Marriage by Contract Part 3 by Sandra Steffen

Author:Sandra Steffen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Tony was the first one through the door, Bethany drawing to a stop two steps behind him. Carmelina glanced up from the romance novel she was reading on her electronic tablet at the kitchen table. Slowly pulling her feet off an adjacent chair, she said, “Have you two seen a ghost or are you just glad to be home?”

“We saw the extra cars outside,” Tony declared.

“And we thought something might have happened,” Beth cut in breathlessly.

“Oh, something’s happened all right.”

“Oh, my God! Christopher!” Beth cried.

“What? No. The baby’s fine. He’s been an angel all night. I can’t exactly say the same for your friends, though.”

As if on cue, Jenna entered the room, her dark eyes flashing, her bangle bracelets jangling as she planted her hands on her hips. “Tony, would you please tell that, that Neanderthal to leave so I can have a moment’s peace?”

Gib limped into the room a few seconds later. “Beth, would you mind telling this short Gypsy here that I have medals bigger than she is and I’ll leave when I’m good and ready?”

“Go,” Jenna taunted.

“After you,” Gib replied around the curl of his lip.

“See what I mean?” Carmelina asked.

Tony spared a glance at Beth, who rolled her eyes expressively before releasing a pent-up breath. Running a finger between his neck and the starched collar of his shirt, Tony asked his sister, “Have they been this way all night?”

“Pretty much. They both stopped in to visit the baby. I tried to referee at first. That went over like a lead balloon, so when I tucked Christopher into his crib after his last feeding, I decided it was safer to stay in here, out of their way. They’ve been pretty quiet this past half hour. I thought they might have kissed and made up.”

Jenna gasped. “I wouldn’t kiss this arrogant jerk if he were the last man on earth.”

Tony recognized the shrewd look in Gib’s eyes. After all, his friend hadn’t won those medals he’d mentioned by being stupid. Tactical maneuvers were Gibson Malone’s specialty. Tactical maneuvers and women, that is. He claimed there wasn’t a woman on the planet he couldn’t lure into bed. Staring at the hostility flashing in Jenna’s exotic brown eyes, Gib obviously realized he had finally met one.

In an effort to defuse the situation, Beth slipped out of her shoes and padded over to Jenna. Before she could say a word, a wolf whistle rent the air. Three pairs of eyes turned to Gib. It seemed to require a considerable amount of effort on his part to tear his gaze from Beth’s bare back, but he lifted his hands and smiled with equal parts innocence and male appreciation. “Sorry. It was a reflex action.”

Bethany shook her head, Tony offered to break Gib’s other ankle, and Jenna sputtered a curse straight out of one of the books in her store, ending the tirade with “Obnoxious swine.”

Gib’s hazel eyes twinkled. “Sweetheart, I thought you said you didn’t care.”

“Oaf.”

“Why don’t you come here and

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