Page 56 of Daigo

"I don't want him worrying about me."

Tammy arched a tapered brow. "Isn't that his job?"

"He's running a huge corporation, and lately the jewelry stores, the ones in Texas and Atlanta, have been robbed. Not to mention the bomb scare in one of the supermarkets. He has a lot on his plate."

"And if anyone can handle all of it, it's your husband. The man is a typhoon."

"He refuses to take a trip and is sticking close to home."

"As he should," her friend retorted. Turning her head, she looked around and drew in the beautiful clean air. "Look at that!"

"What?"

"Butterflies. The house is a dream; the nurseries are ready. Darling, you have it made."

"I keep having these nightmares."

"The one where you lose all three babies?"

She nodded, pressing a hand on her mound, smiling when she felt the responsive flutter of movement. "I dreamed that all of them were delivered, but they were all boys, and just as I was reaching for them, the doctor looked over and told us that they were all stillborn. I wake up crying. It feels so real that there are tears running down my cheeks. Daigo is so alert, he stirs the instant I do. He calls every few minutes."

"It'll all be over soon." Tammy reached over to pat her hand. "In the meantime, we get to enjoy this wonderful afternoon and explore the house. I love the color schemes of the nurseries. And the magazine is out! Girl, you're a star."

She snorted at that. "It's a pain in the ass. I keep getting phone calls from reporters, and Maxine said they've been swarming around the shop. Brian wants to do a spread when the babies are born."

"What did Daigo have to say about that?" Tammy asked in amusement.

"An unequivocal no. I agree with him. There's no way we're going to be put on display for the public."

"They're already generating a lot of interest. You're a black woman from humble beginnings, married to one of the richest men in the country, an Asian no less, and pregnant with triplets. Lots of stories there."

"I don't much care for the publicity." She rubbed her belly automatically. "Okay, enough about me. Let's talk about you and Derek. I happen to like him a lot."

Tammy smiled dreamily and stretched her legs out. "I love him. I never dreamed I would be saying this after what happened with Mark, and especially the fact that he's a divorcé with kids." She blew out a breath. "It happened so fast. One minute I was hurrying from the coffee place, and the next, I was running full tilt into this very attractive and annoyed man. I spilled coffee over his jacket, hot coffee. I was expecting to be sued."

"Instead, you got an earful about watching where you're going."

"My ears were ringing. It was then I noticed the delightful accent. Irish. And those green eyes had me mesmerized. I hardly heard a word he said."

"And you asked him out for lunch."

"He looked at me as if I had taken leave of my senses." Tammy sighed theatrically. "We had sex that very night. He was on his way from law offices where he was late for an appointment. I tumbled into bed with the guy and thought, 'Okay, girl, you're definitely a skank. He's not going to respect you in the morning.'" She laughed breathlessly, one hand on her bosom. "We went all night.

"Now I know what you were talking about when you described your sex life. The man has moves. We went all night and talked all of the next morning until noon. That's when he told me about his bitter divorce and his two kids. I wanted to hightail it out of there. But I stayed.

"I never believed him when he said his wife made things difficult for him, because you know men say that shit to get laid. But he was a gentleman. He never said a terrible thing about the woman. And he adores his kids. I'm turning out to be a kick-ass stepmama."

"I knew it." Shelby laughed softly, happy for her. "You thought it was all over for you."

"Yes." Tears sprang to her eyes unbidden. "I thought my life was over. When I was told that I had cancer, I wanted to die. I told myself, 'This is it. It's all over for you now.' Derek has given me a new lease on life. He asked me to marry him."

Shelby's eyes widened. "Honey, that's wonderful."

"I think so." Tammy pressed a hand to her stomach. "You don't think it's too fast?"

"Of course not. Look at me and Daigo. The man practically rushed me to the altar. I was terrified.

"We were so different, worlds apart, and his mother was against the union. He was supposed to marry his own kind. And look at us now. I would have regretted saying no to him."