients in rehab facilities, teachin’ it as a form of emotional healing and relaxation technique to maybe help them stay clean. Of course I think it’s an amazin’ idea, but I start to panic that this might be a repeat of history.
Gettin’ to my unsteady feet, I spin around toward the cage door to go find Claire right as she collides into my chest. I wrap my arms around her to keep her upright, even though I’m still feelin’ off balance from this new, heavy weight I’m still clutching tightly in my hand.
“We’re havin’ a baby?” I ask against her ear, to be heard over the loud cheerin’ crowd.
“Yes,” she says, pullin’ back to flash me a smile and give a nod of confirmation. “Surprise!”
I cup her face with my empty palm and start firing questions as I look her over from head to toe. “Are you okay? Is the baby okay? How long have you known? When are you due? Are you okay?”
“Yes. Yes, as far as I know. Two days. August twenty-fifth, and you asked the last one twice but the answer is still yes, I’m definitely okay. More than okay.”
“You are? But what about school and we just got married—”
Claire stands on the toes of her red heels and kisses me to interrupt my interrogation. When she eventually retreats she says, “I can keep taking classes until next fall when the baby’s born, then I’ll just take a break until I decide to go back. It’ll be fine.” Reachin’ down, she removes my closed fist from her waist. After she turns it over, I open it for her and she starts pairin’ up all the tiny socks again. Once her task is finished, she looks around at the sea of yellow, pink and blue cotton surrounding us before lifting her wide, worried eyes back up to mine.“Are you okay? I shouldn’t have sprung it on you like this, on Thomas’s birthday, should I?” she asks, bitin’ her bottom lip.
“Oh baby, I’m great, ecstatic even,” I assure her, kissin’ her so she’ll stop chewin’ on her lip in unwarranted concern. Of course I can’t prevent the achin’ anxiety in my chest at the thought of losin’ another son or a daughter. But this time…I just have a good feelin’ that everything is gonna be fine. “I loved the surprise. I love you more than anything. Him or her, too.” Reachin’ down, I rub a gloved palm over her lower belly. It doesn’t feel any different yet, which sucks because I can’t wait to see and feel the proof that she’s really havin’ my baby. “Are you absolutely sure?” I can’t help but ask.
“I’m sure.” She laughs. “I took five tests. Now, there are a few thousand people who want to congratulate you, and then you can take me home so we can celebrate starting a family.”
“God, I can’t wait,” I tell her with another longer, lingerin’ kiss until a thought hits me. “We should probably go ahead and make up a new story about how we met.”
“Yeah,” she agrees with a sigh, runnin’ her palms down my chest. “Once upon a time, your daddy paid a lot of money for your mommy to dance naked for him in the back room of a strip club because he thought she was a porn star may be the beginning of my fairytale, but it should never, ever be retold to our children.” I can’t help my own chuckle when she giggles sweetly. “At least we got our happy ending, right?”
“I wouldn’t call this a happy ending,” I tell her.
“You-you wouldn’t?” she asks, blinkin’ beautiful, watery blue eyes up at me in confusion.
“Nope,” I tell her as I stoop down and pick her up, literally sweepin’ her off her feet. Claire yelps in surprise but then quickly throws her arms around my neck. “This is more like, hold on tight, baby, we’re just gettin’ started.”
The End
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If you don’t want to leave a review, you can also pre-order Mace now at Amazon and check out the synopsis below! His story takes place before the epilogue in Linc, during the week of Claire and Linc’s beach wedding.
~ Mace ~
I fell for Hailey the moment I laid eyes on her, before I knew about the three King Kong size battles I would have to fight to be with her.
By the time Linc warned me that his gorgeous sister with legs a mile long was off limits and “emotionally fragile,” it was too late. There was no turning back.
Then there’s my friend Senn, who had a one-night stand with Hailey. He’s trying his best to get a repeat performance during the week of Claire and Linc’s wedding. Sorry buddy, bros might come before hoes, but they don’t come before sweet southern belles.
And last but not least, the IFC insists that if I want a million dollar contract and a championship title fight then I need to keep up my playboy image to fuel all the female fans' filthy fantasies.
But for Hailey, I’ll do whatever it takes to make her mine.
~ Hailey ~
Smooth talkin’, sexier than sin, Mason Reed came out of nowhere and stole my heart, despite his inappropriate obsession with my panties. I’m not supposed to fall for the “little” brother of my soon to be sister-in-law, or be fantasizin' about lickin’ every inch of his tattoos the week of her and Linc’s wedding.
Mason’s seven years younger than me, and infamous for his so called “harem.” His fight intro song is actually a tribute to his magical…well, it rhymes with rock. Not only will he likely end up hurtin’ me, but he’s also…rock blockin' Senn, my former hot fling.
After I find out just how close Mason is to landin’ a huge IFC contract if he keeps performin' his magic tricks for all the ladies, I refuse to let him give it all up for me.
I had no idea how much I would miss him or how much it would hurt when I finally succeeded in pushin' him away
ALSO AVAILABLE FROM LANE HART
The Gambling with Love Series
All In: Double or Nothing
All In: Betting on a Full House
All In: Calling His Bluff
All In: Playing the Fool
All In: Playing to Win
All In: Paying to Play
All In: Raising the Stakes
Bound by Blood Paranormal Romance Series
Blood Drive
Blood Ties
Blood Loss
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times bestselling author Lane Hart was born and raised in North Carolina. She continues to live in the south with her husband, two daughters, and several pets named after Star Wars characters.
When Lane's not writing or reading sexy novels, she can be found in the sum
mer on the beaches of the east coast, and in the fall watching football, cheering on the Carolina Panthers.
Connect with Lane:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WritingfromHart
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lanehartbooks
Website: http://www.lanehartbooks.com
