Baby Bonanza

Ten

“Here?” Maxie repeated. “What do you mean he’s here? Here in Seal Beach here?”

Jenna glanced back over her shoulder at her closed front door. She’d spotted Maxie pulling up out front and had made a beeline for the door to head her off at the pass, so to speak. “I mean he’s here here. In the house here. With the boys here.”

For three days now. She’d been able to avoid Maxie by putting her off with phone calls, claiming to be busy. But Jenna had known that sooner or later, her older sister would just drop by.

“Are you nuts?” Maxie asked. Her big, blue eyes went wide as saucers and her short, spiky, dark blond hair actually looked spikier somehow, as if it were actually standing on end more than usual. “What are you thinking, Jenna? Why would you invite him here?”

“I didn’t invite him,” Jenna argued, then shrugged. “He…came.”

Maxie stopped, narrowed her eyes on Jenna and asked, “Are you sleeping with him?”

Disappointment and need tangled up together in the center of Jenna’s chest. No, she wasn’t sleeping with him, but she was dreaming of him every night, experiencing erotic mental imagery like she’d never known before. She was waking up every morning with her body aching and her soul empty.

But she was guessing her older sister didn’t want to hear that, either, so instead, she just answered the question.

“No, Saint Maxie, defender of all morals,” Jenna snapped, “I’m not sleeping with him. He’s been on the couch the last couple of nights and-”

“Couple of nights?”

Jenna winced, then looked up and waved at her neighbor, who’d stopped dead-heading her roses to stare at Maxie in surprise. “Morning, Mrs. Logan.”

The older woman nodded and went back to her gardening. Jenna shifted her gaze up and down the narrow street filled with forties-era bungalows. Trees lined the street, spreading thick shade across neatly cropped lawns. From down the street came the sound of a basketball being bounced, a dog barking maniacally and the muffled whir of skateboard wheels on asphalt. Just another summer day. And Jenna wondered just how many of her neighbors were enjoying Maxie’s little rant. Shooting her sister a dark look, Jenna lifted both eyebrows and waited.

Maxie took the hint and lowered her voice. “Sorry, sorry. But I can’t believe Nick Falco’s been here for two nights and you didn’t tell me.”

Jenna smirked at her. “Gee, me, neither. Of course, I only kept it a secret because I thought you might not understand, but clearly I was wrong.”

“Funny.”

Jenna blew out a breath and hooked her arm through her sister’s. No matter what else was going on in her life, Maxie and she were a team. They’d had only each other for the last five years, after their parents were killed in a car accident. And she wasn’t going to lose her only sister in an argument over a man who didn’t even want her.

“Max,” she said, trying to keep her voice even and calm, despite the whirlwind of emotions she felt churning inside, “he’s here to get to know the boys. His sons, remember? We’re not together that way, and believe me when I say I’m being careful.”

Maxie didn’t look convinced, but then she wasn’t exactly a trusting soul when it came to men. Not that Jenna could blame her or anything…not after she was so unceremoniously dumped by that jerk Darius Stone.

“This is a bad idea,” Maxie said, as if she hadn’t already made herself perfectly clear.

“He won’t be here long.”

“His kind don’t need much time.”

“Maxie…”

“You sure he’s not staying?”

“Why would he?”

“I can think of at least three reasons off the top of my head,” she countered. “Jacob, Cooper and oh, yeah, you. So I ask it again. Are you sure he’s not staying for long?”

Hmm. No, she wasn’t. In fact, Jenna would have thought that Nick would have had his baby fix by now and be all too glad to go back to his life. But so far he hadn’t shown any signs of leaving.

Was it just the boys keeping him here?

Or did he feel something for her, too?

Oh God, she couldn’t allow herself to start thinking that way. It was just setting herself up for more damage once he really did leave.

“Jenna-” Nick called to her from the front porch, then stopped when he saw Maxie and her talking and added, “Oh. Sorry.”

No way to avoid this, Jenna thought dismally, already regretting putting her sister and her ex-lover in the same room together. But she forced a smile anyway. “It’s okay, Nick. This is my sister, Maxie.”

When neither of them spoke, Jenna gave Max a nudge with her elbow.

“Fine, fine,” Max muttered, then raised her voice and said grudgingly, “Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah. You, too.”

“Well, isn’t this special?” Jenna murmured, and wondered if she could get frostbite from the chill in the air between these two. “Come on in, Max,” she urged, wanting her sister to see that she had nothing to worry about. That Nick wasn’t interested in her and that she wasn’t going to be pining away when he left. Surely, Jenna thought, she was a good enough actor to pull that off. “See the boys. Have some coffee.”

Still looking at Nick, Maxie shook her head and said, “I don’t know…”

“I went out for doughnuts earlier,” Nick offered.

“Is he trying to bribe me?” Maxie whispered.

Jenna snorted a laugh. “For God’s sake, Max, be nice.” But as she followed her sister into the house, Jenna could only think that this must have been what it felt like to be dropped behind enemy lines with nothing more than a pocketknife.

Nick knew he should have left already.

Then he wouldn’t have had to deal with Jenna’s sister. Although, she’d finally come around enough that she hadn’t looked as if she wanted to stab him to death with the spoon she used to stir her coffee.

The point was, though, with access to a private jet, he could catch up with the ship in Fort Lauderdale in time to enjoy the second half of the cruise to Italy. Then he wouldn’t have to play nice with Jenna’s sister-who clearly hated his guts. And he wouldn’t be tormented by the desire he felt every waking moment around Jenna herself.

The last couple of nights he’d spent on her lumpy couch had been the longest of his life. He lay awake late into the night, imagining striding down the short hall to her bedroom, slipping into her bed and burying himself inside her. He woke up every morning so tight and hard he felt as if he might explode with the want and frustration riding him. And seeing her first thing in the morning, smelling the floral scent of her shampoo, watching her sigh over that first sip of coffee was another kind of torture.

She was here.

But she wasn’t his.

Now Jenna was off to a packaging store, mailing out one of her gift baskets, and he was alone with his sons.

Nick walked into the boys’ nursery to find them both wide awake, staring up at the mobiles hanging over their beds. The one over Jake’s crib was made up of brightly colored animals, dancing now in the soft breeze coming in from the partially opened window. And over Cooper’s bed hung a mobile made up of bright stars and smiling crescent moons.

He looked from one boy to the other, noting their similarities and their differences. Each of them had soft, wispy dark hair and each of them had a dimple-just like Nick’s-in their left cheek. Both boys had pale blue eyes, though Cooper’s were a little darker than his brother’s.

And both of them had their tiny fists wrapped around his heart.

“How am I supposed to leave you?” he asked quietly. “How can I go back to my life, not knowing what you’re doing? Not knowing if you’ve gotten a tooth or if you’ve started crawling. How can I not be here when you start to walk? Or when you fall down for the first time?”

Soft sunlight came through the louvered blinds on the window and lay across the shining wood floor like gold bars. Outside somewhere on this cozy little street, a lawn-mower fired up and Jake jumped as though he’d been shot.

Instantly Nick moved to the crib, leaned over and laid one hand on his son’s narrow chest. He felt the rapid-fire thud of a tiny heart beneath his palm, and a love so deep, so pure, so all encompassing, filled him to the point that he couldn’t draw a breath.

He hadn’t expected this. Hadn’t thought to fall so helplessly in love with children he hadn’t known existed two weeks ago. Hadn’t thought that he’d enjoy getting up at the crack of dawn just so he could look down into wide eyes, eager to explore the morning. Hadn’t thought that being here, with the boys, with their mother, could feel so…right.

Now that he knew the truth, though, the question was, what was he going to do about it?

Moving across the room to Cooper, he bent down, scooped his son up into his arms and cradled him against his chest. The warm, pliant weight of him and his thoughtful expression made Nick smile. He drew the tip of one finger along Cooper’s cheek, and the infant boy turned his face into that now-familiar touch. Nick’s heart twisted painfully in his chest as he stared down into those solemn blue eyes so much like his own.

“I promise you, I’ll always be here when you need me.” His voice was as quiet as a sigh, but Cooper seemed almost to understand as he gave his father one of his rare smiles. Nick swallowed hard, walked to where Jacob lay in his crib watching them and whispered, “I love you guys. Both of you. And I’m going to find a way to make this work.

When Jake kicked his little legs and swung his arms, it was almost a celebration. At least, that’s what Nick told himself.

That night Jenna pulled on her nightshirt and made one last check on the twins before going to bed herself, as was her habit. Only, this time when she stepped into the room lit only by a bunny nightlight, she found Nick already there.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt. Just a pair of jeans that lay low on his hips and clung to his legs like a lover’s hands. He turned when she stepped into the room, and she felt the power of his gaze slam into her. In the dim light, even his pale eyes were shadowed, dark, but she didn’t need to see those eyes to feel the power in them. Her skin started humming, her blood sizzling, but she made herself put one foot in front of the other, walking past Nick first to Cooper’s crib, then Jacob’s, smoothing each of the boys’ hair, laying a gentle hand on their tummies as they slept.

And through it all, she felt Nick’s gaze on her as surely as she would have a touch. Her breath came in shallow gasps and her stomach did a quick enough spin that she felt nearly dizzy. What was he doing in here? Why was he watching her as he was? What was he thinking?

Her hands were shaking as she turned to leave the nursery with quiet steps. She got as far as the hallway when Nick’s hand came down on her arm.

“Wait.” His voice was hard and low, demanding.

She looked up at him, and here in the dark, where even the pale light from the plugged-in plastic bunny couldn’t reach, Nick was no more than a tall, imposing figure moving in close to her.

“Nick-” Could he hear her heartbeat? Could he sense the fires he kindled inside her? Could he feel the heat pouring off her body in thick waves? “What are you doing?”

Heaven help her, she knew what he was doing. And more, she was glad of it. Just standing with him in the dark filled her with a sense of expectation that had her breath catching in her lungs.

“Don’t talk,” he whispered, moving in even closer, until their bodies were pressed together, until he’d edged her back, up against the wall. “Don’t think.” He lifted both hands and covered her breasts.

She sucked in air and let her head thunk back against the wall. Even through the thin cotton fabric of her nightgown, she felt the thrill of anticipation washing through her. His hands were hot and hard and strong. His thumbs moved across the tips of her nipples and the scrape of the fabric over her sensitive skin was another kind of sweet agony.

“Yes, Nick,” she whispered, licking dry lips and huffing in breaths as if she’d just finished running a marathon. “No thinking. Only feeling. I want-”

“Me, too,” he said, cutting her off so fast, she knew instinctively that he was feeling the immediacy of the moment. “Have for days. Can’t wait another minute. I need to be in you, Jenna. To feel your heat around me.” He dropped his head to the curve of her neck and swept his tongue across the pulse point at the base of her throat.

She jerked in his arms, then lifted her hands until she could cup the back of his head and hold him there. While her fingers threaded through his thick, dark hair, he dropped one hand down the front of her body, skimming her curves, lifting the hem of her nightshirt. Then he was touching her bare skin and she arched into him as he slid his magical fingers beneath the elastic band of her panties.

He touched her core, slid his fingers into her heat and instantly, she exploded, rocking her hips with the force of an orgasm that crashed down on her with a splintering fury. Whimpering his name, she clung to him with a desperate grip until the last of the tremors slid through her. Then she was limp against him until he picked her up and walked to her bedroom.

Holding on to him, Jenna smoothed her hands over his skin, his broad back, his sculpted chest, and when he sucked in a gulp of air, she smiled in the dark, pleased to know she affected him as deeply as he did her.

In moments she was on her bed, staring up at him as he tore his jeans off and came to her. In the next instant he’d pulled her nightshirt up and off, and slid her white lace panties down the length of her legs and tossed them onto the floor.

Since the second he’d walked, unannounced, into her home, Jenna had wanted this. She’d lain awake at night hungering for him, and now that he was here, she had no intention of denying either of them. Though, for all she knew, this was his way of saying goodbye. He might be getting ready to leave, to go back to his world.

And if that was the case, then she wanted this one last night with him. Wanted to feel him over and around her. Wanted to look up into those pale eyes and know that at least for this moment, she was the most important thing in the world to him.

Tomorrow could take care of itself.

He moved in between her legs and stroked her now all-too-sensitive center. She moaned softly, spread her legs farther and rocked her hips in silent invitation. All she wanted was to feel the hard, strong slide of his body into hers. To hold him within her.

Then he was there, plunging deep, stealing her breath with the hard thrusts of his body. He laid claim to her in the most ancient and intimate way. And Jenna gave him everything she had. Her hands stroked up and down his spine. Her short nails clawed at his skin. Her legs wrapped themselves around his hips and urged him deeper, higher.

When he bent his head to kiss her, she parted her lips and met his tongue with her own in a tangle of need and want that was so beyond passion, beyond desire, that she felt the incredible sense that this is where she’d always been meant to be.

He tore his mouth from hers, looked down into her eyes and said on a groan, “Jenna…I need you.”

“You have me,” she told him and then arched her spine as a soul-shattering climax hit them both hard. Holding him tight, Jenna called out his name as wave after wave of sensation crashed, receded and slammed down onto them again and again. She felt his release as well as her own. She held him as his body trembled and shook with a power that was mind numbing.

It seemed the pleasure would never end.

It seemed they were destined to be joined together for the rest of time.

But finally, inevitably, the tantalizing pressure and delight faded and they lay together in a silence so profound, neither of them knew how to end it.

Nick was gone when she woke up.

Not gone gone. His duffle bag was still in one corner of the living room, so he hadn’t gone back to the ship. He was just nowhere to be found in the house. That shouldn’t have surprised her. After all, he’d avoided her the morning after their night together on board ship, as well. But somehow, disappointment welled inside her, and she wondered if he was deliberately distancing himself from her. To make the inevitable leaving easier.

With the sting of unshed tears filling her eyes, she slipped into her normal routine of taking care of the boys, and tried not to remember how it had felt to have Nick there, sharing all of this with her.

Once the twins were fed and dressed, Jenna decided to get out of the house herself. Damned if she’d sit around the house moping, waiting for Nick to return so that he could break her heart by telling her he was leaving. She had a life of her own and she was determined to live it.

Buckling the boys into their car seats, she then grabbed up a stuffed diaper bag and her purse and fired up the engine on her car.

“Don’t you worry, guys,” she said, looking into the rearview mirror at the mirrors she had positioned in front of their car seats so that she could see their faces, “we’re going to be fine. Daddy has to go away, but Mommy’s here. And I’m never going to leave you.”

Those blasted tears burned her eyes again and she blinked frantically to clear them away. She wasn’t going to cry. She’d had an incredible night with the man she loved and she wasn’t going to regret it. Whatever happened, happened.

When her cell phone rang, she assumed it was Maxie until she glanced at the screen and didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”

“Jenna.”

“Nick,” she said, and tried not to sigh at the sound of his deep, dark voice murmuring in her ear.

“You at home?”

“Actually,” she said, lifting her chin as if that could help her keep her voice light and carefree, “I’m in the car. I’m taking the boys to the mall and-”

“Perfect,” he said quickly. “Have you got a pen?”

“Yes, I have a pen, but what is this-”

“Write this down.”

Both of her eyebrows lifted at the order. But she reached into her purse for a pen and a memo pad she always carried. Behind her Jacob was starting to fuss, and pretty soon, she knew, Cooper would be joining in. “Nick,” she asked, pen poised, “what’s this about?”

“Just…I want to show you something and I need you and the boys to come here.”

“Here where?”

“Here in San Pedro.”

She nearly groaned. “San Pedro?”

“Jenna, just do this for me, okay?” He paused, then added, “Please.”

Surprise flickered through her. She couldn’t remember Nick ever saying please before. So when he gave her directions, she dutifully wrote them down. When he was finished, she frowned and said, “Okay, we’ll come. Should be there in about a half hour.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

He hung up before she could ask any more questions, and Jenna scowled at her cell phone before she set it down on the seat beside her. “Well, guys, we’re off to meet your father.” Cooper cooed. “No, I don’t know what this is about, either,” she told her son. “But knowing your daddy, it could be anything.”

It turned out to be a house.

Cape Cod style, it looked distinctly out of place in Southern California, but it was the most beautiful house Jenna had ever seen. It was huge, and she was willing to bet that five of her cottages would have fit comfortably inside. But for all its size, it looked like a family home. There was a wide front lawn, and when she stepped out of the car in the driveway, she heard the sound of the ocean and knew the big house must be right on the sea.

“What’s going on here?” she wondered aloud. But then Jacob’s short, sharp cry caught her attention and she turned to get her sons out of their seats.

“Jenna!”

She looked up and watched as Nick ran down the front lawn to her. He looked excited, his pale eyes shining, his mouth turned into a grin so wide, his dimple dug deeply into his left cheek. Naturally, Jenna felt an involuntary tug of emotion at first sight of him, and she wondered if it would always be that way.

God, she hoped not.

“Let me help with the boys,” he said after giving her a quick, hard, unexpected kiss that left her reeling a little.

“Um, sure.” She watched as he rounded the back of her car, opened the other back door and began undoing the straps on Cooper’s car seat. “Nick, what’s going on? Where are we? Whose house is this?”

He shot her another breath-stealing grin and scooped Cooper up into his arms. “I’ll tell you everything as soon as we get inside.”

“Inside?” Finished with Jacob’s seat straps, she picked him up, cuddled him close and closed the car door with a loud smack of sound.

“Yep,” Nick said. “Inside. Go on ahead. I’ll get the diaper bag and your purse.”

She took a step, stopped and looked at him. Dappled shade from the massive oak tree in the front yard fell across his features. He was wearing a tight black T-shirt and those faded jeans he’d been wearing the night before when they-Okay, don’t go there, she told herself. “I can’t just go inside. I don’t know who lives here and-”

“Fine,” he said, coming around the hood of the car, her purse under his arm and the diaper bag slung over that shoulder, while he jiggled Cooper on the other. “We’ll go together. All of us. Better that way, anyway.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ll see.” He started for the house and she had little choice but to follow.

The brick walkway from the drive to the front door was lined with primroses in vibrant, primary shades of color. More flowerbeds followed the line of the house, with roses and tall spires of pastel-colored stocks scenting the air with a heady perfume.

Jenna kept expecting the owner of the house to come to the front door to welcome them, but no one did. And when she crossed the threshold, she understood why.

The house was empty.

Their footsteps echoed in the cavernous rooms as Nick led her through the living room, past a wide staircase, down a hall and then through the kitchen. Her head turned from side to side, taking it all in, delighting in the space, the lines of the house. Whoever had designed it had known what they were doing. The walls were the color of rich, heavy cream, and dark wood framed doorways and windows. The floors were pale oak and polished to a high shine. The rooms bled one into the other in a flow that cried out for a family’s presence.

This house was made for the sound of children’s laughter. As Jenna followed Nick through room after room, she felt that there was a sense of ease in the house. As if the building itself were taking a deep breath and relishing the feel of people within its walls again.

“Nick…” The kitchen was amazing, but she hardly had time to glance at it as he led her straight through the big room and out the back door.

“Come on, I want you to see this,” he said, stepping back so that she could move onto the stone patio in front of him.

A cold ocean wind slapped at her, and Jenna realized she’d been right, the house did sit on a knoll above the sea. The stone patio gave way to a rolling lawn edged with trees and flowers that looked as she imagined an English cottage garden would. Beyond the lawn was a low-lying fence with a gate that led to steps that would take the lucky people who lived here right down to the beach.

As Jenna held Jacob close, she did a slow turn, taking it all in, feeling overwhelmed with the beauty of the place as she finally circled back to look out at the sea, glittering with golden sunlight.

Shaking her head, she glanced at Nick. “I don’t understand, Nick. What’s going on? Why are we here?”

“Do you like it?” he asked, letting his gaze shift around the yard as he dropped the diaper bag and her purse to the patio. “The house, I mean,” he said, hitching Cooper a little higher on his chest. “Do you like it?”

She laughed, uncertainty jangling her nerves. “What’s not to like?”

“Good. That’s good,” he said, coming to her side. “Because I bought it.”

“You-what?”

Nick nearly laughed at the stunned expression on her face. God, this had been worth all of the secretive phone calls to real estate agents he’d been making. Worth getting up and leaving her that morning so that he could finalize the deal with the house’s former owners.

This was going to work.

It had to work.

“Why would you do that?”

“For us,” he said, and had the pleasure of watching her features go completely slack as she staggered unsteadily for a second.

“Us?”

“Yes, Jenna. Us.” He reached out, cupped her cheek in his palm and was only mildly disappointed when she stepped back and away from him. He would convince her. He had to convince her. “I found a solution to our situation,” he said, locking his gaze with hers, wanting her to see everything he was thinking, feeling, written in his eyes.

“Our situation?” She blinked, shook her head as if to clear away cobwebs and then stared at him again.

The wind was cold, but the sun was warm. Shade from the trees didn’t reach the patio, and the sunlight dancing in her hair made him want to grab her and hold her close. But first they had to settle this. Once and for all.

“The boys,” he said, starting out slowly, as he’d planned. “We both love them. We both want them. So it occurred to me that the solution was for us to get married. Then we both have them.”

She took another step back, and, irritated that she hadn’t jumped on his plan wholeheartedly, Nick talked faster. “It’s not like we don’t get along. And the sex is great. You have to admit there’s real chemistry between us, Jenna. It would work. You know it would.”

“No,” she shook her head again and when Jacob picked up on her tension and began to cry, Nick moved in closer to her.

He talked even faster, hurrying to change her mind. Make her see what their future could be. “Don’t say no till you think about it, Jenna. When you do, you’ll see that I’m right. This is perfect. For all of us.”

“No, Nick,” she said, soothing Jacob even as she smiled sadly up at him. “It’s not perfect. I know you love your sons, I do. And I’m glad of that. They’ll need you as much as you need them. But you don’t love me.”

“Jenna…”

“No.” She laughed shortly, looked around the backyard, at the sea, and then finally she turned her gaze on Nick again. “It doesn’t matter if we get along, or if the sex and chemistry between us is great. I can’t marry a man who doesn’t love me.”

Damn it. She was shutting him down, and he couldn’t even find it in himself to blame her. Panic warred with desperation inside him and it was a feeling Nick wasn’t used to. He was never the guy scrambling to make things work. People cowtowed to him. It didn’t go the other way.

Yet here he stood, in front of this one woman, and knew deep down inside him that the only shot he’d have with her was if he played his last card.

“Oh, for-” Nick reached out with his free arm, snaked it around her shoulders and dragged her in close to him. So close that their bodies and the bodies of their sons all seemed to be melded together into a unit. “Fine. We’ll do it the hard way, then. Damn it Jenna, I do love you.”

“What?” Her eyes held a world of confusion and pain and something that looked an awful lot like hope.

She hadn’t even looked that surprised when he’d shown up at her house a few days ago. That gave him hope. If he could keep her off balance, he could still win this. And suddenly Nick knew that he’d never wanted to win more; that nothing in his life had been this important. This huge. He had to say the right things now. Force her to listen. To really hear him. And to take a chance.

Staring down into her eyes, he took a breath, and then took the plunge. The leap that he’d never thought to make. “Of course I love you. What am I, an idiot?” He stopped, paused, and said, “Don’t answer that.”

“Nick, you don’t have to-”

“Yeah, I do,” he said quickly, feeling his moment sliding by. He hadn’t wanted to have to admit to how he felt. He’d thought for sure that she’d go for the marriage-for-the-sake-of-the-boys thing and then he could have had all he wanted without mortgaging his soul. But maybe this was how it was supposed to work. Maybe you couldn’t get love until you were willing to give it.

“Look, I’m not proud of this, but I’ve been trying to hide from what I feel for you since that first night we met more than a year ago.” His gaze moved over her face and his voice dropped to a low rush of words that he hoped to hell convinced her that what he was saying was true. “I took one look at you and fell. Never meant to. Didn’t want to. But I didn’t have a choice. You were there, in the moonlight and it was as if I’d been waiting for you my whole damn life.”

“But you-”

“Yeah,” he said, knowing what she was going to say. “I pulled away. I let you go. Hell, I told myself I wanted you to go. But that was a lie.” Laughing harshly, he said, “All this time, I’ve been calling you a liar, when the truth is, I’m the liar here. I lied to you. I lied to myself. Because I didn’t want to let myself be vulnerable to you.”

“Nick-” She swallowed hard and a single tear rolled down her cheek. He caught it with the pad of his thumb.

“It would have been much easier on me,” he admitted, “if you’d accepted that half-assed, marriage-of-convenience proposal. Then I wouldn’t have had to acknowledge what I feel for you. Wouldn’t have to take the chance that you’ll throw this back in my face.”

“I wouldn’t do that-”

“Wouldn’t blame you if you did,” he told her. “But since you didn’t go along with my original plan, then I have to tell you everything. I love you, Jenna. Madly. Completely. Desperately.”

Fresh tears welled, making her eyes shine, and everything in him began to melt. What power she had over him. Over his heart. And yet he didn’t care anymore about protecting himself.

All that mattered was her.

“You walk into a room and everything else fades away,” he said softly. “You gave me my sons. You gave me a glimpse into a world that I want to be a part of.”

Another tear joined the first and then another and another. In her arms, Jacob hiccupped, screwed up his little face and started to cry in earnest. Quickly, Nick took the boy from her and cradled him in his free arm. Looking down at his boys, then to her, he said, “Just so you know, I’m not prepared to lose, here. Nick Falco doesn’t quit when he wants something as badly as I want you. I won’t let you go. Not any of you.”

He glanced behind him at the sprawling house, then shifted his gaze back to her again as he outlined his master plan. “We’ll live here. You can do your gift baskets in the house instead of the garage. There’s a great room upstairs that looks over the ocean. Lots of space. Lots of direct light. It’d be perfect for you and all of your supplies.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but Nick kept going before she could.

“I figure until the boys are in school, we can live half the year here, half on board ship. It’ll be good for ’em. And if they like the dog I bought them, we’ll take her along on the ship, too.”

“You bought a d-”

“Golden retriever puppy,” Nick said. “She’s little now, but she’ll grow.”

“I can’t believe-”

The words kept coming, tumbling one after the other from his mouth as he fought to convince her, battled to show her how their lives could be if she’d only take a chance on him.

“Once they’re in school, we can cruise during the summers. I can run the line from here and I have Teresa. I’ll promote her,” he said fiercely. “She can do the onboard stuff and stay in touch via fax.”

“But Nick-”

“And I want more kids,” he said, and had the pleasure of seeing her mouth snap shut. “I want to be there from the beginning. I want to see our child growing within you. I want to be in the delivery room to watch him-or her-take that first breath. I want in on all of it, Jenna. I want to be with you. With them,” he said, glancing at the twins he held cradled against him.

The boys were starting to squirm and he knew how they felt. Nick’s world was balanced on a razor’s edge, and he figured that he had only one more thing to say. “I’m not going to let you say no, Jenna. We belong together, you and me. I know you love me. And damn it, I love you, too. If you don’t believe me, I’ll find a way to convince you. But you’re not getting away from me. Not again. I won’t be without you, Jenna. I can’t do it. I won’t go back to that empty life.”

The only sound then was the snuffling noises the twins were making and the roar of the sea rushing into the cliffs behind them. Nick waited what felt like a lifetime as he watched her eyes.

Then finally she smiled, moved in close to him and wrapped both arms around him and their sons. “You really are an idiot if you think I’d ever let you get away from me again.”

Nick laughed, loud and long, and felt a thousand pounds of dread and worry slide from his shoulders. “You’ll marry me.”

“I will.”

“And have more babies.”

“Yes.” She smiled up at him, and her eyes shone with a happiness so rich, so full, it stole Nick’s breath. “A dozen if you want.”

“And sail the world with me,” he said, dipping his head to claim a kiss.

“Always,” she said, still smiling, still shining with an inner light that warmed Nick through. “I love you, Nick. I always have. We’ll be happy here, in this wonderful house.”

“We will,” he assured her, stealing another kiss.

“But you’re going to be housetraining that puppy,” she teased.

“For you, my love,” Nick whispered, feeling his heart become whole for the first time in his life, “anything.”