Page 40 of Romancing Rayne

“Where did you go?”

I explained walking around looking for him, leaving the fortress, going to the Starbucks to try find a phone to call him, getting in the cab, and finally wandering around the neighborhood.

“And when the town car pulled over, I thought I was about to get abducted.” I laughed.

Ghost found nothing funny about my imagined-kidnapping. Neither did Meghan.

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry.” She covered her mouth with both hands. “I just wanted to say hi.”

“Are you kidding? I’d been walking around for hours and was so turned around I was going in circles. It was a miracle you showed up when you did.”

I hated to think how many more hours I would’ve been walking around if Meghan hadn’t found me when she did.

“I heard you bloodied up the cabbie well and good,” Harry announced and smiled.

“What?”

* * *

Ghost

Damn.

I really wished Spike hadn’t told Rayne there’d been a fight. She was well versed when it came to my job, but I still didn’t like her hearing about the violence.

“He’ll be fine.”

“Sure, after his nose is reset and some dental surgery.” He continued to laugh.

“Are you okay?” Rayne turned to me, her soft hand on my bare skin calming my rioting nerves. I just wanted to forget yesterday happened. The more I thought about what could’ve happened to her, the higher my blood pressure spiked. I could’ve lost her forever. The what-ifs were unbearable. What if the taxi driver had tried to touch her instead of just wanting to jack up the meter and rip her off? What if Meghan hadn’t found her when she did and Rayne was left passed out on the sidewalk? Fuck. The possibilities were endless.

Rayne’s hand tightened on my arm, and I fought the images, coming back to the present.

“Yes, Princess. I’m fine.” Wanting to change the subject I added, “I thought you had a surprise for me?”

“Oh, yeah!” Her beautiful face came alive, and joy took over her whole being. That was what I liked to see. My wife smiling and happy. There was no place for worry and concern in her life, not when it came to me. “Yesterday when the doctor came to see me, he checked the baby’s heartbeat. Since you weren’t here, and I didn’t have my phone, Her Royal Highness was nice enough to record it for us.”

“Yes. Yes. Yes. I have it. Here.” Meghan pulled her phone out of her handbag. Sliding her finger across the screen she brought up an app before handing it to me. “Just press play.”

A rustling sound filled the room, then a steady swooshing beat.

Holy shit. I was going to be a dad. The audible confirmation made it more real. There was a baby growing inside of Rayne. My baby. Our baby. We’d created a life. She and I blended together to make one tiny, perfect human.

“That’s it? That’s his heartbeat?” I choked out, willing myself to keep my emotions in check.

“His or hers, yes.”

“Everything’s okay. The baby’s healthy?”

“The baby is perfect. One hundred and sixty beats per minute. Exactly what it’s supposed to be.”

“Will you send the recording to me?” I asked Meghan, forcing myself to hand her back the device that held my child’s first sign of life.

“Already done. Harry did it last night.” She beamed. “We were hoping you’d be too busy with Rayne to check your email and ruin her surprise.”

Rayne’s cheeks flushed at Meghan’s innuendo.

“Did you get enough to eat?” I asked. Not wanting to be rude to our hosts but eager to get Rayne alone.