Pressing play on her iPod, music filled the room. Music always managed to improve her mood. She undressed and was checking her profile. Still no belly, but soon enough she would have one—big one, if her pregnancy with Laura was any indication. Laura was a big first baby at eight and a half pounds, and Kate wondered about this baby.

An old Motown song blasted out of the speakers, and Kate started dancing around the room in her underwear. She zoned out, forgetting that David was downstairs, fixing her lunch. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she turned around and he was standing in the door, smiling. It was complete humiliation.

“Jeez! You scared the crap out of me!”

He laughed out loud and stepped in the room like he belonged there. He didn’t flinch, even though Kate stood before him in her pink polka dot bra and panties. Granted, he’d seen her in less, and that stifled her impulse to grab for something to cover up.

“Don’t sneak up on me! I’m… pregnant!”

“I heard that someplace.” He stepped closer and all the air left her lungs. “You look fine to me.”

“Yeah, well…”

“I made your sandwich. It’s downstairs.” He was obviously amused, and Kate was wondering how long it would take before her latent insanity sent him running.

Feeling the blush creep into her cheeks, she turned off the music and went into her closet.

“Kate?” he called.

Kate poked her head out of the closet. “What?”

“Don’t stop dancing on my account.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.” Annoyed, she went back in the closet and found pants and a shirt. When she came out, David was sitting on her bed, looking at one of the pregnancy books. So much for staying annoyed. He looked adorable, with a shock of hair falling across his forehead, and he was so absorbed in the material Kate didn’t know if he was aware she was watching. Then he looked up, and smiled his sweetest smile. Oh crap. She wanted to crawl into his lap.

“I need to get one of these,” he said.

“I don’t know how well that will fit in your library.” She smiled when she remembered his extraordinary collection. Kate slipped the pink top over her head, and that was when she noticed her rounder figure was causing some wardrobe issues. She tugged the top a few times, trying to cover her breasts, which were popping out of the scooped neck. No matter what she did, nothing helped. She caught David looking and smiling.

“Stop it,” she said.

“I didn’t say anything!” He was still grinning and staring.

“You didn’t have to.” She smiled back and then tried to get her head around what was happening with them. This wasn’t how she’d expected the day to go.

He flipped pages in one of the books and glanced at different illustrations. “Man, if I went into a bookstore and bought this, people would think I’d gone off the deep end.”

She giggled just picturing it. “They have books for expectant dads, too.”

“Yeah? After dinner, we’ll stop by the bookstore by my house. Is that okay?” He stood and took the book to a chair she had by the window, while she put on her makeup and fixed her hair. It was all very easy. David blended into her life. If he was nervous or felt at all trapped by the pregnancy, he didn’t show it.

Kate rose from her dressing table and walked toward him, knowing getting this close to him was asking for trouble. He put the book aside, met her gaze, and then he did the most unexpected thing. One of his hands slipped around her to the small of her back, and the other slipped under her shirt and touched her bare belly. Then slowly, he rested his head against her middle and planted a soft kiss right near her belly button.

Kate almost cried.

It was an intense moment, and probably the most intimate they’d shared. Kate’s hand stroked his dark hair, and although no words passed between them, the message was clear. He was there with her by choice, and she’d made the right decision in telling him. It would have been criminal to keep this man from his child. Whatever doubts Kate had about David Burke’s commitment to her, she had no doubt he would be a wonderful father.

*

The doctor’s visit was very routine from a medical perspective. Kate was only supposed to have a couple vials of blood drawn, but when Dr. Emmaunel saw David was there, she made time for a consultation. David had concerns of his own, mostly about what the doctor was going to do to keep Kate and the baby healthy. For Kate, this was totally new. Holding her hand the whole time they were with the doctor, David probably asked a hundred questions. He also did something that cemented his commitment. He made himself her emergency contact. It was a small thing, but if anything went wrong, he’d know first. David didn’t hesitate, and it was strangely soothing to know he would drop everything to be with her.

David picked up every pamphlet in the office, especially the ones about prenatal testing. The man was an information junkie, and Kate was certain at some point in the pregnancy he would drive her crazy. But he was so excited and so happy, she just enjoyed it.

David worried she might slip since the temperature had dropped and there were ice patches everywhere, so he left her in the lobby to get his car. If he was worried now, Lord knew how he’d be when she got big.

“Kate? Kate Nicholls?”

Kate turned and stuttered when she saw John Connor, a trustee at St. Andrews and the father of her former student and David’s ex. Crap. “John!” She actually wondered if she could find a hole to crawl into. A pothole would do. “This is a surprise.”

He walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Well, I do work here. What about you? Is everything okay?”

His concern was really very genuine, which shouldn’t have surprised her because basically, John Connor was a nice man.

“Oh, yes. Fine. Just something I had to take care of.”

He smiled at her and Kate knew what was coming next—an invitation. The man had asked her out five times, and she’d turned him down on each occasion. He was pleasant enough, but she just wasn’t into his type of flashy, I-have-money lifestyle.

“Do you need a lift?”

“No, my friend went to get the car. It was on the fourth level.”

“Oh.” An awkward silence fell between them because that’s just the way it was. But after a minute, he raised his hand and said, “We should make plans to have dinner sometime.”

Just as the words came out of his mouth, David’s midnight blue Range Rover roared to a stop at the lobby entrance. “There’s my friend.”

John nodded. “It was good to see you. I hope—” But his words stopped as David walked around the car and right up to Kate. Blinking hard, Kate wondered why the gods were conspiring against her. Things were finally calming down and this was going to unleash a whole new shit storm.

Not another word was exchanged. John turned quickly and drowned his expensive Ferragamo’s in a nice big puddle. He shook his foot unceremoniously and stormed off. The man actually left in a huff.

“Who was that?” David asked while holding her door open.

“You don’t know?” Kate climbed in the passenger seat, focused her gaze, and felt her jaw tense. “You’re going to love this. That was Dr. John Connor.”

David’s brows drew together and then his eyes widened in shock. “Chelsea’s father?” His words were nothing more than a whisper.

“The one and only.”

David closed her door, walked around the front of the car, and got in the driver’s seat. “How does he know you?”

It suddenly occurred to Kate he didn’t know about her connection to Chelsea. She’d never mentioned it. No time like the present. “He’s on the Board of Trustees where I teach.”

“Oh, shit,” he said quietly.

“He’s going to tell Chelsea he saw you with me. That should be fun.”

They were stopped in rush hour traffic. David leaned on the steering wheel and fixed his eyes on her.