by Wood, Joss
‘Cale! That looks really sore.’
‘It is—and it’s all your fault, by the way. That’s what happens when I think about you rather than about what’s in front of me, like a tree root.’
‘I knew that you’d somehow blame it on me,’ Maddie grumbled as she dropped the fabric of his pants. ‘I assumed we were very over.’
‘Well, you assumed wrong,’ Cale muttered as he turned away to open her fridge to stare inside. He closed it again without removing an item and leaned his shoulder against it. ‘Why didn’t you take the job?’
‘How did you find out?’
‘You told Gigi. Gigi told Alex. Alex told me as we were going down that hill and I, literally, fell off my bike.’
‘Oh.’
‘Well?’
‘I left my heart in Africa,’ Maddie simply said. ‘I came home, looked at my life and made a few changes. Let’s forget about breakfast and have some coffee.’
Maddie quickly put two cups under the spout of the coffee machine and hit the button. Doctoring them quickly, she handed Cale a cup, took his hand and pulled him towards the couch. Sitting down next to him, she kept his hand in hers, searching for something to say.
Cale beat her to it. ‘What changes?’
Inside she was screaming. Explain what you meant about me being the only love of your life! She pulled her attention back to his question and told him that she’d handed Harriet her resignation.
Cale stared at his feet. ‘Are you okay with that?’
‘Absolutely! I think I’m starting my own business, since I already have an offer to organise a rather high-profile event.’
‘Oh, well… good. What?’
Maddie started to laugh. ‘Gigi’s thirtieth birthday party.’
‘What? My Gigi?’
‘You are going to have to stop calling her that!’ Maddie exclaimed. ‘I met her at the charity dinner and she offered me the job. I called her when I got back and said that I was going out on my own, and she said that she’d be my first client.’ Maddie placed her cup on the table and curled her legs under her. ‘I must say it will be the party of the year by the time we’re done.’ Maddie flashed a grin. ‘Actually, I quite like her.’
‘I have great taste in women,’ Cale dead-panned. ‘Where are you going to work from?’
Maddie shrugged. ‘Not sure yet.’
‘Move in with me and use this place as your office,’ Cale suggested. ‘Or use my study. Or I’ll convert another room for you. When are you moving in?’
Maddie’s eyes laughed at him. ‘I’ll think about it,’ she teased.
‘You won’t!’ Cale clasped her face in his hands. ‘I’ve missed you so damn much.’
‘Well, you could’ve fooled me,’ Maddie told him. She tipped her head. ‘What would you have done if I had taken the job, Cale?’
‘Cried, begged, grovelled. I was planning on doing all three,’ Cale told her. ‘It wouldn’t have been pretty. I’d have followed you there. I’m glad you didn’t, Mad, you belong here. With me.’
Maddie placed her fingers on his lips. ‘Are we still talking about a no-strings affair?’
Cale kissed them. ‘Hell, no! Come live with me, Mad. I’ll make you happy, I promise.’
‘Only if you’ll stop hounding me about exercising—’ Maddie ran her fingers along his jaw.
‘No.’
Maddie scooted forward and placed her mouth close to his. ‘Not quite so many vegetables?’
‘You’ve got to start eating like an adult at some point.’ Cale’s hands slid around her hips, over her bottom.
‘Okay.’
Cale grinned, love and laughter—relief—in his eyes. His eyebrows lifted when Maddie scooted away. ‘And now?’
Maddie returned two minutes later, holding a scarlet low-scooped dress to her chest. She twirled around. ‘What do you think?’
‘Nice. But why are we looking at dresses?’ Cale asked, utterly confused.
Maddie grinned, tossed the dress over the nearest chair and snuggled into his side again. ‘It’s my red dress. I’m allergic to white weddings. You know… just in case… some day.’
Cale’s coffee cup rocked dangerously in his shaky hand. He carefully put it down on the table and pulled away. ‘Are you saying that you’ll marry me?’
‘I think so.’
‘Um… why?’
‘Your beautiful eyes, your Ducati, I love your house—’ Maddie yelped as Cale tickled her ribs in an effort to get her to be serious. She looked into his beloved familiar face, her heart in her eyes. ‘I love you. You are my soft place to fall,’ she told him quietly. ‘It’s always been you. My first and last.’
Maddie smiled at him when he remained silent, not fazed by his lack of response, perfectly at peace. This was going to work out. She’d have her happy-ever-after.
After all, she’d worked really hard for it.
Maddie held her breath as Cale tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. ‘I don’t know what to say. You take my breath away, Madison.’
‘You don’t have to say anything.’
Cale squinted at her. ‘Isn’t this fun? I’ve rehearsed this a hundred times. For a public speaker and a writer, I suck at this!’
Maddie stifled a laugh. ‘Now, don’t get sarcastic just because you can’t express your feelings,’ she teased.
Cale sent her an exasperated look. ‘I can express my feelings! Just give me a moment. I’m waiting for my brain to restart after the red dress comment.’
Maddie grinned. She hoped she’d always be able to keep him a little off-balance. Then she took pity on him. ‘It’s okay, I don’t need the words. But some time in the future I still expect a proposal and a socking big ring—because I do want it all.’
Cale pushed her hair off her forehead as a strange, tender look crossed his face. ‘You need the words, Mad, more than anyone I’ve ever known. So here are your words.’ He swallowed and they poured out in a rush. ‘Love, commitment, devotion, fidelity. Utterly, irrevocably, totally. For ever.’
Maddie’s chin dropped. ‘Wow.’
‘Is that expressive enough?’
‘You really do love me?’
‘Yeah, I really do. God help me, because I know you will drive me crazy.’
Maddie laughed through her tears and touched his lips with her fingers.
Cale pulled his head back to look at her, and his love and relief were easy to see in his eyes. Ten years, Maddie thought. But he was so worth the wait.
Talking about waiting—it had been far too long since he’d had her hands on her body…
Maddie ran her hands down his back and over his buttocks in a silent invitation. She jumped skywards when Cale let out a whoop of pain.
‘Ow! Dammit, sport! Watch my butt!’
Maddie dropped her face into his neck and giggled. ‘Oh, Cale, I plan on watching it for a long, long time. Sixty, seventy years… for ever.’
‘I can live with that. Now, if you move your hand this way I feel no pain…’
EPILOGUE
Six months later…
MADDIE, lounging in the corner of the couch on the veranda, watched as Cale bounded up the steps to her after his afternoon run on the beach with the dogs. Her stomach started to freefall as Cale sent her that slow, melting sexy grin while he unhooked Marilyn’s leash.
After dropping a long sigh-making kiss on her mouth, he took the mug from her hands and took a healthy sip, lifting his eyebrows when he realized that he was drinking chamomile tea. ‘Are you feeling all right?’
Maddie tipped her head and settled her hand on his thigh as he dropped into the seat next to her. She wrinkled her nose. ‘I didn’t feel like coffee. Or wine.’
‘It’s official. The world has stopped turning,’ Cale teased. He placed the cup on the coffee table and shook his head as Marilyn flopped down on the tiles in front of them, her once golden now tinted hindquarters in the air. ‘She’s still pink.’
‘It’s fading…’ Maddie p
rotested, hiding her grin.
Cale shook his head. ‘I still don’t understand where the twins got the idea to put red food colouring in the pool. How would they know that?’
‘They are smart kids,’ Maddie said, choking back her laughter. One of these days she’d have to tell him that she’d helped the twins temporarily turn the water from a sparkling blue to a blood-red. And a blonde dog to pink…
Maddie kicked off her heels and placed her bare feet on the coffee table. ‘Well, maybe the twins are a practice run. A test to see how we’ll cope with our kids.’
‘But we won’t have to deal with two at once.’
‘No?’
‘We won’t have twins,’ he stated resolutely.
Maddie lifted her eyebrows. ‘We won’t?’
‘Absolutely not! Apart from the fact that I’d need a sedative drip, twins normally skip a generation. Our kids might have twins, but not us.’
‘Mmm.’ Maddie scratched her chin, hiding her smile. Oh, this was going to be fun… ‘I hate to point out the obvious, but Oliver and Megan had twins.’
Cale shrugged her comment away. ‘A fluke, and statistically speaking the chances are minimal that we’ll have any sort of multiples.’ Cale patted her knee reassuringly. ‘We’ll have a nice quiet girl who has her mother’s eyes.’
Maddie took a deep breath before speaking. ‘That’s really sweet, but that’s not what your brother says. Or the ultrasound technician in Alex’s practice.’
Cale’s eyes narrowed. ‘What are you talking about?’
Maddie pulled her bag towards her and removed a black-and-white photo from the side pocket. Cale, puzzled, looked at the photo and quickly back at Maddie’s face.
Joy, hard and hot, flashed across his face. ‘You’re pregnant?’ he shouted. ‘Why? How? You’re pregnant?’
‘Very pregnant.’ Maddie shoved a hand into her hair and gave him a shaky smile. ‘As pregnant as I can possibly be.’
‘Did you know? Did you suspect? Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘The possibility didn’t even cross my mind. I skipped a period last month… I thought that was just from the stress and craziness of organising our wedding. But I’ve been feeling flat, and yuck, so I called Alex and he told me to come over. He suggested a quick pregnancy test. When that showed positive we found out that the ultrasound technician was free and she scanned me. It all happened so quickly. I tried to call you, but you had that meeting and your mobile was off…’
Cale stared down at the photograph in his hands, a myriad of emotions moving across his face. ‘Oh, Mad. When we got married I thought I couldn’t be any happier, but this… a baby… with you. God, you steal my breath—every day.’
Maddie bit her lip as her eyes filled with tears. She sniffed and gestured to the photo. ‘Meet your nice quiet daughter.’ She leaned forward and ran a finger over the image of the three blobby kidney shapes. ‘Or your nice quiet son and two hellion daughters.’
Cale’s mouth fell open when he added one plus two. ‘Three?’
Maddie grinned. ‘Three. What did you say? Statistically speaking not much of a chance?’
Cale sat up, and Maddie saw that his knees were bouncing ever so slightly. It was amusing to see her new husband so completely unhinged.
‘Oh—and Cale?’
‘Mmm?’
‘I love you.’
Cale looked shell shocked, so Maddie turned on the couch to face him and cupped his face in her hands. ‘Breathe, darling, and listen to me. Are you breathing?’
‘Barely,’ Cale croaked.
‘You and I, we can do anything together—even raise three kids simultaneously.’
‘You don’t understand! Triplets? I lived with triplets. It’s craziness.’
‘If your mother can raise twins and trips we can do it too.’ Maddie ran her thumb over his bottom lip. ‘I can move mountains with you standing next to me.’
Cale rested his forehead against hers. ‘Sweetheart… Well, I knew that my life with you wouldn’t be boring.’
‘Tell me you’re excited. I am.’
‘Yes, of course I am. A baby… babies… terrified but excited.’
Maddie’s lips curved into a smile. ‘Love me?’
‘You have no idea how much.’
‘Then maybe this is a good time to tell you that it was my idea to put red food colouring in the pool…’
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
® and TM are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
First published in Great Britain 2012
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Joss Wood 2012
ebook ISBN: 978-1-408-99773-4
