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  She dug in her purse and pulled out the pregnancy test she’d wrapped in a tissue, handing it to him without a word.

  He unwrapped it slowly and she watched the play of emotions on his face as he went from confusion, to recognition and then surprise. His eyes snapped to hers but instead of anger or shock, he merely smiled. “We’re having a baby?”

  She was so surprised by his reaction she only managed a little nod.

  “Wow… when?”

  “I don’t know. I just figured it out today and… I’ve been too freaked out to think about how far I could be. Probably that party in October—we got pretty wild in the bathroom.”

  He chuckled. “So, like four weeks? Are you sure?”

  “According to when I looked it up online, you actually add two weeks or so to it based on the date of your last period. I’m thinking more like six weeks.”

  “A summer baby.”

  She stood up slowly and walked over to him. “Dmitri—I’m pregnant. Not only are we not married, we’re not even a couple.”

  He frowned. “What does that mean? I asked you to be my girl nearly two months ago.”

  She flushed. “Yes, but… no one knows but Royce. And you know damn well your parents aren’t going to be happy because I’m not Greek.”

  “Now that there’s a baby, they’ll have no choice but to come around.” He reached for her, pulling her close and looking into her face. “Honey, aren’t you happy?”

  “Honestly? No. This is just another screw-up in a long line of screw-ups for me.”

  “You didn’t screw up—we did this together. I’ll take full responsibility to everyone, so you don’t have to say or do anything that makes you uncomfortable. It’s too late to worry about how it happened, so let’s focus on what we’re going to do next.”

  “Please don’t say we should get married.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Why not?”

  “We’ve only been serious for two months, and most of that time has been spent apart, with you here in Vegas and me in L.A. Would you be proposing if I wasn’t pregnant?”

  “No, but—”

  “Then there’s no reason for you to do it now.”

  “There is a reason, one that’ll be here in eight months or so.”

  “I’m not trapping anyone like that.” She folded her arms over her chest. “I’ve done some really dumb shit since my parents died, but not this time. You can be as involved as you like, but we’re not getting married.”

  “Do I look trapped to you?” he demanded. “I’m fine with this. I can’t wait to be a dad and I’m crazy about you, Angel. No, I wasn’t planning to propose yet, but we’ve stopped seeing other people and I was hoping we’d tell everyone we’re together during the break around Christmas. My parents, sisters and brother-in-law are flying in to spend the holidays, so the timing would be perfect.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” she said dryly. “Hey… here’s my non-Greek girlfriend, and by the way, she’s already knocked up. Awesome. They’re going to love me.”

  He gave her a weird look. “I think maybe I’m missing something. Are you not into me? Or is this your way of telling me you don’t want it?”

  She stared into his handsome but now frustrated face and struggled to hide her feelings. It was way too soon to tell him how she felt, not after dropping the pregnancy bomb on him. Instead, she reached for his face, cupping one cheek. “You’re incredible. I’ve never met anyone like you and the last few months have been amazing. But I can’t continue to make rash decisions to get myself out of bad situations. If we’re going to get married, we have to be prepared for forever. Not for a year or two because of a baby and then figure out it wasn’t meant to be.”

  He didn’t respond for a while, just looking into her eyes until he finally stepped back and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. She sat next to him and they were both silent until he said, “Do you remember what the first thing I ever said to you was?”

  Warmth spread through her as she nodded, the memory washing over her and reminding her of those first few magical dates. “You said, ‘I don’t know who you are but if you tell me you have a boyfriend I’m going to challenge him to a duel.’”

  “I knew immediately there was something special about you. About us. Your smile lights up the room and when you’re in my arms it feels like our bodies fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. After a couple of months, I discovered you’re not only beautiful, you’re also sarcastic, hard-working and loving, traits I love. You care about Brock and Ashleigh, you still worry about your little sister and you miss your parents a lot. I started falling for you right away.”

  “You did?” She stared at him in surprise.

  He took a breath. “I have a confession to make.”

  “Okay.”

  “I ran into my ex when I was home in New York over Labor Day weekend. We hung out some, talked about the past, reconnected.”

  “And?” She had no idea why he was telling her this.

  “I came home and basically asked you to go steady because I knew there would never be anyone else for me. I had to see if I still had feelings for her and I don’t. I was afraid to admit how I was feeling to you because it was too soon and would scare you off… afraid of all this.”

  “Dmitri.” Her eyes puddled with tears and she leaned over, resting her head against one of his strong, hard biceps. “I don’t think anyone has ever said anything so beautiful to me. I feel it too. I just need a little time to get used to everything. Can we tell Brock and Ashleigh but then take a few weeks to talk and figure out exactly what we want to do? Can you give me a little time?”

  “Yeah.” He slid his arm around her shoulders and pressed a light kiss to the top of her head. “As much time as you need.”

  Chapter Two

  Dmitri was nervous as he pulled into Brock and Ashleigh’s driveway Saturday night for dinner. Angel had told them she had someone for them to meet so they’d invited him to dinner. He and Angel felt bad about letting them think there was someone new in her life, but there was no other way to do it when he and Angel were together and the four of them were somewhere private. He expected Brock to be pissed but he would do whatever was necessary to spare Angel as much discomfort as possible.

  “Hey.” Brock opened the door with a curious look on his face. “What are you doing here?”

  Dmitri cleared his throat. “I’m Angel’s date.”

  Brock’s face changed, his jaw tightening slightly and his eyes narrowing. “You’re dating Angel? Since when?”

  “Brock, I—” Angel began.

  “How the—” Brock began at the same time but then his wife was there, sliding an arm around his waist.

  “Let’s invite him in and go talk.”

  Brock looked like he was going to protest, but his petite wife tugged him away from the door.

  “Hi.” Dmitri pressed a light kiss to Angel’s lips. “How are you?”

  “I feel like I’m going to puke,” she whispered.

  “Everything’s going to be okay.” He wrapped his hand around hers tightly and they followed Brock and Ashleigh.

  “How long has this been going on?” They’d barely sat down before the words spilled from Brock’s mouth.

  “Since summer,” Angel replied.

  “It got serious around the beginning of the season,” Dmitri added. “We were planning to tell everyone, you guys and my family as well, when we were all together at Christmas but…” His voice trailed off and he glanced at Angel, suddenly unsure what to say. He’d take an ass-kicking if it meant making it easier for her, but it was still hard to come clean.

  “But?” Ashleigh prompted when no one spoke.

  “We’re having a baby,” Dmitri said as he blew out a breath.

  “What?!” Brock looked ready to kill someone and Ashleigh put a gentle hand on his forearm.

  “I’m sorry,” Angel whispered, tears filling her eyes.

  “Don’t cry.” Dmitri slid an arm around her shoulder