Daddy 101 (American Romance) (17 page)

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Authors: Jo Leigh

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“I said, aren’t you supposed to be signing autographs?”
“You think that’s more important than this? Than us?”
She shook her head. “No. But you are helping to raise money for the pet shelter.”
“I know. I’ll just pay the rest. It’ll get built, don’t worry.”
“What do you mean, the rest?”
“I pledged the balance.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. I wanted to.”
She smiled, feeling more peace and contentment than she’d ever dreamed possible.
“What?” Alex still looked puzzled. “What is that smile about? And why are we talking about animal shelters? Didn’t you hear me?”
“I heard you.”
“And?”
“And I think we need to get back to town. I mean, I wouldn’t want anyone to think badly of us when we’re gone. I’ll be coming back, you know. To check up on the shelter, and to make sure my practice is in good hands.”
“What?”
“You keep saying that.”
“You mean...?”
She nodded. Alex just stood there, looking a little goofy with his mouth open.
“Well, if you’re not going to say it, then I guess I have to.”
“What?”
“You gotta work on that return, sweetie.”
“Tell me!”
“No. It’s
ask
me.”
“Wh—” He stopped. Grinned. “Pardon?”
She grinned right back at him. “Boy, for a bright guy...” She sighed dramatically, enjoying this more than she could ever say. Then, she took his hands in hers, looked into his eyes and said, “Alex Bradley, will you marry me?”
“What?”
She shook her head. “No, the correct answer to that is, yes.”
He nodded. Wow, did he nod. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, and yes.”
“Will you promise to love me in sickness and in health? Through good times and bad? Till death do us part?”
“Yes.”
She leaned close, but just before she kissed him, she whispered, “I believe you.”
Epilogue
Two years later
 
“Why
can’t we name him Pete?”
Dani shook her head at Chloe. She might be a whiz kid at her private school in Manhattan, but sometimes she was just a ten-year-old kid with some pretty stubborn ideas. “Because we can’t name the baby after the dog.”
“But it was Pete who helped you meet Daddy. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t be having the baby.”
“True. But I’m sure if you give Pete a very big bone, he’ll be just as tickled.”
“Alex Junior is just too boring.”
“Well thanks.”
Dani turned at the sound of Alex’s voice. She smiled up at him as he came to the dinner table. “It smells great.”
“Remember the last time I made chicken here?”
She smiled. “That was a meal I’ll never forget.”
“I’ve improved since then.”
“True. But I still like Annie’s cooking better.”
“I don’t know. It’s nice to be here alone. Just us.” He put the chicken down on the table and surveyed the meal he’d cooked with his very own hands. “Matter of fact, I think we ought to stay here for a while.”
Dani watched him take his seat. Something was up, she could tell. That tone of voice was always a dead giveaway. “What are you thinking?”
“You sound worried.”
“I am.”
He put his napkin in his lap, then made a point of pouring himself a large glass of water, and filling her glass and Chloe’s, too. “I just think it might be nice if we had the baby here.”
“But it’s all planned. What about New York?”
“It’ll still be there when we want to go back.”
“What about the new building?”
“Ted and Donald can handle it.”
“Chloe’s summer school?”
He turned to his daughter. “Would you be brokenhearted if you just had to play and draw and help Mom with the baby?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t want to go to that dumb computer school anyway.”
Alex looked back at Dani. “See?”
“What brought this on?”
“I was at the diner this afternoon.”
“Mom.”
“And Aunt Laura. Uncle Steve. Caroline. Mimi...”
“All right. I get the picture.” She picked up her fork and stabbed a small piece of chicken. “Are you sure it’s not going to make you crazy? We haven’t stayed here more than a week since we moved.”
“No. It’s fine. I want to be here more. I think we should plan to stay here every summer.”
“What?”
“Any minute now, we’ll have two kids to think of,” he said. “I want them to grow up to be just like their mom. With small town values.”
“But a little New York sophistication wouldn’t hurt, either.”
“Nope. Together, they’re an unbeatable combination, don’t you think?”
“I do,” she said.
“Know what another great combination is?”
“What?”
“Alexander Peter Bradley.”
She laughed. “Now wait a minute.”
“Chloe’s right. It’s all his fault we’re together. If he’d stayed healthy, we’d never have met.”
“See, Mom?” Chloe said. “Even Daddy gets it.”
Dani looked at her family. Her beautiful young daughter. Her wonderful husband. Her hand went to her stomach, so ripe with her unborn child. Even Pete, the old guy, was curled up in the corner. All was right with her world. “Okay. You win. But you two have to tell him the story when he’s old enough to ask about his name.”
Chloe held out her hand and Alex grabbed it. They shook like partners. Buddies. Father and daughter. And now she’d be having Alex Junior at home, surrounded by her family and her friends.
For the rest of dinner, she didn’t say much. It was good just to listen to the lively discussion between Alex and Chloe about the internet, Renoir, the New York Yankees and finally dish duty. Of course she wasn’t allowed to help. Her belly got in the way, they claimed. But that was all right, too.
Listening to the laughter spilling out of the kitchen, she went to the living room, right up to the bookcase. She found the large coffee table book that was right next to the potted fern. Opening the front cover, she saw the page she’d put there over two years before. She’d wanted to keep it safe. To bring it out on long lonely nights, so she would remember her little adventure. The two days she’d spent with the Sexiest Man in the World.
She lifted the magazine cover, still pristine, and held it up. He was handsomer now, of course. Sweeter.
Her two days of adventure had turned into two years of joy. He was still the Sexiest Man in the World. And she was the Luckiest Woman on Earth.
ISBN : 978-1-4592-6081-8
 
DADDY 101
 
Copyright © 1998 by Jolie Kramer.
 
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
 
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
 
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
 
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with
® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

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