Red Handed(89)
Her chest tightened, and she burst into tears. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes. “I’ve been extremely hormonal.” She took a deep breath. “Yes, Cole. I’m pregnant. You’re going to be a father.”
The beeping of his monitor accelerated.
She covered her belly. “I had some cramping and bleeding from the stress of the ordeal with Tasha, but the doctors here did an ultrasound, and the baby is fine. I’m ten weeks along, and she’s growing perfectly. I know you don’t want children—”
“Danielle?” He yanked his oxygen tube from his nose and ripped the wires from his chest. Then he sat up and hoisted his legs over the side before dropping to his knees in front of her. “Eight years ago, I set my eyes on the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She was too young for me then, and circumstances kept us apart, but she was never far from my thoughts. I watched from a distance as she bloomed, dreaming about a life I could have with her if only things were different. Then one day, her application landed on my desk, and I realized I’d finally have the chance to touch her and have her in my life, even if it was only temporary. But I didn’t want to show her how much I cared, so I tried to intimidate her that first day and push her past her comfort zone.” He smiled. “She met every challenge I threw at her. Every minute I spent with her, I fell deeper in love, but I let my fear keep me from giving her all of me.”
She fell to her own knees and took his hands as he continued. “These last weeks without you have been hell, and I never want to go another day without you again. So even though I don’t deserve you, I’m asking . . . Danielle, will you marry me?”
A nurse ran into the room. “Sir, are you okay? Our monitors indicated you flat-lined.”
“I’m alive right now, but if the love of my life refuses my marriage proposal, she’ll break my heart.”
Her pregnancy hormones were working overtime, and the waterworks started again. “Are you sure you want to marry me? It’s not just because I’m pregnant?”
“The baby is just a bonus. I love you, and I love the child growing inside of you. Say yes, Danielle.”
She smiled. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”
Epilogue
INHALING THE SCENT of freshly cut grass, Danielle rested her e-reader on her rounded belly and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment. The birds sang, and the breeze rustled the leaves on the trees. It was so peaceful out here right now. Too bad it wouldn’t last.
After all those years of living a solitary life, she wasn’t used to having people around her all the time. And not just people, but friends. Cole had assigned Gracie to serve as Danielle’s private bodyguard, a task the woman took way too seriously considering the threat to her life was gone. But Cole insisted, overprotective of not only her, but their baby girl, who’d make her entrance into the world in only a few short months.
Until the new house was built, the only privacy Danielle could get outside of her bedroom was here inside the gazebo. Because it was on the grounds, she could leave Gracie behind and enjoy the peace and quiet. Both a blessing and a curse, there was never a dull moment at Benediction.
Gracie had taken her shopping for maternity clothes and even managed to find her maternity fetish wear, something she would never have thought existed until Gracie surprised her with a visit to the store. And when Danielle took her business class at the nearby university, Gracie remained in the hallway and hit on the professors, male and female.
She rubbed her thumb over the diamond on her ring finger as if checking to make sure it was still there. It didn’t make a difference because the ring didn’t make the marriage, but the certificate they’d signed and filed at the courthouse the day Cole had gotten out of the hospital had.
A smile tugged at her lips. She’d never grow tired of being called Mrs. DeMarco or, as she was known at the club, Master Cole’s.
“What’s that smile for?”
She looked up at her husband, who was still as handsome as the day she’d first seen him nine years ago. Wearing jeans and a Detroit Tigers T-shirt, he sat down beside her on the bench and exchanged the e-reader for his hand. For a man who’d insisted he never wanted children, he spent hours each day waiting to feel the kick of his daughter’s foot or the punch of her little hand.
She covered his hand with her own. “I was thinking how much my life has changed this year.”
“All for the better, I hope?”
A blush crept over her chest. “I think I proved that to you in the mirror room last night.”