Free Commissioned In White (Art of Love Series) by Donna McDonald

fun, enthusiastic bed, and loyal—incredibly loyal.
    Shane wanted to be the perfect man for her, or at the very least he wanted to be someone with whom Reesa didn’t have to always be so damn brave and stoic. He gathered Reesa’s sleeping form close and tried not to disturb her as he whispered how much he loved her over and over into her hair.
    It was his little good luck ritual, and he had been doing it every night since the day they got married. He may have found his destiny, but he had a healthy respect for fate.

Chapter 5
     
    “Michael, quit hovering. The nausea medicine is working, and I need to get some things done. You know Thanksgiving is a week away and the grand opening is the week after,” Carrie said.
    “You need to get off your feet more. Can’t you talk on the phone without pacing?” Michael asked, watching his wife clutch her soda in one hand and her cell phone in the other.
    He wasn’t even surprised when she turned around and growled at him, her gaze almost feral. Carrie’s reactions were scary as hell lately, Michael decided, but he was even more shocked by the masculine laughter in his ear.
    “I’ve known you less than two months and yet seen you now almost as much as Carrie,” Drake said, laughing. “Why are you hovering over her so much? She was barely sick at all yesterday.”
    Michael sighed and turned to see Barrymore’s grin. “Yeah, speaking of hovering—don’t you teach classes anymore?”
    “That’s what grad assistants are for, especially those who want to show their art in the new gallery on the edge of campus,” Drake said, continuing to arrange the freshly polished jewelry in the lighted glass case.
    Michael shoved his hands in his pockets. “She was really sick last time too.”
    “I don’t blame you for being worried,” Drake said more gently. “I completely understand what it’s like to care about your woman and feel helpless to change anything. Try to stop worrying though. It will eat you alive if you let it.”
    Michael nodded, knowing Drake was talking from experience. He walked over to peer into the case. “So you’re a jewelry expert too?”
    Drake snorted at Michael’s snarky comment. “Not at all. I’m just handy labor for your wife. You want to arrange the other part of the case? Since you’re hanging around, it might be better use of your time than annoying the future mother of your child every few minutes.”
    Michael picked up a jeweler’s cloth and starting gently polishing the pieces laid out on the counter. They were all marked with little numbered tags that matched other little numbered tags in the case. “I see this is a pretty foolproof process.”
    “That’s why I volunteered for it,” Drake agreed with smile. “I’ve never seen a woman work as hard as your wife does. She’s an organizing machine. Nothing fazes her.”
    “Except when she’s pregnant,” Michael said softly.
    “Jessica told me you two lost the last child, but I don’t think you have to worry about her being concerned,” Drake said quietly, pondering the most somber expression he’d ever seen on Michael Larson’s face. “She’s been pouring over baby magazines during lunch. I saw them on her desk.”
    “Baby magazines?” Michael repeated, too stunned by the news to hide his hopefulness that Carrie really didn’t mind being pregnant this time. “Thanks for telling me. She’s not really sharing much of her feelings about it right now. You’ve seen for yourself that everything I do seems to just make her more mad.”
    “Well, her condition is your fault,” Drake said logically, grinning at the grin it brought to Michael Larson’s face. He remembered how it felt to be that happy, even if it was almost nineteen years ago now.
    “Damn right, it’s my fault,” Michael replied proudly, grinning in return.
    “From what I remember, all pregnant women are unpredictable,” Drake said more mildly. “My wife made me sleep on the couch for most of her