Not until he'd altered her breathing and drained the strength from her knees did he lift his head. When he did, his smile was devastating. "Am I to assume we have an agreement?"
She smiled back, her eyes bright and slightly bewildered as she gave him a nod. "Oh, I think so," she teased. "I just have no idea how I'll manage a baby along with everything else."
"It's we who'll have to manage. And I'll tell you what," he said, intent darkening his eyes as he lowered his head once more. "Since we need to go out there with my brothers in a few minutes, let's just close the deal now and we'll negotiate the details later."
* * *
Epilogue
« ^
"I can't believe you pulled this together so fast, Alex. I gave up trying to get anything planned. That's why Tanner and I finally just did a close-friends-and-family ceremony, too. But this…" Kelly glanced around the living room of what had been the Pembrooke estate—before Chase had bought it for his new family last month. Lavish garlands of white roses were draped over the marble mantel, the sideboard and twined around railings and pillars. Tall white candles glowed everywhere. Outside on the patio, where twinkling lights had been wrapped through and around every tree, the strains of a string quartet underscored the buzz of seventy guests laughing, mingling, talking. The cake, a fabulous tiered confection with icing that looked like poured satin had been flown in from San Francisco and awaited the bride and groom on a silver cart by the pool.
"This," Kelly repeated, snagging a crystal flute of Dom Perignon from a passing waiter, "is amazing."
"You didn't have Gwen." The silk organza of Alex's simple white gown rustled as she took a flute, too. She hadn't worn a veil, only small pearl combs holding her hair back above her ears. "I've told you before, the woman intimidates the daylights out of me. We never could have pulled this off without her."
"Well, she has excellent taste." Ronni, looking as if she were about to deliver any minute, held out her plate of hors d'oeuvres. "I tell you, Alex. The ceremony was lovely. And you look fabulous. But that caterer is truly inspired. I almost wish Ryan and I were getting married again just so I'd have an excuse to use him. Try a crab puff."
"I know what you mean," Kelly agreed, helping herself to one of the delectable morsels, "but now that the three of us are married there are no weddings to plan." She paused, suddenly looking terribly thoughtful. "You know," she said, pondering, "the three of us all just married within the past few months. And last year, there were three nurses at the hospital who'd signed some sort of pact to never marry doctors and they all got married within months of each other. It almost makes me wonder who's next."
"Who's next for what?" The groom, looking drop-dead gorgeous in his Armani tuxedo, walked up behind his bride and curved his arm around her waist. "I hope I'm not interrupting a consultation. You're looking pretty serious over here."
"It's definitely a critical subject," Alex informed him.
"Someone's future is at stake," said Kelly.
Ronni, chewing, simply nodded gravely.
"Can whoever it is survive without my wife for a minute?" he asked his sisters-in-law as he tugged Alex toward the entry. "I need her for a consultation of my own."
"Oh, I think so." Kelly grinned. "You look as if you have something pretty critical on your mind."
"She's right," Alex echoed, glancing at the determined set of her husband's jaw. "Where are we going?"
"In here." Leading her down the wide hall, nodding to a knot of guests who'd congregated there to admire the new art now hanging on the walls, he ushered her into his study, which happened to be the first room they reached without anyone else in it. "I know we need to get back to our guests in a minute, but there's something I need to do."
"What's that?"
"Thank you," he said, pulling her to him.
"Thank me? I'm not sure what for," she replied, looping her arms around her husband's neck, "but I certainly like the way you're approaching this." She tipped her head, her eyes shining. "What did I do?"
Drawing her closer, Chase lowered his head toward hers. "You said 'yes.'"
* * * * *
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Dear Reader,
If this is your first visit to Honeygrove Memorial Hospital, welcome! If you're already part of the Honeygrove family, it's good to have you here!
When Susan Mallery, Christine Rimmer and I first talked about writing a trilogy together, we had no idea that our project would take on a life of its own. I had such fun working with these two talented women that I was delighted when our editors asked us to continue the series.
To work out the new details, Chris and Susan flew to Arizona where we spent one long, intense and extremely productive weekend at my home. We pondered, debated, paced, laughed, groaned and paced some more. By the end of that weekend, we had everything we needed to get started: the wonderful Malone brothers, my fabulously rich and secretive Chase Harrington and three dedicated female physicians with the sorts of dreams and hang-ups familiar to any woman who has ever loved, lost and loved again. So, after rewarding ourselves late that last night with a great old movie (a romance, of course), Susan headed west, Chris headed east, I headed upstairs and we went to work on the characters we had assigned ourselves.
As with every Special Edition, each book in Prescription: Marriage is a complete story in its own right. Each is the story of a powerful man and a strong successful woman who discovers how much better they are with each other than they can ever be alone. These are tales of people dedicated to healing, to friendship and to family. To family, most of all.
I love the time I spend in Honeygrove. I hope you did, too.
Take care, Christine Flynn
DR. MOM AND THE MILLIONAIRE Page 22
