The Ruthless Caleb Wilde

“What she means,” the waitress said, “is yes.”

Caleb rose to his feet and drew Sage up and into his arms.

The waitress was holding their check and smiling; her eyes—eyes that had surely seen everything the city could offer—glinted with suspicious dampness.

Gently, Caleb took the check from her hand and put it on the table. Then he took a handful of bills from his pocket, clasped her hand and folded her fingers around them.

“Thank you,” he said.

She gaped at the bills. Then she ran after them as they headed for the door.

“Wait,” she said. “Mister! This is way, way too much for—”

Caleb turned toward her.

“If I hadn’t been such a fool, if we’d gone into a coffee shop right away and asked someone just like you for advice …” He cleared his throat. “Trust me,” he said huskily. “It isn’t anywhere near enough.”

The rain had stopped. It was night, impossible for there to be a rainbow, but under the streetlights, Sage’s engagement ring cast a rainbow of its own.

The very first taxi they saw stopped to pick them up.

When they reached their suite. Caleb kissed Sage, then said, “One last thing.” He held her hand while he hit a button on his cell phone. “Addison? It’s Caleb. I need a favor. Get Jake in the room. He is? Travis, too? Great. Okay, put us on speaker phone.” Speaker phone, Caleb thought with a quick laugh, his new best friend. “I have some news—and then, if one of you would call Em and Jaimie and Lissa …” He listened, shook his head in happy disbelief. “Perfect,” he told Sage. “My sisters, even the General are there, for the weekend.”

“Caleb,” Sage whispered, “what are you doing?”

He kissed her. “Here we go, honey,” he said, and took one last deep breath. “Everybody? I’m coming home. With the woman I love. And, guys? We’re pregnant.”

There was a second of surprised silence. Then, cheers and applause sounded tinnily through the phone.

But Caleb and Sage weren’t listening.

She was weeping, he was smiling, and they were wrapped in each other’s arms.