by Erika Kelly
Golden light spilled out from under the closed door, and his pulse kicked up a notch with anticipation. He knocked lightly. “Princess?”
“You can come in.”
He flung off his sweaty T-shirt and opened the door to find the room humid and lit up with the flickering light from dozens of candles. The tinkle of water drew his gaze to the clawfoot tub.
With her hair in a bun at the top of her head, damp tendrils stuck to her cheek and forehead, Rosie lounged in a bath. Bubbles covered her body up to her chest, and the mischievous grin she gave him had him toeing off his running shoes and dropping his gym shorts.
“Got room for me?”
“Always.” She pushed up, so her nipples, all rosy and wet, popped out of the water.
“Damn, princess.” He stepped into the warm water behind her and stretched out his legs, so they bracketed her thighs. An arm around her waist, he pulled her back against him. This is all I need. Right here. My princess in my arms. “I’m sorry for running out the way I did.”
“Don’t be. I understand.”
“Nah. I made you feel bad, and that’s the last thing I want to do. It’s just I’ve got—”
“A million things on your mind, and it’s when you’re distracted that you come up with solutions.”
He kissed her cheek. “That’s right. And I did. I got it all worked out. What’s been bugging me is that I bailed—again—on Owl Hoot. I got all these great ideas, got everyone on board, and then I walked away. But there’s no reason I can’t finish everything I started. I’m going to hire my buddy Chris to run things in my absence. A couple of years ago, I hired him as executive chef of the spa restaurant, but he didn’t feel qualified, so he wound up running the contest that brought us Delilah. He did a great job, so, I think he’d—”
“I think you should go home and finish the job yourself.”
He sat up so abruptly, water splashed over the sides of the tub. “What? No.” He shouldn’t have run out on her after the dinner. She’d gotten the wrong impression. “That’s what I’m saying. The board approved the list of businesses and the triathlon. I’ll still be overseeing it, but I’ll have Chris on the ground.”
“You don’t want to work with your brothers on the triathlon?”
A pinch to his heart told him he did. “Technology’s made the world a smaller place. I can work with them from here.”
“And the reliquary museum? You don’t want to scout out the treasures?”
He’d planned on putting an ad in all the newspapers in Jackson Hole and surrounding counties, asking people to donate or loan any curiosities or artifacts they had. Yeah, he’d like to be the one to source the inventory. “I’ll create an online folder, and Chris can drop in anything he thinks I might find interesting.”
“Sounds good. Not as good as you being there to actually see the stuff yourself. Touch it.”
Shit. Yeah, he’d like that. “You know what I really want?” He kissed her cheek, then the corner of her mouth. “I want to wake up with you every morning for the rest of my life. I want to sit with you in the garden in the afternoon, with one of Chef’s fresh squeezed lemonades, and talk about your day.”
“That’s nice and all, but it sounds a little boring. No offense.”
He chuckled. She was playing with him. “Maybe a little, but I had an idea while I was on the treadmill. I looked it up, and you know what St. Christophe doesn’t have? An excursion company.”
“Kind of like the one you’re starting in Owl Hoot?”
“Exactly. I could start one here.”
She broke out of his hold, turning around to face him. Water sloshed over the sides, but she didn’t seem to care about anything but wrapping her arms around his neck and getting his attention. “Don’t. Don’t start an excursion company or create an online folder or hire Chris. Go home, Brodie. That’s where you belong.”
Energy surged through him. He’d done a shit job of taking care of her, if this is what she was thinking. “Let me make something clear. I might not follow a lot of rules, but here are some absolutes. I live where you live. I sleep where you sleep. We’re going to be together, none of this long-distance crap.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“Then quit talking about me going home. I’m already there.” He tapped her chest. “This is where I live—your heart.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “I don’t know how I got so lucky. One minute I found my two best friends in a closet, and the next I saw you in the lobby of your hotel, and everything in me just blossomed. I love you, Brodie Bowie. I love you with everything I am. And we’re going to be so happy together…in Calamity.”
Like hitting his elbow’s funny bone, his body got an odd mix of tingling and numbness. “You can’t leave here. You have to run the country.”
“I’m not really Head of State material, you know?”
“But you fought for it.”
“I fought for change in my country, and I won. Not because I’m a brilliant politician, but because it was the right moment in the world. But the right thing for me, as a woman, a chemist, a perfumer, and a girlfriend, is to move to Calamity with you.”
“My girlfriend?” He grimaced. “That doesn’t sound right.”
“Lover?”
He shook his head. “You can only say that when you’re wearing red lipstick and a thong and holding a cigarette in one hand and two fingers of scotch in the other.”
“That’s true.” She tapped her chin. “Hm, then what am I to you…?”
He grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “You’re the missing piece that makes me whole.” He didn’t think the English language had a word for what she meant to him. “You’re the love of my life.” Cupping her ass, he hauled her onto his lap and kissed her. He took his time, just feeling her smooth skin, breathing in her feminine scent, and tasting the minty toothpaste and heat of her mouth.
She pulled back, resting her forehead on his. “I talked to my parents tonight. My father’s going back to work tomorrow with my mother by his side. My sister will spend her summers apprenticing with them, and when she finishes school, she’ll run for a seat in parliament.” She grabbed a fistful of hair from the back of his neck and tipped his head so she could look into his eyes. “We’re going home, Brodie. My parents gave us their blessing to move back to Calamity.”
“You, princess, you’re my blessing. And I’m happy wherever you are.”
“Then we’ll be happy ever after in Calamity.”
Epilogue
Rosalina breathed in the fresh-cut wood of the recently-framed house. She’d poured over floor plans, read home design magazines, and scoured the Internet for functionality and layouts, but this was her first time crossing the threshold into the home where she’d spend the rest of her life.
Of course, Brodie had just stormed right in, his boots pounding across the floor. “Take a look at the kitchen. I told them your suggestion, and they gave us a panoramic view of the meadow.”
She didn’t want to rush it, though. She wanted to savor this moment, when everything was just beginning. After one blissful year together, they were now on the cusp of the kinds of changes that would alter the landscape of their lives completely.
In this living room, they’d watch family movies. Their children would chase each other with squirt guns. These empty rooms would be filled with laughter, bickering, and love. So much love.
Her heart…oh, my. She’d never imagined it could grow so big and full—and then keep stretching to accommodate even more.
Heading into the kitchen, a new image formed. Her tossing a salad, while Brodie came up from behind and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling her neck. She could picture a little girl or boy sitting at the table, talking quietly with Uncle Lachlan about the treasures he’d pulled from his rucksack.
But her happiness hit a snag. Would Brodie want children? From the start, he’d told her he couldn’t imagine having any. That he was better suited to be an uncl
e.
In the kitchen, she got a strong whiff of lyantha. She closed her eyes to breathe it in. “I can’t believe it.” When she opened them, Brodie was grinning. “I get to smell this every June. It’ll fill the whole house.”
“Exactly why I chose this spot.”
“It’s perfect. I love everything about it.” She still couldn’t believe she got to have this life, this man. They were building a high-tech lab right in their backyard, their store would open tomorrow in the hotel lobby, and she was surrounded by this big, loving family that accepted her for exactly who she was.
“Let’s look at the bedrooms. I want to swing an idea by you.” Taking her hand, he led her across the wide-open living area. When they turned down a hallway, he gestured to the first room on the right. “I’m thinking about changing the dimensions of this one, making it bigger. Figured, if we give one of the rooms to Ruby, we’re going to need to share an office.”
“I can use my lab for that.” Once he heard her news, he might want to hang onto that privacy after all.
“We got twenty-seven inches of snow in January. I want to make sure you have office space in the house.”
She got up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, loving the way he cared about her. “I can use my laptop anywhere.”
“What’re you saying? Why don’t you want to share an office with me?”
“I just think you’re going to need a space of your own.”
“I don’t want my own space.” He studied her expression, and his petulant tone made her smile. “I want to share everything with you.”
She believed him, and she loved the way this serious, intense man had opened himself to her so completely. “We do. And that’s my point. We’re going to be sharing so much, we’re going to need our own private spaces.”
“Hmph.” He led her to the end of the hall. On the left, was a large master suite with a huge patio and Jacuzzi. On the right was a smaller room with a view to the mountains. “I was thinking we could give this one to Ruby. Let her decorate it however she wants. That way, when she visits, we can hear her if she needs us at night.”
Rosalina stepped into the room, and the strangest sensation washed over her, making her skin pebble. This is the nursery. It was cozy, the corner wall curved with a window seat. She could picture dark gray walls painted with slender white Aspen trees, colorful birds on the limbs to give the room a pop of color. “No, this one’s not Ruby’s.”
He watched her curiously. “I just mean for now, since she’s only four, but I guess we could give her the one in between this one and the office. Actually, that’s something else I wanted to talk to you about. I know I said I only wanted four bedrooms, but now I’m thinking we could add a long room to the back of the house, fill it with bunkbeds, dormitory-style, for when the nieces and nephews come over.”
See? Having kids of his own was the furthest thing from his mind. And they’d only been together a year. Is it too soon?
But a joyful warmth flooded her, and she knew—just knew—this is right. It was exactly as it should be. Her parents would flip out, though. I’m not even married.
Some dutiful princess you turned out to be.
She smiled. “I don’t know. To me, this feels more like Prince Archibald Fitzwilliam Charles’s room than Ruby’s.”
“What? Who’s that?”
She reached for his hand and brought it to her belly. “But we’ll keep the colors neutral just in case it turns out to be Princess Sophia Gabriella Inez’s room.” She smiled softly. Please be okay with this. “We won’t know the gender for a few more weeks.”
His features went slack. He looked like he was two seconds away from parachuting out of an airplane at thirty-thousand feet. “What are you telling me?”
“I’m pregnant. We’re going to have a baby.”
“We…you and me…what?”
“You’re going to be a daddy.”
“Holy fuck.” He turned away from her. It looked like he’d stopped breathing. A moment later, he swung back around. “A baby?”
“I know it’s unexpected. I was shocked, too. I mean, really shocked. I only found out right before I came over here. It’s hard to take in, isn’t it?”
It happened so gradually she could actually watch as reality sank in. The slow transformation from shock to awe flipped any concern she had over to excitement.
“You and me…we made a baby?” He dropped to his knees, his big palms splaying across her stomach. The big, powerful athlete kissed her belly button, before wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his ear, as if listening for signs of their baby.
She cupped the back of his head, holding him there. “I think it happened that first night in the tent.” Spring had hit early—mid-May—and they’d gone camping. She’d forgotten to take her birth control pills with her. It hadn’t even occurred to her that she’d forgotten to take them. So, they’d had plenty of unprotected sex. “I mean, I’m the dummy who forgot to take my pills.”
“I knew. You think I didn’t notice? I didn’t care. You never have to take a pill again. We can just keep popping babies out. And, since the house isn’t finished yet, we can make it twice this size. We can make ten bedrooms.”
She laughed. “Maybe slow down a little? First, let’s get our heads on right for Archibald. But I’m so happy you want this baby as much as I do.”
He gazed up at her. “Of course I want him.”
“I see that, but you’ve always talked about not being able to see yourself as a father.”
“Well, until you came along I couldn’t. After…I didn’t say anything because I thought you weren’t ready to be a mom.” He searched her gaze. Are you?
“I wasn’t ready to produce an heir. But I want your baby. I want everything with you.”
His eyes warmed, before turning concerned. “You sure about that?”
“Yes. I love you, Brodie. I love you so much, and you’re going to be the best daddy in the world. Now, get up here and kiss me.”
“Can’t. Not yet.”
“Fine.” She got to her knees, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. God, every single time they touched sparks flashed in the air around them. Only, this kiss felt softer, sweeter, more reverent. Knowing he wanted this baby as much as she did, embracing in the room where they’d one day soon change diapers and rock their baby to sleep and cuddle on the window seat reading picture books…made everything deeper, richer, fuller.
Grabbing her ass, he drew her hard up against him, and he moaned deep in his throat. His hands pushed under the waistline of her jeans and squeezed her bare ass. The kiss turned carnal.
Abruptly, he pulled away. “Damn, you get me so worked up. I, uh, I’ve got something to say to you, too.”
His strong shoulders stretched the cotton of his T-shirt, and his dark hair curled at the back of his neck. The intensity in his blue eyes stirred a hunger deep inside her. “Can we make-out a little more first?”
He grinned. “We can make out whenever you want.” But then he grew serious. “But, first, let me ask you something.”
“Can we do it standing up?”
“Yeah, good idea. You stand up.”
Her knees hurt on the hard wood floor, so she got up.
Brodie stayed kneeling. “A year ago, I stood in a meadow not too far from here. I had my life all planned out. I was going to build a house with four bedrooms, jump from one business project to the next, and have a hell of a time as a bachelor.” His earnest expression made her pulse flutter. “Then, you came along and got knocked up and ruined everything.”
She burst out laughing. “You’re such a dick.”
He reached for her hand. “I didn’t think I had it in me to love someone this way. But, Princess, I fell so hard for you. I love you. I love you in that scary way, the one where I’m going to be chasing you throughout eternity. Because you’re mine. I knew it when I met you. It just felt different, right. And, every day, it gets deeper.”
Oh, God. He was proposing. They were going to get married. Her heart grew even bigger.
“I want to wake up to your smile and talk about our days at the dinner table. I want to hike with you and watch you throw-down with my brothers. I want to listen to you talk about your flowers and laugh with you under the covers. Rosie, I want to grow old with you and devote every minute of my life to making you happy.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet ring box. Flipping it open, he said, “Rosalina Isabelle Anais Villeneuve, will you finally shorten that damn name to Rosie Bowie and marry me?”
“There’s nothing I want more in the world.”
He popped up, wrapped her in his arms, and said, “Now we can make-out.”
“Can you put the ring on first, please?”
Tugging the spectacular diamond and ruby ring out of its nest, he slid it on her finger.
She had to blink away the tears to make sure what she was seeing. “It’s a flower. It’s lyantha.”
“Yeah, I brought some to the jeweler and asked if she could design something that would look like the flower that brought us together. You like it?”
“I love it so much. I can’t even believe you made this for me. It’s perfect.”
“You’re perfect.” And then his mouth was on hers, and all his love flowed right into her. Grabbing a fistful of hair at the back of her neck, he tilted her head and deepened the kiss. God, she loved the way he was always so hungry for her.
No matter who he was with or how distracted he might be, he always had a hand on her, always looked to her in a room full of people, seeking out a private moment.
“Gonna fuck you on the kitchen counter, so get those jeans and panties off. You’ve got five seconds.”
“Really. Is that any way to talk to a princess?” But she was already running out of the room and down the hallway. Tossing off her blouse, she dashed into the kitchen.
By the time she had her pants around her ankles, he was unbuttoning his jeans and stalking towards her. “Get up there.”
Instead, she turned around, hiking up her bottom and throwing him a mischievous glance over her shoulder. “I’ve got a better idea.”
