The Bachelor's Little Bonus (Proposals & Promises 3)

“I have no doubt,” Stevie agreed in amusement.

She glanced across the lawn toward the food tables, where Cole had been detained in a conversation with Gavin. Probably comparing notes on living with pregnant wives, she thought with a chuckle. Her gaze lingered on her husband’s face. He seemed to enjoy the gathering of her friends, but she knew he’d be glad to get back home. He had a big work project underway and he would probably put in a few extra hours that evening. He would likely stay up a couple hours after she turned in, then he’d try not to disturb her as he slid into bed. She would rouse when he joined her, as she usually did, and would nestle against him in the cozy sleeping arrangement they’d settled into. She always slept better now when he was there, the room seeming empty and somehow darker when he was away.

“Are you still trying to pretend you don’t absolutely adore your husband?” Jenny asked quietly, her gaze focused on Stevie’s expression with the wisdom of more than two decades of friendship.

Stevie latched automatically onto a strand of hair, winding it slowly around one finger. “Cole is a very special man,” she said after a moment.

“And you’re in love with him.”

She shrugged helplessly, feeling her eyes burn with a prickle of tears she refused to release. She could never deceive her oldest friend. “How could I not be?”

“And Cole?”

“Is very fond of me. Very fond of me,” she emphasized. “We have a good life. We’ve had a great time getting the house ready for the baby and talking about the future. We were good friends for a year before we married, of course, and we’ve only gotten closer since.”

She knew there was no call to justify her marriage to Jenny, but for some reason she wanted to emphasize her good fortune.

“You have seemed happy,” Jenny conceded slowly, her brow creased with concern.

Stevie forced a smile. “I know how lucky I am. Really, Jen, don’t worry about me. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

What more could she expect, anyway? Passionate, flowery words? That would never be Cole’s style. Guarantees that he would never desert her or this child? She was confident that would never happen. Promises that he would always be a loyal and faithful husband? Knowing this innately honorable man as well as she did, that was a given. Assurances that he appreciated her mind, her competence, her talents and her body? He made those things known in a myriad of ways every day, not always in words but certainly through action.

Which meant that she just needed to grow up and learn to be satisfied with what she had.

He and Gavin approached the table together. Cole handed Stevie her cold beverage, then rested a hand lightly on her shoulder as he asked her friend, “How are you holding up, Jenny?”

“I’m fine, thank you,” she assured him, accepting a glass from Gavin. “I’m having a wonderful time.”

“This time next year our babies will be babbling together when we sit around a table.” Stevie smiled as she envisioned many pleasant future gatherings.

“Hmph,” Gavin grumbled, though he was obviously suppressing a grin when he pointed a finger at them. “I’m going to be keeping an eye on that boy of yours around our daughter.”

“Just so that daughter of yours doesn’t break our boy’s heart,” Cole shot back with a smile.

Stevie reached out to pat her husband’s cheek as the others laughed. “Isn’t he a cutie?”

Cole growled, but she could tell he didn’t really mind her teasing. He was getting used to it by now.

* * *

Though large social gatherings with a lot of strangers weren’t really his style, Cole had a good time at the wedding. It helped that it wasn’t a stuffy, formal affair and that he already knew Stevie’s closest friends. He enjoyed watching her with them. The bond between the three women was so strong it was almost visible. Their men fit in well enough, but that special friendship was the heart of the group, the glue that would hold them all together in the future.

He knew these people would be part of his life now, but he didn’t mind. They had accepted him warmly despite the early doubts he’d sensed in Jenny and Tess. He believed he’d convinced them that he would never intentionally hurt their friend. His wife.

He’d sat in a folding chair among the rest of the audience as Tess and Scott exchanged their vows, though it had been hard for him to take his eyes off Stevie. She’d looked so pretty standing up there in her bridesmaid dress, her blond curls falling soft and loose to her shoulders, her big blue eyes luminous with emotion. Even round with pregnancy, she was beautiful. He was always proud—and a little amazed—to be seen with her.

He knew she would honor the vows they’d exchanged in their own wedding ceremony. Maybe he wasn’t her Prince Charming, but she seemed satisfied with a knight in practical armor.

Satisfied. For some reason, the word made him wince, though he couldn’t quite explain why.

Just what would happen if Stevie’s satisfaction ever waned, if she decided he wasn’t what she wanted, after all? She was a woman of her word, but he’d never want to hold her to it if she truly longed to leave. Would he ever know for certain if her mother’s restlessness nagged at her, too?

For only a moment as she chatted and laughed with her friends, he imagined how it

would feel to go back to the life he’d had before they’d eloped. Just him and his cat alone in a comfortable, quiet house. He’d thought himself happy enough at the time, but now the vision made his chest muscles tighten painfully.

Impatient with himself for wasting even a minute of this nice afternoon with pointless imaginings, he shook off the odd mood and focused again on his determination to make sure Stevie had a good time. He couldn’t even speculate about returning to a life without Stevie in it. Just thinking about it made his heart hurt—and this was neither the time nor place to analyze his convoluted feelings for his wife.