Anne laughed as she swatted his arm playfully. “Not that, you oaf. Not yet.” She stopped laughing. “Although my present is related.”
He stared at her, brow knitted together. Her hand shook as she reached out and took his, then moved it to cover her belly.
“I’m having a baby, Rhys,” she whispered, tears springing to her eyes. “Right now your child grows inside of me. I’ve known for two weeks, but wanted to surprise you for the holiday. Yet seeing you tonight, loving you so much, I couldn’t wait another moment to share this with you.”
Rhys continued to stare, his mouth partly open as he felt the warmth of her body beneath his hand.
“A-a child?” he finally repeated.
She nodded. “I hope you are happy.”
With a shout of pleasure, Rhys swung her into his arms and spun around the parlor. “Happy! I am the happiest man in the country! A baby, Anne, great God that is good news!”
He set her down and looked into her face, which had softened with relief.
“Were you afraid I wouldn’t be happy?”
She shrugged. “I couldn’t help but remember when you said we should never have children to protect the Waverly line.”
He touched her face. “Darling, that was another life. Another man who said those terrible things. The Waverly line is perfectly protected by me, and if it is a son who is born, I’m sure he will be a good and decent duke. I couldn’t be happier. With this news and with you.”
Then he bent his head and kissed her once more.
About the Author Two of JENNA PETERSEN’s childhood dreams were to be a ballerina and a baseball player. Those didn’t work out, but she’s pleased to be following another childhood dream, writing books for a living. And what better than romance, where dreams come true on every page? Jenna lives in central Illinois with her high school sweetheart husband and two taskmaster cats. She loves to hear from readers. Her website is www.jennapetersen.com.
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Romances by Jenna Petersen THE UNCLAIMED DUCHESS
WHAT THE DUKE DESIRES
HER NOTORIOUS VISCOUNT
LESSONS FROM A COURTESAN
SEDUCTION IS FOREVER
DESIRE NEVER DIES
FROM LONDON WITH LOVE
SCANDALOUS
Copyright This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE UNCLAIMED DUCHESS. Copyright © 2010 by Jesse Petersen. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
First Avon Books paperback printing: September 2010
EPub Edition © July 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-200886-2
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