“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I want to call you mine. I want the world to know you’re taken and that our child is loved and cherished.”
“Dean, I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you love me. Say yes, sweetheart,” he growled. Dean kissed her forehead, her cheek, then finally their lips met. He let out a sigh of relief when she melted against him and wound her arms around his neck. Dean lifted an inch and whispered, “Only you, Catherine. It was only ever you. From the time I saw your picture you stole my heart, sweets.”
“Yes, Dean. Oh, God, I love you so much and I have so much to tell you. I—”
He cut her off with a kiss, then eased her away. “You’re here, that’s all that matters now. I love you.”
“I love you too.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t work. All I could think about was you. Then I took the pregnancy tests and I was so scared.”
“Scared?”
“I was afraid I’d waited too long. I was afraid you wouldn’t want me.” She placed her hand over her abdomen and whispered, “I was terrified you wouldn’t want us.”
“Ah, sweetheart, how could you ever think that? You’re my world. Don’t you know that?”
“It’s still so convoluted though. I mean, with my parents’ estate to deal with and my life in Georgia.”
“As long as we’re together I don’t care where we live.”
Catherine smiled and covered his mouth with hers. Dean had never tasted anything sweeter. “You know, I think I’d like to live closer to Gracie. And your mom and sister were very kind to me when I had the chance to visit with them the last time.”
He rolled his eyes. “They both love you to pieces. They’ve been browbeating me for being such an ass to you.”
“I think . . . I think it would be nice if our baby lived closer to her grandmom, don’t you?”
Dean noticed that she’d referred to their baby as a girl, but he didn’t think Catherine even realized it. He pictured a little red-haired imp, and he grinned. “Yeah, Mom will love it and we’d sure as hell never want for a babysitter.” His gaze narrowed as he thought of all she’d be leaving behind in Georgia. “What about your life in Atlanta? Your friend Mary and your parents’ home? Won’t you miss all that?”
Catherine bit her lip and looked at his shirt. As she picked at a loose thread she said, “I would miss Mary, for sure, but my home is with you and the baby, Dean.” Her gaze came back to his. “And Mary and I can still keep in touch through visits and the Internet. It’s not as if I’d be living halfway across the country.”
“What about your job though?” he asked, unwilling to let her make a rash decision that she might later regret.
“Dean, the baby’s entire family is here in Ohio. I want her to be close to them.” She shrugged. “My business is portable. That’s the beauty of being a website designer.”
“You need to be sure, sweetheart.”
“I am,” she said in a firm voice. “Besides, I was sort of thinking it’d be nice to cut back on the web work and be a mother for a while.”
Dean groaned. “I love the idea of you barefoot and pregnant. Hell, careers can come later.”
She laughed. “Don’t go all caveman on me, Dean. I didn’t say I was going to give up working all together. Just take a break.”
He wagged his eyebrows at her. “Unless I keep you knocked up.”
She laughed and slapped him on the chest. “Now that we’ve settled that, how soon can you leave here today?” She got off his lap and stood in front of him. “I want to tell Gracie the good news.”
Dean got to his feet and tugged her until she was pressed up against him. He kissed the top of her head and murmured, “We’ll leave now, but we’re going to have to make a stop first.”
She pulled back and stared up at him. “Oh, where to?”
“My house.” He stopped and corrected himself. “Our house, I mean.” He cupped her bottom and squeezed. “We need to seal the deal, don’t you think?”
“Oh, yes, definitely,” she said in a breathless voice.
As Dean stood there staring down at her, he felt like the luckiest man alive. It definitely didn’t get any better than this.
Epilogue