Because that kind of happiness, to her, was real.
And it made settling fun. Even the most domestic, hum-drum activity in the world was fun if she did it with Stefan.
“Are you ready?” she asked when she heard him come out of the house behind her. “Christmas morning waits for no one, Stefan. You should know this by now.”
She turned to look at him, this beautiful man of hers. He still looked as dangerous as ever. He still had the bluest eyes she’d ever seen.
“For you?” Stefan grinned. He did that a lot more now. “I am always ready.”
“You know we Marches take our holidays seriously.” She smiled when he moved his hands over her belly, too. This baby they’d made, a little boy she was already madly in love with, would be joining them at any time. “Just wait until he comes. He’s going to be worse than all my sister’s kids combined.”
Stefan’s hand settled at the nape of her neck, possessive and perfect. The snow had come in last night, but he’d been up early to clear off the steps and the walk to their car. And now he helped her navigate her huge, unwieldy body down the wintry steps.
“My son will be properly reserved and contained,” Stefan told her. “I will teach him myself.”
“You’re not reserved at all, foolish man,” she said softy.
His gaze seared through her. “Not anymore.”
He helped her into the car and she sat there as he rounded the hood, looking at this place they intended to call home, at least for part of the year. So that Indy could be near her mother and the child could be near his grandparents. And they would always be close enough to Columbus that they could fly away at a moment’s notice.
Because she liked to spend a good chunk of her summers in Prague, where they’d become them.
That was what she’d learned. Life was what she made it. It was never all one thing. She and Stefan got more solid by the day, happier and better, and none of that prevented them from playing the kind of games they liked best.
Give and take, year after year.
Carrying their home with them wherever they went, because the two of them, together, were what they needed. That was the passion that made life worth living.
Together they were rooted deep and tangled up in each other.
And yet, when the mood struck—and it always struck—they could fly.
Out of that alley in Budapest into a bright future, laced through with the most delicious darkness, and all for them.
“I love you, foolish girl,” Stefan said when he climbed into the car. He turned the engine over, but didn’t move. He was too busy studying her face.
“I know you do,” she replied. She frowned. “I love you, too. But I think we need to head to the hospital instead of my parents’ house.”
“The hospital—?” But he cut himself off. “Now?”
“I’m pretty sure my water broke.”
They stared at each other. Then both of them grinned, so big and wide it was brighter than the snow outside.
And they might have stayed there forever, but the little contractions she’d been ignoring changed into something she couldn’t have ignored if she’d tried.
“Okay?” Stefan asked, searching her face, when it passed.
“Intense,” she panted at him.
Then she strapped in, because Stefan drove like a man on the run when he liked. She opted not to ask him how or when he’d learned to do that.
Two short hours later, Indy beamed up at him from a hospital bed as he held their son. Stefan looked at her in wonder.
And together, plus the brand new love of their life, they started their greatest adventure yet.
If you loved Just One More Night, look out
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Tempting the Enemy
by JC Harroway
CHAPTER ONE
Ava
IF YOU WERE going to gatecrash an office party, the lavish shindig thrown by BLD Global Ventures would be the one to choose. It’s a shame I’m not here for fun. Driven by desperation, I’m hunting Sterling Lombard, head of the New York division of BLD, which is housed in his building, Bold Tower—a gleaming, state-of-the art skyscraper in Manhattan’s financial district. Hopefully, the elusive billionaire, who’s been dodging my attempts to secure a face-to-face meeting, will make an appearance as host of his own staff’s function.
As work parties go, this one is a blast—delicious canapés, an open bar, a band and dancing. It’s what I’d expect from Lombard, one of America’s wealthiest men and one of three partners who head up BLD, or Bold, as it’s often termed.
Just like his partners, Hudson Black and Monroe Dove, the renowned businessman Lombard has the Midas touch. His handsome face regularly peers out from the covers of the Financial Times or Bloomsburg Businessweek—sandy blond hair, piercing green eyes and a smile to rival any male pin-up on the planet. His success is as eye-watering as his good looks and confidence.
But even the little people deserve an audience.
I smooth one palm down the skirt of
