A Case for Calamity (10 page)
The heat in Jane’s cheeks flared, and her guilty gaze flew to Gabe. He watched her with an intensity that melted her insides and made her legs weak.
His grandmother recaptured her attention by tapping a finger to the five-million-dollar note in her hand, made out to Jane alone. “I think
that
should more than cover any court cases, don’t you?”
Stunned, Jane could only nod her head.
Melanie smiled keenly. “You must understand. I couldn’t let Gabe gut the business he’s worked so hard to build—on his own, mind you, without my help.”
Jane’s gaze jerked back to Gabe. “Gut your business? I don’t understand.”
He brought his hand up to palm her cheek. “I’d planned to write that check myself.”
She shook her head helplessly. “Why would you do that?”
“Because today marks a new beginning for us. Letting my wife stress for even one minute, believing I’ve married her to get my hands on our child, would have been a…
calamity
.”
Calamity?
She blinked. “How…?”
His handsome face softened with his smile. “When a man falls in love, he needs all the help he can get.” He winked over her shoulder. She followed his gaze and rolled her eyes at her brother’s grin.
Wait…when a man falls in love?
Wonder shimmered in her heart, and she whipped her head back around to meet Gabe’s smiling gaze. “You didn’t marry me just to get your hands on the baby?”
“Nope.” He slid his arms around her waist.
Relief made her dizzy. She bit her bottom lip while gazing up into his twinkling eyes. “And you’re not upset you’ve tied yourself to a woman with the nickname of Calamity Jane? A very deserving nickname, I might add.”
His secret-weapon dimples flashed in a quickfire grin. Tightening his hold on her, he tucked her closer. “To the contrary. You could say I have a case for calamity.”
Surrounded by his strong arms, joy, warm and full, bloomed in her heart and soul. She lowered her gaze to stare at his throat. “You love me?”
He dipped his knees and cocked his head to gaze into her eyes. “I’ve been searching for you since the morning you disappeared from my bed without so much as a kiss goodbye. What do you think?”
Her gaze skittered away, skipping over the parents who had found only fault with her for as long as she could remember, to land on Melanie. Gabe’s grandmother smiled softly and nodded as if giving her blessing. Then she winked.
Happiness bubbled up from the deepest corners of Jane’s soul until she couldn’t contain her delight. She dropped her forehead to Gabe’s chest and started to laugh.
He tucked a finger under her chin and lifted her face. Love gleamed in his smiling eyes. “Jane?”
Her giddy smile started in her heart and quickly spread to her face. “Since this is a new beginning, can we start again?”
He grinned and pressed a kiss to her nose. “Works for me. Hello, darlin’. My name is Gabe Sutton.”
Wriggling until he loosened his hold, she looped her arms around his neck and held on tight. “Hello back.” She grinned. “My name is Jane
Sutton
, and oh, by the way. I love you, too.”
A word about the author...
Raised in the Boston area, Mac and her husband now live in Phoenix where they raised two rambunctious little boys into wonderful men.
Dirt bikes and ESPN are the order around their house, and life at the “Testosterone Ranch” more closely resembles one of today’s wacky reality shows than yesterday’s “Leave It To Beaver.”
The grandmother of two, Mac’s love of the romance genre has been a lifelong affair.
A bout with breast cancer strengthened her resolve to see her stories shared with others. As of today, Mac is a six-year survivor, living her dream.
Visit her at:
http://mackenziecrowne.com
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