Harlequin Special Edition October 2015, Box Set 1 of 2 by Christine Rimmer

slow, delicious love.
    He put his clothes back on at a little after midnight. She hated to see him go and she told him so. And then she kind of waited for him to point out that, if they were married, he wouldn’t have to go.
    But then he just kissed her again and said he’d see her tomorrow.
    She put on her robe and walked him to the sliding door in the great room. Once he was gone, she stood looking out at the stars, thinking about saying yes to him.
    Wanting to.
    Because she wanted
him
. She
liked
him—and she liked his daughter and Manny, too. He wanted a wife and a mother for Annabelle. And all her life, she’d longed to be an excellent wife to a good and decent man, to be a loving mother. The idea of having Annabelle as her own made her heart feel too big for her chest. And the part about having Quinn’s babies?
    That hollowed her out and made her burn.
    But speaking of burning...she’d been burned before, and badly. And it hadn’t even been three weeks since that first night Quinn came up the hill and joined her in her bed.
    How could she be sure of him in such a short time? With her track record, how could she be sure of anyone?
    The stars outside were silent. They had no answers for her.
    * * *
    Tuesday flew by. She had several customers at the showroom. And she had shopping to do, an endless list of goodies that would be needed for Quinn’s remodel.
    When Chloe got home that evening, she saw a moving van at the house across the street. She went on over. Manny was there, directing the movers. He greeted her with a grin and a hug and said that Quinn was down at the other house feeding Annabelle her dinner on the last night they would spend at home until after the remodeling.
    Chloe explained about the fairy princess dress.
    Manny said, “She’s gonna love that.”
    â€œSo it’s okay with you? You don’t think I’m a complete pushover?”
    â€œI think we got a little girl who loves her princesses. And you want to help her with that. Sounds about right to me.”
    She thanked him and then glanced around, admiring the soaring stone fireplace and the thick log walls. “Give me a tour?”
    â€œGetting ideas for this one already?”
    She nodded. “I’m happy that I’ll have a chance to get to know this house ahead of time, get familiar with it, you know? I’ll have an opportunity to mull over what changes will work best for it. Redoing a log home presents a special set of challenges.”
    Manny seemed to be studying her. “You’re all right, Chloe.”
    â€œI’m glad you think so, Manny. I’m growing quite fond of you, as well.”
    â€œQuinn pop the question yet?”
    Chloe fell back a step. “He told you he was going to?”
    â€œHell, no. He told me zip. But we been together more than a decade. I got a good idea what’s going on with him, whether he lays it out for me or not.” The two burly moving guys came in with the dining-room table. Manny said, “Through there, boys.” And on they went. Manny lowered his voice for Chloe alone and said, “You haven’t said yes yet, have you?”
    Chloe pretended to ponder. “Hmm. Let me see. Would Quinn really want me to answer that?”
    Manny chortled out a rough laugh. “Come on. Let me show you the house...”
    * * *
    The landline was ringing when Chloe got back to her place. It clicked over to her old-school answering machine before she could pick up.
    It was her mother. “Sweetheart, we’re home. Walked in the door five minutes ago. Maui was heaven, as always. But it’s nice to be back and I can’t want to see you, find out how you’ve been doing and tell you all about our trip. Call me the minute you get this. Love you...”
    Chloe stood by the phone and considered getting it over with, calling her mother back right away. Years of conditioning had her feeling she really
ought
to call now,