EXCLUSIVE UNPUBLISHED NOVELLA

(Super Steamy, Super Sexy)

Description:

He was off limits.

I shouldn’t have wanted him.

But, I did.

One slick move.

Harmless, right?

Until that one thing led to a night I’ll not soon forget.

And a baby!

Now, my dad is going to kill me.

And, the man I duped wants answers.

Will he step up to the plate and accept responsibility or have will I have to face the consequences alone?

* * *

Chapter 1

It is a fact of life that when a woman wears sexy lingerie underneath her clothes - no matter how modest - she will feel confident and beautiful, even if no one sees it.

It is a fact of my life that if I wear sexy lingerie underneath my clothes, not only will I feel confident and beautiful, but I would want someone to see it.

I grew up around fashion shows. My father created one of the top modeling agencies in the country. Fashion had become my life - The slinky models with clothes that're barely appropriate, the snooty onlookers with money and skewed standards of what's acceptable, the electricity in the air.

There was lust in the air too, tonight. I wasn't sure if that was because of me and my intention to get laid, or if it was the particular designer who had a way of making even a coat seem sexual.

I was back from college at the ripe age of twenty-three - we grow up so fast - and I was aware of the undercurrents now when I hadn't been before. The men's eyes that told women so much more than their lips did. The women who had so much more to offer than a limply extended had. The potential of something wild when everything was so damn sophisticated.

The show was open-air, the night air clung to my cheeks the same way the sweaty urgency clung to my waist and my breasts, and I was on the prowl.

He sat opposite me with the ramp between us, one leg crossed with his ankle on the other knee. His suit pants rode up to reveal dark socks and Italian loafers. He leaned against his hand, finger on his cheek, and there was nothing sexual in the way he looked at the models. Good. If was going to make sure he ended up inside me tonight the sex in his eyes should only be aimed in my direction.

There were two flaws in my theory of sex on demand tonight.

One, I was a virgin. Sure, I wanted sex. I wanted it all the time. But I'd been around enough guys my age at college to know that they were exactly what I didn't want.

Two, Brian Waters was almost twice my age, wildly successful, rich - basically a wet dream - and my dad's business partner. They'd set up the modeling agency together and he saw me as his partner's little girl. He'd never seen me as a woman, not even when I'd started developing breasts and physical urges and a crush on him.

Tonight that was going to change. He didn't recognize me - he would have done something if he did. He didn't know that I was the Megan Philips.

I was dressed to kill. I knew it because all the other men were staring at me. My dark hair was blown out and hung over my shoulders like a waterfall. Men would just love to stick their hands in it. My dress was scandalously short but I covered up more than the models on the ramp. My heels were high enough to make my ass look like dessert.

There was a break between shows. The models were all off the ramp and backstage getting dressed at breakneck speed. The designer had just made his final bow and stepped off. Brian's eye slid over the row of people opposite him and fell on mine.

My heart fluttered and my stomach turned a little. I was nervous. I hadn't ever done this before - not the flirting, of course, that I did all the time. But following through. I knew that this was what I wanted, though.

I uncrossed and crossed my legs, knowing I was giving him a show of my own. His face didn't change at all - there was nothing sexier than a man with an expressionless mask of steel. But he tugged at his collar, then his belt, and looked away.

It gave me a chance to stare at him openly. His hair had turned silver in the time I was gone, but not in a way that made him look old. Just distinguished. He still filled out his suit like he used to and he sat just like he walked - with an air of complete control.

My friends think it's weird that I like older men. If they even know about it. I tend to keep my different sexual preferences a secret. There's just something orgasmic about a man who has money, power, sex at the tips of his fingers. The younger ones don't even know who the hell they are yet. How will they be able to handle a woman like me?

It wasn't fair, of course, They others never had a chance. I'd been fantasizing over Brian for six years. When I masturbated I imagined him, his mouth all over my body, between my legs, his tongue doing what my finger usually did. It was the perfect recipe for a shattering orgasm. The images were left wanting now. I didn't feel naughty when I touched myself thinking of him anymore. I just felt unsatisfied. I needed more.

The people around us started getting up and moving toward the finger food buffet or the champagne bar. Chatter filled the air like a flock of birds. I stayed seated, pinning Brian with a look he couldn't break free from the next moment he looked at me. He swallowed visibly and uncrossed his legs.

My father made his way through the crowd and held out his hand to Brian. I got up, turned my back, and disappeared into the crowd. I wasn't going to make sexy eyes to Brian with my father right next to him. I was desperate but I wasn't stupid.

Chapter 2: Brian

Owning a modeling agency is one of the best jobs a man can ask for. I'm in the business of women's bodies. Ask any male. That's the best job there is. There are the occasional models that will even sleep with the boss. I'm not proud of my actions all the time, but who am I to say no to a pretty face when she's throwing herself at me? I'm divorced and I like to play.

The night air felt clammy against my skin. The tie was too tight, the night dragging on too long. I didn't like the finger food - I'd gotten food poisoning from a mini quiche before and my digestive system wasn't what it used to be. Champagne hurt my head the next day. I reiterate. My digestive system wasn't what it used to be.

Tom was somewhere making the right friends to make our business grow. That man had a knack for business, an eye for money, and he knew exactly how to combine the two to make both of us rich. Being a business partner with him was the best choice I could ever make. There was nothing I would let get in the way of our company. Giving how things were going now I could retire soon, and didn't that sound like music to my ears.

I didn't see myself as old, but it happened more and more that I was around the sixteen-to-twenty-year-olds and I felt like I didn't really belong anymore. It's been a long time coming, but growing up, and then growing old, is a bitter pill to swallow.

This time, though, it was different. It wasn't one of the models that caught my eye, the way they usually did. And it wasn't instigated by me, either. The heated stare came from the other side of a ramp from a woman I'd never seen before, and desperately hoped I would see again. Her hair was dark and luscious and she sat there like a goddess, offering herself for me to look at.

When she crossed and uncrossed her legs my erection punched against my pants and I had to look away before I openly drooled at her. Men my age shouldn't have little boy crushes anymore. I've been married, divorced, and through the mill when it came to sex. I knew how to keep my cool, dammit.

Except then she licked her lips - delicately, not in a slutty way - and rolled them, and I knew I was in trouble. I had to have her. It sounded wrong. Women weren't possessions. But I wanted her. And judging by the looks she gave me she was on board with that idea.

She was young enough to be my daughter. That hadn't exactly stopped me before, as long as it didn't stop them. Again, I didn't get the feeling it mattered to her.

Tom came out of nowhere and stuck his hand in my face. I pulled myself back to reality and smiled, standing up to shake his hand.

"Schmoozing again?"

"I met a woman I think we might be able to work with."

I nodded, rubbing my hands together. "I knew you would have something for us to work with. I can always count on you."

"That's what partners are for."

I glanced toward the seat where she'd been sitting. It was empty. I looked around, searching, but she'd disappeared.

"Who are you looking for?"

I shook my head and looked back at Tom.

"I thought I saw someone I knew." Liar. "How's your daughter?" I didn't ask for a name because I kept forgetting what he called her. How old was she now...? I didn't know that either. I was a poor friend if I couldn't keep track of his life, but then again, we were business partners first and foremost.

"She's good, thank you. Traveling up tomorrow. She got her MBA now."

I nodded absently, trying not to look like I wasn't searching the crowd. Yes, I was being juvenile. Yes, I could have anyone I wanted and it didn't matter who the woman was if it was just a body to get off. And by extension, yes that made me sound like an asshole. But this one was different. I didn't know if it was that she looked like more than just an ass or a pair of tits, or if it was because for the first time since my divorce a woman had made me feel worth more than just a cock with a lot of cash, but I wanted her. Specifically.

"Oh, that's Sonya Schiffer. We have to show face," Tom said. I looked in the direction he was pointing, didn't register anything, and shook my head.

"I think I'm going to go grab something to eat."

Tom frowned. "You never eat at these things."

I raised my hand to my head. "I forgot to eat earlier and my blood sugar is dipping. You don't want me stealing the show by passing out in front of everyone, do you?" I nudged him and grinned. He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. Maybe he didn't think I was funny. Maybe he wasn't buying it. I didn't care.

"I'll catch up with you later. I just need to get something in the system."

I patted my stomach but when I said 'something' I didn't really mean food. Tom passed me to make nice with Sonya Someone and I made my way to the buffet. If she wasn't here she would be at the champagne buffet. If she wasn't there... I didn't know.

I spotted her at the champagne buffet just as I was running out of options. The dress she wore was royal blue. Golden jewelry. Fitting. She defined the word Goddess. I walked up to her.

"Are you enjoying the show?" I asked.

She smiled at me, her eyes dark and drowning deep, and nodded.

"You know, I own the model company that."

She raised her eyebrows. "Really. So you're in the body business."

I chuckled and scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, something like that."

She nodded and looked around. "Looks like business is good."

I looked her up and down. Curves. Hips drew my eyes to her secrets. Breasts that made my mouth water. And she knew it. When she noticed I was looking she shifted her weight from one leg to the other, turned her body to me. She wanted me to look.

"You should be on the ramp." Of course, there was nothing about her that would qualify her as a model. She wasn't sickly skinny or taller than I was. But that wasn't the point.

"Oh, I can't do that."

I frowned. Was she going to be modest and say she wasn't pretty? "I think you could pull off modeling."

She shrugged. "Maybe, but if I joined your company you would be my boss. There's no sleeping with the boss."

I blinked at her, at a loss for words. Had she just said that? Straight up? She looked at me with an open face, an innocent smile, and eyes that told me I would be a fool if I believed at all that she wasn't capable of dirty things.

Chapter 3

He was eating from the palm of my hand. If you show your body to a man he's like putty in your hands. There are very few men that can look away from a pair of breasts staring them in the face and say no, anyway. That was honorable. I wasn't looking for honor tonight.

It was sweet that he was trying to throw compliments about being a model my way. We both knew that would never happen, but he was trying. That counted for something, at least.

I had to admit I did feel like a million dollars standing there. A million dollars playing with fire. Brian was around forty now if he was anywhere near my dad's age, and my dad was around here something. He didn't know I was, though, so he wouldn't just recognize me. I'd come up a day earlier than I was supposed to. My dad was a man and he wouldn't be looking for my face in the crowd.

"How long is this night still going to be?" I asked. I wanted to go home. I wanted to go home with Brian.

"It's still a long event, I'm afraid. I can call you a cab if you would like, though."

My heart sank with the ugly weight of disappointment. He was so eager to ship me off. Was it because I was too young? Or because he knew who I was?

"Of course, it will be a pity to see you leave before the real fun starts."

I shivered when he said that. His words weren't that special but the way he looked at me when he said 'the real fun' made me think we weren't talking about the after parties that usually happened after the fashion shows were over.

"You think it will be worth my while to stay?"

He nodded immediately without giving it any thought.

"Absolutely."

He smiled at me. I smiled at him. In those two smiles, something passed between us that came dangerously close to the point of no return.

"Will you escort me to the party when it's time?" What I really wanted was to be alone with him. Brian looked at his watch. It was a golden Rolex, screaming out how much money he had. Of course, that wasn't what it was about for me, but the fact that he wasn't just an older guy but a loaded older guy made it all the more exciting. I grew up with enough money in my life but my father had never spoilt me.

Maybe he'd thought it would make a difference. Judging by what I was planning on doing before the end of the night it really hadn't made that much of a difference.

"Of course. It's still some time before the party starts - the guests need to leave and then the rest of us need to mingle. We're looking at an hour."

I looked around. "And the rest of you hang around here drinking champagne for an hour?"

He shook his head. "Some of us have a look at the view from the terrace."

"Some of us?"

He grinned, looking sheepish. "It's not really open to anyone. But the view is spectacular from there."

This was where I needed to make my move. I wrapped a hand around his arm.

"Will you show me?"

He hesitated. If it wasn't open to anyone I would be alone with him. The thought made me shiver again.

"Okay."

Score. I left my hand right where it was on his arm and he led me through the crowd and then away. The chatter and the music faded to a dim background sound and the silence of the night took over. Brian led me around a wall that jutted out into the middle of nowhere in a presumptuous pose of design and then we were completely alone. The terrace was a wooden deck that jutted out over a cliff and the city lay stretched ahead at our feet, lights twinkling, the world sleeping.

"This really is beautiful," I said. I hadn't expected it to be so breathtaking. Brian was looking at me when I turned my face to him. He moved my hair to the side, his fingers touching my skin and leaving a trail of fire behind. I trembled. Now or never. If I didn't make a move I was going to chicken out and regret it for the rest of my life. I stepped into Brian and pushed my lips against his. He froze against me and I was scared for a moment that he would push me away. But he'd brought me here and I was sure he'd picked up what I'd been putting down.

It took only a moment before he started kissing me back. He grabbed my arms with his hands and pulled me against him. His lips moved against mine and then his tongue was in my mouth. He didn't taste like alcohol at all - only peppermint and himself. Hadn't he been drinking? I was the only one with sufficient alcohol in my system. He was doing all of this completely sober. I felt the stubble on his lips, his fingers digging into my skin and his erection in his pants.

It awoke something inside of me that overpowered the nerves of the inexperienced. My body knew what it wanted, what was happening. Heat flooded my body and pooled between my legs. I moaned into Brian's mouth.

His hands left my arms and found my breasts and there was no going back. I wanted him. More now than ever. Brian marched me backward until my back hit the wall we'd rounded to find the terrace in the first place. Some sort of creeper plant hung around my head and tickled my shoulders. I ignored it.

Brian slid his hands down my body, over my hips, and onto my bare leg. His body was pressed up against mine, grinding his hunger against my hipbone.

A hand found its way under my dress, pushing it up as he moved up to where I wanted him to be. When his fingers pressed against my panties I gasped. I pulled them to the side and pushed them into me. I moaned, trying to keep quiet. I'd done all of this. I'd done everything besides sex. I'd wanted to save my virginity for someone that was worth that special part of me.

I was willing to give it to Brian.

He removed his fingers for a moment and pushed his hips away from me, fumbling with his belt and then his zipper. He freed himself from the confines of his pants and I stared. Hard. Veined. Eager. There was nothing middle-aged about his manhood. The tip glistened with lust and I was right on board with that.

I pulled my panties down, let them fall off one foot and hiked up my leg. I felt the cold air on my exposed sex and shivered. Briand didn't let me stand in the cold for long. He closed the space with his body. I felt the buckle against my thigh and then he placed himself at my entrance. I shivered again with anticipation this time instead of cold. Or nerves.

When he pushed into me I cried out. The ecstasy was followed by a sharp pain that shot into my abdomen. Brian frowned, searching my face. He looked confused only for a moment before his eyes widened.

"Oh, my God." He looked me straight in the eye. I closed my eyes for a second. "You're a virgin."

His voice was hoarse, gravelly, already lost in what we were about to do. I nodded. How could I deny it? It wasn't like he wouldn't be able to tell that I hadn't had sex before. There were signs.

He swallowed. "You want me to keep going?" His breathless voice told me how hard it was to ask the question.

I nodded, breathing hard. I needed him to keep going.

He shook his head, braced himself against the wall with one hand and his other on my hip. He pushed into me. The pain was acute, but a moment later the pleasure overrode the pain and I was in a new world of bliss. Holy shit, was this what I'd been holding out on? It was fucking fantastic.

But it was worth the wait. I knew that someone older would be the right choice. he made me feel like I was everything and the moment he'd realized I was still a virgin he changed gear and handled me like I could break. It was exactly what I needed.

I gasped, my eyes squeezed shut, getting lost in the sensation. He put his head in my neck and I felt his lips on the soft skin, nibbling, kissing. It only pushed me closer to an inevitable orgasm of a proportion I'd never known.

He grunted in my neck, moving faster and faster. My body adjusted to him and a moment later it wasn't bad anymore. It wasn't comfortable but it wasn't bad.

An orgasm washed over me out of nowhere, starting at my core and spreading through every part of me so that I curled my body around Brian's and cried out into his shoulder to muffle the sound. I grabbed handfuls of his blazer and squeezed until the light subsided and I came back to reality.

When the orgasm was over Brian lifted his head and looked at me. There was a mixture of concern and raw lust all over his face.

"Do you mind if I...?"

I shook my head. "Please." I needed this to be good for him.

He nodded and slowly picked up his pace. He pumped into me, faster, harder. With it came the sharp pain again. My body was okay when we were going slow but this was something else. I cried out but Brian was in his own world now, his actions animalistic rather than thought out. He hammered into me and his body trembled and shuddered. I closed my eyes and gave myself over to the sensation where everything blurred until I was floating in a cloud of delirium. His strokes shortened and quickened another time and a moment later he released inside of me.

His cry was guttural. Mine was sharp. And then it was over. He stayed inside of me just a moment longer before slipping out and leaning against the wall next to me. He breathed hard. I breathed hard. I looked at him.

"We have to get back to the party," he breathed, swallowing hard.

I nodded. I found my panties, pulled it over the leg it had fallen off and pulled them up. I felt how wet I was when the material was against my skin - wet from my lust and his combined. This had been my first time and I was scared Brian would just leave me now. I hadn't thought it through. I hadn't thought about needing to cuddle afterward, needing physical reassurance after the first time having sex.

I should have.

Brian took my hand. "Are you ready?"

I nodded. I was wobbly on my legs and it felt like I teetered on my heels but I wasn't going to look vulnerable now.

"Let's go."

He took my hand, pulled me closer to him, and half of my fears were doused. He was going to stay at my side. This wasn't spooning, but it was better than I'd feared.

Thank God.

Chapter 4: Brian

I walked back with her - the nameless virgin goddess - on my arm and it felt like everyone knew what we'd just done. And they envied me for it. They were jealous of her for it. I felt like a boss. I'd just taken this woman's virginity on the terrace. She'd wanted me to. Sleeping with her felt like a feat in a way that was different than any of the other women I'd conquered.

"Megan!"

We both turned, me because I recognized Tom's voice, and her because I was guessing she was Megan.

"I didn't know you were here tonight, I thought you were only coming up tomorrow."

She smiled and she was beautiful in the young innocent way she hadn't been at all while we'd been doing the deed on the terrace.

"I wanted to surprise you."

I had the terrible feeling that something was wrong, a sinking in my gut. Tom gave her a half-hug and clapped me on the shoulder. It didn't seem right to think that she was a feat now. I wasn't sure why.

"I see you've run into my daughter."

Blood drained from my face and I felt like I was going to throw up. This was Megan Philips? God, she'd grown up. And I'd helped a little with that, hadn't I? My stomach turned again.

"You're taking good care of her, I hope?" Tom asked. I gave him a wan smile.

"Of course."

"Brian is showing me around," Megan said in a syrupy voice and I wanted to claw her eyes out right there. She'd betrayed me. She'd cheated me. She'd tricked me into sleeping with her and now an ax hung over my head and I would never be able to get away from it. If Tom found out what I'd done this would be the end of my career, of our partnership, of my friendship with him... this was such a mess.

Chapter 5: Brian

It doesn't matter how much time passes. Sleeping with your partner's daughter who is half you age isn't something you can every outrun. Months have gone by and it wasn't so raw and fresh anymore but I still hated the fact that it had happened. I still felt like I'd was the one pulling on the short straw. My business suffered from it a little. I was distracted and I felt like a traitor somehow. A traitor, a womanizer, a disgusting pervert. Sleeping with her had been nothing different than sleeping any of the other models I'd slept with. They were all roughly the same age and part of my career as a model agency owner in some way or another.

Except, she had been a virgin. And she was Tom's daughter. Which meant that it really wasn't the same at all.

It didn't influence my relationship with Tom at all, which told me one thing. Megan hadn't told him that it had happened yet. I was walking on pins and needles, though, tip-toeing around him, terrified every time I saw him that he would say something, that he would call me out and it would finally be the day that everything in my life broke.

I got out of the car I'd ordered to pick me up from the airport. I'd been out of town for a week and it had been the only week I'd slept without waking up a couple of times in the night, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I thanked the driver and walked into the lobby. Our offices were situated at the very top of a tall shiny building that could be seen from anywhere in town.

"Brian." I looked to the side. Tom stood in the lobby, waving at me. Megan was at his side. My stomach turned and I wondered what excuse I would use if I threw up right in front of them.

"Morning, Tom." I nodded at her. "Megan."

She smiled at me. It was a beautiful smile - she really was a looker - but I was still angry with her and all I could see was a woman that had put me in a very difficult position and I wasn't talking about Karma Sutra.

Judging by the smile on Tom's face and the fact that he let me within twenty feet of his daughter meant that Megan hadn't told him yet, but that didn't mean it wouldn't change. I was terrified that at some point she would use it when that priceless piece of information would be to her advantage. And my downfall.

The problem was that it was a sort of dream standing in front of her right now. I hadn't seen her since the fashion show, but she had been a constant in my mind. Whether it was because I was thinking about how she'd done me wrong and jeopardized my career, or whether it was because she had been different than anyone else I'd been with was beside. She was always on my mind.

I didn't want to admit that there were times I thought about her and I didn't think about how she'd fucked me over by not telling me who she was, but I thought about what we'd shared and how much I'd thought - at the time at least - it was worth. How much I thought she was worth.

I looked her up and down. Damn, she really was a beauty. She had an hourglass figure in the truest sense of the word. Breasts and ass that balanced each other out. he wasn't leggy and tall like the models I was usually with but she moved with grace and elegance I hadn't seen on any of the girls we sponsored and her hair was like silk. It was pulled back in a ponytail and it made her dark eyes even more pronounced. Her face was open and innocent - yeah right - and a part of me wanted to do her all over again.

I had to regain control somehow.

"Don't you want to help me out?" Tom asked. I blinked at him. I had a feeling it had to do with Megan and I wanted to say no. I didn't. I couldn't, though, so I rubbed my hands together.

"What can I do for you?"

Tom looked at Megan who was looking at me. I wished she wouldn't. Her eyes were big and liquid and it made me unsure of what I felt.

"Megan has been having a tough time finding a job now that she has her qualification. I hired her as one of our talent managers." Oh god. "I'm off to Paris in the afternoon so I won't be able to make sure she's alright here and knows where she needs to be."

He took me to the side a little, leaving Megan a few steps behind us. He spoke in a lowered voice. "She's a little raw and vulnerable, not really used to the real world yet." Oh, if only Tom knew exactly how part of the real world his little girl was. "I was hoping you could take her under your wing, look out for her, make sure that she's alright around here. You know what the fashion world is like and I've kept her out of it all these years. I trust you, I know that you won't let anything happen to her."

I wasn't so sure of that. Tom had no idea what his daughter could be like. If she wasn't the one that was getting herself into trouble, I wasn't exactly someone Tom could trust, either. Look at what I'd done.

I nodded and smiled. "Of course. I'll make sure she finds her way." What else could I have said?

Tom smiled, looking relieved. "I knew you would come through for me. You're like an uncle to her."

God, I hoped not. We turned back to Megan. Tom smiled. I plastered something that resembled a smile onto my face and looked at her.

"Brian will see to it that you're in the right place, honey." He stepped toward Megan and kissed her on the forehead. "You know you can call me anytime." He squeezed her hand and she nodded. She looked emotional. Was she going to cry? I really hoped not. Tom turned and hurried away. Megan and I stood facing each other, each with a mouth full of words and nothing to say to each other.

"Shall we?" I gestured toward the elevator. "You need to be on the ninth floor."

She nodded. I pushed the call button for the elevator and a moment later the chrome door slid open. Megan stepped in first. I followed. When the doors closed us in I was aware of how small the space was, how close we stood to each other. The last time I'd seen her I would have given an arm and a leg to be in a such a private, confined space with her. Now I felt claustrophobic. The tension grew between us, the air in the elevator getting thicker and thicker as we slowly slid up one floor after the other.

"I don't appreciate what you did," I said, unable to bear the silence anymore.

"It's not what I did, it's what the two of us did. Together."

I glared at her. I was angry now. "You could have told me who you were."

"You wouldn't have slept with me, then."

I shook my head, looking straight ahead. It was better not to look at her. I was furious and infatuated and I didn't want to like her. I wanted to be angry and angry alone.

"That's the point I'm trying to make."

She was silent for a beat. "Did you want to sleep with me?"

I swallowed. "That's not the point."

"Did you?"

Dammit. "I did, but--"

"Then there are no regrets because it was what I wanted and it was what you wanted and we did it."

How could she be so blasé about this? Maybe because her career wasn't at stake the way mine was.

I glanced at her. She was composed and calm, the opposite of what I felt. I was frantic, screaming on the inside, trying to justify what I'd done, trying to justify it by saying that I'd been tricked. Even though she was right - it hadn't just been her.

She looked like nothing was wrong. She was more in control of the situation than I was. Between me and her, I was the child. It made her sexy as hell. There was nothing more attractive in this world than a woman who knew what she wanted and oozed confidence and conviction.

Shit! I couldn't want her. This was wrong. I couldn't feel this way about her. She was Tom's daughter. She was a child. She was... making me spin out of control. This couldn't happen. The door pinged and opened on floor nine and I was relieved that I could escape her now.

This could not happen.

Chapter 6: Brian

For weeks after she was hired I only heard good things about her. I couldn't set foot in the office without hearing how well Megan was doing, how on top of things she was, how she was mastering her position. Raises, promotions, an office of her own - these happened in quick succession.

The office was on the same floor as mine. I hated it. I tried everything not to have to run into her. Most of the time it worked.

I sat at my desk trying to balance figures until it was way past dark. When I looked at the clock it was nearly ten. I looked out the window. The city was stretched beneath the window with twinkling lights in the night. Cars crawled in the distance, headlights two little specs in the dark.

I got up, collected my coat and my briefcase and locked my office door. There was a light still on, coming from one of the other offices on the floor. Someone else was working late. When I got closer I realized it was Megan's new office that still had a light burning in it.

This spelled trouble. I was already in a bad place with her - I couldn't afford to sleep with her again and I didn't know how well I would be able to control myself if she made a move on me the same way she had last time. She wasn't only seductive and beautiful but her success in the company added to her attractiveness. I tip-toed past the door, peeking in.

The office was empty, thank God. If I hurried I could get out of the building before she came back from wherever she was and the chaos would be averted.

The sound of someone throwing up pulled me up short. It wasn't uncommon for the models to make themselves sick but they didn't do it around where we could see it and this sounded almost desperate, the kind of retching that made you think the person was coughing up a lung.

I took a step toward the bathroom. A moment later Megan appeared looking pasty and tired. My heart flipped a little. I tried to tell myself it was sympathy, not affection. It had to be.

"Are you okay?"

She flashed a watered down smile and walked toward her office. She wore a pencil skirt that hit her low on her thigh - quite a modest look for her, fit for the office. It looked spectacular on her. Her knees below the skirt line were red like she'd been kneeling on the floor for a while.

I followed her to her office. It was my job to make sure she was okay, even if my motivation was a little skewed. No one had to know what but me. No one had to judge me by it more than I already judged myself.

"Are you sure you're alright? Can I get you something?"

She sat down at her desk and rubbed her hands down her face. When she looked up at me again her eyes were tired, like it was much more than just lack of sleep.

"Really, Brian, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me."

If there was anything I'd learned through my divorce and all the women I'd dated it was that if a woman said she was fine, she probably wasn't. I turned and left the office, walking to the water cooler and filling a paper cup with water for her. I carried it back to her office and held it out to her over her desk.

She looked at me, eyes uncertain before she took it. She drank a bit.

"Why are you being nice?"

Was this a trick question? I shrugged. "I just want to make sure you're alright."

She chuckled without emotion. "Nice of you. I can't imagine what your motivation is."

I sat down on the chair facing her desk where she received visitors. "Just because you did something I felt you shouldn't have doesn't mean I shouldn't care about your well being."

"Because I'm your friend's little girl?" There was bitterness in her voice.

I shook my head. "Because you're a person and no matter what the situation was we still slept together. That puts me in the bracket where I still care about your existence."

She sighed and her lip trembled. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"What is it?"

She shook her head and looked down at the desk although through teary eyes like that I was sure she wasn't looking at anything.

"I can't tell you."

I took a deep breath. "I'm not going to tell your father if that's what you're worried about. I respect you as an individual. The fact that you're Tom's daughter is a coincidence. Inconvenient, but a coincidence nevertheless."

She sobbed, a small, fragile sound.

"Thanks, but I don't think this is something you can help me with."

That sentence just made me want to help her that much more. There was something about a woman crying that awoke the protective primal male inside of me and that fact that it was Megan - delicate and young - that made it that much more.

"Come on, try me. Maybe we can fix it. Maybe it isn't as bad as you think."

She swallowed.

"I'm pregnant."

It felt like something sucked all the air out of the office and I couldn't breathe. My face must have shown it because her face closed.

"Still, think it's not as bad as I think?"

I opened my mouth to say something, couldn't find the words, closed it again.

"And just before you ask if I've been whoring around, I haven't. The child is yours. I'm not expecting you to do anything about it, but I'm not a bad person for what we did together."

She said it with defiance as if she was trying to justify it to herself, rather than me. As if she was trying to convince herself. The truth was, though, I hadn't for one second thought the baby was some other poor bastard's. A man could always hope, but the fact that she'd been a virgin when I'd met her told me everything about the kind of person she was.

Chapter 7: Megan

He asked me to dinner to talk about the baby. I was raw and vulnerable and I felt impossibly alone in the world. I agreed. The fact that he'd cared for long enough to find out what was wrong in the first place made me think that he wasn't a bad guy. Of course, I knew that he wasn't, but seeing a man through the eyes of a little girl versus the eyes of a woman that had gotten to know what adults do were two completely different things.

The restaurant was nice. The kind of place that made sense for Brian. I'd been to it once or twice for business lunches or dinners. Tonight the decor and the music and the food did nothing to cheer me up. The place reminded me of what I would lose as soon as the company found out about the baby. I was four months along and I wouldn't be able to hide it with loose shirts forever. The music annoyed me. The food made me feel sick even when I just looked at the menu. Why did they call it morning sickness when it hit you any moment of the day?

"Brian, it's very nice of you to take me out to talk about this and to care for me when I was throwing up, but this really isn't your problem."

I looked at him sitting opposite me at the table for two. He blinked.

"It's my baby, Megan. Of course, it's my problem."

I shook my head. "I should have been clever about sex. I wasn't. I didn't think that I would fall pregnant right away." I felt like an idiot saying it but I forced myself to do it anyway. There was no reason to keep anything from him now that he knew the truth. "Not sleeping with people for so long has made me naive about these things. I got a rude awakening now. It's still not up to you to do something about it."

Brian took a sip from his wine glass. I had water in mine. When I'd fallen pregnant I was horrified that I wouldn't be able to drown my sorrows in alcohol. I was so sick all the time now, throwing up without any good reason at all, the thought of alcohol was almost alien.

"I'm not going to leave you hanging. I'll pay for whatever you need to take care of this. You just tell me when you need the money and I'll pay it into whatever account."

The salad I'd ordered arrived. It was plain, a few leaves, a piece of tomato or cucumber here and there. Brian had ordered a steak with cheese sauce. The smell made my stomach turn. Brian was willing to pay for me to take care of the pregnancy. Not the baby.

"Brian..." I looked at my salad, not willing to look at him. "I'm not going to have an abortion. I'm going to keep the baby."

He was silent for long enough that I glanced up at him.

"What are you going to tell your dad?"

I was relieved he didn't challenge me on my reason for keeping the baby. I took a bite of lettuce and sat back in my chair My lower back was killing me. Joys of pregnancy.

"He already knows. I told him it's an old college boyfriend's baby."

"You protected me?"

He sounded surprised. I nodded. I couldn't have ratted him out like that. He looked at me for a moment, admiration on his face. It was misplaced. He had nothing to admire me for.

"Megan," he reached across the table and touched my hand. I pulled it away. "If you're having the baby I want to be a father to it. It's not right to let you go through it alone and for the child to grow up with only one parent."

I shook my head. "My dad will know, then."

Brian sighed and nodded." He will, but that's something I'll have to live with."

"You can't do that. What would that make him think of me? I can't tell him I seduced you, he'll be so disappointed. And you can't tell him it was your doing because I don't want you to take the fall for something you did. No, I'm having this baby alone, okay?"

Brian shook his head. "You can't do this. You can't shut me out of the child's life. Let me be there for you. I have a legal right to."

I was angry now. He was bullying me into a corner when I was still trying to figure out my life.

"This is about legality now? Stupid of me to think you wanted to be there for me and the baby because you actually cared."

"That's not what I mean and you know it. But I do have a right to be in the child's life."

I looked at my salad. It suddenly looked so unappetizing. I pushed the plate back a little, feeling sick to my stomach. Again. Always.

"I can't do this, Brian. I don't want to talk about it. I've made up my mind, I've set out my plans. I can do this alone. You're not going to risk your career for me."

"Don't tell me what I will and won't do. You're having my baby and you're just a child yourself."

That did it. My ears started ringing. Almost everything else had been okay but his condescension had pushed me over the edge. I put the napkin on my plate and got up.

"Don't treat me like you're my dad."

"Where are you going?"

"Away."

He sat back. I expected him to fight for me, expect me to stay. I was going to march right out the door if he did. I was just waiting for him to tell me what to do. I challenged him with my eyes, daring him to do it. He folded his arms over his chest.

"Fine."

Fine? Was he fine with me leaving? Was he just going to let me go? It sucked the wind right out of my sails and every argument I'd built up to throw at him fell on the floor. Hello, rejection. I turned around and walked away, but it wasn't nearly as satisfying or as effective if I wasn't wanted in the first place.

Chapter 8: Brian

It was time for the fall shoot. It had been two weeks since Megan and I had argued in the restaurant. We hadn't spoken to each other since. It wasn't just because we were still angry at each other but because the Fall shoot was one of the biggest events in our company and we were all running around without time to catch a breath, let alone talk about the future.

Every time I saw her around the office we both had so much to do there wasn't time to talk, and you couldn't exactly throw in a comment about the weather in passing after the one we'd had in the restaurant.

Now that I knew she was pregnant, though, I looked for the signs and found them everywhere. She wasn't glowing the way pregnant women usually did. She looked tired all the time, and I noticed how many times she ran to the bathroom. I didn't know what morning sickness was all about but it seemed like there was a lot more than just in the morning. And it wasn't stopping. I tried to work out how long it had been since we'd had sex.

Four months? A little more? She was quite far along and not showing as much as I thought. She did wear baggy clothes, though, shirts that were loose, jackets that had a lot of embellishment now that it was colder. She hid it well.

Except I could see the baby bump because I knew it was there.

The shoot was crazy. We all stayed late for it. The floor where we held it was a large open space with the screen and camera and lights set up against the one wall. The rest of the place was divided into a dressing area for the models where they ripped off their clothes all the way down to the nude and got into the next outfit without blinking an eye.

There were makeup stations where artists did what was necessary for the shoot, hair stylists that walked between models and a row of computers that worked on the photos that had already been taken and made sure that the schedule ran as seamless as possible considering what we were doing.

It was chaos. I had created all of this.

I stood to the side, watching the shoot. The models were comfortable in front of the camera, comfortable with nudity in front of others, comfortable with being painted and tugged on at every station before stepping in front of the lights again.

I spotted Megan in the dressing area. She was trying to organize a line of models. She looked drawn and tired, with dark circles under her eyes. She walked like she was in pain and every now and then she put her hand on her lower back.

Lisa, her boss, walked to her and she looked pissed. I knew from experience that Lisa was a tough woman to work for. Many people had tried it and quit, but you couldn't be soft in the fashion world and Lisa knew that.

"What the hell is this?" she asked in a raised voice, looking at the clothes. Megan looked at her, confused, before turning her eyes to the clipboard on the floor at her feet. "This is not until those models there are done. You're screwing up the whole line."

"I'm sorry, Lisa."

"Don't tell me you're sorry. Don't get it wrong in the first place and save me a headache. God, I don't know what's wrong with you lately."

I walked closer. Lisa was coming down hard on Megan. Of course, she didn't know the girl was pregnant, but still.

"Is everything alright here?" I asked. Lisa looked irritated with my presence. Megan looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Everything's fine," Lisa said tightly.

"Lighten up on her, will you?"

She pulled a face. "Are you telling me how to do my job?"

"I'm just asking you to lighten up on her."

Lisa narrowed her eyes at me. Someone called her and she turned away. I looked at Megan.

"Why don't you sit down for a bit, hand this over to someone else?"

I expected her to agree, to thank me. Instead, she glared at me. The emotion was unexpected.

"I don't need you to come to my rescue when something goes wrong."

"I was just trying to help."

She shook her head, pressing her fingers to her temple. "I don't need your help. I thought I made it quite clear - I don't need anything from you."

I sighed. "Come on, Megan. This isn't necessary."

"You know what isn't necessary? You trying to be the big boy in my life when I've been on top of everything without your help."

I wanted to fight with her, to argue, to say what was on my mind. I wanted to tell her that she was completely out of line. The look on her face stopped me short. Her face was so pale I wasn't sure how she was still standing. Her eyes were glassy, her lips slightly parted and it looked like she was having trouble breathing. She tried to say something, but then her eyes rolled back and her knees gave way. She crumpled to the ground. I jumped forward and caught her, lowering her gently down.

Chapter 9: Megan

When I opened my eyes I wasn't looking at my ceiling at home. The room I was in was clinically white and a chemical smell pinched my nose. I turned my head and realized I was in the hospital.

Brian sat on a chair, elbows on his knees, hands in his hair.

"Brian?"

When he looked up there were worry lines on his face but he looked relieved and then his eyes smiled at me. I knew that we'd been getting stuck lately and the last to interactions weren't friendly ones, but I was so happy to see him now. And I was relieved that he looked happy to see me, too. I shouldn't have felt that way, but I did.

"What happened?" I put my hands on my belly, suddenly terrified that I was here because something was wrong with the baby.

"The baby is fine," Brian said, his voice calm and gentle. "They did scans and checks and everything and the baby - a boy - is completely healthy."

Relief washed through me and I sagged on the pillow. If something happened to the baby...

"What happened?" I asked again.

"You collapsed at the Fall shoot."

I raised a hand to my head. "The shoot. Shit." Lisa had been so mad, God knew if I still had a job after that.

"Don't worry about that, I organized a replacement for you."

"You did?"

He nodded. "It pays to be the big boss. The doctor says you're overworked. You need to take it easy from now on. No more long hours for you."

I shook my head. "I can't take it slower. I need the money." I had to take care of the baby somehow.

"When are you going to understand that I'll help you? I'll be there for you. I've got this, and I have more than enough money to take care of you."

I wanted to argue again, reject his offer, but the truth was that the idea of not having to worry was damn attractive right now. I had been a ball of tension since I'd found out I was pregnant. The idea that I would be able to relax for a change sounded heavenly.

A doctor in a white coat walked in and looked at my chart before looking at me.

"You gave us a scare, Miss Philips," he said. "But luckily everything is still going well. You just need to take it slow. I recommend bed rest. At least six hours a day."

I sat up. "I can't!"

He shook his head. "You're going to have to if you want to have this baby and stay healthy. Your job is too stressful and that's not good for you or for the baby at this point."

My dad walked in through the door. "Oh, honey, you're awake. I was so worried."

The doctor looked at my dad. "She's doing just fine. If it wasn't for the father bringing her in so quickly she might have been off worse."

I looked at Brian. He looked at me. The tension grew. My dad laughed.

"That's not the father!" He clapped Brian on the shoulder. "If he was the baby's father I would have to acquire a shotgun." He laughed. Brian laughed, too, but it was forced. I chuckled nervously. The doctor wasn't amused. A moment later he left.

"How are you feeling?" my dad asked me.

"I'm okay. I'm just tired."

"She's had a bit of a spell, overworked herself, what with the pregnancy and all."

Tom sat on the edge of the bed. The bed was narrow and felt trapped but I didn't ask him to move.

"I guess you know now," he said to Brian. "I'm going to be a grandfather. I didn't want to say anything at the office... you know. These things can come across wrong."

Brian nodded. "I can imagine."

He looked at me again and it felt like everything that was said was loaded with double meaning now. I felt sick. I wanted to throw up. I wasn't sure if it was panic or morning sickness.

"Hundreds of thousands of dollars for an MBA at one of the best schools in the country just to be a mom, eh?" He nudged me and I smiled, trying to look like it was funny. I really wasn't. "Kids these days. But accidents happen."

I knew my dad supported me, but I had a feeling it was just because he didn't know who the real father was. Brian seemed uncomfortable on his chair. My dad's phone rang and he stepped out of the room to answer it. Brian glanced at the door where he'd walked through and then at me.

"If he finds out he's going to kill me."

I swallowed and nodded. Brian was right. If my dad found out he was the father he was definitely going to kill him. Kill him and disown me, or something equally serious. I took a deep breath and let it out in a shudder.

"I don't know what to do."

"Let's just take this one day at a time, okay?"

Brian put his hand on my leg and rubbed it up and down. It was the first time he'd touched me since that night on the terrace and the touch was warm and welcome and it felt like it was long overdue. I couldn't rely on it, though. I had to remember who I was and what was a reality. I didn't expect Brian to give up his career for something like this. I had to keep in mind that I was going to raise this baby all by myself, that Brian would be introduced as a family friend, if anything and my happiness would from now on always be last on the list.

The baby, Brian, my dad, their happiness had to come first.

Chapter 10: Brian

She was a typical model - tall and leggy with a waist the span of my hand and poofy lips. Her name was Amanda. She wasn't much of an intellectual challenge - the conversation at the dinner table had been drab, but I wasn't with her tonight for her mind. I wanted sex, some kind of release. I'd been edgy for a while now and I needed to get rid of it. I just needed to be able to think straight.

She wore a wine red dress with an open back and a scoop neck that showed too much cleavage and it would probably hit any other woman on the knee but it only covered her ass and other important bits.

"I'm so glad you were available tonight," she said with a purr. She looked at me like she knew what she was going to have for dessert. It irritated me when women were like this, but once again, I wasn't with her for anything else than what she would offer me sexually. If I even started to compare her to someone like Megan I would be put off by her and send her home, but I couldn't keep putting my life on hold for a woman that was determined on pushing me out of her life.

I wanted to give Megan everything she needed, everything she wanted. She was the kind of woman that deserved more than just sex and money and provision. Someone like her deserved to be loved and lately I'd been starting to think that was something I would be able to give her, too. But if she didn't want it I wasn't going to force myself on her. I wasn't going to expect her to return my sentiment if she just wasn't interested.

"After the Fall shoot I thought I wasn't going to model again, but that kind of life is just impossible to get away from, you know? I was born to do it."

I stepped into the elevator with Amanda, irritated with her, trying to smile and pretend like I wanted her company. She'd been talking about her career as a model almost the whole evening. If I had to hear anything else about how she was good at what she did or cut out for the job or looked good in everything I was going to throw her out on the street.

When we got to the penthouse suite someone stood in front my door. The brown hair, the hands on her back, I didn't need to see her face to know who it was. When she turned around her eyes fell on Amanda and she looked the woman up and down. Amada returned the favor, looking at Megan like she was something the cat dragged in. Megan looked like she was upset. There were new lines on her face, worry lines, tiredness, that hadn't been there before. A woman her age shouldn't look like that.

"Are you okay?" I asked, stepping away from Amanda and toward Megan.

"I'm fine," she said. She really wasn't. I turned to Amanda.

"I'm sorry, Amanda." Not sweetheart, like I'd been calling her all night. Not in front of Megan. Amanda frowned. "I'm going to have to call you a cab."

Her mouth opened in disbelief. "You're kicking me out? For that?" She pointed at Megan.

"Don't be rude," I scolded her. In that one sentence, I realized two things. One, I was able to throw about my single, carefree life for Megan in a heartbeat and not feel bad or torn about it at all. And two, I cared for Megan a lot more than I'd been willing to admit. I had a model on my doorstep, a woman that would be able to give me the night of my life, and all I could think about doing was taking care of Megan, the beautiful woman who was pregnant with my child.

Amanda scoffed at Megan and turned, walking away with hips swaying. When she the elevator doors opened she stepped inside and turned around with a look on her face that told me she was righteously pissed.

"I'm sorry to ruin your night," Megan said. "I didn't realize you were with someone."

I shook my head. "Don't be sorry. What's wrong?"

Her eyes welled up with tears and she pressed her thumb and forefinger against her eyelids, trying to stop the tears. She wasn't wearing any make-up, she was dressed in slacks and a t-shirt and she was pregnant, and she was still the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

"I didn't have anywhere else to go. My friends are all upstate where I studied. My dad and I had a fight and he's so mad at me."

I stepped closer to her, slowly, trying not to scare her. She leaned into me when I was close enough and I wrapped my arms around her. That barrier of anger and regret between us was finally broken. We stood like that, holding onto each other, for the longest time before I pulled back. I unlocked my door and switched on the lights.

"Your place is nice," she said, looking around. It was nice but it was a bachelor's place. Everything was expensive and new and it looked like no one lived here. It wasn't the kind of place to raise a child. I shook off the thought. I couldn't think like that.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked. Megan nodded and sat down one of the white leather couches. I sat down next to her instead of on a different one and listened to her talk. She told me about the fight, about the money she wasn't going to make now that she had to take it slow and her father's insistence that she take care of herself because she'd messed up. I tried to be objective about it, tell her that he was just scared of what she was going through.

I wasn't sure she believed me.

"It's just going to take time. I know it's hard but maybe it feels bigger because you're already emotional and struggling."

She nodded and leaned into me again, her face in my neck. With her face this close to mine, I was hyper aware of her lips, her smell, everything about her. She was the one that tipped up her head and kissed me. It wasn't like it had been before - this was purely sensual.

I pushed my tongue into her mouth, then stopped myself and pulled away from her. I wasn't going to do this to her now. This couldn't happen.

"I'll prepare the guest bedroom for you and you can stay the night," I said. She wiped her cheeks and nodded. I wasn't sure if she felt rejected. If she did she wasn't showing it.

"Thank you."

Chapter 11: Megan

I didn't have any clothes with me. I hadn't meant to stay over but when Brian offered the idea of staying away from home for the night was an offer I didn't want to refuse. He gave me one of his old t-shirts.

"You can wear it with your slacks. It should be more comfortable."

It was. Not just because it was better than what I'd been wearing but because it smelled like Brian, and it had been worn so many times it was soft from use. I took off my slacks, sleeping only in the shirt.

For the first time in a long time I slept well, and when I woke up I felt like I'd rested. The room he'd let me stay in was decorated in dark blue and gray and it was classy and homey at the same time. I was willing to bet it was the only room in the house that was homey, but Brian was a man and without a woman's touch nothing would be as homey as it could be.

I checked the time. It was six in the morning. I listened for sounds in the house but everything was quiet. I was sure Brian was still asleep. I walked in sock and the t-shirt to the kitchen and found cereal in the pantry. Milk in the fridge. A bowl after three different cupboards. A spoon in the drawer. I made breakfast and sat down at the kitchen island.

I was halfway with breakfast when Brian stumbled into the kitchen still looking half asleep.

"Morning," he said. I smiled.

"Morning."

He sat down on one of the barstools and looked at me. We sat in silence for a while. I wasn't sure what he was thinking. His eyes kept roaming over my body but not in a way that made me feel exposed or uncomfortable. In fact, the way he looked at me made me feel beautiful. I hadn't felt beautiful in a long time. It was hard to feel beautiful when you were as big as a house. I still wasn't really very big - at five months my belly was still small, but I felt stuffed and ungraceful.

"Do you mind if I have a shower?" I asked. "

"No, please. Make yourself at home."

I nodded, rinsed the bowl in the sink and walked to the guest bedroom. The bathroom was also blue and gray. The water was hot when I stepped under the spray and it felt good. I let it run through my hair, feeling it wet the strands like fingers, and closed my eyes.

A moment later there was a knock on the bathroom door.

"Yes?"

"Can I come in?"

I hesitated. What would it lead to if I said yes? Did I want to say no?

"You can."

My voice sounded hoarse. Brian stepped into the bathroom and closed the door again. The glass shower walls were steamed up so I was sure he could only see a blurred image of me, but I wanted him to look. At my backside, at least. I was unsure about my pregnant tummy.

Brian started getting undressed. He stepped into the shower and stepped under the spray, coming face to face with me. My breath caught in my throat. He lifted a hand and pushed wet strands of hair out of my face.

"My tummy," I said in almost a whisper.

"Don't. You're beautiful." His gray hair got wet and clung to his head and the edges of his face. He lowered his lips to mine and kissed me.

It was different than it had been the first time. It was soft and sensual. Brian kissed me all over, his hands exploring my body as if he was committing every detail to memory.

He was hard and obviously eager to get inside of me, but he took his time. He made me feel like every inch of me was beautiful. When it finally came down to sex and he pushed into me it was completely different than what it had been before. There was no pain, only a hell of a lot of pleasure. He pushed into me and pulled out, slowly, carefully, building up momentum and speed only when he knew I was ready for it.

My body responded to his. The hot water on my skin and his sex inside of me pushed me closer and closer to an orgasm until it washed through me, light filling me up and clearing everything out until I was reduced to nothing but a blubbery mess. He kissed me and held me and made me feel like it was all for me. His pleasure, his release when it finally came, was just an afterthought. This was all about me and it made me feel like it was so much more than just sex.

Like whatever was happening between me and Brian was so much more than just a quickie at a fashion show. Like it could become something so much bigger.

Chapter 12: Brian

She was beautiful. She kissed me like she was unsure of herself. The confident vixen I'd met at the fashion show had been replaced by someone that was unsure if she was wanted, and I wanted to show her that she was. that I wanted her. Even if she was pregnant, even if everything had changed since the last time we were together.

Her body was hot around my sex when I was buried deep inside of her, her breasts mashed up against my chest, nipples hard and erect. The hot water streamed in rivulets down her skin and mine, making our lovemaking - that's what it was, not sex - look like something from a porn scene. Except it was so much better because Megan was real. This was real.

When I released inside of her she shuddered with me and I was so aware that this act was what had gotten her pregnant, what had gotten us here in the first place. When she'd told me in the elevator it was something we both wanted then so there was nothing to regret I'd been irritated with her, but she was right.

It had been exactly what I'd wanted at the time, and it had caused something beautiful to happen. I kissed her, helped her clean everything up, washed her with soapy suds. I helped her out of the shower and took a towel. The towel racks were heated and her towel was warm. Megan looked exhausted. I was guessing her energy levels were low because of the baby. I wrapped a towel around her hair and dried her body off with another one.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked.

"You keep asking me that."

She shrugged."I just didn't think you would care this much. When I met you I just wanted to have sex with you. This is so much more."

I didn't answer her. I helped her get her hair combed and dried and peeled back her covers for her so she could get in bed. She was still naked. She grabbed onto my hand and pulled me onto the bed.

"Please, stay."

How could I say no to that? I climbed in under the covers, too, and lay against her. Her skin was warm and soft, her breathing regular. Her eyes were closed but she wasn't sleeping. I traced the profile of her face with my finger, the curve of her nose, her full lips, her perfectly manicured eyebrows.

"Have I told you you're beautiful?"

She smiled, her lips curling up under my fingers.

My phone rang in the other room.

"I'll be right back," I said. I found the phone and answered. It was a business call. When it was over I looked at the screen. I dialed my secretary.

"I'm not coming into the office today," I said. I made arrangements for my meetings to be postponed and turned off my phone. When I got back under the covers with Megan she turned her face to me.

"You're not going to the office?"

She'd heard that. I shook my head.

"Why?"

"I want to spend the day with you. We can stay in bed, or go out to breakfast, or do whatever you feel like."

She looked at me for a moment, eyes searching my face, and then she smiled.

"I'd like that."

I kissed her again and we messed around a little but I didn't sleep with her again. I didn't want to wear her around. When we were done she lay in the crook of my arm, her head on my chest and it was like we were made for each. We fit like puzzle pieces.

"I'm going to speak to Tom," I said. I'd pushed the words out before I could change my mind.

Megan lifted her head and looked at me, frowning.

"You can't."

"I can. I will. I want to be with you, Megan. I want to do the right thing, I want to be there for you and the baby. I'm not going to sneak around behind your father's back. I need to come clean about this."

She sat up, covers tucked to her chest so that she was decent.

"He'll be so mad."

I nodded. Tom was going to be furious. "I have to do this. Not just for the baby, but for you. It's going to be okay. There's nothing he can do about it, and I know once he accepts it he will be okay. He won't lose you, he loves you too much."

She looked like she was going to cry, and I understood it. It was terrifying. I was forty and telling my friend and business partner that I had gotten his daughter pregnant wouldn't be easy, but it was the right thing to do. I wanted to do right by Megan.

"When are you going to tell him?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. Not today. I will soon, though. But today it's just you and me.

Chapter 13: Brian

Fashion shows are hard work for everyone involved. There are people that do more than others, like the dressers and the stylists and the designers and those responsible for the venue, but there are also those that behind the scenes.

I was a partner that had started up a modeling agency and I even ran around on a fashion show. I tried to get out of it but most of the time there was just too much to do and not enough people to do it.

Megan wasn't going to attend this one, thank God. I'd spoken to her doctor and he'd given her the advice that she had to take off instead of attend. The pressure was far too much for her condition with the baby and she wasn't even that far along yet - problems got worse the closer it was to the birth. I didn't want complications now.

Lisa was too hard on her, the pressure was insane and she was emotional, hormonal and unsure about being pregnant to start off with.

I ran around trying or organize the models and where they needed to be, making sure that Megan's replacement filled her shoes the right way. When there was time to take a breath I made my way outside where the smokers stood. I didn't smoke but I liked being somewhere people forced themselves to take a break. Smokers have no choice - addiction is an ugly business - but how many of us that don't have the bad habit of smoking will take that time to recuperate for five minutes at various intervals throughout the day? It's good to regroup.

Tom came outside a moment later. He looked stressed out. I stood a short distance away from the smokers to avoid the actual smoke, and he came to stand with me.

"It's a madhouse in there."

I nodded. "It always is. Occupational hazard."

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I'm glad Megan was booked off for this one. I'm really starting to worry about her. I'm scared something will happen."

I didn't answer. I didn't want to say too much and sound concerned where I shouldn't be. The fact that Tom was worried was news to me, though. Of course, he cared about her well-being, but going by what Megan had told me about the argument between them Tom didn't want her to keep the baby if she wasn't in a place to look after the child herself.

"How do you feel about the baby?" I asked. We hadn't had a chance to talk in the past couple of weeks, and before that I'd been avoiding him.

Tom shrugged. "There's not really much of a choice. She's going to keep the child so there's nothing I can do. I think she's making a mistake, though."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Because she's just out of school, she has nothing to her name - no career or reputation or money - and she's going through this alone. That scumbag that got her pregnant would do better than just leaving her to go through it alone."

I swallowed and a fist of nerves grabbed my gut and twisted a little.

"Of course, I understand why she wants to keep the child, and being a new parent is the most wonderful thing. I just wish her circumstances were different."

I nodded. These were the standard worries of a parent. I cleared my throat.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." I had to do it now or I would never get the courage to. Megan needed me and I had to be there for her. I couldn't keep hiding it - it would prevent me from doing what I needed to do.

Tom looked at me. "God, I hope it's good news. I could do with some right now. '

I swallowed hard. I was going to be a hell of a killjoy.

"I'm the baby's father." The words were out there and the tension in my body clamped down even more. It felt like time froze. I waited for the reaction. This was the moment of truth.

Tom frowned. "What?" He looked confused.

"I slept with Megan. I'm the baby's father."

Tom's face was a blank for a moment before what I said dawned on him. His eyes laughed at first like I was making a joke, but when I didn't retort with 'Naw, just kidding', the laughter drained and anger set in.

"What the fuck?"

I nodded, looking at my shoes for a second. "I know. But I want you to know that I'm planning on caring for her and giving her the life she deserves. If there's anyone that can do that, it's me."

"You bastard!" Tom launched at me, remembered we had an audience and stopped before he did any damage to my face. I was aware of his hand curled into a fist. "How could you do that to me?"

I took a deep breath, still struggling to fathom how close I'd been to a broken nose. "It wasn't planned if that's what you mean. It just happened. But I plan on taking responsibility for her."

Tom opened his mouth like he wanted to say something. He was so angry, though, he couldn't, and instead of having an outburst like I knew he wanted to he turned around and walked away. It was the epitome of self-control. I had to respect his ability. I didn't respect his space, though.

I followed him. I needed to have this out now, once and for all, or I would never have the courage again to talk about it.

"I'm all in with this, Tom. I love her."

He froze, his back to me. I tried to decode it - his stiff neck, his tense shoulders. When he turned around he had fire in his eyes.

"You knock her up and you want to tell me you love her?"

I pushed through. "I didn't when it happened but I've been spending more time with her and I do. I've fallen in love with her. She's a stunning person and she will be a great mother. And I would like to stand by her and be the father the child deserves, the man she deserves. You know me, Tom. You who I am. You said yourself I'm a man of integrity."

"I was talking about the damn company when I said that!" He threw his hands up in the air. "I wasn't talking about you sleeping with my daughter and then being with her."

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the black velvet box that had been nagging at me since the beginning of the night. I opened it and showed Tom the ring.

"I intend to marry her, Tom. She's not just a floozy to me. She's everything. I want her to be everything. You said I can build an empire with the business, you said you trusted me to do the right thing."

Tom shook his head, looking over my shoulder. "It's still not the same thing, Brian. My company versus my daughter? How can you compare the two?"

I nodded. "I understand, but I want you to know that I intend on doing right by her and never disappointing you as a father."

Tom looked at the ring again. He sighed and his shoulders sagged. "I can't say this is what I would have chosen for her, but if it's what she wants..." He looked up at me. "She's old enough to decide for herself so if she's happy I'm happy. But if you do anything to hurt her, I swear to God I will kill you with my own two hands. I'm not exaggerating."

I nodded. I knew he wasn't.

Chapter 15: Megan

I didn't go to work anymore. I accepted that I was too far along with the pregnancy to keep going at the pace the fashion world asked for, and I wasn't going to be able to hide it, anyway. Besides that, I was letting Brian pay for things the way he wanted to. I'd accepted that he was going to be in my life. It wasn't what I'd ever imagined would happen, but it wasn't a bad thing.

Brian was kind and caring and honest and dedicated. I could see why my dad wanted him as a business partner. I imagined he would be just as committed as a life partner.

I wanted to be a part of the fashion world even though I couldn't work there. When he visited me he told me things about what happened at the office and I ate it up. When there were fashion shows I read about them in magazines or papers and I started attending them as a guest.

Tonight was another one of those. The show was in a conference center that had been turned into an extravaganza. It was barely recognizable. It was one of the biggest shows of the year and everyone involved was going mad with stress and panic. I was relieved I wasn't a part of it. I was six months along, swelling by the day and I was perpetually tired or in tears or both.

I made my way to the seats and sat down where Brian had reserved one for me. When I attended he made sure I could sit in the front row with him so that I wouldn't miss a thing. I developed a new love for fashion seeing things from this vantage point and I realized that even if I wasn't in the back working my fingers to the bone I wanted to be involved with the fashion world somehow.

The seats were filling up. Background music filtered through the air, laced with the chatter of the already-seated guests and an excitement about the upcoming show that was addictive. I looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Brian. My dad walked past and waved at me before moving on. I waved back. What would he think if he saw me sitting next to Brian? He wasn't usually at the shows. Lately, he'd been doing a lot more paperwork and a lot less schmoozing.

The show started and it was spectacular. It was swimsuits and lingerie and the designers had come up with some next level garments that would take the fashion world by storm. I could almost tell what the articles would say.

Brian appeared a little late and sat down next to me.

"Sorry, there was so much to do," he said. I squeezed his hand and we watched the show together.

When the designer came out after the line was presented he waved.

"I'll be right back," Brian said and hurried away. I watched him go. There was a lull where no one was on the ramp and people murmured and look around. I looked around, too. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Brian appeared on the ramp and walked to the middle of it. Oh God, what was he doing?

"Ladies and gentleman, can I have your attention, please?"

The audience fell quiet, everyone eager to hear what he had to say. This wasn't how it usually worked. I expected him to inform us of some kind of emergency or something.

"A short while ago I met a woman at one of these fashion shows and she turned my world upside down. I thought I'd had it all covered, I thought I was living the life - models, money - but I was wrong. I didn't need models and money. I needed that woman – I needed Megan."

Blood drained from my face when he said my name. When he looked at me I mouthed 'What are you doing?' He smiled and held out his hand like he wanted me to join him on stage. That wasn't happening even if I could climb the ramp.

"Megan Philips, will you marry me?"

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd and my heart nearly stopped. Had Brian Waters just asked me to marry him? Everyone turned to look at me. Brian looked at me expectantly.

"Are you going to stay up there?" I asked Brian smiled and jumped down the side of the ramp, coming to me. He took both my hands in his.

"I love you. I want to be with you. I want us to be a family. Say you'll marry me."

I took a deep breath.

"I'll marry you."

The truth was I'd thought about this for a while now. I wanted to be with him. I wanted to marry him. Where I hadn't wanted him to be part of the picture before, for his sake, I had become selfish. I wanted him to be part of it now.

He smiled and produced a velvet box. He opened it and it contained a ring that made me clap a hand to my mouth. Brian removed it but before I gave him my hand I looked around, looking for my dad. I spotted him in the crowd. He was looking at me, smiling.

I looked at Brian, who was smiling at me too, and gave him my hand so that he could slide the ring onto my finger.

And in that one second….I felt different….I felt complete…happy…satisfied…..in love forever!

* * *

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