The Billionaire’s Baby (16 page)

‘Sure did. Cool, huh?’

‘But what made you change your mind? You ignored my email.’

The mere thought of what she’d gone through, the pain she’d endured when he hadn’t responded, cast a momentary shadow on her happiness. She never wanted to go through anything remotely like it again.

They belonged together. For ever.

She’d make sure of it, if it took a thousand compromises and a million kilometres on the clock of the car she had to
buy considering she’d be making daily trips between the city and the sea.

Pushing the hair back from her face, his hand lingered on her cheek, the tenderness in his gaze taking her breath away.

‘It’s a guy thing. I’d pushed you enough, and it hadn’t worked, so I took the cool approach instead. You know, the whole “treat ’em mean, keep ’em keen” thing. And, hey, you’re here and you’re mine, so I guess it worked.’

She opened her mouth to promise he’d never have to play it cool with her again, but he placed a finger against her lips.

‘But just so you know, that was the first and last time I let you walk away from me.’

Resting his forehead against hers, he murmured, ‘This is it, Cam. We belong together. For the long haul.’

On a ragged breath, he pulled away as she blinked back tears of joy, and slid down onto one knee.

He clasped her hand, his earnest expression tugging at her overflowing heart.

‘My beautiful, headstrong, independent Cam, will you marry me, again? Will you commute in sickness and in health? Will you fill that nursery nook with our babies, however many we’re blessed with, and stay by my side for as long as we both shall live?’

‘I will,’ she said on a whisper, tears sliding unchecked down her cheeks as he pushed another box into her hand, though this time he did the honours of opening it.

She’d never had a ring first time around, had never been a jewellery type of girl, yet the minute she laid eyes on the exquisite diamond solitaire, she fell in love with it and, with shaking hands, tried to take it out of the box.

‘Here. Let me.’

With love blazing from his eyes, he slid the ring onto her third finger, raising her hand to his lips, where he proceeded
to kiss every knuckle, every fingertip of her trembling hand while she stared in open-mouthed shock at the man of her dreams and the ring which signified she’d agreed to be his wife, for good this time.

‘Not having second thoughts already?’

Snapping her mouth shut, she ducked her head and planted a swift, reassuring kiss on his lips, tempted to linger longer…like a lifetime.

‘I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.’ She locked gazes with him, satisfied to see nothing but quiet confidence in his. ‘As for you pulling out all the stops tonight, you know I’m not a romantic kind of girl, right?’

‘Yeah, right…’

With a slow, sexy grin, he plucked a truffle off the platter and waved it in front of her, brushing it across her lips in the barest of touches, tempting her to taste it, seducing her with his smouldering stare.

‘You know I think Valentine’s Day is a crock.’

She groaned as he half popped the truffle into his mouth, leaned forward and offered the other half to her, his lips touching hers as she bit into the rich, succulent sweetness, savouring the searing touch of his lips as much as the burst of delicious goodness.

‘So you said.’

His fingertip traced her bottom lip, picking up traces of sugar while her bones melted and her brain fogged and desire churned deep within.

‘But you want to hear something funny?’

‘I’m not in the mood for jokes. I’m in the mood for something else entirely.’

He leaned forward and touched his mouth to hers, licking the sugar from her lips, tasting better than any truffle she’d ever had.

‘I’ll tell you anyway,’ she whispered against the corner of
his mouth, her head falling back as his lips slid across her jaw and down her neck. ‘Maybe I was wrong. Maybe the chubby little guy with the bow and arrow knows a thing or two about this romance business. After all, we did meet on Valentine’s Day. And you did walk back into my life a year ago on Valentine’s Day. And here we are, a year later, happily married and pregnant on Valentine’s Day. Are you sensing a pattern?’

He smiled and cradled her close. ‘Happy anniversary, sweetheart, the first of many more,’ he murmured, a second before his lips closed over hers, sealing their incredible, fatalistic union with a kiss.

As Camryn’s eyes fluttered shut, she caught a glimpse of Cupid on the banner strung over the door, sure the wink she saw must have been caused by a wind draft…or a figment of her deliriously happy imagination…or the matchmaking cherub having a laugh at her expense.

ISBN: 978-1-4268-3264-2

THE BILLIONAIRE’S BABY

First North American Publication 2009.

Copyright © 2009 by Nicola Marsh.

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

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