LITMIR.BIZ

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pop of color drew his eye—a cushion here, a throw rug there. But overall there was very little to tell him about the woman who intrigued him far more than he wanted to admit.

      He moved to the large windows that looked out in the direction of Lake Washington. It was growing dark, and across the lake he could make out the twinkle of lights around its rim. A sound from behind him made him turn. Sally had pulled the band from her hair and was tousling her fingers through the mass of spun gold. He liked this more relaxed version of her more than the buttoned-down woman who headed her social engineering department. On second thought, he liked the naked, warm and willing version from just over a month ago the best, but she’d made it quite clear they weren’t going to go there again.

      But it was oh so satisfying, he reminded himself. And yet look at the trouble it has put us in, he countered. Kirk slammed the door closed on his thoughts and looked at Sally more closely. Beneath her makeup he could still see the telltale signs of the stress she’d been under today. She had to be exhausted.

      “Look, I won’t take up a lot of your time. I know you need to get something to eat and then probably have an early night.”

      She barked a cynical laugh. “Are you my mother now?”

      He gave her a half smile of apology. “I’m sorry, I guess I’m overcompensating.”

      “You think?” She moved toward the kitchen. “Did you want something to drink? I have beer, water, wine.”

      “A beer, thanks.”

      He watched as she poured the beer into a tall glass then opened a small bottle of sparkling water for herself. Of course she wouldn’t be drinking alcohol. The realization hit him hard. She was going to have to make so many changes. So many adjustments. It was hardly fair, was it?

      “Take a seat,” she said, bringing their drinks through to the small sitting room.

      Kirk sat at one end of the sofa, and Sally took the other end. Awkward silence stretched between them.

      “You wanted to talk, didn’t you? What about, exactly?” Sally asked.

      “The baby, for a start. How do you feel about it?”

      “Shocked, surprised. Scared.”

      “Yeah, me too. I hadn’t planned on this at this stage of my life.”

      Sally sat a little more upright. “And just when had you planned it for?”

      He couldn’t tell if she was sniping at him or genuinely curious. He decided that honesty was probably the best policy right now.

      “To be honest, I had hoped to start looking for a wife about five years from now and hopefully start a family a few years after that.”

      “Just like that?”

      “Look, I know it sounds clinical, but I grew up with a lot of instability. Being able to make a plan and stick to it kept me anchored when things were tough at home, even when my dad was still alive.” He didn’t want to admit his father’s weakness to her. He’d spent his entire adult life working hard to erase those memories, to overcome the hardships he and his mother had endured—and he’d succeeded. He wasn’t about to be made to feel ashamed of that. Not by anyone.

      Sally shrugged and took a sip of her water. “That makes sense, I guess. I’m sorry things were so hard for you.”

      “You know that saying about gaining strength through adversity? Well, I decided to adopt that a long time ago. And I’ve managed to achieve a lot of success by staying strong and keeping my focus on my goals. But now I need to reevaluate. This child we’re having, I very much want to be a part of its life, Sally. I don’t want to be a weekend father or an absentee parent. I want to be there, for everything.”

      “That could be difficult, considering we’re not even a couple.”

      “But we could be. We already know we’re compatible in the bedroom.”

      “Too compatible, it seems,” she commented acerbically.

      “Look, I never considered having a committed relationship or starting a family until I’d achieved my career goal targets because I never wanted a child of mine to miss out on anything—whether it be financially or emotionally. You want the same thing, right? For our child to have everything he or she needs to be happy, healthy and safe? Loving parents are part of that package. Perhaps we ought to consider being a couple.”

      “What, go steady, you mean?” she said with a gurgle of laughter.

      “More than that. We should get married. Think about it—it makes perfect sense. This is only a one-bedroom apartment, right? Where would you put the baby when it’s born? Have you even thought about that? And what about work? Do you plan to be a stay-at-home mom or continue with your career?”

      Sally put her glass down very slowly. “Kirk, we only just found out about this pregnancy today. We have plenty of time ahead of us for decision making. Let’s not be rash.”

      “Rash? I don’t think so. It’s logical.”

      “I’m sorry, but it isn’t logical to me in the least. We hardly know each other, and I’m not sure that I want to be married to you. I’m certainly not going to make a decision like that on such short acquaintance.”

      Kirk fought back the arguments that sprang to the tip of his tongue. It was clear she was feeling more than a little overwhelmed by his suggestion, which was entirely understandable. She needed time to think, and so did he. If he was going to campaign successfully to win Sally’s hand, he would have to go about it carefully.

      “At least think about it,” he urged. “And talk to me—seriously, anything. Any questions, any problems, bring them to me and we’ll solve them together.”

      “Oh, I’ll be thinking about it,” she admitted with a rueful shake of her head. “I imagine I’ll be thinking about little else. By the way, I don’t want anyone else to know about this just yet.”

      He nodded. The only person he would have shared the news with would have been his mother, and with her gone he had no one else. No one else except the child now nestled inside the woman sitting opposite him. A feeling bloomed within his chest—pride tinged with a liberal dose of an emotion he’d had little enough experience with. Love. It was odd to think that he could love another being before it truly came into existence in the world, but he knew, without doubt, that he loved his child, and the intensity of the emotion shook him to his core.

      * * *

      Sally wasn’t sure what was going through Kirk’s mind, but if the determined look on his face was anything to go by, she was going to have some battles on her hands over the next few months. Probably over the next few years, she amended. He was a man used to having his way—it was inevitable that they were going to bump heads from time to time when it came to deciding what was best for the baby.

      Her head swam. Discovering she was pregnant was shocking enough. Dealing with Kirk as her baby’s father was another matter entirely—especially now that he seemed to believe they should get married.

      Over the past couple of years, life had shown her that you had to reach for the things that mattered most to you. Had to fight for them. Her best friend from college, Angel, who’d turned out to be a secret European princess, had shown her how important it was to follow and fight for your dream.

      Dissatisfied with a politically arranged betrothal based only on expedience with no affection attached, Angel—or, Princess Mila, as she’d been officially known—had broken with tradition and done everything in her power to ensure she won her betrothed’s heart, even at the risk of losing him altogether.

      Just weeks ago, they’d celebrated the christening of their first child, a little boy who would become crown prince of Sylvain—and to Sally’s eyes, when she’d visited to attend the ceremony, neither Angel nor King Thierry had ever looked happier or more fulfilled.

      She wanted that. She wanted

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