by J. S. Scott
“Then how did she get pregnant?”
I was assuming he’d done it in the normal way, but I didn’t want to go there with my brother.
“It just happened. I guess it was possible, but highly unlikely. We’ve talked about adopting. We didn’t expect this to happen.”
“Congratulations,” I said as I clapped him on the back. “But you don’t seem happy.”
“I’m fucking terrified,” Blake confessed. “Everything is normal so far, but anything could happen. She lost a baby after we separated over ten years ago. My child. Our child.”
I knew women gave birth every day, but the whole situation seemed a little frightening to me, too. Hell, I didn’t know how I’d be feeling if Dani was pregnant. Someday, I’d probably find out, but I was glad right now that I wasn’t in Blake’s shoes.
“I’m sorry,” I told my twin in a hoarse voice.
I was sad that I’d lost a niece or nephew, and that Blake had lost a child.
“Thanks,” he said, his attention drawn away by an oversized candy bar. “I know it’s a good thing, but I’m afraid something might happen again.”
That sounded like a legitimate concern. “Is the pregnancy high-risk?”
“Not really,” he told me. “Everything is going well. I don’t want to tell Harper that I’m a wreck. We promised we’d focus on the positive, and she needs that right now.”
Blake and I had gotten closer over the last few months, so it wasn’t unusual for me to answer, “Then focus on the fact that you’re going to have a baby, and try to forget about something you can’t control.”
Easy for me to say, but I understood what loving someone as much as Blake and I loved our wives could do to a guy. Knowing his wife was pregnant and that she’d previously lost a child was probably eating Blake up inside.
“I’m happy,” Blake said in a decidedly unhappy voice. “I just wish the pregnancy part was over.”
I picked up a box of Dani’s favorite candy and held onto it while I followed my brother around the store. “Are you going to buy something?”
Blake startled like I’d just woke him up. “Yeah,” he said absently as he picked out a couple of different boxes and we moved toward the register to pay.
“How long until it’s over?” I asked curiously as I paid for my purchase.
“Six months, twenty days, and about twelve hours until her due date,” Blake said, stepping up to pay for his candy.
Poor bastard. He’ll crack. He’ll never make it that long.
We wandered toward the café next door after we were finished, neither one of us in a hurry since we were running ahead of schedule.
I didn’t have words to make Blake feel better. I knew from experience that his anxiety wasn’t going to pass until Harper delivered a healthy baby. “It will be okay,” I finally said in a tone that I hoped was some kind of a voice of reason. “If it’s not high-risk, the chances are excellent that she’ll get through it just fine.”
“I know. But I’ll be worried until she’s delivered,” Blake said as he looked at his watch. “What do you think our women are doing?” he questioned.
“Probably in the children’s store,” I guessed.
Blake suddenly grinned. “Highly likely,” he agreed. “Harper is buying things for the baby already.”
For a moment, I saw Blake’s apprehension dissolve as he became focused on the pleasant parts of having a child.
He looked…happy.
Maybe I hadn’t understood his desire to marry before, but now that Dani was my wife, I was living in the same kind of “happiness bubble” as my other brothers and Chloe.
Not that everything was perfect between Dani and I. Putting two hard-headed individuals together for a lifetime meant there were going to be some disagreements, but I’d decided a long time ago that I’d rather fight with her than screw any other female.
Besides, there was always the makeup sex. Now that was worth the occasional fight.
Honestly, I knew I was an asshole, and she was still my angel—even when we disagreed. Just the fact that she’d been willing to take my ass on for the rest of her life had been a goddamn miracle.
I’d married her soon after I’d gotten a ring on her finger. Having a family as big as mine all in the same area had helped us say our vows within a few weeks, my mother and the rest of the family doing their share to help Dani and I pull off a nice wedding in record time.
Blake and I were nearly to the restaurant when we were greeted by the sight of our wives coming down the sidewalk toward us.
I watched Dani laugh at something Harper had said, her face lit up by the happiness she’d found here with our families. She was extremely tight with her sister, and had become close to all of the Colter women.
I got together with my brothers on a regular basis. Blake and I were more like twins again, and we’d probably always have that certain affinity with each other now that we were together more often. He traveled back and forth to Washington, DC for his Senate duties, but we saw each other often enough.
“She’s so fucking beautiful,” I muttered as I watched her and Harper get closer.
“They both are,” Blake corrected.
Dani was still in counseling, but I knew she was getting more confident and sassy every single day. Not that she hadn’t always been audacious, but little by little, I saw less and less of the haunted look she’d once had in her eyes.
She was still writing, and she’d even done some special interest pieces in the local newspaper. If something could be argued, my wife would do it with gusto, whether it was a regional issue or relevant to the entire world. Regardless of where she was publishing one of her articles, she put her whole damn heart into every single issue she wrote about.
Dani finally looked up, and our eyes were immediately drawn to each other. Hell, I swore that I had a homing beacon that would always lead me directly to her.
My heart started to accelerate as she smiled at me, beaming with a beautiful bright light that I always associated with her jubilant grin.
Jesus Christ! How did I get lucky enough to get a woman who loves me as much as I love her?
She increased her stride, and I caught her as she careened into my chest. My arms wrapped around her tightly, and of course, my dick responded accordingly. There was no way I could smell her sweet scent without my cock going into the completely ready mode.
“I love you,” Dani said in a breathless voice as she pulled back and gave me a short, affectionate kiss.
“I love you, too,” I answered in a husky voice. I doubted there would ever be a time when I could hear those three little words from her without feeling like I had a ten-pound lump in my throat.
“Harper is going to have a baby,” she announced happily. “I’m so excited. We’re going to have a niece or nephew.”
I shot a grin at Blake and Harper, who had just finished their own intimate greeting. “I heard. Congratulations, Harper.”
Harper smiled at me. “Thanks. Now if I could just keep Blake from worrying.”
“It will never happen,” I told my sister-in-law bluntly.
“Nothing wrong with wishful thinking,” Harper replied, placing a kiss on her husband’s cheek. “Dani is going to throw me a baby shower.”
“Why?” Blake asked, sounding genuinely confused. “I thought those were held just for gifts. We’re rich. You can buy whatever you want.”
I shook my head. Obviously my twin hadn’t quite figured out women yet. “There is usually junk food and cake,” I explained. “And it’s the perfect opportunity for women to get together and complain about us.”
Dani gave me a playful shove. “That’s not the only reason. Being pregnant is a big deal, and it’s a celebration.”
Really, for Harper, the pregnancy was a miracle, and she had more to celebrate than many other women. I’d been teasing my brother and Dani, but I was really delighted for my brother and Harper.
“Then we’ll make it a real party,” I agr
eed happily. “Chocolate cake?”
“Of course,” both Dani and Harper answered at the same time.
I grinned at my wife and handed over the bag of chocolate. “Maybe this will tide you over until we can order the cake.”
She snatched the bag and held it to her chest. “Oh, God, Marcus, this is one of the reasons I love you so much,” Dani exclaimed.
I put my arm around her waist, following behind my brother and Harper as we all made our way to the café.
“You love me because I bought you chocolate?” I asked jokingly.
“No. I love you because even when we aren’t together, you’re thinking of me. It’s the little things you do that make me love you so much.”
“But buying your wife a box of sweets while you’re already in the store isn’t very romantic,” I drawled.
“I don’t agree,” she answered fiercely. “It’s very romantic.”
“If you say so,” I replied skeptically.
She opened the bag and squealed happily. “Okay. This chocolatier is fantastic,” she said enthusiastically. “This is amazing melted and warm. I love putting it on ice cream, but I have a better plan for it tonight.”
I let out a startled cough. “And what would your plan be?”
“I’ll surprise you.”
I already had visions of us naked and Dani licking chocolate off one particular part of my body that already adored her. “I can’t wait. Are you really hungry?”
“I’m starving,” she answered cheerfully.
I’m fucked!
“But I can eat fast,” she added teasingly.
“Take your time.” I didn’t want her to have to choke her food down just because she had a horny husband.
“I’ll make sure it’s worth waiting for,” she answered in a seductive tone that always made me crazy.
I knew she’d make it worth crawling through hell for, which made it that much more difficult to delay the gratification.
We stopped our banter as we arrived at the café behind my brother and Harper.
Dani did indeed eat fast, but so did Harper and Blake, which made me wonder if they had a similar arrangement to mine and Dani’s.
I inhaled my own food so fast that I hardly tasted it. Hell, what guy wouldn’t when he knew that he was going to spend his evening in a state of unimaginable pleasure?
At the end of the meal, I pulled Dani out of our booth, dumping the check on my brother as we made our escape, citing a previous engagement.
“With who?” Blake asked skeptically.
“None of your business,” I grumbled.
Blake snorted, but he picked up the tab so Dani and I could escape.
Someday, I’d pay him back by picking up lunches or dinners together, but my mind was set on one person only right at that moment.
When we were finally in my vehicle and driving away from Main Street, I heard Dani sigh as she said, “Take me home, Marcus.”
Hell, I couldn’t drive fast enough. Her words made me feel like I’d been sucker-punched in the gut.
My house had actually become home to both of us, a mixture of old and new, hers and mine, and a place where I wanted to be all the time just because Dani was there with me.
I thought about my brothers and my sister, Chloe, each one of us finding love—one right after the other. Since I was the oldest, it really should have been me to settle down first. But I wasn’t complaining. It had taken a special woman to put up with my ornery ass, and Danica had been well worth the wait!
~The End~
Jett & Ruby's Story, Billionaire Unloved is now available for pre-order
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Thanks a million times to my readers. The Billionaire’s Obsession series is on Book 11, and keeps getting more fun to write with every new couple. Thank you for loving my quirky, powerful, and sometimes very alpha billionaires.
I adore you all for letting me continue to do what I love so much as a day job!!
Xxx Jan
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Books by J. S. Scott:
The Billionaire’s Obsession Series:
The Billionaire’s Obsession
Heart Of The Billionaire
The Billionaire’s Salvation
The Billionaire’s Game
Billionaire Undone
Billionaire Unmasked
Billionaire Untamed
Billionaire Unbound
Billionaire Undaunted
Billionaire Unknown
Billionaire Unveiled
Billionaire Unloved
The Sinclairs:
The Billionaire’s Christmas
No Ordinary Billionaire
The Forbidden Billionaire
The Billionaire’s Touch
The Billionaire’s Voice
The Billionaire Takes All
The Billionaire’s Secrets
The Walker Brothers:
Release!
Player!
A Dark Horse Novel:
Bound
Hacked
The Vampire Coalition Series:
The Vampire Coalition: The Complete Collection
Ethan’s Mate
Rory’s Mate
Nathan’s Mate
Liam’s Mate
Daric’s Mate
The Sentinel Demons:
The Sentinel Demons: The Complete Collection
A Dangerous Bargain
A Dangerous Hunger
A Dangerous Fury
A Dangerous Demon King
The Curve Collection: Big Girls And Bad Boys
The Changeling Encounters Collection
Come Away With Me
The Andrades
Ruth Cardello
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Copyright
Come Away With Me
Copyright © 2014 by Ruth Cardello
Kindle Edition
An original work of Ruth Cardello.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, events, business establishments or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover art provided by Gilded Heart Design
www.gildedheartdesign.com
Dedication
I am so grateful to everyone who was part of the process of creating Come Away with Me. Thank you to:
Christy Carlyle at The Gilded Heart Design for my new cover.
My very patient beta readers: Luci Hurd, Yeu Khun, Karen Lawson, Renita Lofton McKinney and Cynthia Pak.
My editors: Karen Lawson, Janet Hitchcock, Nina Pearlman, and Margaret Rainforth.
My three year old daughter who feels that she’s helping when she sits on my lap while I review edits. Although she doesn’t understand a comma’s function, she’s sure I need more of them.
Melanie Hanna, for
helping me organize the business side of publishing.
My Roadies for making me smile each day when I log on my computer.
Thank you to my husband, Tony, who listens to the story so many times he dreams about the characters.
To my niece, Danielle Stewart, for joining me in self-publishing and brainstorming with me along the way. Always better together.
A Note to My Readers
The Andrade family has had a special place in my heart since they first appeared in For Love or Legacy. I’m the youngest of eleven children. Although we didn’t have money, I based the Andrades on what it was like for me to grow up with so many relatives.
My parents are no longer with us, but they were happily married for almost sixty years. My mother was the storyteller in our family. She was notoriously funny. My father was much more reserved, but he loved her sense of humor. Even when they were in their eighties, if my mother told a joke, my father would look on with a smile.
Our dining room table was a long L-shaped counter that was actually purchased from a local diner that had gone out of business. With so many children, one would think that my parents wouldn’t allow us to bring friends home with us for meals, but they believed the exact opposite—friends were family to us. I often had meals with twenty or more people. For those who have read the Legacy Collection, that’s where I got my philosophy that love is a fountain—where there is always enough for those who have stayed and those who return to it.
My parents taught me that family and friends are what matters the most, children should always be valued, and forgiveness is the greatest kindness you can give one another. I miss them every day, but I like to think that they live on through how I am raising my own children.
No family is perfect.
Gio, Nick, Luke and Max are on a difficult journey that will test what they think they know about loyalty and love. I hope you enjoy this series. I’ve fallen in love with these lost Andrades and the story of how they find their way back to their family.
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