Show up, bring boobs.

But she had the feeling now that Ryder wanted her. Her. And no man had ever made her feel like that during sex. And all right, they hadn’t had full-on intercourse-type sex. And she hadn’t seen him naked. And she wasn’t really sure he had seen her so much as had his... Well, that was the most intimate thing she had ever done.

And it had felt wonderful. Wonderful. And nothing had ever felt like that for her. She had never been able to let go with a man like that. Moreover, she hadn’t wanted to. And she had resisted at first. Resisted letting Ryder carry her off into that dark unknown with his arms around her and his tongue...there.

And all today she had been thinking... Why shouldn’t she have that? She had some power here. He wasn’t just coming after her because he wanted to save her from herself. No, he had offered because he wanted her. You couldn’t do that to a woman and not want her; at least she didn’t think so. Sex was one thing, tasting her like that was another. Certainly none of the men she’d been with had ever been... Well, some of them had tried, and she had immediately crawled off the bed. Nearly out of her skin.

The whole thing just had never appealed to her.

But Ryder had done it and...it was like her world had been burned to the ground. But not in a bad way. She had just been standing there watching everything go up in flames around her, and it had seemed beautiful and warm and wonderful.

She had gone up right along with it, and it had still seemed wonderful.

It made her feel different about the whole thing. About him. About his offer.

They were friends after all. Maybe they could manage to be friends with benefits. Maybe they could be friends who had that kind of sex and a baby between them. She had avoided him after dinner, which was maybe a little bit mean. But she was mounting a campaign. She had an idea. Then the very thought of what she was about to do made her feel sick inside, but it had to happen. Because she had to know. Before she made any kind of decisions about whether or not he would be the one. Before she decided how much she was willing to bend and break with his demands...she had to know.

She dotted the insides of her wrist with perfume and looked in the mirror. She didn’t have any makeup on, but she often skipped makeup. Instead, she pinched her cheeks and wet her lips, fluffing her hair and looking at the woman in the mirror.

The woman who was about to take a step with her friend that she wouldn’t be able to take back.

Last night was that step.

Or maybe it was several steps ago. When she had asked if he would be the father of her baby.