“Your butt is not spreading.” The very thought made him smirk. The look on her face caused him to straighten up and slap a sober expression in place of the grin.

She didn’t appear placated.

“Instead of talking about my backside, what is it you wanted to say?” Mandy looked around the restaurant, which was a sterile and cool Pan-Asian place. “And when is the food going to get here? I’m absolutely starving.”

She was being snarky, she knew it. But she was hungry and tired. Staying up all night having sex had sapped her energy. It was one more thing to stress over. She was having a little trouble picturing herself waking every two hours to feed an infant.

Plus she was worried about Damien. He loved her. She believed that he did, sincerely. But he wasn’t discussing the future with her, and while she couldn’t blame him, since they were just getting started on their relationship, she felt a sense of urgency. This wasn’t the same for her as it was for him.

He probably needed to take things slowly, cautiously. After all, his wife had been killed, violently. Mandy was the first woman he had made love to in all that time, the first woman he had expressed feelings for.

But while he needed to adjust, she felt the need to know her future now. She had enough concerns and fears and life changes, she just didn’t think she could wait around and see how all this was going to turn out.

She wanted a commitment or she didn’t want anything at all. Her heart, her willpower, wasn’t strong enough to continue on dating him indefinitely, waiting for him to figure out what he might want. Regardless of how she felt, her child was her number one concern.

Her daughter.

The very thought of her baby made her flush with happiness.

“We can order an appetizer. I’ll flag the waitress down and see how long it’s going to be.”

He was trying, she’d give him that. She was being peevish, and he was just concerned about her.

“I can wait a few more minutes.”

“Ben stopped by the apartment this morning while you were sleeping,” he said, before she’d even completely finished her sentence.

“What?” That startled her stomach off thoughts of food. “What did he want?”

“He never did say what he came by for originally once he realized that you and I…that we…” Damien cleared his throat.

“Oh, God! You let him know we’re sleeping together?” She could only imagine what Ben must have thought. That she was a slut was the first thought that came to mind.

“Well, it was kind of obvious.”