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  “Did I miss something?” He lay on his side, propped up on his elbow.

  “What? No.” She shook her head. “I was just thinking.”

  “About?”

  “The apartment. The coffee shop.”

  He traced a finger down her rib cage. “The apartment would make a great perk for a manager.”

  Maggie smiled. She had been thinking the same thing. “I’d have plenty of time to get things in order before the baby comes.”

  “Plenty.”

  Was she dreaming? Maggie resisted the impulse to pinch herself.

  Slade leaned down and whispered against her belly.

  Maggie stared down at him, puzzled but pleased.

  He glanced up at her and smiled. “I’m talking to the baby.”

  That was the sweetest thing she had ever heard. “Did my sisters tell you to do that, too?”

  “Nope.” He kissed her tummy. “I bought a guidebook.”

  She ran her fingers through his silky hair and thanked God he had saved this man and brought him back to her. “Maybe I need to read that book.”

  He crawled up next to her and kissed her on the nose. “We’ll read it together. And in a couple of years we’ll make him or her a baby brother or sister.”

  “I love the way you lay out a plan, Keaton.”

  “Hang around and I’ll teach you a few things.”

  Maggie planned on it. Forever was a long time, but that was about what she had in mind.

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-1593-1

  DECODED

  Copyright © 2011 by Debra Webb

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  For questions and comments about the quality of this book please contact us at [email protected].

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  *Colby Agency

  ‡‡Colby Agency: Elite Reconnaissance Division

  **Colby Agency: Under Siege

  †††Colby Agency: Merger

  ‡‡‡Colby Agency: Christmas Miracles

  †Colby Agency: The New Equalizers

  ††Colby Agency: Secrets

  ‡The Equalizers

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgement

  Dedication

  About the Author

  Books by Debra Webb

  Cast of Characters

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Copyright