Married By Mistake

child as much as I do, we could look at adopting. I know you’ll be a great mom, whether it’s our natural child or not. Or if you want, we can try for our own baby and decide that whatever will be, will be.”
    He leaned forward and kissed her gently. “I adore you, my precious, darling wife. Stay with me forever, and we’ll take everything else as it comes.”
    Had there ever been as sweet a sensation as this? Casey almost laughed out loud with sheer joy.
    “If I say no, do I still get to keep the Aston Martin?”
    He chuckled. “Of course.”
    “Mrs. Lowe’s not going to like it if I come back,” she warned him. “You’d better think hard about this, Adam, because it’s her or me.”
    “I’ve already sent her off into retirement with a healthy bonus,” he said. “I couldn’t take another day of those frosty grimaces she seems to think are smiles.”
    Casey giggled, then snuggled into his embrace. “I was wrong about something,” she said against
his chest.
    Adam kissed her hair. “You, darling? Never.”
    She pulled away just a little. “I agreed when you said we should be selfish. I said I wanted no-strings love. But it’s not true. I want to be tied to you, Adam. And I want you tied to me.”
    His eyes, brilliant with emotion, met hers. “Real love,” he said, “comes with strings you tie yourself.”
    Casey’s heart swelled. The man was the perfect soul mate for her. It seemed too wonderful to be true. Reluctantly, she came back to the stumbling block she couldn’t believe might not prove impassable. “You’re sure you don’t mind if we never have our own baby? I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”
    He paused. “Of course I want you to have my child. But Casey, you are the only woman for me, baby or no baby.”
    She planted a kiss on his chin. “And what about—?”
    “Enough,” he ordered. “You can make as many objections as you like, but I’m not going to change my mind. I adore you, you’re my wife and we have the rest of our lives to argue over the details. Now, are you coming back to me or not?”
    “Of course I am.”
    The kiss that followed lasted a very long time. When they parted, Adam’s eyes were dark with desire.
    “You’re quite sure we’re still married?” Casey asked.
    “Positive.”
    She held out her hand to him. “Then I know just what I want to do next.”
    They pushed through the throng, hand in hand, single-minded in their determination to reach one of Eloise’s many bedrooms. But Casey stopped dead when she heard “All You Need Is Love” playing tinnily from the vicinity of Adam’s pocket.
    She turned to grab him by the lapels. “What,” she demanded, “is that?”
    Sheepishly, Adam pulled out his cell phone. “Personalized ring tone,” he said. “It’s affirming.”
    Casey took it from him, pressed the off button, then slipped the phone back into his pocket. On tiptoe, she pressed her lips to her husband’s. “Stick with me,” she said, “and I’ll give you all the affirmation you’ll ever need.”

EPILOGUE
    “S HE LOOKS NOTHING LIKE her cousin.” Casey placed their beautiful daughter back in her crib and tucked the blankets around her tiny body.
    “She’s way more beautiful.” Adam leaned forward to get another good look at his second-best girl. “This one takes after her mom.”
    “She’s very noisy,” Casey agreed with a grin. “And she likes fast cars.”
    “And she’s worth any amount of effort,” Adam said, conscious that most of the effort had been Casey’s. She’d had to have the surgery to repair her damaged fallopian tubes twice before it worked. But for the rest of their lives, Adam would do whatever it took to cherish his family. Casey nodded, tears glistening in her eyes. She always insisted her out-of-kilter hormones were responsible for her easy tears, but Adam knew his sensitive wife better than that.
    He continued to list the similarities between his daughter and his wife. “And she’s gorgeous, sweet-natured, intelligent—”
    “She’s six weeks old! You have no idea how intelligent she is. And she was three weeks late,” Casey grumbled. “She’s going to have to improve her timing.”
    “Takes after her grandmother,” Adam said, and dodged the swat Casey aimed at him. “Speaking of her, what time are Eloise and Sam due?”
    Casey looked at her watch. “Right about now.”
    “Good, that gives us at least half an hour. Ever since they got married, Sam’s been as hopeless as Eloise