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

know if the procedure worked.

      He was both excited and dreading it. Hopeful but conflicted. From his home office, where he’d been working while waiting for her to arrive, he heard the doorbell. Even though he was sure it was Katy, he let Celia answer it.

      After a minute, Celia knocked on his door. “Katy is here, and I think something is wrong. She ran straight upstairs to the spare bedroom. And it looked like she’d been crying.”

      He bolted up from his chair, his heart in the pit of his stomach.

      With Celia close behind Adam rushed up the stairs to the spare room. The door was open, so he stepped inside. The door to the bathroom was closed. He knocked softly and asked, “Katy, are you all right?”

      “Give me a minute,” she called.

      He walked back over to the bedroom door to wait with Celia. After several minutes the bathroom door opened and Katy emerged. She was in her girls’ clothes, and her red-rimmed eyes said she probably had been crying.

      Ridiculous as it was, his first instinct was to take her in his arms and try to comfort her, which was exactly why he didn’t.

      “What’s wrong?” he asked.

      “I had some light cramping this morning before I left, but I thought it might just be a fluke.” She sniffled and swiped at the tear that had spilled over onto her cheek. “But it wasn’t.”

      The disappointment was all-encompassing. “You’re not pregnant?”

      She bit her lip and shook her head. “I was so sure it worked. I really expected to be pregnant.”

      Celia crossed the room and gathered Katy in her arms, and Adam couldn’t help thinking that it should be him comforting her. But he was glad Celia had stepped in for him.

      “You’ll have more chances,” Celia assured her, rubbing her back soothingly. “I know it’s disappointing, but it will happen.” She looked over at Adam and gestured to the box of tissue on the nightstand.

      He plucked one out and brought it to her. Celia took it and pressed it into Katy’s hand. “Why don’t I make you a soothing cup of chamomile tea?”

      Katy sniffled and nodded.

      Celia turned and gave Adam a look, then jerked her head in Katy’s direction, as if to say “Console her, you idiot.” But he couldn’t seem to make himself do it.

      Katy stood there dabbing her eyes. “I was so sure I was pregnant.”

      “The doctor said it could take a few times.”

      “I know, but I had such a good feeling.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m so sorry, Adam.”

      “Sorry for what?”

      “I feel responsible.”

      She looked so damned…forlorn. And Katy never struck him as the kind of woman to cry on a whim. He recalled that even at Becca’s funeral she’d held it together. And how could he just stand there, like a selfish bastard, when he was the one who put her in this situation? Had he really grown so cold and unfeeling?

      Or was it that he felt too much?

      “I’m sorry,” she said in a wobbly voice. “I’m acting stupid.”

      Another tear spilled over and rolled down her cheek, and he cringed. The gene all men possessed that made them wither at the sight of a crying female kicked into overdrive. Besides, if he didn’t do something, she would probably just interpret it as him being mad at her, or something equally ridiculous.

      Feeling he had no choice, he stepped closer and tugged her into his arms. She came willingly, leaning into the embrace, hands fisted against his chest, head tucked under his chin.

      There it was again, just like when she’d kissed his cheek, that feeling of awareness. As if every touch, every sensation was multiplied tenfold. The softness of her body where it pressed against his. The flowery scent of her hair. The flutter of her breath through his shirt and the warmth that seemed to seep through her clothing to his skin.

      His body began to react the way any man’s would. Well, any man who hadn’t been this physically close to a woman in three years. Or intimate in closer to four. Until recently he couldn’t say he’d missed it. He’d barely given any thought to sex. It was as if his body had been in deep hibernation, unable to feel physical pleasure.

      But he sure as hell could feel it now. And if he didn’t get a hold of himself, she would feel it, too.

      “I’m sorry,” she said again.

      “Would you stop apologizing.”

      “I just feel like, maybe if I had done something different, if I had been more careful.”

      Beating herself up over this wasn’t going to change anything. “It was nothing you did.”

      “But you only have embryos for two more attempts. What if those fail, too?”

      “I knew going into this that there was a chance it wouldn’t work. I do have other options.”

      “But then the last of Becca will be gone forever.”

      “Katy, look at me.” She didn’t move, so he cradled her chin in his palm and lifted her face to his. Big mistake. Her eyes were wide and sad, and so blue he could almost swim in their depths, and when they locked on his, the sensation was so intense he felt it like a physical blow. Whatever it was he’d been about to say to her was lost.

      Her lips parted, like she might speak, and his eyes were drawn to her mouth. Though he knew it was wrong, never had the idea of kissing a woman intrigued him this way. And clearly whatever craziness was causing this, it was doing the same to her. He could tell, by the sudden shift in her demeanor, by the look in her eyes, that she was going to kiss him again. And he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to stop her.

      Not only did he not stop her, but as she rose up, he leaned in to meet her halfway.

      Their lips touched and whatever was left of his common sense evaporated with their mingling breath. His only coherent thought was more. Whatever she was willing to give, he would take.

      So thank God Celia chose that exact instant to call up from the base of the stairs, “The tea is ready!”

      Katy pulled away from him, eyes wide with the realization of what they had just done.

      “We’ll be down in a minute,” he called to Celia.

      “Oh, my God,” she whispered, reaching up to touch her lips. “Did you feel that?”

      Feel it? His heart was about to pound out of his chest. And he couldn’t stop looking at her mouth.

      He needed to get a hold of himself.

      “Okay, this is not that bad,” she said, trying to rationalize a situation that was completely irrational. “We’re both disappointed, and upset. That’s all. This doesn’t mean anything. Right?”

      Leave it to Katy to take the situation and blow it wide open.

      “Right. We’re just upset.” He didn’t know if he actually believed it, but it seemed to be what she needed to hear. Why couldn’t she be one of those women who was content to pretend everything was fine. Like Becca. It had been like pulling teeth to get her to admit when there was a problem, or she was upset about something.

      Of course, that had been no picnic, either. Was there no happy medium?

      “We need to call the doctor’s office,” Katy said. “Find out what we should do.”

      He was glad one of them was thinking clearly. Because the only clear thought he was having right now was how much he’d like to see her naked again.

      They had opened a door, and he couldn’t help wondering if it was only a matter of time before someone stepped through.

      *