Dirty Angels 02 Dirty Deeds (28 page)

“Good thing you didn’t shoot first and ask questions later,” I said, trying to catch my breath.

“You’re right. I guess I’m changing, aren’t I sunshine?”

I smiled at him, my heart feeling so unbelievably full. “You are. But you haven’t lost all of you.”

His brows furrowed. “Hopefully I’ve kept the sexy parts.”

I pinched his side. “You did. And then some.”

He put his arm around my shoulder and I leaned my head against his chest as we watched the donkeys for a few moments.

“I wonder who they belong to,” I mused.

“Probably wild,” he said. “Don’t you be getting any ideas.”

“The only idea I’m getting is that we may need a fence. Then again, I like that they came here. Wild but not afraid.”

“Just like you.”

I gave him a grave look. “But I was afraid. Back there, in the house, I was afraid.”

His lips twitched into a half-smile. “And yet you still stood by me. It’s okay to be afraid, Alana. We’ll always be afraid to some degree, I think, and that’s a good thing. You need fear to keep you sharp. You need fear to keep your wildness in check. But just a little bit. Just enough to feel alive.” He paused. “I think we’re more alive now than we’ve ever been. Just this life here, this beautiful little life with you and this island and everything, is all I want for the rest of my life.”

Hot tears tickled at my eyes as I was lost in the sincerity of his words, the confidence in his eyes. I reached up and kissed him sweetly, wanting to remember this moment forever.

A loud bray from one of the donkeys was the only thing to interrupt us.

We waved them goodbye, deciding to clean up after them tomorrow, and went inside, back to bed.

***

The week that followed I felt happier than ever. You would think that would correspond with feeling lighter, but for some reason I felt weighted down, bloated, irritated and heavy. It didn’t help that I had missed my period either. Finally I had to bite the bullet and face what would really be going on with me.

So, I went to our rinky dink local drugstore and, once I was back at home, took a home-pregnancy test.

It came out positive.

I wasn’t really sure how I would react – waiting for that pink line was so nerve-wracking that I had no idea what my thoughts were. But the moment it was true, it was real, I felt a happiness bloom inside me like a flower I’d overlooked.

When I told Derek, his reaction was the same – pure joy. We cried and laughed and did a funny dance around the bedroom. We let the news sink in over and over again and smiled until we were sure our faces wouldn’t crack in two.

No more wine (except a glass on occasion), no more fish. Lots of healthy vegetables and grains. The whole island seemed to know I was knocked up and it was like I suddenly had a giant family rejoicing for me, a family that seemed hell-bent on making sure my child was raised happy as can be.

Some days I lied on the roof deck and stared up at the sky, hand on my growing belly, and thought about the future. Now it wouldn’t just be Derek and I. We would have someone else in our family.

Someone else to love.

Someone else to run wild with.

Someone else to call home.

About the Author

Karina Halle is a former travel writer and music journalist, and the
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author of
The Pact
, The Artists Trilogy, and other wild and romantic reads. She lives in a 1920s farmhouse on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband and her rescue pup, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books.

To find out more about Karina and her unmissable books, visit
www.authorkarinahalle.com
, find her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter
@MetalBlonde
.