Easter Bunny Baby (SEAL Team: Holiday Heroes Book 5) by Laura Marie Altom

Author:Laura Marie Altom [Altom, Laura Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction, Law Enforcement, Romantic Suspense, Thrillers & Suspense, Mystery & Intrigue, Violence & Crime Story, Protection & Safety, Action & Adventure, Dangerous & Deadly, Forever Love, Bachelor, Single Woman, Hearts Desire, Life-Changes, Second Chance Reunion, Honesty & Trust, Home & Family, Romantic Schemes, Beautiful & Feisty, Love-Family & Forever, Clean & Wholesome, Suspenseful Fiction, SEAL Team: Holiday Heroes Series
Publisher: Fulton Court Press
Published: 2019-08-12T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

HEATHER MUTED THE History Channel special she’d been watching on the origins of Easter when a knock sounded on her bedroom door.

“Need company?”

“By the time I leave this house, you’re going to make sure I’m as big as a house.” She muted the TV, smiling to see Ben carrying a sampler tray of all things eggs. Deviled eggs and egg-shaped egg salad sandwiches. Chocolate eggs and malt-ball eggs and a dollop of the egg dip she’d been too chicken to try during the few minutes she’d been on her feet while visiting the buffet.

“Ask me, you’re on the skinny side. You could use a little fattening up.” He set the plate on her nightstand.

“Words most every woman dreams of hearing.”

“Probably none of my business, but I always did like ladies with a little meat on their bones.” He joined her on the opposite side of the bed, propping himself up with pillows.

“Good to know.” She winked while holding a sandwich in one hand and an egg-shaped sugar cookie in her other. “Is the party winding down?”

“Nah. But I am.”

She laughed. “I know what you mean.”

“It’s not that I begrudge them their happiness, but…”

“You wonder when it’s time for your share?”

“Exactly. But that must make me sound like a selfish”—he stopped short of cursing—“fill in the blank.”

“If you’re selfish, then what do you think I am?” She cupped her hands over her baby bump. “I’m sitting here resenting my brother and sister-in-law for dying—not just because I miss them, but because I don’t have the first clue about raising a child. I’m the worst person in the world.”

“Stop. Sounds to me like you’re human. And overwhelmed. You’ve already been through a lot in your life and from where you’re sitting, circumstances are only getting worse.”

“True.” She drowned her sorrows in another deviled egg.

“You wouldn’t believe what asinine plan Hawk and my ex-friend Jake cooked up.”

“Oh?” she asked around her latest bite.

“They think we should get married.”

“W-what?”

“I know—crazy, right? They reasoned I’d have an instant wife and kid. You’d have a father for your baby. As if all of our issues could be wiped away so easy, right?”

She giggled. “I’m clearly on a mayo-induced food high, but that plan sounds downright miraculous. If only everything could be that simple.”

“What do you mean?”

“The idea sounds like a romantic comedy where some couple embarks on a kooky adventure, only to find out the whole thing is a disaster. Because clearly, that’s the only place where a marriage between strangers could end. Full-on disaster.”

“Amen. That’s what I thought.”

“Still…” She sighed. “On the surface it does sound good. Too bad love and security are the kinds of things that can’t magically appear. They only come with time.”

“Agreed. Believe me, I wish marrying you could serve as the equivalent of waving a magic wand, but we both know that would be ridiculous.”

“Beyond strange.”

“Downright bizarre.”

He flashed her a white-toothed grin. “Marry me?”

“Why, sugar…” Cue her batting eyelashes. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Their shared laugh struck her as sublime.

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