She considered that. “I don’t need anything fancy, so we can have it quickly, if you would like to.”
He kissed her again. “I would like to very much.”
“Good, I—”
But instead of pulling back, he deepened the kiss. Chloe leaned close to him. “What about your list?” she asked.
He tossed the paper and pen onto the floor. “It can wait. I think we have a little more catching up to do.”
He lowered her onto her back and slid his hand over her body. Chloe arched into his touch. His warm fingers lingered on her belly, stroking the smooth skin there. Without meaning to, she opened her eyes and saw the little stone statue. How odd, she thought. If she didn’t know better, she would swear its little face was smiling. Then Arizona’s fingers slipped lower and she couldn’t think about anything except how wonderful it was to be back where she belonged…where they both belonged.
She closed her eyes as he entered her and for that brief second, she thought she felt straw under her back, as if they were in the cave again. Just like in the dream. As passion carried her higher and higher, she realized that nothing about life with Arizona was ever going to be completely normal, but it was always going to be wonderful and exciting. They could give each other everything and accept everything in return. They were bound by forces they couldn’t see or understand, caught up in the tide of love. After all, they were each other’s destiny.
* * * * *
DREAM GROOM
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue
CHAPTER ONE
“HE HUNGRY,” said twenty-six-month-old Sasha solemnly, her large blue eyes darkening with the first hint of worry. “He want peanny butter.”
Ryan Lawford glanced from his niece to the “he” in question. Unfortunately the hungry creature wasn’t a baby brother or even a pet. It was, instead, a beeping fax machine. Crumpled paper jammed the feed, gooey peanut butter covered the keys, while a sticky spoon sat where the receiver should be. His fingers tightened around the ten-page report that he was supposed to be faxing to Japan in less than twenty minutes.
“Me hungry, too,” Sasha announced. “Me want esghetti.”
“Sure,” Ryan said, his teeth clenched, his blood pressure climbing toward quadruple digits.
Spaghetti—why not? He could just whip some up, maybe a nice salad and some garlic bread. Red wine for himself, milk for his niece. There were only two things standing in his way. Make that three things. First, unless the meal came in a little plastic dish with instructions on how long to heat it in the microwave, he wasn’t going to be much help in the kitchen. Second, last time he’d checked, the only food in the refrigerator had been a half-empty jar of peanut butter that the fax machine had just consumed. Third, what the hell was he doing here? Children and their needs were beyond him. Helen and John had been crazy to make him Sasha’s guardian.
He spun on his heel. “I’ll be right back,” he said, in an effort to keep Sasha from following him. Ever since he’d arrived at the end of last week to help with the funeral arrangements for his brother and sister-in-law, the kid had been dogging his every footstep.
Sasha wasn’t deterred. Still clutching the jar of peanut butter to her chest, she trailed after him. “Unk Ryan? Go see Mommy?”
The phone in his makeshift office began to ring. He headed toward the back of the house. Sasha hurried to keep up.
“Unk Ryan? Me want M-Mommy.”
Her tiny voice cracked. He didn’t have to look at her to know that tears had started down her face. In the background the fax machine continued to beep. His phone rang again. As he reached for it, he eyed his computer and figured he would scan the pages and send them out using the modem.
He picked up a receiver and barked “Hello?” into it.
The jar of peanut butter dropped to the floor. Mercifully it didn’t break, but now Sasha’s tears began in earnest.
“Mommy,” she sobbed as if her baby heart were breaking. Ryan grimaced. It probably was. Her chin wobbled, soft dark curls clung to her forehead and her tiny hands twisted together.
One of his staff members began discussing a difficult problem. Ryan couldn’t concentrate. “Hold on,” he said, set down the receiver and started toward Sasha. Before he could reach her, the doorbell rang.
He clamped his lips down on the curse waiting to slip out. What else could go wrong today? he wondered, then mentally banished the question. He didn’t need to tempt fate to try harder to mess things up. Life was complicated enough.