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She’d been diffident at first when he started coming round the studio, but soon she relaxed around him and listened to his input. She found it great to have a second opinion on her work, and he never tried to be overly critical or make Dina feel sensitive.
Dina began to notice she was feeling less and less of the pains she’d had earlier in the pregnancy. Even her visits to the specialist showed there was improvement in her condition. Dina woke up each day now feeling a new purpose and strength.
She could see a change in Samuel, too, even though he wasn’t being upfront with her about it all. She’d noticed he spent much time working on his own designs, which she figured had something to do with his family business. These days, he never made any trips and was mostly always home, which Dina figured gave him time on his hands to take up a pursuit of his own.
Dina couldn’t help but feel frustrated that he was secretly working on something that he didn’t want to talk about with her, yet he was always offering his opinions about her art. Dina planned on pinning him down to talk about it, and soon.
But then out of the blue came the surprise visit from Samuel’s closest associate, Matt Ryder.
Dina had just finished preparing dinner when the doorbell rang. She looked at Samuel in surprise, asking if he was expecting anyone. He gave a shrug. He went to see who it was and then Dina heard loud laughter from the front door. Soon Samuel reappeared with a handsome, dark-haired stranger about his age whom he introduced as Matt.
Dina shook his hand in welcome, and then sent Samuel a wide-eyed look. “Wait, is he the Matt? Iliana’s Matt?”
“You know Iliana?” asked Matt with equal surprise.
Dina chuckled. “Yes, she’s a friend and colleague of mine. She’s gone on about you enough times I feel like I know you already. It’s great to finally meet a close friend of Samuel’s.”
“Though he has a knack of turning up unannounced,” Samuel put in drily.
“Hey now, you did say I could drop in whenever I liked. I just flew in from Thailand and decided to check up on you, since you’ve been so off the party radar these last few months. And I think I can guess why,” said Matt, giving Dina’s growing baby bump a meaningful look.
Dina’s cheek flushed and she quickly asked him to join them for dinner. She had no clue what Samuel planned to tell his friend about them. So far, they’d maintained a platonic coexistence since she moved in. Dina could tell Samuel was being a gentleman what with her battling with her constant health scares. But she’d been perfectly fine in the past couple of weeks and he’d never gotten out of line once.
Dina wasn’t sure what she wanted right now. Her hormones were all over the place and she didn’t even want to talk about her crazy morning sickness that basically didn’t confine itself to just mornings. Yet whatever else was happening, she couldn’t deny that her body had no problems reacting to Samuel in certain ways.
She couldn’t count how many times she’d gotten moist with just a whiff of his masculine scent when he stood close. Or when she sometimes caught him shirtless after his morning run and he stopped by the kitchen. His Greek god looks had never waned in appeal and Dina wouldn’t be human if she didn’t have a few wicked late-night fantasies starring him.
Matt turned out to be just as great a personality as Dina would have imagined. With that reckless charm that went all too well with his bad boy hotness, no wonder Iliana was infatuated with the man, although the two were still just friends. Dina couldn’t wait to tell her pal Iliana that Matt was finally in town and she’d even had dinner with him!
Iliana had shown to be far more of a friend than Dina had given her credit for. Some time ago she’d called Dina, wanting to know if everything was okay. She’d sounded so genuinely anxious, Dina had relented enough to invite her over. Iliana had been shocked to say the least when she saw Dina.
“I’d heard from your agency about the pregnancy rumor, but seeing it for myself feels no less surreal. You’re saying this is Samuel Franklin’s house? And he’d let you stay here because…?” Iliana had stared widely at Dina, before finally letting her mouth drop open and with a loud whisper said, “The baby, it’s Samuel’s? Oh my…I would never have thought something like this would happen. But then, if I think back on that night you two met, I can still feel the burn from the sparks flying off the both of you.”
Since then Iliana had been a pillar of support and friendship, visiting regularly and then even going shopping for baby things with Dina. It was also great that Iliana was discreet, and there was never any fear of Dina’s business turning up on any tabloids.
