One Last Sin (The Sin Trilogy 3)

Two hours later Sterling parks in the drive of my favorite property. Ani takes her folder from her briefcase. “This home is an elegant and spacious six bedroom with an attached garage. As you can see, the property has been well maintained by the current owners.”

We’ve driven by this house often on the way to Thane and Isobel’s. I’ve always admired it from the road. “I love the mixture of modern architecture with the round corner castle thingy.”

“It’s called a turret. You’ll see a lot of those paired with modern architecture on newer houses.”

We get out of the car and Sin reaches for my hand. He brings it to his lips for a kiss and mouths, “I love you.” We stand in the front yard looking at the exterior. “What do you think?”

“The house is beautiful and the landscaping is lovely but it’s a lot of yard to maintain. You’re going to be tied up with work and I’m going to be busy with babies. Who’s going to keep it up to par?”

“We’ll hire a lawn service.” Of course we would.

“I like growing my own tomatoes. Can I do that in this climate?”

“You can when you have a greenhouse, which you will have if this is your final choice. It’s small but the current owner successfully grows a variety of vegetables.”

I like the idea of growing my own vegetables. “I’m going to introduce you to fried green tomatoes. And you will love them.”

We go inside and Ani stops in the foyer. “Total square footage comes in at a little more than forty-five hundred square feet. The first thing I want to point out is the ornate cornice work throughout. All of it is original to the house along with the wood flooring and fireplaces.”

I’m only in the foyer and I already love it, just as I knew I would. “It’s very beautiful. Elegant.”

We complete the walk through of the house with our final stop in the master bedroom. “That concludes our tour of the inside. I’ll give you a little time to look around on your own and we’ll finish up in the backyard when you’re ready,” Ani says.

Sin comes up to me from behind and wraps his arms around my expanding waist. “What do you really think?”

“Of course I love it, but it’s so big. We’ll never fill six bedrooms.”

“But we’ll have them just in case.” He kisses the side of my neck and chills erupt down my body. “Can you see us going to bed in this room every night?”

“Not in this peachy beige color, I can’t.”

“Imagine the walls in a different color. Something more suited to our style.”

When I picture this as our bedroom, I envision cream and pale blue posh linens. “I can definitely see it.”

He twists me so we’re facing the bed. “Now imagine waking up right there to our wee ones climbing all over us.”

It isn’t a hard image to conjure. “I can see us being happy here.”

“And my parents are just down the road. Mum can come at a moment’s notice when you need her.”

“Which will please her to no end.” I’m certain Isobel is pulling for this house.

He takes my hand and leads me to the bedroom across the hall. “Imagine this bed gone and two cribs in its place.”

“With what color walls?” I’m curious to know if he has an opinion.

“Your choice.”

I already know how I’m going to decorate the nursery, regardless of gender. “Gray and yellow is what I want for boys or girls.”

“You can have any and everything you want for this house, Bonny.”

He’s being very accommodating. “You’re trying to sell me on this one harder than Ani.”

“Because I can see us here as a happy family.”

He wants this one. I can tell. “Do you even want to look at the others?”

His lone dimple makes an appearance. “Would you be terribly angry if I told you I already had?”

I’m not sure if I should be pissed off because he went without me, or relieved that I don’t have to traipse through more houses today.

“They aren’t nearly as wonderful as this one but I’m more than happy to look again with you.”

I’m leaning toward being peeved now that I’m thinking about it. “I can’t believe you went house shopping without me.”

“Think of it as a preliminary to narrow down the choices.”

A single house doesn’t qualify as choices. “Seems you’ve narrowed it down to one.”

“But you do love it, don’t you?”

What’s not to love? “I do. Very much.”

“Would you be terribly angry if I told you I’d already made an earnest payment on it? There was another couple looking at it. I didn’t want them to buy it out from under us before we had a chance to look.”

I would’ve been heartbroken if someone else bought this house. “I’m not mad.”

“Thank God.”

I laugh aloud. “We have a house.”

“We have this house.”

“I love it. I really do.”

Sin puts his arms around me. He scoops me from the floor and spins me full circle before returning my feet to the floor.

I cradle his face with my hands and plant a kiss on his mouth. “I love you so much.”

He pulls me close and kisses me like crazy in the room where our babies will one day sleep.

“I want to bring Ellison out to see it as soon as possible. And Isobel. I want her help with decorating.”

“Don’t let my mum fool you. She has someone to do all her decorating.”

I don’t care. This is my first real house. And I’m the wife of a leader. Fellowship events will be held here. I want it to look great. “Then I want to hire your mom’s decorator.”

“I told you, Bonny. Anything you want is fine with me. Always.”

“When do we get to move in?”

“Should be ours first of next month.” Much sooner than I thought.

I place my hand over my growing tummy. “Another chapter in our story.”

“The happily ever after part.”

* * *

Sin was successful at distracting me yesterday with the house. Now it’s day two. He wouldn’t tell me his plans but he says he has another full day planned for us. I’m glad. Otherwise I’d be preoccupied by Todd Cockburn.

“Wakey wakey, Mrs. Bre

ckenridge.”

“No! Go away. It’s too early.”

He tickles the tip of my nose. It’s annoying so I slap at him. “Stop.”

He tickles the inside of my nostril this time. Feels like he’s picking it. Ugh!

“Wake up, Bonny.”

“I’m awake!” I yawn and groan loudly while stretching. I feel a sudden, sharp pain in my lower abdomen. “Oh!”

My reflex is to turn on my side, bend my legs, and bring them to my belly. The change of position instantly relieves the discomfort.

“What’s wrong?”

I massage the area above the bend of my leg. “Sharp pain in my groin.”

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah. I stretched and it felt like I pulled something. The pain stopped when I brought my legs up.”

“Aye. I remember reading about that. It said it’s worse with twins because your womb is growing so rapidly.”

Bound for him to have read about it. He’s a know-it-all when it comes to pregnancy. “I can believe that.”

“If you don’t feel like doing anything, we can cancel our plans.”

Yesterday was pretty perfect. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for today. “Absolutely not. What’s on the agenda?”

“We’re going on a day tour to Stirling Castle, Loch Lomond, and for my pleasure, a stop at a whisky distillery for a tasting.”

“Well, that seems a little unfair.”

“Perhaps, but we’re doing it anyway. It’s part of the tour package.”

I don’t think he’s kidding. “We’re going on one of those bus tours?”

“Yes, ma’am. You’re married to a Scotsman. You’ll soon bear two Scottish children and you’re almost clueless about Scotland. I mean to remedy that.”

Sin’s right. I know very little about his homeland. I have to play catch-up. “I look forward to being enlightened.”

I move to get out of bed but he catches me by the waist and pulls me close. “Not so fast, Mrs. Breckenridge. We have about twenty minutes to spare.”

“Your pregnant wife could have slept longer but instead you woke her up early for a morning shag?”

“Maybe something like that.”