Even without knowing the story, he’d known it meant a lot to me.
“I got it out of the box with all the things you’ve kept from your family, had it polished up.” He turned it in my hand so Beth’s name was facing upward. “I was thinking if we have a wee girl, we could name her Beth.”
Swallowing past the lump of emotion clogging my throat, I nodded. “I’d like that. Thank you.” I threw my arms around his neck, the rattle clenched tight in my fist, as I kissed him.
We kissed, sweet brushes of our lips that grew quickly heated. My breathing was heavy as I pulled back, my forehead pressing against his. “Do you think we’ve finally made it through?”
“Made it through?”
“All the crap.” I grinned cheekily. “Do you think we finally get everything about each other?”
Braden shook his head, pressing another kiss to my lips as I clung to him. “No, babe. We’re going to spend every day growing up. We’ll learn new things about ourselves, never mind each other.”
I pulled back. “Did anyone ever tell you that when your fear doesn’t get in the way of your perceptiveness, you are an incredibly wise man, Mr. Carmichael?”
He rolled his eyes. “Am I ever going to live this down?”
I snorted, threading my arm through his as we started to stroll back down the castle hill. “When I fucked up you joked about it inappropriately for months and then pulled it out every now and then when you wanted to make a point.”
He grunted. “I’ll allow you to emotionally manipulate me with it for a week.”
“A year.”
“A month.”
“A year.”
“Six months.”
I thought about it. That was a fairly lengthy period of torture and it probably fit in better with our pregnancy time frame. “Okay, six months. But I should warn you that it’ll include more than emotional manipulation.”
“Elaborate.”
I smiled up at him. “I’m pregnant. My requests, cravings, they may get a little outrageous.”
His body shook with laughter. “You’re carrying my child. I’d probably take the blame if you murdered someone.”
“You’d probably do that anyway, pregnant or not.”
Braden smiled softly down at me. “No probably about it.”
Chuckling, I held on tighter. “I’m going to make you come shopping with me for maternity clothes.”
“I can handle it. In fact, I’m rather looking forward to you having a bump.” He smoothed a hand across my stomach, something he’d taken to doing a lot.
“My bump? Why?”
“It’s a caveman thing,” he joked.
“Elaborate.” I repeated his word back at him.
“I’m not sure you want to know. You’ve just recently stopped being pissed off at me.”
“Braden …”
He stopped just as we were about to walk outside the castle entrance onto the esplanade. I let him pull me against him as he bent to whisper his answer in my ear. “When every man sees our bump, they’ll know I was the one you let inside you, they’ll know you’re mine and I’m yours, and that growing inside you is our kid.”
My lips parted as I pulled back to meet his eyes. “The idea of the bump turns you on,” I said more succinctly.
He grinned unrepentantly.
I shrugged. “That’s fine with me. I start showing during my second trimester, and I’ve heard that’s also when I’ll get horny as hell.”
Braden grabbed my hand as we began walking down the esplanade. “I’ll do my best to
accommodate you.”
“I’m expecting a lot,” I teased. “Filthy comments in restaurants, sex in bathrooms, cars, elevators, the changing rooms of maternity clothes shops …”
My husband laughed, letting go of my hand to wrap his arm around my shoulders and draw me into his side. “You missed the couch, the kitchen table, the shower, the bathtub—and the bed could work, too, you know.”
“We need to get a cab.” I began walking faster down the Mile.
I felt Braden grinning at me. “Pregnancy hormones?”
“Braden-induced hormones,” I grumbled, flagging down an oncoming black cab. I turned to him, my eyes glittering with anticipation. “Since you fucked up last week, I’m in charge. And on top.
We’ll see how it goes from there.”
He sighed heavily, as if it was such a hardship. “Ah, and so it begins.”
For more information about Samantha Young and her novels, visit www.ondublinstreet.com.
Samantha Young, the New York Times bestselling author of On Dublin
Street, Down London Road and Before Jamaica Lane returns with a story
about letting go of the past and learning to trust in the future.
FALL FROM INDIA PLACE
Coming soon from Piatkus!
In the meantime, turn the page for more exciting New Adult reads …
COME TO ME QUIETLY
By A.L. Jackson
From the acclaimed bestselling author of Lost to You and When We
Collide comes a New Adult novel of one woman’s obsession: a man
who’s as passionate as he is elusive – and as tempting as he is trouble . .
.
Aleena Moore is haunted by Jared Holt. It’s been six years since she’s seen
her brother’s best friend, the self-destructive bad boy she secretly loved in
high school. As the years pass, she knows it’s time to move on. Time to
decide between a practical nursing degree and her true dream as an artist.
Time to get over Jared and give another guy a chance …
Just when she opens her heart to her friend, Gabe, Aly returns home to
find Jared sleeping on her couch. The teenage boy she loved has grown
into a man she can’t resist. Covered in tattoos and lost in rage, he’s
begging to be saved from his demons – the memories of the day he
destroyed his family. As the two reconnect, their passion is hot enough to
torch Aly’s judgment. But can she risk her future for a man who lives on
the edge of destruction?
Out in January 2014 from Piatkus Books!
DEEPER
By Robin York
In this New Adult debut by Robin York, a college student is
attacked online and must restore her name – and stay clear of a
man who’s wrong for her, but feels so right.
When Caroline Piasecki’s ex-boyfriend posts their sex pictures on the
Internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice college girl. Suddenly her
once-promising future doesn’t look so bright. Caroline tries to make the
pictures disappear; hoping time will bury her shame. Then a guy she
barely knows rises to her defence and punches her ex to the ground.
West Leavitt is the last person Caroline needs in her life. Everyone knows
he’s shady. Still, Caroline is drawn to his confidence and swagger – even
after promising her dad she’ll keep her distance. On late, sleepless nights,
Caroline starts wandering into the bakery where West works.
They hang out, they talk, they listen. Though Caroline and West tell each
other they’re ‘just friends,’ their feelings intensify until it becomes
impossible to pretend. The more complicated her relationship with West
gets, the harder Caroline has to struggle to discover what she wants for
herself – and the easier it becomes to find the courage she needs to fight
back against the people who would judge her.
When all seems lost, sometimes the only place to go is deeper.
Out on Piatkus Entice in January 2014 and paperback March 2014.
Document Outline
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Dedication