She did have a point. He let go, brushing his lips back and forth on her shiny nipple one last time. “So have dinner with me tonight.”

“I have a fitting for my bridesmaid dress tonight. Caroline’s wedding is in three weeks.”

“Lunch tomorrow, then.”

“I have an appointment for my ultrasound on my lunch hour.”

Fixing her bra back over her breast, he asked, “Where?”

“At the Downtown Women’s Health Clinic—Broadway and Prince Street—at one o’clock.”

“Dinner tomorrow night, then? We’ll celebrate your healthy baby.”

“Is that all we’ll be doing?” She adjusted the front of her dress and looked at him in question.

“I’m really hoping you’ll agree to come back to my place so I can make love to you all night long. But if not, I’ll settle for dinner.”

His heart pounded and his cock throbbed as he waited for her answer. It meant a lot to him, more than he was willing to admit.

Something was happening to him, and he wasn’t quite sure what it was. The way he felt about Mandy was much stronger than…

“I’ll make sure I bring my toothbrush.”

Relief flooded through him. Relief that Mandy wanted to spend the night with him, and relief that he didn’t have to admit to himself that he cared for Mandy way beyond like.

He had sworn never to love anyone again.

He wouldn’t, couldn’t, do that now.

And if he was lying to himself, there was no one to know but him.

Her bladder was going to burst. Mandy shifted in the waiting room chair and tried not to imagine her muscles suddenly giving way and wetting her pants right here in full view of twenty people.

If they didn’t call her name soon she was going to do something drastic. What, she didn’t know. Screaming seemed overdone. Going to the loo in defiance seemed like a bad plan since they would just make her reschedule her ultrasound. Which left her no options but to sit in silence and suffer, praying her bladder was resilient.

It would probably be a lot easier to handle if she had someone to complain to. But she had turned down Jamie and Caroline’s offer to accompany her. Even Allison had offered, though she’d looked a bit reluctant, which made it all the more sweet. Mandy knew Allison didn’t like anything that smacked of nature, including biological functions.

Mandy hadn’t wanted to bother any of them, and also didn’t want the situation to be awkward, since Ben had insisted he wanted to attend. She could barely handle him on her own. She didn’t think she wanted to chitchat through the tension as her overprotective friends glared at Ben.