The Tycoon's Charm: The Tycoon's Paternity Agenda / Honor-Bound Groom. Michelle Celmer

and after a few seconds the moment, whatever it was, seemed to pass.

      “I guess I better go,” she said, glancing back to the nurse who was waiting for her, looking apprehensive, as if the gravity of what she was about to do had suddenly taken hold. “You’ll be there?”

      Maybe she just didn’t want to feel as though she was in this alone. “I’ll be there,” he assured her, and realized that his heart was beating faster. Maybe he was more nervous than he’d thought. Or could it have been something else?

      She started to turn, and before he realized what he was doing, he reached out and grabbed her arm. Startled, she turned back to him, looking at his hand as though she was surprised he would touch her. And honestly, he was a bit surprised himself.

      “You’re sure you want to do this,” he said. “It’s not too late to back out.”

      The apprehension seemed to dissolve before his eyes and she smiled. A really sweet, pretty smile that he was sure he would remember for the rest of his life.

      “I’m sure,” she said, placing her hand over his. “I want to do this.”

      He let his hand slip out from under hers and fall to his side.

      “You can sit in the procedure waiting room,” the nurse said, pointing it out to him. “They’ll call you in when she’s ready.”

      The waiting room was blessedly empty, but after twenty minutes passed he began to worry they had forgotten about him. He was about to get up and ask someone what was taking so long when another nurse appeared in the doorway. She led him to an exam room where Katy was already in position with her feet in the stirrups, ready to go. And other than a bit of bare leg, she was very discreetly covered.

      She looked relieved to see him.

      “Is everyone ready?” the doctor asked, looking from Katy to Adam.

      Adam nodded. Katy took a deep breath, exhaled and said, “Let’s do it.”

      She reached for his hand and he took it, holding firmly as the doctor did the transfer. The procedure itself seemed pretty simple, and if Katy’s occasional winces were any indication, involved only minor discomfort. Within ten minutes it was over.

      “That’s it,” Dr. Meyer said, peeling off his gloves. “Now comes the hard part. The waiting.”

      Per his orders Katy had to lie there for two hours before she would be allowed home, so after the staff cleared the room Adam pulled a chair up beside her and sat down.

      “I think it worked,” she said, looking contentedly serene. “I can almost feel the cells beginning to divide.”

      “Is that even possible?” he asked.

      She shrugged. “Probably not, but I have a good feeling about this.”

      He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but he had a good feeling about it, too. Something about the day, the entire experience felt…special. Like it was meant to be. Which was strange, since he’d never been superstitious.

      She looked over at him and smiled. “If someone had told me a month ago that I would be here today, having fertilized embryos injected into me, I would have told them they were insane.”

      Boy, could he relate. He always knew that someday he would use the embryos, but not with Katy as the surrogate. “If it’s unsuccessful, are you still willing to try again?”

      “Of course! I’m in this for the long haul.” She yawned deeply, her eyes overflowing with tears. “Well, goodness, all of the sudden I feel exhausted.”

      She must have slept as fitfully as he had last night. Plus she’d had that long drive this morning. “Why don’t you close your eyes and rest.”

      “Maybe just for a minute,” she said, her eyes slipping closed. Within minutes her breathing became slow and deep and her lips parted slightly. He sat there looking at her and had the strangest urge to touch her face. To run his finger across her full bottom lip…

      He shook away the thought. He hoped this was a one-shot deal. He hoped the test came up positive, not only because he wanted a child, but because he wanted to get the emotionally taxing part of the process out of the way. This entire experience was doing strange things to his head.

      He sat there for a while, checking messages and reading email on his phone. Then he played a few games of Tetris.

      After an hour, when she was still out cold, he decided to make a few calls. Careful not to disturb her, he stepped out into the hall and called Celia on his cell, asking her to have lunch ready when they got back, then he checked in with his secretary and returned a few other calls that couldn’t wait until he got back to the office. When he finally returned to the room, Katy was awake.

      “Oh, there you are,” she said, looking anxious. “I thought maybe you’d left.”

      Did she really think he would just up and leave her there alone? “Of course not. I just had a few calls to make and I didn’t want to disturb you.” He reclaimed his seat. “Did you have a good nap?”

      “Yeah. I must have gone out cold. All the stress probably. At least now, if we have to do it again, I’ll know what to expect.” She touched his arm. “I wish it could have been Becca here with you.”

      Emotion caught in his throat. “Me, too.”

      There was a knock at the door, then the nurse stuck her head in. “You can get dressed and go now.”

      “Already? I guess I slept longer than I thought.”

      “And don’t forget, strict bed rest for the next twenty-four hours,” she said sternly.

      “Like I could forget that,” she muttered, sitting up.

      Adam waited in the hall while Katy put her clothes on, then they went to the reception desk to make an appointment for her blood test in ten days.

      “Can you believe that ten days from now we’ll know if I’m pregnant?” she said excitedly as they walked down to the limo. His only concern right now was getting her home and back into bed. Although he was sure, the next ten days might just be the longest of his life.

      Seven

      It was official. Katy was starting to dislike Adam a lot less.

      She had just assumed that when they got back to his place he would get her settled, pat her on the head and say good job, then motor off to the office for a shareholders meeting or something equally important sounding. In reality, he had barely left her side all day. She watched television and Adam sat in a chair beside the bed with his laptop.

      He must have asked her a hundred times if there was anything she needed, anything he could do for her. And here she had honestly believed the only person he cared about was himself. He’d even smiled a few times.

      And that kiss back in the doctor’s office? What was up with that? It had been an impulse on her part. After all, what they were doing was pretty personal. It just seemed like the right thing to do. She’d never expected to feel it. Although to be honest she still wasn’t sure what it was exactly that she’d felt. It was an odd sort of…awareness. Not sexual exactly, but not completely innocent, either. It was as if some deeper part of each of them had risen to the surface and collided, causing a sort of cosmic friction or interference or something. And she could tell, by the look on Adam’s face, that he’d felt it, too.

      It had been a weird, but not unpleasant experience. In fact, it felt sort of nice. But that didn’t mean she wanted it to happen again. Unfortunately the more she tried to forget it, forget how smooth his cheek felt, the tangy scent of his aftershave, the more it consumed her.

      She couldn’t help sneaking looks his way, wondering if he was thinking about it, too. But she wasn’t being as sneaky as she thought because he finally looked over at her and asked, “Is there a reason you keep