Part 56 (2/2)
”I'm not so sure we can top the royal wedding,” she said.
Archer wasn't listening. He was watching Trevor and his parents. ”So, you
think we might have ourselves one of those?”She looked up to find him grinning at her, hope twinkling clearly in his eyes. How have I come to find this? She'd never even contemplated being a mother. Had never even thought to be married. Now, everything seemed possible. You make me want things I never knew I could want. His words rang truer every day.”I'm still getting used to dealing with Ringer and Rascal.” Her little puppy was no longer so little. Ringer had steered clear at first, but eventually he'd revealed himself to the fluffy mutt and they'd forged an unlikely bond. In fact, she probably owed most of Rascal's rehabilitation to Ringer. Rascal seemed to understand his ever-changing friend, and from that he had learned that not all humans were the same, despite their similar appearance.
”Rascal isn't exactly the coddling type,” Archer said.
Talia laughed. Rascal was still more standoffish with his humans than she'd
like, but they were getting there. ”Since when did you want a pet you could cuddle? Because Ringer is about the least cuddly pet I've ever met.”
”Ringer isn't a pet. He's a mate. Family.” He squeezed her. ”So is Rascal.” He
winked. ”I suppose.”
The teasing light faded from his eyes and he stood silent for a moment. Her soon-to-be husband was such an incongruous mix of arrogance, confidence, and boyish uncertainty. He was so sure of himself, except when he wanted something and wasn't sure she'd go along. He so wanted to please her, but he was equally determined to get what he wanted. He'd quickly discovered that asking her in bed, just after making breathless love to her, was a successful approach. But he honestly couldn't do anything unless he really thought it was okay with her. It bothered him endlessly if he thought she'd just given in to
him. Then he was so charmingly insecure she couldn't help doing whatever she could to work things out.
”I wasn't actually joking,” he said finally. ”Earlier I meant.”
”About?”
”Having one. Of those, I mean,” he added, nodding toward Trevor. ”Of our
own.” He leaned down and kissed her neck. ”You and me.”
She let him kiss her neck, her heart already a melted pool at her feet. ”We're
still planning the wedding, and you're talking kids?”
He turned her around then, and looked quite seriously into her eyes. ”I'm not
saying right away. We have a lot of adjusting to do, with one another. I know that. I just wanted to, you know, feel you out. On the subject. In general.”
He really was quite adorable. She stepped in closer. ”Well, on the subject, in
general, I'm thinking, oh, I don't know. Four? Five?”
He looked confused, then his eyes popped wide. ”Five?” He swallowed hard. ”Now wait a minute, I mean, maybe we should-”Talia laughed and pulled him tight against her, kissing him quiet. She could see another round of negotiations in their future. ”This should be interesting,”
she murmured against his lips.
Then he took charge of the kiss, making her squirm against him and forget completely that they weren't alone. He grinned against her mouth. ”I was just thinking the very same thing.”
About the Author.
Nationally bestselling author, Donna Kauffman, has often wondered what the future world will be like. The demands of a busy husband, three growing boys, two rowdy terriers, two noisy baby parrots, and a house that looks like a tornado site often have her wis.h.i.+ng one of those handy triangles would open up in front of her. She's not picky, even a window to modern-day Hawaii would be just fine. But as that is unlikely to happen, she's just as happy to take a break from her everyday insanity to enjoy notes and posts from her readers. Please feel free to visit her website atand drop her a lifeline.
Dear Readers: I've wanted to revisit the inspiring western highlands of Scotland ever since I wrote The Legend Mackinnon. Finally, I'm getting the chance to do just that with my next romance, The Charm Stone, set on a tiny island off the coast of Skye, and coming soon from Bantam Books. Meet my hero, Gonnal MacNeil, clan leader of the MacNeils, who has been waiting in Black's Tower for the return of his clan's charm stone and the prosperity it promises to bestow. The problem is... he has been waiting for three hundred years! His patience has just about run out completely, to say the least, when he meets our heroine Josie, who finds the stone when it washes up on her beach... in South Carolina! Charm stones have a long and colorful heritage in both Scottish and Celtic history as bearers of good fortune, and so Josie decides to return this stone to the original family owners. She never imagines this will lead her to a devilishly handsome ghost, hundreds of years old, who is demanding not only the charm stone she has in her possession...but also that she bear the next MacNeil clan chief!
I was inspired to write this story when I read an article about the actual MacNeil clan. For a pound note a year and a bottle of whisky, the current clan chief signed a 1,000-year lease with Historic Scotland to ensure continued renovations of the clan seat, Kisimul, on the island of Barra. Legend has it that Kisimul has been a MacNeil stronghold since the eleventh century, which really blew me away. As I kept digging into the history behind this, a story began to take shape. Wouldn't it be interesting if my heroine ended up in Scotland in possession of the MacNeil stone... only to discover that the bearer of the charm stone is destined to belong to the last clan chief... who lived three hundred years before her?
I hope you'll pick up a copy of The Charm Stone and read Josie and Gonnal's love story.
Best wishes, Donna Kauffman.
end.
<script>