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  Liam appeared behind her then. He was naked, and for a moment she was diverted by the muscular beauty of his body. The scars were still there, of course, but these days she hardly noticed them, and Liam himself was no longer self-conscious about being seen without clothes.

  ‘Stop stressing,’ he said, sliding his arms around her from behind and drawing her back against his still-aroused body. ‘I love you just the way you are.’

  Rosa shook her head. ‘But I’ve never been fat,’ she said, shivering at the sight of his hands moving over the offending curve of her stomach. He only had to touch her and she went up in flames.

  ‘You don’t think it could be something else, do you?’ he suggested, his lips tracing the tender curve of her neck. He looked at her reflection in the mirror. ‘I mean, you haven’t been married to me before.’

  Rosa caught her breath. ‘What are you saying?’

  ‘Well, we have been sleeping together for the past six months,’ he pointed out mildly. ‘And, so far as I’m aware, we haven’t taken any precautions.’

  Rosa stared back at him. ‘You think—I could be pregnant?’

  Liam shrugged. ‘I know you insisted that you couldn’t have a baby,’ he said softly, ‘but I’m not convinced. My sisters have both been pregnant, and this looks awfully similar to me.’

  Rosa expelled a shaken breath. Then, with tentative fingers, she explored the gentle mound below her ribcage. It did feel awfully firm to be just fat. Goodness, she thought, that was a possibility she’d never considered.

  After being married to Colin for five years and never getting pregnant, she’d naturally assumed that she had been to blame.

  She tried to think. How long was it since she’d had her period? She realised that she hadn’t had that inconvenience for at least eight weeks. Since before she and Liam had got married, in fact. Oh, God! She trembled. Could it be true?

  ‘You know,’ went on Liam gently, ‘it could have been Colin who couldn’t father a child.’

  Rosa turned her head to look into his eyes. ‘You think?’ she asked, gazing at him in wonderment, and Liam gave her a wry smile.

  ‘Why not?’ he asked smugly. ‘He was no good at anything else, was he?’

  A nervous giggle escaped her. ‘And—if I am, how will you feel?’

  ‘Hey, if you’re happy, I’m happy,’ he said huskily. ‘I would have liked to have you all to myself for a little bit longer, but that’s what grandparents are for, isn’t it?’

  ‘Do you think your parents will be pleased?’

  Rosa had met Liam’s mother and father, and his two sisters and their families, at the wedding, and she’d liked them a lot. But then, she’d thought, how could she not love the people who had made Liam the man he was?

  ‘They’ll be delighted,’ he assured her firmly. ‘I mean, I’m getting older all the time. The old biological clock is ticking.’

  ‘I don’t think you have anything to worry about,’ said Rosa rather breathily, drawing back to admire his very prominent maleness. ‘Come on, I’m getting cold here. And we have something to celebrate.’

  Their son was born six and a half months later. Sean Liam Jameson was delivered—despite his father’s anxiety—in the main bedroom at Kilfoil Castle, attended only by the local midwife.

  Liam had made arrangements for Rosa to be airlifted by helicopter to the mainland hospital as soon as she went into labour. But unfortunately an autumn storm had stranded a group of fishermen aboard a fishing boat that was drifting without power in the North Sea. Rosa, despite a little anxiety of her own, had insisted that rescuing the fishermen was more important than taking her to the hospital. She was fit and strong and, according to the midwife, perfectly capable of delivering her child without either a doctor or a delivery suite.

  And she had. The labour had been surprisingly easy, and short, and when the nurse put the baby into Liam’s arms for the first time he looked absolutely stunned.

  ‘He’s so beautiful,’ he said, handing her to his wife, and Rosa smiled.

  ‘Just like his father,’ she whispered, touching the baby’s soft cheek, but Liam shook his head.

  ‘You’re the beautiful one,’ he told her fiercely.

  And, despite the fact that she was hot and tired, and soaked with sweat, Rosa knew he meant it…

  ISBN: 978-1-55254-689-5

  STAY THROUGH THE NIGHT

  First North American Publication 2006.

  Copyright © 2006 by Anne Mather.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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