The Earl Takes A Bride (Elbia Series Book 2) by Kathryn Jensen

Author:Kathryn Jensen [Jensen, Kathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction, Forever Love, Bachelor, Single Mother, Sensual Story Theme, Hearts Desire, Lifetime Love, Life-Changes, Second Chance Reunion, Honesty & Trust, Home & Family, Romantic Schemes, Beautiful & Feisty, Love-Family & Forever, Small Town & Rural Area, Action & Adventure, The Smythe Family Cousins, Multicultural & International, Foreign Country-Elbia, Family & Domestic Life, Three Young Children, Royal Bodyguard, Sister's Royal Marriage
Publisher: Silhouette Desire
Published: 2011-06-20T04:00:00+00:00

Six

Thomas felt Diane shift beneath him. He gently lifted his leg to give her room. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” She beamed up at him. “That was—” she shook her head “—beyond words.”

She did look sublimely happy. He was certainly glad of that. But now came the hard part, and he didn’t know how to broach the subject in any way but bluntly.

“I’m sorry. I should have used a condom.”

“I suppose,” she murmured, touching her palm to his shirtfront. “You know, some day, I’d really like to see all of you naked at the same time.”

“I’m serious, Diane. It was irresponsible of me not to. We hadn’t discussed our histories. I want to reassure you, I’ve never done that before…gone without protection.”

“I wasn’t worried,” she said, sitting up to watch him tuck in his shirt, pleating it at the sides, military-style.

“You should worry about such things, now that you’re single again.”

She shrugged as if to say she understood, but right now she didn’t want to discuss anything so unromantic. “Anyway, thank you for taking the only precaution you could. It’s been so long, it never occurred to me to even think about the possibility of pregnancy.” She blushed prettily, looking suddenly embarrassed.

He watched as she finished tidying herself up, and felt himself react again as she dressed. Amazingly, he wanted her again.

This time, he resisted. “Come, let’s eat. You were hungry before. You must be famished by now.”

As they shared the meal Cook had prepared for six instead of two, Thomas watched Diane for any signs of regret for what they’d just done. But she glowed brighter than the sunshine. She laughed and told him stories of her younger years. She had nearly joined the Peace Corps in her senior year of college, but then she’d found out she was pregnant with her first child. And her life had abruptly changed course.

“You never thought of giving up the baby?” he asked.

“No,” she said without hesitation.

“You wouldn’t have felt compelled to marry Gary then,” he pointed out.

“I realize that, and I won’t say that the thought never crossed my mind.” She bit into a crisp apple. “But I knew I could never give up a baby. And when I told Gary, he was the one who suggested we marry. He said he wanted to share the responsibility of raising our child.”

“And did he?”

“For a while.” Diane took another bite of her fruit thoughtfully, then chewed faster. “Let’s talk about other things.”

The afternoon wore on, and they spent it eating, chatting and holding hands beneath a brilliant sun. Thomas felt like a teenage boy again, discovering girls were different. Only this time he was detecting a finer line—that one woman was different from so many others. He couldn’t get enough of Diane’s laughter and smiles. In all the times he’d seen her, she’d never seemed this happy. Although he was pleased, her carefree attitude troubled him more and more as the sun dropped lower in the sky. Now that they’d crossed a

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