“Come here,” I order, dragging her toward me and holding her against my chest. As I watch the time on the clock tick away, a sense of hopefulness comes over me. I’ve never really put much consideration into my future or what it might look like, but with Cybil in my life, I’m looking forward to making her my wife, starting a family together—whether that happens now or down the road—and becoming the best father I can be. I might not have had the best examples growing up, but I do know I want to be better than my parents were, and I have no doubt the people who love me now will help if I ever need it.

  “The time’s up,” she says quietly, tucking her face against my chest while wrapping her arms around my waist. “You look.”

  My heart pounds like it’s trying to escape my chest as I reach around her to pick up the thin piece of plastic and see the large plus sign on the screen.

  “Tanner.”

  “We’re having a baby.” I grasp her tightly and drop my lips to the top of her head, completely overwhelmed by the idea of our baby, my baby, growing inside her.

  “I’m pregnant?” Her whispered question is filled with awe, and I drop to my knees in front of her and lift the tank top she went to sleep in last night.

  “Marry me.” I look up at her, watching her eyes fill with tears.

  “Tanner, you don’t have to—”

  “Stop,” I growl, cutting her off before she can piss me off by saying something ridiculous like I don’t have to marry her just because she’s pregnant with my child. “I love you. I want to spend forever with you.”

  I place a kiss against her flat stomach, then stand up and grab her hand to lead her from the bathroom into the closet. I let her hand go so I can grab a bag from one of the high shelves and then dig into it until I find the box I’m looking for.

  “The day I got back home from Oregon, I went to a local jeweler and picked this out for you.” I open the box, and her eyes widen. “Even before that, I knew I would ask you to be my wife, ask you to share your life with me.”

  “Tanner.” Her fingers cover her lips.

  “I love you, sunshine. You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “Okay,” she says quietly, fingering the ring in the box before meeting my gaze.

  “So you’ll marry me?”

  “Yes.” She nods, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

  “Thank fuck.” I slide the ring onto her finger, then curl my arms around her.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” I grasp her face and tip her head back so I can kiss her. “I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you’re happy, baby.”

  “You already make me happier than I’ve ever been.” She leans up on her tiptoes while grasping on to my shirt, and I drop my face down to hers and groan as her tongue touches my bottom lip.

  As I take over the kiss, I lead her back into the bedroom, then take my time stripping her out of her tank top and panties. Once she’s laid out for me, her hair spilling across my pillows, her lips swollen, her nipples harden and the space between her legs becomes wet. I make love to her, understanding for the first time in my life what love, real love, really is.

  And after we’ve both finished and she’s fallen asleep, I hold my hand against her stomach, promising my child that I’ll do everything within my power to make sure that he or she and their mother are always happy.

  Epilogue

  CYBIL

  I pull up and park in front of the lodge and unhook my seat belt before grabbing my purse from the passenger seat. It takes me a minute to maneuver myself and my giant belly out from behind the steering wheel, but I manage with only a little huffing and puffing. Once my feet are on the ground, I slam the door and head up the stairs toward the front door, smiling when Janet steps outside to greet me with a warm hug and a wide smile. The moment reminds me of the day Tanner and I got married six months ago here at the lodge.

  “Look at how beautiful you are.” She takes a moment to rub my belly. The belly rubbing is something that has definitely taken some getting used to. “How is she doing?”

  “He’s good, healthy, normal.” I listen to her laugh as I rest my hand on my eight-month bump. Tanner and I decided that we would wait until our baby was born to find out the sex, but that doesn’t mean everyone doesn’t have a preference. I for one want a boy who looks like his daddy, while Tanner wants a little girl. More than anything, we just want him or her to be healthy.

  “Tanner and Mav are in the office with Everly.” She opens the door for me, and I slip off my jacket. A couple of months ago, Tanner, Mav, and Blake all agreed that they needed to hire someone to help run the office, especially with Tanner wanting to take some time off to be home with the baby and me after I give birth. But even with them all agreeing, Blake dragged his feet on actually choosing someone, so Mav took it upon himself to hire Everly, a cute little brunette with a ten-month-old son who just moved to town.

  “How’s that going—is Blake coming around to the idea of having Everly around?” I ask, following her through the lodge.

  “Blake is avoiding the office and Everly as much as possible.” She gives me a look over her shoulder with a knowing glint in her eyes, and I laugh.

  “I thought I heard your laugh.” Tanner steps out of the office and makes a beeline for me. “Hey, sunshine.”

  “Hey.” I lean up for a kiss when he bends down to brush his lips across mine.

  “How are my girls today?” he asks while palming my belly.

  “Me and your son are good,” I say with a smile, and he chuckles.

  “I was just about to make some lunch—are you hungry?” Janet asks, and I shake my head.

  “No, thank you—I ate before I drove down,” I tell her, and she nods.

  “I’ll be in the kitchen. Come visit with me before you take off.”

  “I will,” I promise, and she smiles at Tanner before wandering off down the hall. Once she’s out of sight, Tanner slides his hand up my back, and I turn to focus on him.

  “Did you drive the Subaru?” he asks, and my nose scrunches. About a month after we confirmed that I was pregnant, he bought me a brand-new Subaru, insisting that it’s safer than my Bronco, but I’ve only driven it a handful of times, something that I know annoys him greatly. “Baby.”

  “I like my car.”

  “I know you do, and I understand why, but it’s not safe for you and our baby to be in your car.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “It’s not.” He gives me a look that says clearly he’s not happy. “If something was to happen to you, I couldn’t—” His jaw clenches as he cuts off his statement, and my stomach twists because I know that’s his worst fear, and I get it because I don’t know what I would do if something were to happen to him.

  “Okay,” I say softly, resting my palm against his chest and feeling his heart thumping hard. This isn’t our first conversation on this subject, but I’ve never seen real worry from him about it until now. “I’ll drive the Subaru from now on.”

  “Promise?” His eyes search mine, and I nod. “Thank you, sunshine.” He wraps his hand around the nape of my neck, then touches his lips to mine. When he pulls away, his eyes go over the top of my head. I look to see what or who has caught his attention and see Blake standing a few feet away.

  “Cybil.” Blake comes to greet me; then, like he’s done for a while now, he places a kiss on my cheek. “How’s my nephew?” His eyes drop to my stomach.

  “Good, active—especially when I want to sleep,” I tell him, and his eyes soften.

  “Not much longer and he’ll be keeping you up all night like Taylor’s doing to Margret,” he says with a warm smile, referring to his sister’s newborn daughter, Taylor, who’s already crawling around and giving Margret a run for her money.

  “I can’t wait until he’s here so they can entertain each other,” I say, and Tanner cuts in.

  “You two really need to stop referring to my daughter as a boy.”

  “He is a boy.” I turn to grin at him as I rest my hand on my stomach.

  “She’s not,” he denies, then looks at Blake when he chuckles. “Everything okay?”

  “Yep, just need to get the guest list printed so we’re ready for tomorrow,” Blake tells him, looking toward the closed office door.

  “Everly already took care of it,” Tanner tells him, and instead of looking impressed, Blake looks annoyed.

  “Right, then I’m going to—”

  His words are cut off when pain slices through my stomach and back, and I reach out and dig my nails into his bicep and cling to Tanner’s shirt so that I don’t fall to my knees.

  “Sunshine.” Tanner’s panicked voice cuts through the fog of pain, and I take a deep breath. “What is it?”

  “I don’t know,” I answer once I’m able; then I meet his worried gaze as my heart starts to race. “It’s too early for me to go into labor, right?”

  “You think you’re in labor?”

  “I don’t know.” I hold my stomach, which feels tight. “I think so.” Tears fill my eyes because something isn’t right.

  “It’ll be okay.” He scoops me up and heads toward the front of the lodge, with Blake right behind us. Before I can say a word, the two of them get me into Tanner’s truck, and the next thing I know, I’m being admitted to the hospital.

  TANNER

  Dressed in a set of scrubs, I follow a nurse into the operating room, and my heart seizes in my chest when I see Cybil lying on the hospital bed attached to machines, with a large blue sheet blocking my view of her belly. Her belly where our baby has been growing for months; her belly that I’ve kissed, rubbed, and fallen in love with. When I meet her worried gaze, I attempt to hide the fear I’m feeling; she doesn’t need to know that I’m scared, but I am. Other than a little bit of morning sickness, her pregnancy has been easy, so finding out after they ran some tests that she’s suffering from placental abruption has been a shock for both of us.

  “You have to stay right next to her head,” the nurse informs me. I lift my chin, letting her know that I heard her, then walk toward my wife.

  “Hey, sunshine.” I smooth my hand over the top of her hair, and tears fill her beautiful eyes. “It’s going to be okay,” I assure her, praying that I’m right.

  “I’m so scared, Tanner.”

  “I know, baby.” I drop my forehead to rest against hers and whisper soothing nonsense as the doctors and nurses work around us. Time seems to go in slow motion, and I don’t even think I really breathe until a sharp cry fills the room over the sound of quiet murmurs.

  “Mom and Dad, you have a beautiful, healthy little girl,” a woman announces, and tears I can’t hold back fill my eyes as I wipe away the tracks of tears from Cybil’s temples.

  “You were right,” Cybil whispers, sounding tired but happy, and I press my lips to her forehead, holding them there as a whirlwind of activity begins to swarm around us.

  “So proud of you, baby.”

  “You always say that.” I see her smile through the mask she has on before I turn to watch a group of nurses clean up our girl and check her over. “Is she okay? What does she look like?”

  “She’s okay, she’s beautiful,” I assure her, then focus on her beautiful sleepy face. “We still need to decide on her name.”

  “Claire Montana after my mom and the place we fell in love,” she says, her eyes searching mine and looking unsure, and I rest my lips against her forehead.

  “I love it, and you.” I smooth my hand over her hair.

  “Here she is, Mom and Dad,” a nurse says, quietly holding Claire close to Cybil’s chest, and I reach out and carefully touch her cheek with the tip of my finger.

  “She’s perfect.” I look at my two girls, not sure that I’ll ever get used to loving two people so much. Before Cybil, I had no idea what love was, and now with our daughter here with us, I’m sure I didn’t.

  CYBIL

  “I love you,” I whisper to my husband, watching him hold Claire’s tiny body against his bare chest, and he turns his head my way, giving me a warm smile filled with contentment and happiness.

  “I love you, too, sunshine.” He reaches across the space between us and touches my cheek. “I love both my girls.” He kisses the top of Claire’s head, and tears fill my eyes.

  I’m sure some people might think I rushed into love, but without a doubt it was the best thing I’ve ever done, and I truly believe that my mom had something to do with the miracle I was given.

  About the Author

  Aurora Rose Reynolds is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author whose wildly popular series include Until, Until Him, Until Her, Fluke My Life, Underground Kings, How to Catch an Alpha, and Shooting Stars. Her writing career started in an attempt to get the outrageously alpha men who resided in her head to leave her alone and has blossomed into an opportunity to share her stories with readers all over the world.

  Sign up now for Aurora’s Alpha-Mailing list at https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/s7b4j6, where you can keep up to date with what’s going on. And don’t forget to stop by her website, AuroraRoseReynolds.com, to find out about new releases.

 

 

  Aurora Rose Reynolds, Rushed (Adventures in Love)

 

 

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