Three

      “The press will just have to get used to the idea of us being friends,” Sam told her.

      “I hope we can be, for the baby’s sake.”

      “And your family? How do they feel about this?”

      “So far only my siblings know. They were surprised, but very supportive. My father’s health is particularly fragile right now, so we’ve decided to wait to tell him and my mother. I have to admit that you’re taking this much better than I expected. I thought you would be angry.”

      “It was an accident. What right would I have to be angry? You didn’t force me.”

      “Didn’t I?”

      He wouldn’t deny that she had started it, and she had been quite…aggressive. But he had been a willing participant. “Anne, we share equal responsibility.”

      “Not all men would feel that way.”

      “Yes, well, I’m not all men.”

      There was a short period of awkward silence, so he asked, “Everything is okay? With the pregnancy, I mean. You and the baby are healthy?”

      “Oh yes,” she said, instinctively touching a hand to her belly. “Everything’s fine. I’m right on schedule.”

      “Do you know the sex of the baby?”

      “Not for another month, at my next ultrasound.” She paused, then said, “You could go, too. If you’d like.”

      “I would. Are you showing yet?”

      “I have a little bump. Want to see?” She surprised him by lifting up the hem of her top and showing him her bare tummy. But why would she be shy when he had seen a lot more than just her stomach?

      Her tummy had indeed swelled and was quite prominent considering how thin she was. He wasn’t sure what possessed him, but he asked, “Can I touch it?”

      “Of course,” she said, gesturing him over.

      He moved to the settee beside her and she took his hand, laying it on her belly. She was warm and soft there, and the familiar scent of her skin seemed to eat up all of the breathable air. His hand was so large that his fingers spanned the top of her bump all the way down to the top edge of her panties.

      Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Knowing they couldn’t be together didn’t make him want her any less. And knowing that it was his baby growing inside her gave him an almost irrational desire to protect her, to claim her as his own.

      And hadn’t he felt the same way the night they had made love?

      “Have you felt it move?”

      “Flutters mostly. No actual kicks yet. But press right here,” she said, pushing his fingers more firmly against her belly, until he hit something firm and unyielding. She looked up at him and smiled, her mouth inches from his own. “You feel it?”

      Did he ever, and it took all of his restraint not to lean in and capture her lips. He breathed in the scent of her hair, her skin, longing to taste her again, to…take her. But a sexual relationship at this stage, with her all hormones and emotions, could spell disaster.

      She seemed to sense what he was thinking, because color suddenly flooded her cheeks and he could see the flutter of her pulse at the base of her neck. Without realizing it, he had started to lean in, and her chin had begun to lift, like the pull of a magnet drawing them together. But thank goodness he came to his senses at the last second and turned away. He pulled his hand from her belly and rose to his feet. His heart was hammering and she’d gone from looking pale and shaky to flushed and feverish.

      “This is not a good idea,” he said.

      “You’re right,” she agreed, nodding vigorously. “I wasn’t thinking.”

      “It would be in our best interest to keep this relationship platonic. Otherwise things could get confusing.”

      “Very confusing.”

      “Which could be a challenge,” he admitted. Total honesty at this point only seemed fair, as she had been forthcoming with him. “It’s obvious that I’m quite attracted to you.”

      “There does seem to be some sort of…connection.”

      That was putting it mildly. It was taking every bit of restraint he could gather to stop himself from taking her, right there in his office. Pregnant or not, he wanted to strip her naked and ravish her, drive into her until she screamed with release. The way she had that night in her bedroom. He’d never been with a woman so responsive to his touch, so easy to please. He couldn’t help wondering if her pregnancy had changed that. He’d often heard that it made women even more receptive to physical stimulation. And maybe it was true, because he could clearly see the firm peaks of her nipples through her clothes. Her breasts looked larger than they had been before, too. Rounder and fuller. What would she do if he took one in his mouth…?

      He swallowed hard and looked away, turning toward his desk, so she might not notice how aroused he was becoming. “You mentioned an ultrasound. Do you know the time and date, so I can mark it on my calendar?”

      She rattled off the information and he slid into his chair behind the safety of his desk and made himself a note.

      “Maybe we could have dinner this Friday,” she said, then added quickly, “A platonic dinner, of course. So we can discuss how we plan to handle things. Like the press and custody.”

      That would give him three days to think this through and process it all. He always preferred to have a solid and well-considered plan of action before he entered into negotiations of any kind.

      However, he wasn’t sure he was ready to be thrown in the mix with her family just yet. Not that he didn’t feel as though he could hold his own. He just felt these matters were private, between himself and Anne, and in no way concerned her family.

      “How about we eat at my place,” he said. “Seven o’clock?”

      “If you don’t mind your residence being swarmed with security. We’re still on high alert.”

      He frowned. “Is the royal