He was terrified of a possible pregnancy, but for completely different reasons. He was afraid that she was letting him close only because of it. What would happen when and if she found that she wasn’t expecting his child? Would she push him away and move on? He couldn’t lose her now that he finally had her. Each day with her only solidified the depth of his feelings for her. He was trying to pace himself to keep from scaring her. He knew that she wanted him, but she was skittish. She seemed to almost believe that she wasn’t good enough for him, which was a joke. He wanted to drop to his knees and thank God for bringing her into his life because she was perfect.

He didn’t know that much about a woman’s cycle or timing, but he knew one thing for sure. He had to make her fall for him, and he figured he had a couple of weeks to do it before they found out if their night of passion had consequences. He wanted to be with her, but he wanted her to want it too, and for the right reasons. It was time for him to show her that there was something real between them. If he had to take a water aerobics class and make a fool of himself or give her orgasms until she couldn’t walk, then so be it. From this moment forward, he would be her dream man because she had been his dream woman from the start.

*   *   *

Gwen was on a call with the purchasing department, requesting some purchase orders for invoices when Dominic knocked on her door and walked in. God bless the man, he was carrying a drink tray with two huge coffee cups and . . . a bottle of water? Maybe that was for him. Right now, even though she knew the damn thing would be caffeine free, she needed that steaming cup more than her next breath. She ended her call and clapped her hands together enthusiastically. “Gimme.” When he raised a brow, she batted her eyes and added, “Please.”

He laughed softly as he took a cup that was marked decaf on the side and handed it to her. While she was taking a sip, he took the bottle of water and put it on her desk. Okay, so maybe it was for her after all. Then he surprised her further by setting his own coffee down and pulling a small bottle from his pocket. “I bought these for you yesterday. All of the baby articles say that you should be taking extra folic acid so I picked up some. You already take a multivitamin, right?”

She knew she was staring at him, but she hadn’t seen that one coming. If someone had told her a month ago that she’d feel weepy over the gift of vitamins, she would have thought they were insane. Now, though, she was fighting the urge to melt into a puddle in her seat over his care of her. How could the man whom she had only a short time ago thought of as such a tough guy be such a tender caregiver? He thought of things that would never have even crossed her mind and she was the woman. Almost on the heels of that thought came the pang of fear that this would all be over if she wasn’t pregnant. She had never imagined that men like Dominic existed and now that she knew, she wanted to wrap her arms around him and never let go. She cleared her throat when he shook a tablet into his hand and handed it to her. “I . . . thanks,” she murmured as she took the water bottle he offered her.

Touching her arm briefly, he said, “Sure, babe. Anything else before I go?”

Boy, what she wouldn’t give to answer that question honestly. He probably wasn’t expecting her to beg him to never leave when he asked, so instead she smiled and shook her head. “I’m good. Have a great day.”

Dropping a kiss on her upturned lips, he replied, “You too, baby. I’ll touch base with you later on.” As he walked out of her office, she knew that unlike other men that she’d known, he would contact her at some point during the day. Dominic didn’t make false promises. Her head slumped back against her chair. She had a few weeks to form a relationship with him that didn’t involve the prospect of a baby. Maybe giving up now before she was further under his spell would be better, but she couldn’t. She had tried to keep some distance between them, but it had proved futile. She was just too drawn to him and was powerless to deny herself his company.

She was still wallowing in misery when her office door slammed and she jumped in her seat. Mia stood with her hands on her hips and a concerned expression on her face. “For someone getting laid on a regular basis now, you sure do look miserable.”

“That’s because I want to keep my new amazing sex life,” Gwen groaned.

Mia perched on the chair in front of Gwen’s desk, giving her a questioning look. “Has something happened between you and Dominic?”

Rubbing at the headache that was beginning to form at her temples, Gwen said, “No, he’s more perfect every day.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Mia asked quietly.

She couldn’t hold the truth from her friend any longer, and she was in dire need of support. “He’ll leave when he finds out that I’m not pregnant.”

Mia had nodded once before her eyes bugged out as Gwen’s words sunk in. “Why would he think you might be pregnant? You’ve only been together for what, a few days, haven’t you? Unless . . . ?”

“No, we didn’t have sex before that.” Feeling strangely embarrassed, Gwen told Mia all about the condom mishap, as she had come to think of it.

Mia put her hand on her chest. “Oh, my God, he brings you decaf coffee and folic acid? Where in the world did this man come from? Don’t get me wrong. Seth is usually beyond thoughtful, but I can’t imagine him thinking of vitamins.” Noticing Gwen’s despair, she added, “And now you’re afraid that he’s only Mr. Perfect until he finds out you aren’t pregnant, and then he’ll turn into an asshole?”

“I don’t think Dominic has the asshole gene,” Gwen defended him. “I’m just scared that he’ll take all of himself and his awesomeness and move on to someone else when there is no longer anything holding us together.”

“Gwen,” Mia said gently, “no matter what you want to believe, it was the attraction between you two that brought you together in the first place. If he hadn’t felt the same way he would have shown you the door. You might have had some liquid courage that night, but he’s the one you went straight to. I’ve got a strong hunch that he has been hoping something would happen between you two for a while—and maybe you have as well.”

“It was just sex—men never turn that down,” Gwen argued weakly, afraid to get her hopes up. “And I was dating Mac until very recently.”

“Honey, don’t be dense,” Mia snapped. Gwen braced herself for the tough love she knew was coming. “I’ve seen you and Dominic together a couple of times now and trust me, he doesn’t act like a man just going through the motions until he can move on. He looks at you like there’s no one else even on the planet but you two. I’m not bragging or anything, but I consider both Crystal and myself at least glance worthy, and he only gave us the barest bit of polite interest. We could have been naked and fondling each other’s breasts and the man wouldn’t have noticed or cared. He was centered on you completely. Plus, if Mac was really thinking of Ava while you two were together, I’m pretty sure you were thinking of Dominic as well.”

Ignoring her comment about Mac, Gwen said, “He did take me to dinner with his sister, but we had made plans to go out already when she contacted him. I think he hated to cancel on me.”

“Oh, bullshit.” Mia snorted. “A man just killing time would not have cared about canceling plans with you, and he damn sure wouldn’t want you meeting any family members. Men guard that like some national security secret. He is showing you in every way possible that he’s more than interested in you so don’t go running scared. Nothing has to change between you if you aren’t pregnant.”

Gwen took a few sips of her rapidly cooling coffee while she pondered Mia’s reassurances. Finally, she admitted, “I’m afraid to believe that something this good could be happening to me. I haven’t exactly had much success with my past relationships. Usually, I end up doing everything I can short of proposing to make it work and it just always seems to go into a downward spiral that I’m helpless to stop.”