Daddy Devastating (22 page)

“You should probably bag this,” Russ told him. It almost certainly wouldn’t be needed, but he wanted it out of Julia’s sight. Besides, Emily would arrive soon, and he didn’t want the baby around it, either.

The agent was wearing a button-down shirt over a tee, so he took off the outer shirt and handed it to Russ. Russ thanked him and put it on.

Julia gave a nod of approval. “I’m glad Milo’s dead,” she whispered. “If he’d gotten away—”

“He didn’t,” Russ reminded her. “And neither did Tracy. It’s all over, Julia. We’re safe now.”

She gave another shaky nod, and even though she didn’t seem ready to panic, Russ was still worried about her. Even more, he was worried about how to say the things he needed to say.

They took their time walking inside, probably because Julia was drained, and seemed to pause with each step. Russ felt the fatigue, too, but more than that, he felt relief that they’d all come through this unscathed.

When the baby started to fuss again, Julia placed him against her chest and patted his back. A female uniformed officer stepped forward. “Want me to take him? His father just arrived.”

Julia kissed the little boy on the cheek and handed him over. The officer had no sooner taken the baby when Russ spotted Aaron Richardson coming in through the front lobby doors. No slow steps for him. The man practically ran to his son, and gathered him into his arms.

If Russ had any doubts about Aaron’s love for his son, he didn’t have them after witnessing that encounter.

“Thank you,” Aaron told them, and he just kept repeating it while he kissed his baby. The man started to cry.

Several officers and an agent converged on Aaron, probably to fill him in on the details of what had happened to his wife. Russ decided those were not details Julia needed to relive, so he led her into the reception area and had her sit on one of the sofas with him.

“It’s okay,” she reassured him. “I’m not about to fall apart.”

He examined her face and realized that it was true. She was shaky of course, but it would have been unnatural if she hadn’t been.

She examined his face, too, and nibbled on her bottom lip. “About what I said in the parking lot—”

“You can’t take it back,” Russ said, interrupting her.

Julia stopped nibbling and stared at him. “I don’t want to take it back.”

“Really?”

“Really,” she assured him. “I just wanted to apologize for blurting it out there, when you had so much else on your mind.”

That eased the knot in his stomach, but he knew something else would ease it more. Russ put his hand around the back of her neck and drew her to him for a kiss. Not a quick peck of reassurance. He put his heart and soul into this one.

When he pulled back, Julia made a silky sigh. “Good,” she whispered.

Yes, it was; but he wanted better. He wanted
more.

“I’m in love with you, too,” he told her.

Julia’s eyes widened and she froze. For one terrifying moment, Russ thought she was about to say that she didn’t want him to be in love with her, that it wouldn’t work out between them, but a smile curved her beautiful mouth.

“Are you just saying that because we nearly died?” she asked, cautiously.

“No. I’m saying that because it’s true.”

She seemed to be holding her breath. “You’re sure?”

“A million percent. I don’t need months or years to sort out my feelings for you. I love you, plain and simple. And I love Emily, too. I want us to adopt her— together. I want her to have the Gentry name, because I think that would have pleased R.J. and Lissa.”

Tears filled her eyes, but since she was still smiling, Russ thought this was better. He gathered his breath, and his courage, and he went in for the big prize.

“Marry me?” Russ asked.

“Can we get married?” Julia said at the same moment.

Both of them stared at each other. And despite the investigation going on around them, they laughed.

They were still laughing when the lobby doors swung open and in came Agent Soto, Zoey and Emily.

Russ and Julia jumped up from the sofa and hurried toward the baby. Russ got there first, but he stepped back so that Julia could scoop Emily into her arms.

The baby was sleeping, but she lifted one eye to check out what was happening. Emily must not have deemed this big enough to warrant waking up from her nap.

Julia kissed the baby and passed her to Russ. The gesture felt as natural as anything he’d ever experienced. This was right, and he knew exactly what he had to do to make the rightness stay that way.

“Could you excuse us a minute?” Russ asked Zoey and Soto. With Emily still cradled in his arm, he led Julia back into the reception area. “I believe we owe each other an answer. I asked you to marry me, and you did the same.”

He paused a heartbeat.

“The answer is yes,” they said together.

The energy between them seemed electric, as it always did when they were together. It was even more special because Emily was there.

Russ put his arm around Julia and stole another kiss. He made it long, hot and special—because it was the first kiss of their new life together with their daughter, Emily.

ISBN: 978-1-4268-5674-7

DADDY DEVASTATING

Copyright © 2010 by Delores Fossen

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

For questions and comments about the quality of this book please contact us at [email protected].

® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

www.eHarlequin.com