Free Wildcard by Mina Carter and Chance Masters

instructed.
    “Good. Now, you’re not ever going to bother her again. Because if I catch wind that you’ve been harassing my fiancé? I’ll break each and every one of the two hundred and six bones in your body. Are we clear?”
    Julian nodded, his face pale as he clambered into the driver’s seat and jammed the car into drive.
    Satisfaction filled Mike as he watched the other guy hightail it out of Dodge for the second time today. He turned toward the house and stopped dead when he saw Jasmine.
    “You know,” she said. “It’s traditional to ask the woman before you start on the wedding plans.”
    He grinned sheepishly and shrugged. “Oh right, ’cause we’ve been doing this traditional the whole time?”
    He made his way back up the driveway toward the porch and wrapped his arms around her waist. It may not have been done by the book, but this was what he wanted. He’d known that since he’d left her that night months ago.
    He thought maybe if he just disappeared, it’d make things easier. The more he tried to keep her out of his mind though, the more the thought of hanging onto her dug in and set roots. He couldn’t let her go. Just the thought of another man touching her, seeing her like this—just out of sleep and so damn sexy it was all he could do not to back her up against the wall and kiss her senseless—brought an anger out in him he’d had no clue existed.
    “So… How ’bout it? Be mine?”
     
    Be his.
    Everything in Jasmine wanted to shout “yes, hell yes!” but she schooled her expression. She wanted to believe him, but she’d been disappointed so many times before. Sure, she’d given in and admitted the baby was his. That still surprised her. What kind of hold did he have over her that she gave in so easily?
    Far from coming off all overbearing as she’d expected though, he’d been sweet, making sure she got home and tucking her in for a nap when she got tired. Being looked after was a novel experience, but one she could get used to.
    “Are you sure?” she asked, ignoring the small voice inside her head screaming at her not to be mad and just say yes. Why was she dithering? He was saying all the right things, and the look in those blue eyes staring down at her was both pleading and sincere. He was gorgeous, fit, and ripped from army service. She should just take him at his word, snap him up, and be done with it.
    “Yes, I’m sure. I’ve never been surer of anything in my life. Yeah, I’ll be gone some of the time, but if you’re OK with that, when I am here, I’m all yours. Forever.”
    He gathered her closer, his large hands gentle as he pulled her currently more than generous curves against his hard frame. Jasmine shivered, heat coiling lazily low down before she squashed it. She was pregnant for heaven’s sake; she should be thinking of diapers and cribs, not dragging her baby’s daddy straight upstairs for a repeat of the night that got her into this state in the first place.
    Her baby’s daddy.
    After months of thinking he wasn’t coming back, the fact he was here suddenly stole Jasmine’s breath. He was here. He wanted to stick around. She smiled, the curve of her lips merely the tip of the iceberg as happiness coursed through her.
    “Forever, huh?” She smiled as she snuggled closer, her hands stroking over his broad shoulders.
    “Forever,” he promised, a large hand smoothing over her rounded belly. “For you and this little one, and any more that come along.”
    She reached up and brushed her lips over his, leaving them there to whisper. “Well, you know, they say practice makes perfect…”
     
     
    ~ End ~

 
     
    ~ About the Author ~
     
    Mina Carter was born and raised in Middle Earth (otherwise known as the Midlands, England). After a slew of careers ranging from logistics to land surveying she can now be found in the wilds of Leicestershire with her real-life hero and their young daughter…the true boss of the family. Suffering the curse of eternal