Unexpectedly Yours [Private Relations 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  Jim wrapped his arm around her on the way to the elevator and asked, “My place or yours?”

  “Well, once I move my stuff in, technically it would be our place, right?” Elle asked.

  Stopping in the middle of the hallway, he pulled her to him and crushed his mouth down on hers again, kissing her thoroughly. A few minutes later, when they had surfaced from the kiss, he said, “Our place.”

  “Let’s go home, then,” Elle said, grinning.

  Epilogue

  Five Months Later

  Jim and Elle lay curled up in the hammock in the backyard. Elle was tucked into his side. They’d been talking about the plans for the baby’s room for the last hour. They were still in a heated debate about colors and overall themes. They were having a boy, so Jim suggested a sports-themed room. Elle was talking about a safari-animal theme.

  He felt the small kick against the palm of the hand he had resting on Elle’s stomach. Grinning, he said, “That never gets old. It makes me smile every single time.”

  Elle snorted and said, “Glad you’re having fun. Personally, I could do without the early morning acrobatics. That’s getting kinda old.”

  “He’s probably just pissed off. You put Sriracha sauce on everything, baby.”

  “Not everything,” Elle said somewhat defensively.

  “Uh,” Jim asked, “did I not see you dunking potato chips into a cup filled with it last night?”

  “Guilty,” Elle said. “The worst freaking part is that I don’t even like the stuff. I can’t help myself though. Pregnancy is so strange!”

  Brushing his lips against her forehead, he said, “You’re almost done now.”

  He felt her press further into his side and smiled. When he looked down, he saw her eyes were closed.

  “Tired?”

  “No, just incredibly happy. Relaxed,” Elle said with a smile.

  Jim watched her a minute longer, then dug down into the pocket of his cargo shorts to pull out the ring box he had stashed there earlier. Wiping his palm, he managed to open the box with one hand. The other was wrapped around her. He really hadn’t planned the logistics very well.

  Holy shit, he was nervous. He was fairly certain that she’d say yes, but for some reason he still felt a little bit like he was going to throw up. Oh well, he thought to himself. It was now or never.

  Clearing his throat slightly he said, “Elle, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”

  Her eyes immediately flicked open, then widened when she saw the open ring box he held in front of her. Her mouth slightly agape, she slowly turned to look at him. When her face transformed into a huge grin, he gave a small sigh of relief.

  The pit in his stomach now gone, he steadily asked, “Elle. Will you marry me?”

  He watched her eyes fill as she nodded. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I will.”

  His hand shook slightly as he took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger. The sales person had given him a lengthy description of the ring. It was a platinum setting with a cushion-cut diamond. Whatever the hell that meant. He’d known though, the moment he saw it, that this was the ring.

  He’d gone the traditional route and asked Earl’s permission. His response had been priceless. He’d looked Jim dead in the eye and said, “About fucking time, son.”

  Elle held her hand out now, admiring the ring and said, “This is beautiful, Jim.”

  “You’re beautiful,” Jim said, stroking his fingers along her cheek.

  Closing the space between their mouths, Elle kissed him. She just gently brushed her lips against his at first, but the moment that she nipped gently at his lower lip, he was lost. On a groan, he tossed the empty ring box on the ground and wrapped his arms around her.

  Jim deepened the kiss as he pulled her close. Stroking a hand down her body, he rested in on the thigh that was wrapped around his waist. He rocked his hips against her, careful not to flip the hammock. They’d done that once before. Luckily Elle hadn’t been hurt.

  A few minutes later, she said, “Let’s go upstairs before this progresses any further. I’d rather not roll out and onto the ground again. I’m sure Junior wouldn’t appreciate it.”

  Grinning, Jim said, “Yeah. Probably for the best.”

  Carefully they both extracted themselves from the hammock without harm. Elle groaned slightly and said, “I think I need to stay out of this thing until after I have the baby. That was really difficult to get out of.”

  Hand in hand they walked back into the house, and made their way up the stairs. Looking at her briefly, he said, “This seems very surreal. If anyone would have suggested we’d be here like this just a year after we first met, I would have told them they were crazy.”

  “Me too. This whole relationship has been one unexpected event after another,” Elle said, as they walked into their bedroom.

  Jim pulled her into his arms, then smirked and said, “We really ought to work on that for the future.”

  “Don’t worry,” Elle said. “We’ll have the rest of our lives to get it right.”

  THE END

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Michelle Roth is a novelist from Los Angeles, California. When she’s not disappearing into foreign lands, or making two perfect strangers that she invented fall in love, she’s probably curled up somewhere with a glass of wine and a good book.

  In her spare time she is typically hanging out with her awesome boyfriend and their two equally awesome cats. She likes taking road trips to nowhere in particular, cooking elaborate meals then making other people do the dishes, and being nerdy on the Internet. Visit her blog at www.michelleroth.net for information on her latest releases, exclusive excerpts, and more.

  For all titles by Michelle Roth, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/michelle-roth

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