He wanted to leap at her, drag her to the carpeted floor, bite her neck. At the unruly thought, his cock hardened, and he turned away. Every inch of her body shouted she would not welcome a physical overture right now, as she had in New Orleans.

He was so close to losing her, if he had not done so already. She didn’t have a bag with her, which meant she wasn’t here as a lover. She might only be present as the mother of his child.

Instead of approaching, he paced restlessly through the expansive suite. “You said you weren’t waiting. Have you started to date?”

She exploded. “What the fuck is wrong with you? I’m pregnant. You and I were just together a couple of weeks ago. My husband died last month! Who do you think I am? And anyway, it’s none of your business.”

He had reached the floor-to-ceiling windows and crossed his arms while he stared out at the evening lights. Las Vegas sparkled at night. Even in his faint reflection in the glass, he could see how his eyes burned.

Don’t turn, don’t let her see what is in your face.

When he could trust himself to sound restrained, he replied, “You get to date who and when you want. You said yourself that you and Sullivan hadn’t been in a real marriage for a long time. As far as who I think you are, I think you’re a beautiful woman with strength and integrity. You’re a woman of your word. You told me some pretty sweeping and important things, and I’m asking you for clarification.”

Silence throbbed. “I have no interest in dating,” she told him, her voice stilted with held-back emotion. “I’ve barely begun my training with Sarah, and as I just pointed out, my life is complicated.”

He nodded. His hands were clenched into fists underneath his crossed arms. “Would you be interested in dating me if our lives were appropriately arranged to do so?”

“They’re not,” she said flatly.

He watched her reflection. She walked over to sit at the edge of the bed and put her head in her hands.

“Because I would date you,” he said quietly. “I would see you every opportunity you would let me. I would go with you to the doctor appointments, sit in on every ultrasound, listen to the baby’s heartbeat with you. I would make love to you in the morning while we shut out the rest of the world, and I would kiss the back of your neck while you cooked us breakfast.”

He had done that in New Orleans. He could tell the moment she remembered it as her head lifted.

She wiped her face and whispered, “What do you want from me?”