Her Sudden Groom (50 page)
Caroline’s heart swelled once again. She wiggled closer to him, content to rest in Alex’s embrace until the doctor came back in.
“
I think it’s time,” the doctor announced after putting the sheet back down.
“
Time to go, Alex.” Caroline readjusted herself on the bed.
He snorted. “I’m not leaving, and there isn’t a thing you or old sawbones down there can do about it.”
Caroline glanced at him uncertainly then sighed. “Just as long as you don’t make an experiment out of this, you may stay.”
“
And how would I do that?” he retorted, rubbing the part of her back that hurt the worst during her contractions.
“
I honestly have no idea, but I wouldn’t put it past you to find a way,” she returned.
An hour later a healthy little boy entered the world screaming loud enough to alert all the family waiting in the hall of his presence.
Alex beamed as his mother cleaned the baby and handed him to Caroline.
“
What shall we name him?” Alex ran his finger along his son’s cheek.
“
Were you set on having a namesake?” Caroline asked, smiling down at the beautiful baby in her arms.
“
No. Did you have something in mind?”
“
Remember our wedding?”
He nodded. “How could I forget?”
She shook her head. “Do you remember the conversation you overheard? The one where Andrew and Benjamin were acting childish,” she clarified.
“
Yes. I told them if I were to follow their suggestions, I’d be using the name Marcus. Do you like the name Marcus?”
She nodded. “Marcus is good. My cousin did play a large role in bringing us together. But I was thinking of someone else.”
His eyes left the little boy in Caroline’s arms and landed on Caroline’s face. “Who else could there be?”
She lifted her face and smiled at him. “Edward.”
“
My father?”
She nodded again. “He played an even larger role.”
“
I suppose,” Alex allowed, looking somewhat dismayed. “Without his private conversation with you, you might never have forgiven me for being such an ass.”
She smiled at shook her head. “There’s that. But that’s not what I was thinking.”
“
Is it because he’s the one who told me to do more thinking with the organ responsible for bringing us this miracle?” The earlier shadow on his face gone, replaced by a wide grin.
“
There’s that, too,” she said thoughtfully. “But there’s something else.”
He rolled his eyes. “Please do not tell me you’re thankful to him for making that blasted betrothal agreement with your uncle.”
She grinned and nodded. “Particularly the amendment.”
He returned her grin. “Edward Marcus Banks it is.”
After the doctor and Regina got Caroline and the room cleaned up enough, a long parade of family bearing gifts that ranged from a magnifying glass, to a barometer, to a rattle shaped like a king from a chess set, came into the room to argue with Caroline and Alex for the privilege of holding their son.
***
Later That Week
“
Are you sure?”
“
I’m sure,” Caroline told her husband, putting down the latest edition of
Popular Plants
which was opened to the showcase piece written by Lord and Lady Watson about the habits of harvester ants.
“
You don’t have to do this,” Alex protested, watching his wife blow out the candle next to her side of the bed. “I’ve become conditioned to sleeping with the lanterns lit.”
“
Now who’s scared of the dark,” Caroline teased, leaning her tired head on her husband’s chest.
Alex ran his hand through his wife’s silky hair. “Does this new development have anything to do what that article you read earlier this evening?”
“
You mean the one where my father learned the hard way—quite literally—that just because he was intoxicated to the point where he felt like he was flying did not mean he actually could and fell with amazing speed from the top of the Tower of London?”
He nodded. “That’s the one. Do you feel safer now that he’s gone, Caro?”
Caroline grinned up at him and slowly shook her head. “No, it has nothing to do with his passing. It’s because I know I’m safe when I’m with you.”
Coming Late 2011 and Early 2012—GROOM SERIES
Four men are about to have their bachelor freedom snatched away as they become grooms...but finding the perfect woman may prove a bit more difficult than they originally thought.
Her Sudden Groom
—The overly scientific, always respectable and socially awkward Alexander Banks has just been informed his name resides on a betrothal agreement right above the name of the worst chit in all of England. With a loophole that allows him to marry another without consequence before the thirtieth anniversary of his birth, he has only four weeks to find another woman and make her his wife.
Her Reluctant Groom
—For the past thirteen years Marcus Sinclair, Earl Sinclair, has lived his life as a heavily scarred recluse, never dreaming the only woman he’s ever wanted would love him back. But when it slips out that she does, he doubts her love for his scarred body and past can be real. For truly, how can a woman love a man whose injuries were caused when he once tried to declare himself to her sister?
Her Secondhand Groom
—Widower Patrick Ramsey, Viscount Drakely, fell in love and married at eighteen only to be devastated by losing her as she bore his third daughter. Now, as his girls are getting older he realizes they need a mother—and a governess. Not able to decide between the two which they need more, he marries an ordinary young lady from the local village in hopes she can suit both roles. But this ordinary young lady isn’t so ordinary after all, and he’ll either have to take a chance and risk his heart once more or wind up alone forever.
Her Imperfect Groom—
Sir Wallace Benedict has never been good with women and in the bottom drawer of his bureau he has the scandal sheet clippings to prove it. But this thrice-jilted baronet is about to find there are things worth waiting for. The only trouble is, just which of the multiple women plaguing his dreams—and social calendar—is the one perfect match for him and his imperfections?
Already Available--SCANDALOUS SISTERS SERIES
Curious as to how Brooke, Lady Townson got herself into such a sticky situation at Alex’s house, and what was that Andrew, Lord Townson said about signing an agreement to ruin an innocent without offering marriage? Find out all of the details in the first life-changing scandal to befall this generation of the Banks family in
Intentions of the Earl.
Or what was that about Liberty, the lady who tutors illiterate bastards, once seducing a country vicar and the details appearing in the
Daily Times?
Yes, indeed, it’s true. Well, in part it is, anyway. All those details—and many, many more, including the infamous science conversation revolving around combustible elements and mating hedgehogs—can be found in
Liberty for Paul.
Then of course there’s the scandalous-speaking, and acting, Madison, Duchess of Gateway, who was once accused of carrying on a torrid affair with her sister’s husband and was only rescued by none other than the blackguard who once offered to pay a man to ruin her sister. And that’s just the first chapter! You can find all the juicy
on dits
of her other pre-marital transgressions and the true reasons her husband did his dastardly deed by reading
To Win His Wayward Wife
.
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About the Author
Rose Gordon lives as the queen of her castle, surrounded by only boys, in the mid-west United States. With an accounting degree hanging on the wall, and two wild little boys running around, she started writing her first book and has been at it ever since.
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