For Now, for Always
Page 18
Neil shifted her closer, resting his cheek against her hair. “And I love you, Mrs. Hartmann. You and those two sons of ours. I still have trouble believing you’re all really mine.”
Hearing the vibrant note in his deep voice, Lacey wondered how she could ever have questioned his love. She smiled softly against his chest.
“I’ve been thinking…since you’re such an outstanding success in the daddy department, how would you feel about trying for another set of twins?”
Neil raised his head in surprise, and she lifted hers to smile at him.
“You’re kidding, aren’t you?” He sounded uncertain.
“I’ve never been more serious in my life. Well? What do you think?”
He laughed in disbelief. “Lacey, I’m forty-five years old! I d be… I’d be sixty-four by the time she’s ready for college!”
“So? You’ll be a very young six— She? Did you say she!”
“Well, if we’re going to do it, I’d really like a girl this time,” he said in a perfectly serious tone.
And then Lacey was suddenly on her back, and he was propped over her on an elbow, grinning down at her.
“Oh, Neil!” She smiled ecstatically, reaching up to smooth her palms over his hair. “A little sister for the boys. They’d be thrilled.”
“No more than their old man,” he murmured. And then a wicked light came into his eyes. “Besides, another baby would be a surefire way to keep you at home.”
Lacey smiled, outwardly submissive but knowing that she could never be content as a fulltime haus-frau. “I could always take her along to the office,”
she suggested tentatively. “That’s what I did with the boys.”
The light in Neil’s eyes faded, and he gazed at her solemnly. “But that wouldn’t be necessary this time,” he pointed out. “Lacey, for heaven’s sake, you’ve got a rich husband who’s just dying to spoil you rotten. You’ve proved yourself, darling. Can’t you let me take care of you now, provide for you? I’m not asking so much, am I?”
From his point of view, she supposed not. And she didn’t want this single bone of contention to spoil the happiness they’d finally found.
“Try to understand,” she asked, her voice soft and sincere. “What you’re asking is that I give up my identity, that I stop being me. Lacey Hartmann, and become Neil’s wife or Todd and Scott’s mommy. It’s taken me eight long years to become a person in my own right, Neil, a person I can like and respect. Don’t ask me to give up what I’ve worked so hard to gain.”
His jaw set obstinately. “I gave up a multimillion-dollar business,” he reminded her.
“That’s not fair! In the first place, it’s not the same for a man, and you know it. You don’t have to prove you’re capable of supporting yourselves and your families! And in the second place, you’d already decided to sell out before you even came here, so don’t try to pretend you made some big sacrifice for my sake!”
He rolled to his back with a frown of irritation—or was it disgust?
“You even argue like a man,” he muttered, scowling up at the ceiling. “The thing is,” he admitted with reluctance, “I just don’t like sharing you with other
people, especially not strangers I don’t even know,”
An amused smile tugged at Lacey’s mouth as she snuggled up at his side. “Now you know how millions of women all over the world have felt for years,” she told him indulgently. Then a thought occurred to her, and she looked at him closely. “Does it bother you… threaten you, to be the one who’s keeping the home fires burning?”
“Are you kidding7” he murmured. “I’m having the time of my life. I’ve had my fill of the rat race. I just wish you could say the same.”
“Maybe I will, when I’ve been at it as long as you,”
“I’ll be ready for the old folks’ home by thenl” His head turned and he looked into her eyes, his expression somber. “You’re just not going to give in, are you?”
Lacey shook her head. “I’m sorry, Neil, I can’t.”
He pulled her on top of him, his hands warm on her skin. “Then it looks like we’re going to have to compromise. How’s this—you agree to stay home for a while after the baby comes, let Rick run the business. I doubt if he’ll drive you into bankruptcy in a few short weeks.”
“I think I could live with that,” Lacey agreed willingly. “And what will your part of this compromise be?”
He grinned wryly. “Oh, learning to change diapers and heat up bottles of formula and keeping dinner warm when you’re late getting home, and— Dear Lord, I can see a life of drudgery stretching ahead of me already.”
Lacey reached up to bury her fingers in his thick hair, “Will you really mind all that much?”
His rich laugh took her by surprise just before he deftly flipped her onto her back. “Mind? You little idiot, it sounds like heaven, compared to what I’ve been used to all my life.”
He kissed her hard, then smiled down at her lovingly.
“You fraud!” Lacey accused as she smiled back. “You were ready to see things my way all along, weren’t you?”
“I wanted to find out just how sure you are of what you want, and how willing you are to fight for it. Lacey, I’m so damned proud of youl You’re strong and resilient and not afraid to stand your ground when you know you’re right. I wouldn’t trade you for that timid child you were eight years ago, not for anything. I can’t even regret those lost years, because if we’d stayed together you’d never have grown into the woman you are today.”
His voice was soft and deep, filled with the same emotion shining in his incredible eyes. Tears of happiness glistened on Lacey’s lashes as her fingers stroked his hard face.
“I love you, Neil,” she murmured, her voice moist and a little thick.
He lowered his head to whisper huskily, “Prove it.”
And, as their bodies melted together, Lacey finally felt the past ebb away. Together they would buiid a new life, create new memories to share. Her lips curved in a joyful smile as she vowed that this one would be the first of many, many more.
THE AUTHOR
Lynn Turner’s love of books has played an important part in her life. She spends her mornings teaching remedial reading to chUdren; her afternoons are devoted to writing fiction.
Lynn says that the theme of For Now, For Always is “never to give up hope.”
COMING NEXT MONTH FROM
MINGLED HEARTS #9 Vicki Lewis Thompson
Stephanie Collier’s relationship with Lloyd Barclay was strictly platonic-they shared a house for economic reasons only. But feelings are not easily denied and they were unable to resist the intimacy their life-style afforded them….
FRIEND OF THE HEART #10 Dianne King
When Bryce Benedict’s lips came down on hers, Sarah Montgomery was suffused by a warmth and passion she had never experienced before. But loving Bryce meant sacrificing her career and ambitions.
UNEASY ALLIANCE #11 Jayne Ann Krentz
Frightened by a mysterious blackmailer, Abby Lyndon sought refuge in Torr Latimer’s arms. He swept her away to an intimate hiding place, where his ardent caresses soon sent Abby’s senses reeling….
UNTAMED DESIRE #12 Margie Michaels
Golden-haired Asante James returned home to Kenya to clear her family name, but was soon torn between loyalty and love. Seductively handsome Mark Holland was her new boss, her lover-and her stepfather’s accuser.
FOUR TEMPTING NEW TITLES EVERY MONTH