Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 137131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“While skydiving?”
He snorts.
“Not sure you’d hear my vows, but if that’s what you want, so be it.”
I grin wickedly. “Springfield. All the media should be there. I can see the headlines now. Business Mogul Marries Attorney General’s Daughter.”
“Will She Make it Down the Aisle?” he quips, and I laugh.
“You’re right, I can’t imagine anything worse.”
“If it was between that and not marrying you, I’d still do it in a heartbeat.”
“Oh, Romeo,” I say, slapping his arm and crushing myself against him again.
We’re alone and we’re still wearing too many clothes for this.
“If I didn’t know better, I might think you want to sweep me off my feet,” I tease.
Without hesitation, he scoops me up and starts to carry me back toward the cabin. “How’s this?”
“Very hot. Where are we going?”
“Your next surprise. I rented out Solitude for the weekend. So you do the math.” He pretends to think. “First, I’m taking my fiancée inside to fuck her brains out. Then, after we order whatever food you like, we’ll do it again in the shower.”
Heaven.
My insides go liquid just thinking about it. “So this is why you waited this morning…”
He places his lips to my ear.
“Now you know. Next time I fucked you, I had to see that ring.”
Insanely hot.
I don’t know what I did in a past life to deserve a man like Archer, but in this one, I’ll do everything in my power to keep him.
The ring on my finger suggests I have a good shot.
Then again, didn’t I know that?
He came for me.
When I was lost and alone and dying in the woods, my prince came. Dad flew in and helped organize rescue efforts, sure. He threw tons of money at it and leveraged his connections.
But Archer went into the woods for me.
No one made him.
No one promised him anything but grief if he couldn’t find me in the dark, dense maze of trees, yet he did it anyway.
Because he could.
Because he couldn’t bear losing me the same way I know losing him would shred my soul.
So I wrap my arms around his neck and find his lips with mine.
He gives back a rough groan, kicking the door open and striding inside, letting it swing shut behind us.
Not so long ago, I fled here to escape an arranged marriage.
Who knew I’d find a husband?
I break the kiss. “How do you feel about more kids?”
His eyes widen.
“No, not now. But later. After we’re married, when we’re settled.” It’s a conversation we probably should’ve had before, but with Colt almost grown, I get it if he needs time.
Yes, I want my own baby or three.
Something small and sweet to hold and cradle and nurture the same way Archer raised his son. I need it with an intensity that makes my chest ache.
“How many babies you want, woman?” Archer asks, walking into the bedroom and laying me down on the bed.
He falls on top of me, and I wrap my legs around him, holding him close.
“One,” I whisper, blushing. “Maybe two.”
I hold back so I don’t scare him away.
“Two?”
“I know with Colt that makes three… is that too much for an old man?” I smooth the dark hair back from his brow.
He chuckles.
“Two, three, what the fuck ever,” he rumbles. “As long as it’s us, Winnie, I’m open.”
Us.
The best word in the universe.
“Then it’s settled,” I say happily. “Two girls, then we’ll see. Colt will be the best big brother.”
“Girls, huh?” Archer presses his hips against me, rubbing his erection against my belly in a way that makes me squirm.
“I want a little girl I can spoil, all the ways my parents never spoiled me,” I say, although it’s more of a gasp when Archer shifts again. It’s getting harder to keep my mind on the conversation I started. “But do you think we should ask Colt what he’d think?”
Archer kisses me fiercely, cradling my head in his hands. “I love that you think of him. I’m sure he’ll be down for whatever makes us happy.”
“He feels like my son sometimes. I know he’s not and he’ll never be, but—”
“He is,” Archer insists hoarsely. “He has another mother, yes, but you’ll always be around more. He already sees you as part of our family.”
My heart swells.
My eyes fill with tears.
So unexpected, the sweet sting of it.
Never once did I think I’d fall for a single dad. To my younger self, that was too much baggage, too much difference in life experience. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready for kids.
But with Archer, it’s so different.
Colt isn’t like anything I imagined, kind and gentle and ridiculously smart.
Best of all, marrying Archer doesn’t mean I’m being tossed into motherhood.
Not when it’s something I want to take on, and they make it so easy.
I want to be an older, loving woman in Colt’s life—a mom he can trust when his real mother is still a whole lot of ‘wait and see.’