A Dad for Billie (29 page)
“Oh, Adam.” She flung her arms around him. “Yes, love, yes. I’ll live with you. I’ll even marry you.”
He clutched her upper arms and held her away from him. “Really?”
She nodded.
He leaned forward and kissed away the tears she hadn’t felt fall. Then his mouth captured hers. Warm and probing, his tongue swept her lips before plunging inside. She gave herself up to him, clinging to his strength, knowing that her world was at last complete.
A gagging sound broke through her passionate haze. Adam lifted his head.
“You’re kissing,” Billie said, sounding more disgusted than unhappy. “Gross.”
Jane held out her hand. Billie shuffled forward, but refused to be drawn close.
“I don’t like this kissing stuff,” she said.
“You will.” Jane smiled at her. “We’re—” She glanced at Adam. “You tell her.”
He took her hand, the one that held the ring. He slid it on her finger and kissed her palm, then crouched in front of Billie. “Your mother and I are getting married.”
“Really?” Billie grinned. “So we’ll be a real family?”
“Yes,” Jane said. “And we even get to live in Adam’s house.”
“With the island in the kitchen and the banister? Cool.” She looked up. “I won’t slide down the banister, of course.”
“Yeah, right.” Adam rose and tapped her nose.
Billie tugged off her cap and frowned. “Does this mean there’s going to be a wedding, like when Auntie Jolie married Uncle Brad?”
Adam looked at her. Jane smiled. “A friend of mine back in
San Francisco. Yes, Billie.” She glanced at her daughter. “But a lot smaller.”
“I’m not wearing a dress,” Billie announced.
“Where?”
“At the wedding.” She frowned. “No way.”
Jane kissed Adam’s cheek. “There’s still time to back out. She’s a handful.”
Billie held out her arms. Adam bent over and picked her up. Jane wrapped her arms around his waist. “I wouldn’t change her for the world,” he said.
“Good.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Because I want four more just like her.”
He coughed. “Four?”
“Yes. Do you have a problem with that?”
“No. Four is a nice round number.”
“All right!” Billie pumped her arm. “Four. Enough for an infield.”
Adam groaned.
“I warned you,” Jane said.
He shifted Billie so that he could support her with one arm and hug Jane with the other. Pulling her close, he murmured, “I can handle it.”
“Brothers,” Billie interrupted, just before his mouth touched Jane’s.
“What?” Adam asked.
“I want all brothers. No girls.”
Adam smiled at Jane. She felt her insides start to melt. They were going to make it, she thought, feeling the happiness flood her heart. They were going to make it just fine.
Adam looked at his daughter and winked. “Brothers? I’ll see what I can do.”
*
New York Times
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SUSAN MALLERY
is the bestselling author of over forty books for Harlequin/Silhouette. She makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her handsome prince of a husband and her two adorable-but-not-bright cats.
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eISBN-13: 978-1-4603-7813-7
A Dad for Billie
Copyright © 1993 by Susan Mallery Inc All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of 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.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
