Blush Duo - Marriage Under the Mistletoe & The Christmas Inn (39 page)

“No, silly, not that. Thanks, but that’s not what I’m talking
about at all.”

“Feel free to tell me, sooner rather than later if possible.”
He couldn’t resist kissing her lips. “We still have our Santa duties to perform,
and after that I’ve got a celebration dinner planned for us.”

“Celebration?”

“We’ve been together one full year.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, yeah…”

“You don’t want to celebrate?”

“Absolutely. And we have something else to celebrate.” Her lips
lingered on his before releasing him. She pushed her hair off her face, looked
up at the ceiling and back into his eyes. “We’re going to have a baby.”

“We’re going to have a what? A baby?” He stared at her.

“You’re not happy,” she said.

“I am. I’m really happy.... Are you sure?” he asked, his words
cautious.

“Of course!” She scowled and climbed off his lap.

Damn! “I fumbled this pretty badly. Can I start over?”

She crossed her arms over her chest as she settled back beside
him. “Be my guest.”

“Probably the smartest thing for me to do right now would be—”
he reached into his pocket and brought out the velvet box “—to give you this. I
planned to tell you the minute we sat down here, but you beat me to it. I’ve
been waiting months to do this.”

She gasped as he snapped the lid open. Her eyes widened. “Oh,
my goodness…”

“Hold it. I want to get this part right.” He took the ring from
its velvet setting. “Marnie McLaughlan, will you marry me…be the mother of our
children?” he asked as he slid the ring onto her finger.

She stared at it, a gleam in her eyes as she held up her hand
to inspect it more closely. “Luke Harrison, I love you. And I accept your
proposal, provided you promise to love, honor and share in the diaper
changing.”

He grinned and kissed her. “I do.”

She kissed him back and climbed back into his lap. “And you
made the right move at the right time.”

“How so?” he asked, overwhelmed by his love for this woman who
made his heart sing.

“If I had had to go home tomorrow after we opened our gifts,
and tell my brothers that I was pregnant and you hadn’t proposed…yet. Well, I
couldn’t have been held responsible for the consequences.”

“Your family has nothing to worry about.”

“I’ll be sure to tell them,” she murmured, working the buttons
on his shirt free as she kissed him again, her lips more demanding than
before.

“Go ahead. Have your way with me,” he growled, shifting her
body on top of his as he stretched out on the floor in front of the tree.

“I plan to,” she murmured against his lips. “Just as soon as
you feed me. By the way, where’s the dinner you promised?”

“Max is waiting for my call.”

“Then, call him. I’m famished,” she said.

He laughed and hugged her close. They were going to have a
baby, their baby, their life…together. “Merry Christmas, darling.”

“Merry Christmas.”

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