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“Thanks,” Daniel interrupted. “Don’t mind if I do.”
Tae frowned at him and placed a hand in the middle of his chest to stop him. “You can wait out here. I won’t be long.” Disappointment colored his face, but he didn’t argue, and Tae escaped through the door. Touching Daniel and having him so close, so sweet, was more than she could handle. From now on, she would need to
keep him at a distance. When the door shut, cutting him off from view, she faced the nurse. “He is a friend, and I’m pretty sure my business shouldn’t be blurted out in the waiting room, especially since I haven’t even had a blood test yet to confirm the home test I took. At least that’s the little I read about before I came here. Am I wrong?”
Color drained from the woman’s face. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Croft. You’re right. Please accept my apology.”
“Kate?”
Both Tae and the nurse turned in the direction of the authoritative voice. One of the doctors stood nearby, a man. Tae had never liked having a male doctor, so the times Dr. Chen wasn’t available, she’d chosen to see the nurse practitioner.
“May I have a word with you in private?” the doctor said.
If possible, Kate paled even more. Now Tae panicked. “It’s not a big deal, a small mistake. We’re fine.” Kate cast her a grateful glance, but the doctor ushered her away, and another nurse took her place. The royal treatment commenced as if she were someone of high importance. After the nurse finished taking her weight, she led Tae to a room, and every staff member on the way greeted her with smiles and other pleasantries. Not until she’d been left alone a few moments to change into a gown did she realize why. They treated her the way they did because she was in a position to sue.
Breaking a personal record, Dr. Chen appeared less than five minutes later. “How are we doing, Tae?”
“We are probably pregnant,” she said, unhappy. “But before that, I hope I didn’t get Kate into trouble. It really was no big deal.”
“Let’s concentrate on you.” With her usual perky attitude, she ran down the plan for the current visit. “We won’t discuss any visits in the future until we’re sure. Now, when was your last period?”
Tae dealt with all the questions, the giving of blood, and receiving a mountain of information once it had been confirmed she was indeed pregnant. She arranged for the next office visit, at her ten-week mark for a sonogram and then returned to the waiting room to meet Daniel.
He stood up and walked toward her, causing her heart to pound out of control. “Everything okay?” he asked, and she nodded, unable to speak. “How about lunch?”
She considered coming up with an excuse, but the truth was she wanted to be with him a little longer. “I’d love to.”
* * * *
By the time Tae returned home, it was after five. She had spent the entire day with Daniel. They had had lunch, and then at his suggestion, they had gone window shopping at Concord Mills mall. Both of them felt it was too early to begin buying baby items, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t peruse what was out there for babies. The more they conferred on colors and styles, clothing and furniture, the more she enjoyed herself with him. When he dropped her at her door, she couldn’t help admitting at least part of her feelings.
“I wanted to thank you for today,” she said, a tremor in her voice as she stared at the floor like a child.
“It was my pleasure.”
She looked up at him. “No, you don’t understand. I… didn’t know if I wanted kids. Not that I didn’t like them. It’s just that I was scared, and I’m still terrified, but you made me feel a little bit excited about the baby, and I’m grateful. So thanks.”
He took her hands in his, and she tried to pull away, but he held on. “Don’t pull away, Tae. I promised you I would be here for you, and I will. You don’t have to feel like you’re alone—whether it’s with emotional support or even financial, I’m going to be here.”
“Hold up, cowboy.” She managed to get free. “I can take care of my own child.”
“I know.”
She waggled a finger at him. “Get that straight.”
He chuckled. “It’s straight.”
“Why do I feel like you’ll still be offering me help?”
“Because I will.”
She rolled her eyes. “Good night, Daniel.”
He leaned forward without warning and kissed her cheek. A gush of sensation raced to her nether regions. “Good night,” he whispered, and he strode down the stairs toward the street like he hadn’t just ruined her panties with a chaste kiss. Tae ducked into her apartment, shut the door, and locked it, but no barrier could keep memories of the past from invading her mind and making her relive the pleasure of lying in Daniel’s arms.
Chapter Eight
Tae was twenty-four when she started dating Daniel. At twenty-eight, he was mature and confident, but friendly and attentive. They met in a bookstore where Tae had been buying smut, and Daniel had been buying something ridiculously boring like the political economy of the mass media. When she had rounded a corner and bumped into him, both their piles of books went flying, and he joined her on the floor to gather them. His smile and those eyes had taken her breath away from the start, but the fact that he’d see what she chose to read made her consider not for the first time of giving up the paperback stuff for books for the new thing she’d heard about—an e-reader, whatever that was.
