The Price of Love (Rockin' Country Book 2) by Laramie Briscoe Page A

drink of the water he had sitting beside his plate. “I don’t want you to regret this.” He held up his left hand, indicating the ring he was wearing.
    “Seriously?” She almost laughed. “I’m not ever gonna regret that. That’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
    “I just think that you’re young, ya know?” He trailed off.
    “I am young, but I know what I want. I wouldn’t have gone through with it if it wasn’t what I wanted. I’m sorry that those pictures made you question that.”
    They were quiet as they ate their breakfast. This had been exactly what Hannah had wanted to avoid, why she wanted this off time to be normal. If they were any other married couple, no one would think a thing about those pictures. The last thing she wanted was for Garrett to question her. When there were questions, the relationship suffered.
    “I’m not mad, I trust you,” he told her.
    “I’m glad. If I had known that would happen, I wouldn’t have run out of the studio. They made me so angry, continually asking me to do that duet with him. I just needed some breathing room, and then you and I got into an argument, and there he was asking me what was wrong. It was a horrible series of events.”
    He nodded, taking the last bite of the omelet on his plate. “We have a few hours before we have to hit the studio, what do you say we go take Havock out to the beach?”
    The dog, having heard his name, got up, whining as he walked over to the table. Hannah grinned, leaning down to pet him. “I think that’s a great idea.”
    *     *     *
    “Are you wearing that because the last time we were here, that picture started all kinds of ruckus with us?” Garrett asked as they strolled along the beach, hand in hand. Havock ran in front of them, picking up a ball that Garrett had thrown and bringing it back to them.
    Hannah glanced down at her outfit, cut-off jean shorts and a tank top, and laughed. “I honestly didn’t even think about it, but maybe. It’s funny, and I haven’t even talked to you about this, but I’ve started wearing tighter clothes, just so the paparazzi can see I’m either not pregnant, or still the same weight that I was when they took that unflattering shot.”
    He grimaced. “Yeah, that whole pregnancy thing was kind of annoying.”
    For the first two months of their marriage, there had been two stories running—that Hannah was pregnant and that’s why they’d gotten married so quickly and then that she’d had a miscarriage, which was why a baby bump was never seen.
    “I agree, it really hurts my feelings that they can play around with the words miscarriage and pregnant like that, but it is what it is.”
    “I like that you say that now. You don’t get all uptight and freaked out so much anymore.”
    She shrugged, stopping a moment to bend down and get the ball that Havock had dropped at their feet. “It’s like when you put a ring on my finger, I felt at peace. I can’t explain it.”
    “It happened like that for me too.”
    The smile on her face was bright as she reached back and threw the ball for the dog, laughing as it didn’t go very far at all. Havock looked back at her and took off at a much slower run than he had when Garrett had thrown it.
    “He disapproves of your throw, babe. He looked back at you like, ‘really?’”
    She laughed. “I know, I can’t help it. That hurt to throw that far.”
    “Bring it over here, buddy.” Garrett tapped his thigh.
    “He’s never going to drop it at my feet again,” she giggled as Havock chanced a second glance at her, disappointment in his eyes.
    “That’s okay; you give him cuddles, all day, every day.” He grunted as he threw it extra hard.
    “Oh, now you’re just showin’ off.”
    “I was letting him get one more nice run in because we’ve got to go back to the house and change. I’ve got to be at the studio in an hour.”
    She glanced up at him, shielding her eyes in the late day sunlight, even though she wore