We smiled at each other, then turned back to the movie.
The perfect contentment of the moment was broken by the silent taunting of the object in the bathroom.
I swallowed hard. ‘So … what would you prefer? A two-bed in New Town or a three-bed farther out of the city?’
Confusion lit Nate’s eyes at my unexpected question. ‘Why would we want either? We love this place.’
My heart began to thump, thump, thump in my chest, and I could swear he would see my pulse throbbing in my neck. ‘Okay.’ I took a shaky breath. ‘I’ll be clearer. What would you prefer? A boy … or a girl?’
His entire body locked. Frozen.
‘Nate?’
Slowly, he turned to look at me, his eyes wide as they silently asked the question.
I bit my lip and nodded.
With my confirmation, the most gorgeous smile broke across Nate’s face.
Relief and excitement poured through me. I don’t know why the hell I’d been so worried. He’d made it clear in the past that he wanted this for us.
I crawled across the couch until I was straddling him. Stunned dark eyes bored into mine as he wrapped his arms around me. ‘You’re pregnant?’
Dipping my head, I whispered against his lips, ‘Congratulations. Daddy.’
His whoop of laughter filled our apartment, my relieved giggles mingling with it as he held me tight and launched us off the couch, his quick, determined strides taking us toward the bedroom. Usually when Nate was in the mood to celebrate, he’d throw me on the bed and follow me down, but today I laughed to myself as he gently laid me on it like I was fragile.
Grinning up into his face, I asked softly, ‘Are you getting soft on me?’
‘You’ve got our kid inside you. I’ve got to watch what I’m doing now.’
‘I hope not when it comes to sex.’ I reached for the buttons on his jeans.
Nate grew still, his hands braced on either side of my head.
My heart stopped at the sudden seriousness in his expression. ‘What is it?’
‘I had this plan,’ he told me, his voice low. ‘I was going to wait until our two-year anniversary, fly you back to Arizona to visit your old friends, and your mum’s grave. You would tell her about us, and after we got back I would propose to you.’
A beautiful ache settled across my chest. ‘Nate …’
‘But with the baby … maybe we should get engaged now?’
I grinned. Huge. ‘Okay.’
His brow cleared. ‘Okay as in “yes” ’
I laughed. ‘Yes.’
And then he frowned again. ‘Shit. That wasn’t the most romantic way to propose, was it?’
Smoothing his brow with the tips of my fingers, I promised him, ‘It was romantic to me.’
He smiled into my eyes, pressing a hand to my stomach. ‘This is not where I expected to be.’
‘Me neither,’ I whispered.
‘But I’m so fucking glad that someone out there thought this is where I deserved to be.’
Running my fingers through his hair, I gently tugged his head down, bringing his lips close to mine. ‘Here’s to “after,” baby.’
Nate pressed his mouth hard to mine, wrapping his arms around me, tightening me against him in absolute agreement.
Acknowledgments
When I first introduced Olivia and Nate into Joss and Braden’s makeshift tribe, I knew Olivia had to be a librarian. Not just because, during my pre-author years, I always imagined happily working in a library, but because Tammy Blackwell insisted upon it. Okay, so I know you were just cracking jokes, Tammy, but it got stuck in my head. So thank you for inspiring Olivia’s career choice, and for giving me insight into the world of librarianship.
Thank you to Paul Gorman at the University of Edinburgh main campus library for taking time out of your busy schedule to show me around the library from the point of view of a librarian. Not only did you provide me with all the invaluable technical info so Olivia would sound like she actually worked in a library, but also you gave me surprising insight into the brazenness of college students. I told you I’d put it in the book.
My deepest thanks to my agent extraordinaire, Lauren Abramo. You always give me genuine encouragement. Anytime I see an e-mail from you in my in-box, I grin huge. You work your butt off every day, and I appreciate it every day. You never fail to rock, my friend.
To my editor Kerry Donovan, a gazillion thank-yous. Your belief in these characters, this series, and me, is mind-blowing. You’ll never know how much it means to me. I love working on this world with you. I hope we get to work on many more in the future!
A massive thank-you to my publicist Erin Galloway, and every single person at NAL who has worked hard to see Before Jamaica Lane into print and into the hands of the readers.