Her Christmas Earl

She grabbed his hands in a trembling grip. “Don’t joke. I can’t bear it if you joke about this.”

He frowned. “Is losing your mind a symptom of having a baby? If so, we’re going to have an interesting few months.”

She swallowed to ease a tight throat. He acted as if all of this was so unimportant, yet the rest of her life hinged on what he said next. “Is it true?”

Blair sighed with impatience and tugged his hands free. “Philippa, what bat has got into your belfry? You know I love you.”

“No, I don’t,” she said emphatically, shaking her head. “You’ve never told me.”

He looked surprised. “I didn’t know I had to. You must know you’ve had me in a complete spin from the moment I saw you. It took me a while to identify the problem, but that’s the result of my slow masculine brain, not to mention that until I met you, I’d never been in love before.”

If he kept saying things like this, she could almost forgive him for torturing her. Almost. “I know you want me.”

He cast her an unimpressed glance. “Of course I want you. Even a girl only half as clever as you could work that out.”

“That doesn’t mean you love me,” she said stubbornly, wondering why she argued when she’d longed for his love every day of the last year.

He laughed drily. “In my case, it certainly means that.”

“Tell me once more.” She paused and swallowed again. She felt like a boulder the size of Ben Nevis blocked her throat. “Tell me like you mean it.”

She prepared for another mocking response. But after a pause, he raised his hands to cradle her face so that she couldn’t evade that searching stare. He’d touched her like this their first morning together, when she’d been such an absurd muddle of doubts and confusion.

The light in his eyes warmed her to her bones. He beheld her as if she was the dearest treasure in the world and he knew he was a lucky man to have her. At that moment, whatever he said next, she believed he did love her. She thought she’d been happy before. But finally knowing that her husband returned her love made her feel like she stood in bright sun after a long, dark winter.

“Philippa Hume, my dearest wife, I love you with every beat of my heart and every breath I take.” To her astonishment, his deep voice cracked with emotion. He sucked in an unsteady breath before he continued. “And to hear that you’re having my baby makes me the happiest man since time began. I bless the day you came into my life and I thank whatever grace allowed me to make you mine. You’re the center of my life and I worship the ground you walk on.”

Oh, dear… Be careful what you wish for.

This was almost too much. She wasn’t worthy. Moisture stung her eyes. It was her turn to be lost for words.

“There, I said it.” He smiled at her with breathtaking tenderness as his thumbs brushed the tears from her lashes. “Don’t you want to say something to me?”

Her laugh was husky. “How about, ‘Kiss me, Blair’?”

“How about ‘I love you too’ or something along those lines?” Her self-confident husband looked unsure. As ever when his feelings were strongly engaged, his brogue deepened. “I’ve just laid my soul at your feet. You could at least tell me whether you want it or not.”

She gulped, trying not to burst into tears. She was too happy to cry. But her silly eyes didn’t seem to agree. “I want it,” she forced out.

His eyes sharpened on her face. “And?”

She could tease him again. But the moment was too profound for games. She turned her face to place a kiss on his broad, capable palm. “And I love you. I think I loved you from the first, too. I definitely knew I loved you on our wedding night.”

“Oh, my darling…” He drew her into his arms and held her close to his thundering heart.

The tears she’d fought so long gushed out at last. “I’m crying all over you.”

“I forgive you,” he said, his voice rich with love, his embrace tightening.

“After everything, it seems too good to be true that I love you and you love me and we’re having a baby,” she muttered into his chest.

“Altogether a most satisfactory outcome,” he said gently and kissed her with more of that heart-shattering tenderness. She was dazed with wonder when he finally raised his head. “Let’s celebrate in bed.”

Her laugh was unsteady. She was still in the grip of poignant emotion. “You’re such a man.”

He laughed back at her. “I am indeed.”

He drew her up with him, his hands clasping hers with a firmness that she couldn’t doubt. It seemed the marriage that had started so chaotically turned into a match made in heaven. And if she knew the expression on her husband’s face—and she did—now a more physical form of heaven awaited. What a wonderful way to welcome the first Christmas Day of their married life.