Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 104869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
“I wanted him so much. But when I lost him, I thought I lost you too. I just don’t want you to ever believe that I didn’t love him. Or I didn’t mourn him.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
“Shh, Kenna. I know that,” he whispered. “I know you did. I’m sorry I made you feel like I doubted that.”
“I just found it so hard to allow myself to lean on you afterward,” she confessed, swiping a hand over her wet cheeks. “Because I thought that you would leave.”
“I knew what you thought,” he interrupted grimly. “I knew from the beginning. And you were wrong. But it was easier to go along with your misconceptions, because I knew you’d balk if I tried to convince you of the real reason behind my proposal. I just thought that I’d have plenty of time to ease you into the truth.”
“The truth?”
He sighed softly, and reached into his breast pocket again, where she knew her rings were.
He pulled out the engagement ring and clasped it between his thumb and ring finger and held it up in front of them.
“The truth is the night we first met, after we’d made such perfect love and I left you asleep in your apartment, I went home, pulled out Nana Pat’s jewelry box and picked this ring out for you.”
She gasped in wonder and her eyes flew to his in disbelief, alight with equal amounts of hope and doubt.
“Marrying you was always the plan, Kenna. In my mind, your pregnancy merely accelerated the timeline. In yours, it spelled the beginning of the end. Trust me when I say that if I’d known that, I would have made it very clear from the beginning—whether it panicked you or not—that I was in it for the long haul because I fucking adore you.”
A smile of wonderment lit up her face, sparking in her eyes before tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“Smith,” she breathed, her lips parting as she gazed up into his eyes.
“Kenna,” he whispered as his lips descended to hers in a hot, sweet kiss.
Her arms were around his neck in seconds and he tugged her into his lap, his hands slipping over the smooth, cool fabric of her dress to find the silky warm flesh beneath.
“I’m filthy,” he muttered, while pressing open-mouthed kisses in her neck. “I’m going to mess up this gorgeous dress.”
Kenny, shook her head, and dragged one of his capable hands up to the neckline of her dress.
“Not if we take it off, you won’t,” she said, and he made a choked, growling sound of eager agreement.
Kenny pushed herself up onto wobbly feet. She wasn’t wearing her cast today and had instead opted for ballet flats.
“What are you doing?” he asked in confusion and she smiled at him, wrinkling her nose mischievously.
“Lock the door,” she told him.
Smith turned away to do as Kenna had requested, his movements sluggish as he stumbled to the door to rotate the key in the lock. When he turned to face her again, his jaw dropped to the floor in the exact same instant that his cock saluted the ceiling.
She was naked stark but for a string of delicate, creamy pearls that were draped between her breasts. She was sitting on the large mahogany desk, her slender thighs primly crossed, and her hands braced behind her in a way that made her perky tits thrust up even higher.
Smith tried to swallow, but found his throat instantly parched.
“Jesus,” he murmured, the word a benediction.
She smiled.
The small movement of her lips proved simultaneously enigmatic, welcoming, and very fucking sexy. As always, everything about his wife was a study of contrasts.
Was it any wonder he loved her?
“Are you going to stand there gawking all night, Smith Jenson?” she purred. “Or are you going to make love to me?”
Oh, the latter.
Very much the latter.
He stumbled toward her, folded her into his arms, and kissed her.
When she finally remembered her family forty minutes later, Kenny nearly died of embarrassment.
“They’ll absolutely know what we’ve been doing in here,” she whispered in horror.
“You barely screamed, Kenna,” he whispered back with a smug smile at the corners of his lips.
“Oh my God.”
He laughed.
“They didn’t hear anything,” he placated. “The walls are soundproof.”
“They are?”
“Mmhmm. I conduct a lot of business in here. It felt expedient.”
“Oh, thank God,” she murmured. The both snuck upstairs to clean up and when Kenny finally rejoined her family a while later, they were all out on the patio, having drinks and eating cake.
An expectant hush fell over them when Kenny sat down on the patio sofa next to Fern.
She leaned over and helped herself to a slice of cake and glass of bubbly.
“You were gone a while,” Gideon observed neutrally.
“You okay?” Cade asked.
“Leave the lass alone,” her father commanded. “Let her eat her damned caked in peace.”