Page 156 of A Scandal for the Beastly Earl

“Like Beast?”

He laughed outright. “That’s not a name.”

“It could be.”

“No.”

“Beast Blackthorn,” she said, savoring the sound of it. “It has a ring.”

“A terrible ring.”

“Our kind of ring.”

“We are not naming our child Beast,” he said firmly, though his smile betrayed him.

“But we could name him after the lake.”

“Lake Blackthorn?” he asked, half amused, half horrified.

“I was thinking more… Douglas.”

He blinked. “Douglas?”

“It means dark water,” she explained, as if the meaning alone might make it poetic.

“You want to name our child after the place we met?”

Arabella hesitated, her teasing softening into something gentler. “That’s… actually romantic.”

“I think I agree.”

“Douglas Blackthorn,” she said slowly, as though testing the name against the air.

“Douglas Lucien Blackthorn.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Douglas Lucien Thistle Blackthorn.”

Lucien burst out laughing. “We are not naming our child after the dog.”

“The dog saved us from Harrington,” she reminded him, poking his arm.

“Still not naming the baby after him.”

“Middle name?”

“No.”

“Third name?”

“No.”

“Secret fourth name?”

He turned to stare at her. “That’s not a thing.”

“It could be our thing.”

He exhaled, half exasperated, half delighted. “We have too many things.”