She sighed and went soft, melting into his chest as she leaned toward him. “I was hoping you’d say that. I mean about wanting children. It’s not that I have to have them right away. A small part of me realizes it would probably be better to wait but I’ve always wanted a large family and I don’t want to be old when they’re graduating high school.”
“You realize we’ve done nothing to prevent pregnancy so far,” he said in a low voice.
“Do you mind?” she asked anxiously. “I mean would you be upset if I was actually pregnant before we got married?”
He chuckled. “It would be the height of hypocrisy for me to be upset over something I could have very well prevented.”
“I just want to be sure. I don’t want us to have a bad start. I want everything to be…perfect.”
He touched her nose and then traced a path underneath her eye and down the side of her face. “Do you suspect that you’re already pregnant, Ash? Is that why you’re bringing this up tonight? I don’t want you to be afraid to tell me anything. I’d never be angry with you for something that is equally my responsibility, if not more so. You were an innocent when I made love to you. Birth control absolutely should have been my responsibility.”
She shook her head. “No. I mean I don’t know. I don’t think so anyway.”
He rested his forehead on hers and thought for a moment that they already acted like a married couple who were at ease in their relationship. Strangely, he trusted Ashley and felt comfortable with her. There was a sense of rightness that he couldn’t deny. Maybe William Copeland had known what he was doing after all.
“Well, if you are, then fantastic. Really. I want you to tell me if you even suspect you could be. And if you aren’t? We’ll work on remedying that. Deal?”
She grinned and a delicate blush stained her soft cheeks. “Deal.”
“Now what do you say we go to bed so you can have your evil way with me?”
Her cheeks grew even redder and he smiled at the shy way she ducked her head.
He leaned in to nibble at her ear and then he whispered so the words blew gently over her skin. “I’ll do my very best to make you pregnant.”
To his surprise, she shoved him forward. He landed on his back on the mattress with her looming over him, a mischievous grin dimpling her cheeks. Then her expression grew more serious and her eyes darkened. “I love you so much, Devon. I’m the luckiest woman on earth. I can’t wait until we’re married and I’m officially yours.”
As she lowered her mouth to his, he was gripped by the feeling that she was completely and utterly wrong. It wasn’t she who was the lucky one.
Seven
“Ashley, if you don’t sit still we’re never going to get your hair and makeup right,” Pippa said in exasperation.
“I still think she should have just called in a stylist,” Sylvia said as she eyed the progress Tabitha was making on Ashley’s hair.
“Tabitha is a stylist, silly,” Ashley said. “She’s the best and who doesn’t want the best on their wedding day? And who knows more about makeup than Carly?”