Husband Under Construction (21 page)

Finally, she got out, “You're not just blowing air up my skirt?”

“That would be hard to do, seeing as you're not wearing one.” And then she was laughing and crying at the same time. In his arms. Reasonably sure he was never going to let her go.

Even so…“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why
do you love me? If you even know, I mean—”

“Because you surprise me,” he said easily. “And make me laugh. And when you smile it's like all the bad stuff
in the world simply…goes away. And…” He paused, then lifted her chin to look into her eyes. “And you made me dig deeper inside myself than I ever have before. Which was scary as hell, because, man, it was like my folks' garage in there. But it's okay,” he said over her chuckle, “because I know you'll never let the crap pile back up, ever again. That answer your question?”

“Very nicely, thank you,” Rox said, feeling all warm and fuzzy as she laid her head back on his chest. Only to suck in an
oh, hell
breath. “Um…speaking of risks…we weren't using anything.”

A long, long moment passed before Noah said, “And what's the worst that can happen? We make a baby?”

Feeling as though her curls had grown into her brain, Roxie struggled up enough to lean on Noah's chest and look down into his face. “You're not serious.”

“After facing my father? And your uncle? And driving twelve straight hours to get here? Trust me, I'm serious. And if little whosits comes out with these,” he said, fluffing her curls, “all the better.” He kissed her, then said, “Marry me.”

She stiffened. As, she noted, did he. Again. Wow. “What?”

“I can't live without you, Rox. Okay, I suppose I could, but I'd be miserable. Discovered I'm not real partial to being miserable. Or lonely. You messed with my head, lady,” he said softly. Sweetly. Smiling. “Only one way to straighten it out.
Marry me.
”

Tears crowded her eyes. “I can't go back, Noah—”

“Not asking you to. I'll find work here. Or anywhere you go. Because I'm awesome,” he said, and she laughed.

“But…your father,” she said, sobering. “The business…?”

He tucked her head under his chin. “When I went to see
your uncle to get your address—and asked for his blessing, because it seemed like the thing to do—”

“You're kidding?”

“Nope. Think he got a big kick out of it, too.
Anyway,
when I made some noise about not being sure how this was all gonna work out, he quoted some Scottish dude who'd gone on an expedition to the Himalayas in the thirties. Something about…that without commitment, there's always this temptation to turn back. To give up. But once that commitment is made, things have a way of lining up exactly the way they should.”

She thought her heart would burst. “Wow. Deep.”

“Hey. After the hell I went through to get to this point? No way am I gonna accept that something this good has a downside.” His lips tilted. “I swear with everything I have in me, I would never hurt you. That I'm in this for the long haul. You gotta believe that.”

“I do,” she said, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt she could trust this man with everything she had in her.

Looking vastly relieved, Noah tangled his fingers through her hair, then snorted. “This really is a mess, you know that?”

“And to think some fools actually pay to get this look.”

Laughing again, he kissed her forehead. “Marry me? Have my kids? Be my sparring partner for the next sixty or so years?”

She paused, skimming her knuckles across his naked chest. Oh, my. “This mean I have to learn how to cook?”

“Only if you want to, honey. Or I will. Or, hell, we'll hire someone to cook for us. Will you just answer the damn question?”

“Yes,” she whispered, grinning so hard she half feared her face would freeze that way. “Yes. Yes, yes,
yes.
”

“Right answer,” Noah said, kissing her again. “Now
about that coffee…?” he said, and she laughed and wrapped a sheet around her to pad into the kitchen, where she soon discovered—when Noah folded her into his arms from behind as she filled the basket—exactly how much fun one can have while waiting for the coffee to brew.

Eyes on the prize, cupcake
….

And here it was, right in her kitchen.

Heh.

Two days before Christmas, three years later

N
oah quietly let himself inside the new, still mostly unfurnished house on the outskirts of Austin, taking a moment to savor the soon-to-be-shattered peace before hanging his keys on a hook by the front door too high for eager little hands to reach. From the back of the house he heard his wife's low laugh, his little girl's high-pitched giggling. Contentment spreading through his chest, he shuffled through a maze of stuffed toys and board books and discarded juice cartons to peer down a hallway already adorned with jelly fingerprints and crayon graffiti. “Hey! Where're my girls?”

“Daddy! Daddy!”

Soft brown curls bouncing, Phoebe barreled toward Noah as fast as her little thunder thighs could manage, squealing when he snatched her into his arms and swung her around.

It never got old, Noah thought, his heart squeezing at her laughter, her absolute trust that he wouldn't let her fall. “Hey, Pheebs—you ready to go see Gramma and Papa? And Uncle Charley and Aunt Edie?”

Securely seated in the crook of his elbow, Phoebe nodded vigorously, her mouth puckered out in her “serious” expression. Noah quickly kissed that irresistible little mouth, then rubbed noses with his daughter. “Where's Mama?”

“Right here,” Roxie said, rubbing her six-months-pregnant belly as she entered the room, lifting her face for Noah's kiss. When he pulled away far sooner than, no doubt, either of them would have liked, she arched one brow. “That the best you can do?”

“With a two-year-old in my arms? I'm thinking yes. You all packed?”

“We are, believe it or not. Even if a certain party—” she leveled a mock stern gaze at their daughter “—was determined to take
all
of her ‘friends' with her. Did you talk to your folks?” she asked, anticipation twinkling in her eyes. “Is there snow?”

“They're predicting it for tomorrow, so it's looking good for a white Christmas.”

“Yay!” Roxie said, taking the slightly puzzled baby into her arms and dancing around the cluttered floor with her for a moment before letting her down to go wreak even more havoc. Definitely her daddy's kid. Then Rox sighed. “Can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this week.”

“Although you do realize between my folks and yours, you might not see our daughter the entire time?”

She grinned. “As I said. So, can I have the rest of my kiss now?”

“I think that can be arranged,” Noah said, pulling her as close as their gestating little boy would allow, the kiss this time nice and slow and lingering…until Phoebe decided
to sing her version of “Jingle Bells” at the top of her lungs. While jumping on Roxie's cream leather sofa.

Noah laughed. “Kid's gonna fit right in.”

“Which she's not going to do if we miss our flight,” Rox said, pulling away.

Tugging her close again, Noah murmured, “We've got time.”

Even so, he thought—through the next kiss, and the one after that—he was champing at the bit, too, to get back. Even if only for a visit. Although Austin had been damn good to both of them—Noah's fledgling renovation business was taking off, due in no small part, Noah was sure, to the advice he sought from his father on a regular basis, and Rox was still having a blast with the store—even his big city gal had to admit there really was no place like home. So for two weeks every summer and a week at Christmas, they trekked back to recharge, reconnect, remind themselves what was important. Not, Noah thought as he palmed his wife's belly, that they really needed reminding.

“Was he a good boy today?”

“You kidding? He's a Garrett. Hasn't stopped moving all day. I fully expect him to yell ‘Charge!' when he comes out.”

“You ready for that?”

With a sly, sexy curve of her mouth, Roxie pulled out of his arms and slowly backed away. “Hey. After breaking you in? This one'll be a piece of
cake
—! Noah, no!” she shrieked, reduced to helpless gales of laughter when he caught her and mercilessly attacked her extremely sensitive neck.

“Breaking me in?”

Breathless, still laughing, she grabbed his shoulders and grinned up at him, her curls a jumble around her face. “And what would you call it?”

“Saving my life?” he said softly, watching something melt in her eyes.

Smiling, she knuckled his cheek. “Same here,” she whispered, then turned to their daughter. “Come on, sweetie,” she said to their little jumping bean. “Time to go!”

“On airp'ane?”

“On airplane, yep! So let's go potty and get our coats….”

As Rox and a chattering Phoebe disappeared down the hall, Noah scanned his chronically messy living room, his gaze lighting on the big-screen TV as he tried to remember the last time he'd watched a DVD all the way through. Or been able to walk around the house naked.

Or what he thought he'd been so afraid of.

His old life? History.

But his new one?

Rox and Pheebs reappeared, Phoebe rolling a Dora the Explorer backpack behind her, and Roxie glanced over and winked at him.

A little piece of heaven.