“Want to check out the raffles, babe?” Hayden asked Libby, not noticing that his girlfriend was busy checking out her competition. “The sign out front said there was a wine basket.”
“Well,I’dbetter not,” Libby said, a smug smile on her face as she wrapped a manicured hand around her flat belly.
For a moment Ash just stared at her blood-red nails, unable to comprehend that what she was implying could be true.
She doesn’t even seem to want the child she already has…
“For sure,” Hayden said, chuckling. “We’ve gotta do everything right, babe. You want anormalkid this time.”
Normal?
Fury rose in Ash’s chest, and his fist balled up of its own accord. He’d never punched anyone in the facebefore, but there was a first time for everything, and no one talked about his daughter like that.
His arm pulled back to smash the impudent man’s face in. But before it had a chance to land, Allie stepped in front of him, her hand closing around his fist.
“Oh, we can’t wait to give Maya a sibling too,” she said sweetly. “She’s going to be such a phenomenal big sister. She has such a wonderful sense of right and wrong, and she always stands up for other children in need.”
Wait. What?
Ash’s anger was replaced by confusion as he tried to understand what was happening.
“Oh, honey, I know you didn’t want to spring this on Libby in public,” Allie said, turning to him. “But look, she’s doing so well. She won’t mind that we’re engaged. You’re happy for us, aren’t you, Libby? Because we’re so happy for you. Maya is going to have such a big, wonderful family.”
For a moment, Ash could only stand there, thunderstruck.
This whole time he’d thought Allie Lawrence was a sweet, guileless girl.
He hadclearlyunderestimated her.
It turned out that she was incredibly observant and lightning fast on her feet. Best of all, whether it was through her natural cheerfulness or her savvy, she had managed to deliver her shocking lie with a sweetness that Ash figured would get under Libby’s skin even more than the lie itself.
He hadn’t thrown a punch, but somehow,Libby and Hayden both looked like someone had knocked the wind out of them.
Brilliant.
“I guess you’re right, sweetheart,” Ash said, threading his fingers between Allie’s and pulling her close, wishing he could kiss her right now for surprising him with her resourcefulness and edge. And for keeping him from making a big mistake.
“Where’s your ring?” Libby asked suddenly.
Allie’s hand tensed in his.
“It’s at the jeweler’s,” Ash said without breaking contact with his fake fiancée’s blue eyes for a single moment. “It was too big for her dainty little finger.”
“It’s so beautiful,” Allie murmured. “I can’t wait to show it off.”
Ash pulled her closer still. Maybe it was just her shampoo, but he swore she smelled like a ripe peach.
Leaning down, he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, telling himself it was just to keep up the act, but savoring every second.
7
ALLIE
Allie stood in a daze for a moment after Ash pulled back, wondering how a little kiss on the forehead could feel so romantic.
She didn’t exactly have a lot of dating experience, but she knew most men seemed eager to recklessly go in for a big kiss and hope to get away with trying for more.
But the warm press of Ash’s lips to her head was somehow even better, so deliberate and filled with real intention.
