GAMBLING ON LOVE (Travis Series) (37 page)

His mouth crushed hers and whatever Beth was about to say suddenly didn’t seem nearly as important as kissing Sam
.
A soft moan wound its way up her throat when she felt him moving her backwards towards the bed
.
It had been so long since he’d made love to her
,
the aching need for him hit her like a Texas tornado.
 

“Make love to me, Sam,” she rasped,
trembling
at the
raw
hung
e
r
burning in his eyes
.
 

He took his time removing first her clothing
and
then his, each second more agonizing than the last
.
He
eased her back on the bed and lowered himself over her
, a slow grin spreading across his face
.
Beth’s throat constricted
.

“This isn’t going to last long, is it
?”
she said, her voice low and husky.

Sam never said a word
; he let his body do all the talking for him. Each tender caress and lingering kiss
,
every penetrating thrust of hips, the moans of pleasure that sent her senses spiraling out of control; they spoke of love and longing and the promise of a beautiful future together
. Beth clung to his broad shoulders, lost in a sea of sensuality as he drove her higher and higher until the world around her exploded in a kaleidoscope of deliciously decadent sensations. When she finally floated back to earth, Sam was pressing soft, feather
y
kisses to her lips and murmuring how much he loved her and that he would never let anyone hurt her again.

Beth couldn’t have been more content with life than she was
at that moment
.
The only thing that could make it better was to tell Sam about the baby
.
She’d just about made up her mind the time was right when he moved away from her and climbed out of bed.
 

“I’ve got one more little surprise for you.”

Beth sat up and watched him disappear around the corner
.
She heard him open the door to the garage and then a strange clicking noise as he made his way back to the bedroom
.
He
peeked
his head
through
the doorway and
told
her
to
close her eyes
.
Again
,
there was the odd clicking noise
and
then
silence.

“Okay, sweetheart, open your eyes.”

Beth scrambled from the bed, laughing and crying at the same time
.
“You got me a dog
?”
She leaned down to pet the huge German
shepherd
and was rewarded with a swig of his big tongue on her cheek
.
“Oh, Sam, he’s beautiful, or is it a she?”

“This is Duke
.
My friend Jake arranged for us to adopt him
.
He’s a retired police dog.”

Duke wagged his tail, apparently
comprehending
that the rest of his life would be spent in pampered luxury if he played his cards right
.
“Some guard dog he
is
,” Beth laughed
.
“
Look
at that tail go.”

“Don’t let the wagging tail or big kiss fool you
.
He’s smart as hell and
can sense danger a mile away
.
Jake assured me that Duke was as docile as a lamb unless someone threatens his family. Until
a few days ago
, that was his fellow officers, but he seems to know he has a new family now.
I think between the two of us, we
have a pretty good shot at keeping
you out of trouble.
”
Sam
nodded to the dog
.
“He
has
a pretty
unique
collar
, too
. Check
it out.”

Beth squatted down
.
“I feel
as if
I should cover up,” she giggled
.
“Is Duke old enough to see a naked female
…
”
Beth’s eyes shot up
.
“Sam?”
 

“Take it off, honey.”

Beth untied the ribbon on Duke’s collar with shaky fingers and let the small box drop into her hand
.
When she stood, Sam took the box and opened it
.
She drew in a sharp breath as he lifted the sparkling diamond ring from the box and placed it on her finger.

“Now it’s official,” he said softly
.
“But it’s going to be the shortest engagement in history.
”
Sam gathered her in his arms
.
“Say yes, Anne, and tomorrow we’ll be married.”

Beth was trembling so bad she
was afraid of slipping
right through his arms and end
up
at Duke’s feet
.
“You really stacked all the cards in your favor, didn’t you
?”
she
asked in a
wobbly
voice.

“I had to, Anne
.
My entire life depended on it.”

“Do I need to ask
whether
the invitations have already gone out?”
 

Sam grinned
.
“Vic and Maggie probably have the decorators all cowering in fear by now
.
I received a considerable rebuking from Vic already for not calling him back earlier to give
them
more time
to plan
.”

“Vic and Maggie together, huh
?”
Beth shook her head, her eyes dancing with amusement
.
“They won’t take any prisoners, you know that?”

“I was counting on it.
”
Sam’s heart swelled at the happiness he saw
shinning through her eyes
.
“Have I made everything perfect for you, sweetheart?”

“You’ve given me everything I could ever dream of wanting, Sam
.
Except
…
”
Beth deliberately let her voice fade.

His brows instantly drew together
.
“What is it, honey
?
Did
I
forget something?”

“Well,” she drawled, “you didn’t exactly
forget
to give it to me.”

Sam
chuckled
.
“You sound very mysterious, honey
.
Should I be worried?”

“Maybe just a little
.
Let’s just say when you take me shopping for
furniture,
we’ll need to add
a
few things to the list.”

“What kinds of things
?”
He eyed her suspiciously.

Beth smiled
.
“Like a crib
maybe,
and a highchair
…
”

“Anne
…
honey,
are
you
…
”

She nodded
.
“Yes, Sam, we’re having a baby.
”

Beth felt the huge tremor that raced through Sam’s big body
.
He lifted her in his arms and hugged her, his happy laughter filling her heart with joy
.
Then h
e plied her face with kisses before capturing her mouth
for a long, lingering kiss
.

Crushing her to his chest, a look of fierce determination stole over his face.  
“
I swear
,
I’ll be a good husband to you,
” he said gruffly, “and
a good
father to our children
.”

“I know,” she said
with
a
wistful sigh
.
“It’s so overwhelming to think of myself as a mother.
Aren’t you even a little scared?”

Sam
shook his head, laughing
.
“Not in the least, honey
.
After
what we’ve endured over
the past few weeks, raising kids will be a
cakewalk
.”

Anne flipped through the pages of the scrapbook, balancing it on her knees so she could see over her extended belly
.
She touched the picture
that was
taken when her company had reopened
.
Travis-Colton Agency
.
After making Vic a full partner, she decided the company needed a new name to go with its new look
.
Five years ago
,
they
had undergone
more reconstruction and expanded the building to accommodate the growing number of
employees
.

She felt the
baby
give a good, hard kick and
rubbed her stomach to settle him
.
Another boy, she smiled
.
This would be their fourth
.
Their first son, Samuel Scott Travis III, would be turning nine in a month and already she could tell he was going to be as tall as his father
.
Two years after Scott was born, she’d given birth to their second son, Nick
.
Then the twins came, a boy and girl they’d named Abigail and Gage
.

Sam had been so taken with having a baby girl, he insisted they try for one more and Jennavieve had been conceived
.
Anne smothered a giggle;
her
husband was determined to fill every spare bedroom in their sizeable house with children
and he could be very persuasive when he wanted to be
.

She was due in less than two weeks and they hadn’t even decided on a name yet, but Sam had promised to take her to the beach house this weekend so they could discuss it.
Anne smiled dreamily
.
Except for Scott, a
ll their children had been conceived at the beach house
.
It was a
solid
tradition now
.
Maggie would tell them she wanted time alone with the children so she could spoil them properly and insist that Sam and Anne go to the beach house for the weekend
.
Sam would take Anne’s hand and wink.

“You know what that
means,
don’t you
?”
he’d
laugh.

Anne always found it impossible not to blush.
“Maggie wants another grandchild
.
”

“We want to keep Maggie happy, don’t we?”

“Of course,”
she
would tell him.
 

She’d
stop taking her birth control pills for a few weeks before running off with Sam for an intimate weekend
.
For three days and two nights, he would make love to her with an insatiable hunger, driven by the desire
to get the job done before Sunday rolled around
.
They usually brought Duke because he loved the slow walks they took on the beach
.
He wasn’t as spry as he used to be
,
and playing fetch usually consisted of two tosses and one retrieve, but he still loved splashing in the water so they brought him every chance they got.

After
Scott arrived
,
they’d redecorated one of the bedrooms for Maggie
.
Anne made the decision about two weeks after their son was born when she discovered Maggie had been slipping into the house late at night to check the baby
.
The first time she’d found
Maggie standing over the crib rubbing the baby’s back, she’d asked
whether
anything was wrong
.
Maggie insisted she heard Scott crying, but Anne knew it was impossible to hear him crying from
the
bungalow
.
The second time it happened, she asked Maggie to move into the house.

“I guess I’m so tired, I don’t hear him crying,” she’d fibbed
.
“If it’s not too much trouble, maybe you could sleep in the house just in case I don’t wake up.”

“I think I c
an
manage that
.”
Maggie had nodded
, her voice clogged with emotion.
 

At
Maggie’s urging
,
she started going by the name Anne
.
Using both Beth and Anne would confuse the children, Maggie
insisted
,
and she had to agree
.
So she’d had new business cards made up with
Anne Travis
printed on them and had gone by that name ever since.

Anne turned the page of the scrapbook
.
Maggie had taken
the picture
one day at the park a few years ago just before she’d gotten pregnant with Jenna
.
She and Sam had spread out a blanket and sat to watch the children play with Duke
.
He’d just leaned over to kiss her when one of the kids threw a stick that landed next to Sam
.
Before they knew it, four children had piled on top of them
,
laughing and hollering while Duke barked anxiously
next to
them
.
Maggie had snapped the picture just as Sam stole a kiss, preserving one of Anne’s favorite memories.

Sam was such a wonderful husband and father, just as he’d promised he would be
.
The first time Scott caught a cold
,
Sam stayed up all night rocking him, refusing to relinquish his son except at feeding times
.
After Anne had the baby fed and changed, Sam would steal him back
.
It had been that way with all the children,
al
though he was especially protective of the girls.

Once the children started sharing their illnesses, Sam had to admit he couldn’t tend to them all at once and let Anne coddle her babies
,
too
.
He’d also cut down his hours at work so he could
have breakfast with the children
in the mornings and be home
in time for dinner
at night
.
Anne had done the same
early in their marriage
, but after the twins were born, she’d slowly weaned herself out of the business altogether.

Anne shifted uncomfortably
and
then let out a surprised gasp when she felt the beginning of a contraction
.
S
etting
the scrapbook aside
, she
and pushed her way off the sofa
and made
her way to the kitchen where Maggie was making lunch.

“I’m
afraid
Sam and I won’t be here for lunch, Maggie
.
Could you watch the children?”

Maggie p
laced
a lid o
ver the pan of
soup and turned the burner down
.
“I’ll get your suitcase
.
Sam
is out
back with my babies.”
 

Anne smiled
.
No matter how old the children got, Maggie would always refer to them as
her babies
.
She walked out on the deck, drawing in a deep breath when another
contraction hit
.
All her pregnancies had
followed the same pattern
.
Once the baby decided to be born, they wasted no time in getting here
.
She figured Sam would be holding
their
new
born
son in his arms before the children settled down for their afternoon nap
.

She watched Sam alternately pushing Gage and Abby on the swings
and
then rac
ing
to help Jenna down the slide
.
Scott and Nick were on the ground wrestling a stick out of Duke’s mouth
.

“All set,”
Maggie
said, crossing the deck to stand beside
her.

“They’re beautiful
,
aren’t they, Maggie
?
My husband and my children.”

“You’d better get going,” she urged, “unless you want
to have
this baby on the deck.”

“I know
.
I just want to look at them for a few more minutes
.
We haven’t even picked out a name for the baby yet
, although
Sam
is
leaning towards Adam or Brandon.”

“Adam
is
a nice strong name
,
”
Maggie replied, swaying the vote two to one.

Anne leaned against the rail, bracing herself for another contraction
.
“
Well
…
I
do believe
Adam
is anxious
to be born now.”
 

She glanced up and saw Sam watching her
.
Anne
smiled and nodded
,
patiently
waiting
for him to kiss all the children good-bye
.
When he
explained
why he was leaving, the whole crew rac
ed
up to the porch
.
Sam lifted each of them in turn so she could kiss them, with the exception of Scott
,
 
who had hoisted himself
up
on the rail
.
W
rapp
ing
his little arms around Anne’s neck
,
he
kissed her cheek
and
then held her face in his hands.

“Remember, I need another brother.
”
He glanced down
at his sisters with cool
disdain
.
“No more girls, Mom, I mean it.”

Anne hugged him to her
.
“No more girls
.
Got it.”

Scott hopped down and they all trailed along,
crowding around
her
while
Sam pulled the truck out and tossed her suitcase in the back
.
After lifting her into the truck, Sam leaned in
to give
her a tender kiss
and then chuckled
when the children
let out a collective
groan
.
Anne waved until they were out of sight
and
then leaned back
,
silently
counting
the minutes between contractions.

“How much longer
?”
Sam asked worriedly.

“ I
suggest you step on it,” Anne grimaced.
“
Unless, of course, you’re up playing the role of doctor and want to deliver Adam in the truck
.”

“Adam
?
Is that what Maggie decided?”

“How is it she always manages to choose the name
you
picked out
?
I even tried to trick her this time and told her you liked both names.”

Sam shot a
sideways
glance
at her
.
This was going to be their last baby so he saw no reason not to tell her
.
“I have a confession to make.”

Anne wasn’t entirely surprised
.
“I had my suspicions
.
How long has this conspiracy been going on
?”

“Do I really have to answer?”

Her eyes narrowed
.
“Sam Travis, do you mean to tell me I never had a
hand in
choosing the name for
any
of our children?”

He shrugged guiltily
.
“Well, you were sort of in on naming Scott.”

“We named Scott after you
!
Technically that wasn’t a choice
;
it was just a given to name our first son after you
.
What other little secrets have you and Maggie been keeping from me?”