“I want Marla,” he said.
“What?” Her head jerked. “I’m not a manager.”
“You do everything a manager does,” Luke said. “You take better care of me and my career than anyone else ever has.”
“I—I don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes,” Rowan said.
“Yes. Yes!” She laughed. “I would love to be your manager, Luke. Thank you. I won’t let you down.”
“I know,” he said. “Walter, I don’t have any issues with the contract, but I have a more pressing appointment right now. How does a week from next Wednesday sound?”
“What do you need to do?” Rowan asked. “We’re here, you should just sign the contract now.”
He gazed into her earnest eyes. “I need to marry you. So right now, we’re going to the courthouse for a license and we’re going to get married by the Justice of the Peace. Then we’re going to call your parents and my mom and we’ll drive to Johnson City or Flat Holler or wherever they want to put the church wedding together and we’ll get married again.”
“Oh, really?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “Really.”
“There’s just one problem with your plan,” she said.
He sucked in a deep breath. He’d shoot down any argument she had. He wasn’t going to go another day without her being legally his woman. “What’s that?”
“I need to return my rental car,” she said.
He smirked. “I have a manager that can take care of that for us.”
Chapter 32
One Year Later
Rowan gritted her teeth and plastered a smile on her face as the contraction spasmed through her.
Today of all days. She’d been sure the spasms she’d had through the day had been more Braxton Hicks since she’d been having them for the past week or so, but this was the real deal.
Sweat broke out on her forehead as she counted through the contraction and tried to breathe through her nose. As the pain ebbed, she checked her watch. The contractions were still eighteen minutes apart. Doing a quick calculation in her head, she might have enough time for the Single of the Year category winner to be announced before she really had to panic and let Luke know she was in labor.
She looked down at her belly. “You are going to be as big a pain in the ass as your daddy,” she whispered. She couldn’t even be excited about the fact that they were two rows behind Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman. Nicole had looked at Rowan’s belly earlier and smiled at her. She smiled at her!
Luke finished his conversation with whoever he was talking to several rows back and returned to their seats as the chimes indicated the commercial break was over and the awards show would be going live again.
He kissed her cheek as he sat down and rubbed her belly. “Sorry. That was the songwriter Marla has been trying to set me up with for the last three months.”
“It’s okay,” she said.
He leaned back and stared at her hard. “Are you okay?”
She smiled and nodded. “Yes. Just uncomfortable. I’m ready for this baby to be out.” Whoo boy, was she ever.
He stood and held her upper arm. “Why didn’t you say something? Let’s go. We’re not staying if you’re not comfortable.”
She slapped his hand away. “Sit down. I’m going to be uncomfortable no matter where we are so we might as well be here where you’re up for two awards.”
He eased into his plush theater seat. “Row, I’m not kidding. If you’d rather be home with your feet in my lap while I rub them, we’ll leave. I’ll message the driver to come around and get us.”
“I’m sure.” She pointed at the stage. “Watch the show.”
Luke stole another glance at Rowan. He didn’t believe she was all right. She’d been having false contractions for the last few days and she had that same look on her face. Plus, she kept glancing at her watch.
His first category was up next and, win or lose, they were going home after that. The Academy of Country Music Awards was nowhere near as important as Rowan and their baby. She needed to be at home, with her feet up.
The announcer introduced the presenters who walked on stage and Rowan squeezed his hand as they announced the best song category. It felt like coming full circle. He’d recorded the song he’d sung at Rowan’s almost wedding and it had gone platinum. Everyone thought he was a shoo-in to win this year, but he had some stiff competition. He just loved the fact he was nominated for the song that started it all.
They called his name and panned to him in the audience. He waved at the camera focused on him as Rowan’s grip strengthened. Looking at her, he knew immediately she was not all right.
“What is it?” he asked.
“My water broke,” she whispered.
He leapt to his feet. “What?”
She squeezed her eyes closed and clenched her teeth, crushing the bones of his hand. Holy shit, she was in labor.
He looked around and waved to get an usher’s attention. The guy looked at the stage and back at Luke, seemingly confused that Luke was trying to get him over.
Luke vaguely heard his name being called again and suddenly people began slapping him on the back and hugging him. That was great and all, but the baby hadn’t been born yet. The usher was trying to push through the well-wishers and Luke reached through the crowd to grab his jacket sleeve.
“Sir, you need—”
“To go to the hospital, get the paramedics here now. My wife is in labor.”
The guy looked down at Rowan, blanched, and ran up the aisle.
“Luke. Luke!” Marla pushed through. “You won. You need to go accept your award.”
“What?” He looked around and realized everyone was looking at him expectantly. “Marla, Rowan’s in labor. I need an ambulance. Go—” He gestured toward the stage. “I don’t know, but I need to get her out of here.”
“Luke, go accept your award.” Rowan’s grip had eased. The contraction had passed but she was drenched in sweat and her face was flushed.
“You are out of your mind.” He scooped her up and sidestepped out of the aisle as people made room for him. Heading toward the exit, he heard Marla’s voice fill the room.
“Ladies and gentlemen, as you may have noticed, Luke and Rowan have a pressing matter to attend to. He thanks everyone who made this possible and will have a more prepared announcement later.”
Applause and whistles followed him out of the auditorium. The paramedics met them in the lobby and transferred Rowan to a gurney, which they pushed out to the waiting ambulance.
Seventeen minutes after reaching the hospital Rowan gave birth to a very tiny, very angry little girl. Less than an hour later, she stared at him groggily while their baby girl rested on her chest.
“You won,” she whispered.
He laid his hand on their daughter’s back and felt her tiny body rise and fall with her breaths. Brushing Rowan’s hair back from her face, he kissed her forehead. “I know.”
Acknowledgments
Writing never happens in a vacuum and this book is no different.
Thank you to Geri for helping me plot out the idea for this duet at RWA in Denver in 2018.
Kelley, for helping me work through some plot points.
Give Me Books Promotions and all the fabulous reviewers and bloggers who help spread the word.
Jessica, as ALWAYS, for your fabulous editing.
Anna, Melissa, Josie, Taryn, Taylor, and Freya — you ladies ROCK.
My family, for your continuing belief and encouragement.
And always, ALWAYS, you—the reader. Without you this is just another story I made up in my head.
About the Author
Tarina is an award winning author who has spent her entire life in and around the military - first as a dependent and then as an enlisted Air Force member. She uses her life as inspiration for many of her stories, because truth is stranger (and funnier) than fiction.
Tarina is still active duty and a single mom
of six-year-old twins. Her favorite hobby is sleep. She has delusions of retiring from the military and being a stay-at-home mom.
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Also by Tarina Deaton
The Combat Hearts Series
Stitched Up Heart
Half-Broke Heart
Locked-Down Heart
Rescued Heart
Imperfect Heart
Holiday Heart (only available to newsletter subscribers)
The Jilted Duet
Make Me Believe
Believe In Me (coming Fall 2019)
Susan Stoker World Novel (coming July 2019)
Make Me Believe: Jilted: The Bride Page 18
