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  “Miss Hadley! Miss Hadley!”

  Emma frowns, but gamely turns to face the reporter. I can tell that she’s exhausted. There are huge dark circles under her eyes, but she plasters a smile on her face anyway.

  “Yes?” Emma asks. “What is it?”

  The reporter smiles a wolflike grin. “How did you do it?”

  “What do you mean?” Confusion mars Emma’s features. “What are you talking about?”

  The reporter cracks her gum. “How did you have the guts to betray your father like that? How could you do something like that to a member of your own family?”

  The confusion vanishes from Emma’s face, replaced by a calm, icy look that I haven’t seen before.

  “I didn’t betray my father,” Emma says smoothly. She tucks a loose brown curl behind her ear. “He brought this on himself, and I never made any choices for him.”

  Her response makes my jaw drop. As she continues speaking to the inquisitive reporter, I have to marvel at the woman she’s become. She’s no longer the scared little girl in muddy pink sneakers. She’s really grown up and taken charge of her identity.

  I’ve never loved her as much as I do in this moment. This woman has done everything for me. She forced me to open up my heart and home to her. She made me realize that not everyone in the world is heartless and cruel. She made me believe in humanity once again.

  Without even thinking about it, I drop to one knee. Emma gasps.

  “Damien! He’s hurt,” she says in a panicked voice as she pushes the reporter away. “Get away, give him some space!”

  “I’m not hurt,” I assure her. Taking Emma’s hand in mine, I look into her soft brown eyes. “I’ve just realized something.”

  Emma cries out. Her lips part and she licks them with her little kitten tongue. She’s breathing hard and I know that she can tell what’s coming.

  “Emma Hadley, you’re the woman who brought me back to life,” I say in a deep voice. “I never thought that anything about the outside world would make me want to return, but I can’t live without you.”

  Tears come to Emma’s eyes and she reaches up with her free hand to wipe them away.

  “Oh, my god,” Emma whispers. “Damien!”

  I chuckle. There’s nothing that I love more than making my beautiful baby girl smile.

  “I don’t have a ring,” I say. “But as soon as we’re done here, we’ll stop by Cartier and I’ll have them close the store just for us.”

  Emma’s face crumples and she starts to cry in earnest. She’s smiling widely as the tears stream down her cheeks and I want nothing more than to pull her into my arms.

  “But I’m getting ahead of myself,” I say smoothly. “Emma, I love you. I can’t live without you, and I want you by my side every day. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Marrying you would make me the happiest man in the world.”

  Emma’s crying so hard that she can’t speak, but as soon as she nods affirmatively I get to my feet and sweep her into my arms. Her curvy frame trembles against me and I tangle my hand in her brown curls and twist her head back for a deep kiss.

  I don’t care who’s watching.

  I want everyone in the world to know that Emma Hadley is mine forever.

  Reporters’ bulbs are flashing blindingly bright when I pull away from Emma.

  “My sweet baby girl,” I whisper in her ear. “Now let’s get out of here. I want to get you a ring … and then I want to see you in nothing but that ring for the next week.”

  Emma’s cheeks are bright red as she nods happily. “Yes,” she whispers. “I love you, Damien.”

  “And I love you, baby girl,” I say in a low voice. “I always will.”

  As I lead Emma away from the courthouse, I know that I’ve finally gotten my life back. Because with this woman at my side, we’ve defeated seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Her father. My shattered reputation. A protracted legal appeal. And yet, here we are with my ring on her finger … and the future laying before us in all its glory.

  Epilogue

  Emma

  Six months later …

  “I can’t see!” I complain playfully. “I’m going to fall in a chuckhole and sprain my ankle!”

  “You’ll live,” Damien growls. The sound of his voice sends a shiver down my spine. “Just a little further. You can do it, baby girl.”

  I flush. The ground underfoot is uneven and I take shy, cautious steps in the direction Damien is leading. The bandana tied around my eyes hasn’t even slipped a little bit, and I have no idea where Damien is taking me.

  But I know that I’d follow him anywhere.

  After the appeals process, everything seemed to happen in a rush. My father was arrested and sent to Federal prison, and now it’s very likely that he’ll rot there for all eternity. In addition to the charges pressed by Damien and Jed, several of his female employees came forward with damning sexual assault allegations. In the era of #MeToo, it was pretty much a ticket to hell.

  It had all been very frightening at first. Damien took great care of me, though. He’d even helped with my mom. When my father’s assets were seized and she lost the house, Damien found Ramona the perfect condo in a luxury community. Now, Mom loves Damien too.

  Well, he is awfully easy to love. He’s the perfect husband to me, and I’m sure that Mom thinks he’s a great son-in-law.

  “Is it much further?” I ask.

  “No,” Damien says. “I promise, Emma, we’re almost there.”

  I flush. “I can’t believe you’re trying to surprise me,” I say. “It’s not like you.”

  Damien chuckles again. The sound is pleasant and low and a thrill of arousal shoots through my body. “Well, I like making you happy,” he replies. “And if this is the best way to do it, then, well….”

  I giggle nervously. “Everything you do makes me happy,” I say honestly. “Surprises or not.”

  We got married almost right after Damien’s trial. He’d asked if I wanted a big wedding, but to be honest the idea of shopping for a gown as a plus-sized girl was horrifying. And it wasn’t like I had a ton of friends or family to invite. We wound up getting married at the courthouse with Mom, Lacey, and Jed as witnesses.

  Then Damien whisked me away on a whirlwind honeymoon that lasted six months. Life wasn’t easy at first after the trial. Reporters came by the cabin almost every day, and there was so much publicity that I knew it made my man sick. So we went away. Damien took me all over the globe on a world tour.

  It had been incredible. Part of me was almost sad to be home, but most of me was relieved. Sometimes it’s nice to come back to New York, and now that the IPO was over and done with, the attention surrounding Damien and me had died down.

  “Okay,” my husband says. His voice jolts me back to the present. “You can look now.” He reaches up and unties the bandana from my eyes, careful not to pull my hair along with the knots. “I hope you like it.”

  When I open my eyes, the sunlight is so bright that I can hardly see. Everything is blinding and white. But then my eyes adjust and I see a gorgeous new log home standing where the cabin used to be.

  “Oh, my gosh!” I squeal. “Damien! What is this?”

  Damien smirks. In the sunlight, he looks as sexy as ever. His beard is back, but it’s neatly trimmed, and his hair is slicked back from his broad forehead.

  “It’s a house fit for a princess,” he says. “You couldn’t come back home and expect to live in my cabin again, could you?”

  The house is truly a work of art. There’s a huge wrap-around porch in the front and perfectly manicured flower beds. There’s an herb garden to the side, and I can see a huge satellite dish perched on the roof.

  “It’s beautiful,” I say softly. “I can’t believe you did this for me.”

  Damien pulls me close and nuzzles me. “Of course I did, baby girl,” he replies. “You’re my angel. I have to take care of you, don’t I?”

  I flush happily. “Come on,” I say as I take h
is hand and lead him inside. “I’ve got a little surprise of my own for you.”

  Now it’s Damien’s turn to look inquisitive. “Oh?”

  I smirk. “Oh, yes,” I say. “Come with me.”

  Damien follows as I lead him inside. The inside of the home is just as beautiful, with exposed wooden beams and tons of natural light. Beautiful leather furniture gleams from every angle and I grin happily at the giant kitchen.

  “We’ll have a lot of good meals in here,” I promise.

  An open staircase leads to a second floor. I lead Damien upstairs, peeking in each room. There’s a gorgeous master suite, but that’s not what I’m looking for. I walk down the hall until I see what looks like a guest bedroom.

  “Here we are,” I say triumphantly.

  Damien frowns. “Babe, our room is at the end of the hall. You like this one more? We can always move.”

  I shake my head and reach into my purse. I pull out the white plastic stick in a baggie and hand it over.

  “Surprise,” I say with a smile on my face. “I hope you like it.”

  Damien takes the baggie from me and peers inside, squinting for a second. Then his beautiful blue eyes grow wide. “Is this …?”

  I nod happily. “Yes. I’m going to have your baby!”

  Damien scoops me into his arms and kisses me passionately. He drops the pregnancy test to the floor and dips me low as he slips his tongue into my mouth. Arousal grows in my lower belly and I moan softly as his hands run down my body.

  “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” Damien growls as we pull apart. I press my forehead to his and stare deeply into his eyes.

  I feel deliriously happy, almost like I’m drunk.

  “Did you like your surprise?” I ask softly.

  Damien nods. “Oh, baby, yes,” he says. He looks around. “And yes, this room would be perfect for a child.” He kisses me again and I purr happily as his hands knead my ass.

  When we pull away, I’m giggling and flushing with happiness. “I’ve just got one more question for you,” I say coyly.

  “Oh yeah?” Damien raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms over his muscled chest. “And what would that be?”

  I glance down at the pregnancy test on the floor before picking it up and slipping it back in my pocket.

  “How many bedrooms are there?”

  Damien grins. “Five,” he says. “Mrs. Evercore, are you telling me that you’d like a large brood?”

  “Oh, yes,” I say happily. “As long as it’s with you, I want everything.”

  Damien kisses the tip of my nose. “And I’ll give it to you, sweetheart. Anything and everything I can, is yours, baby girl.”

  But as he holds me close, I know that I’ve finally gotten what I’ve always wanted.

  A family.

  THE END

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  The Dirty Exam

  ~A Secret Baby Medical Romance~

  © 2017

  By Katie Ford

  Do you love steamy romance? Enjoy a FREE book from Katie Ford when you join my mailing list at www.subscribepage.com/alphamalesontop!

  DEDICATION

  To all the dirty girls who love check-ups.

  This book’s for you!

  CHAPTER ONE

  Jane

  I didn’t want to step into that doctor’s office.

  I wanted to be anywhere but here.

  My finger hovered over the “Call” button on my phone’s screen, tempted to cancel the appointment altogether. The horror stories came crashing down in my brain.

  It’ll hurt.

  There’s pain deep inside, where you’ve never felt before.

  They use all these metal instruments, straight out of a medieval torture scene.

  My sister Martha had explained in great detail how the exam would work. They squeeze your breasts hard. They put their hands all over your supple body. The more she talked about it, the more nervous I became. She described a long, hard, cold metal scapula as the weapon of choice by these merciless gynecologists, and it’d be pushed all the way into my most private spaces.

  What?

  I’ve never had anything up there before!

  Not dildos, not tampons, not even my finger.

  I’m a virgin.

  So how was this going to work?

  Just thinking about it made me squirm as my thighs squeezed together, desperately trying to protect my innocent body from these violent invaders. All this in the name of health and medicine? How could it be so brutal?

  But right. This was about health and safety, not fun and games.

  Because every single woman in my family has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Even my sister, who isn’t even that much older than me. It’s probably the same gene that runs in Angelina Jolie’s family, BRCA something or other. I’ve never been tested out of fear more than anything else. Sometimes, it’s better not to know, especially when you’re expecting the worst.

  Plus, let’s face it. Getting a gyno exam is part of growing up. Since I’m now an adult at eighteen, it’s a rite of passage that every woman goes through. This thing can’t be put off forever. At some point, it’s going to happen, and maybe sooner was better than later.

  Ugh.

  I take what feels like the deepest breath of my life, biting my lip several times with nervousness, although that doesn’t keep it from quivering uncontrollably. My hands clench into panicked fists like I’m getting ready to head into a boxing ring.

  Calm down, my internal voice soothes. It’s not that bad.

  Right. Every female goes through this. So getting a grip, I take another deep breath and finally open the door to the doctor’s office.

  Hmm, not bad. Instead of institutional green walls and flickering fluorescent lights straight out of an insane asylum, Dr. Alba’s office is cozy actually. The walls are a neutral, rosy-pink, and a decorative rug below my feet really makes the room pop with color. The air temperature is moderate, and not freezing cold like a lot of hospitals. Plus, there are flowers. Real blooms to brighten up the space, not fake plastic things.

  My lungs exhale, the stress rushing from my frame. This isn’t going to be so bad.

  Directly in front of me is the receptionist’s desk. Hmm, not bad. A tray of brochures, plus a bowl of candy. That made me smile. Anything having to do with candy can’t be so terrible, seeing how much I love my Snickers and Mars bars.

  The receptionist greets me with a professional smile.

  “Hi there, I’m Emily. Welcome to Dr. Alba’s office,” she says warmly.

  But then my nerves come rushing back, but for a totally different reason altogether. Because the receptionist is absolutely gorgeous. Slender and blonde with big blue eyes and a perfect ski slope nose. By contrast, I’m curvy, with big breasts and major junk in the trunk. Sometimes I feel like I haven’t stopped growing, except I’m expanding horizontally, and not vertically now.

  Subconsciously, I cross my legs and tuck a curl behind my ear, clearing my throat nervously.

  But the receptionist doesn’t seem to notice my fidgeting, or at least doesn’t let on.

  “Do you have an appointment with us today?” she prompts with a white smile.

  I nod.