What If I'm Pregnant...? by Carla Cassidy

Colette.
    They finished the meal discussing more banal topics—the weather, the tourist attractions in Kansas City, the latest tattoo craze that had swept the country.
    â€œI thought about getting a tattoo once,” she shocked Tanner by saying. “I was going to get a butterfly on my ankle.”
    â€œWhat changed your mind?”
    She daintily dabbed her napkin to her mouth, then returned it back to her lap. “Besides the fact that I’m really not into self-inflicted pain, I decided I didn’t want to spend the money.”
    â€œMoney is important to you,” he observed. He thought he knew what her answer would be. She was a cool, calculating businesswoman, and money had to be what drove her.
    She took a sip of her water and cocked her head, her brow wrinkled in thought. “Yes and no,” she surprised him by saying. “Certainly money is important in that I want to be able to pay my rent and buy groceries and pay bills. But it’s all about more than money.”
    She paused a moment and took another sip of her water, then smiled a sad little smile that touched Tanner’s heart. “I grew up listening to my mother tell me I’d probably never amount to anything. Whenever Lillian was unhappy with her own life, she said hurtful things to me. Instead of getting upset, I grew more determined to be successful, to get myself in a position where I never had to depend on or need anyone other than myself.”
    â€œNeeding others isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Tanner protested, surprised to find himself disturbed by her words.
    At that moment their waitress arrived to ask if either of them would care for dessert. “Not for me,” Colette said. “I couldn’t eat another bite.”
    â€œMe, neither,” he agreed. The waitress slid his bill on the table, then departed. “Are you ready?” he asked.
    Colette nodded and placed her napkin on the table. Tanner paid the bill, then together he and Colette left the restaurant.
    As the driver took them back to her apartment building, Tanner found himself thinking about everything he had discovered about Colette over the meal.
    She was softer than he’d initially believed. In talking a little bit about her mother and her past, she’d banished the picture he’d had of her as a cold, hard businesswoman without a heart.
    Although she talked like a woman who was strong and independent, there had been moments when vulnerability had shone from her eyes, trembled slightly at her lips.
    â€œThank you, Tanner,” she said as the driver pulled up in front of her building. “It was a lovely dinner.”
    He didn’t want the night to end. He wasn’t ready to part from her yet. They got out of the car, and he walked with her to the door. “It’s early still. Aren’t you going to invite me up for coffee?”
    He saw indecision flicker in her eyes. “I don’t know….” She looked at her wristwatch.
    â€œJust a quick cup,” he said. “I promise I won’t stay long.”
    She hesitated another moment, then nodded her assent. “All right. A quick cup of coffee.”
    And maybe a kiss or two, Tanner thought to himself as he followed her inside. He’d never met a woman whom he sensed needed to be kissed more than Colette Carson.

Chapter Seven
    C olette had not wanted to invite him inside. But after the lovely meal they’d just shared, she couldn’t deny him a quick cup of coffee.
    As they rode up in the elevator together, she again felt slightly overwhelmed by his nearness. She felt his gaze on her but kept her own focused on the elevator indicator that showed the floors they passed.
    When the elevator stopped and the doors whooshed open, he placed his hand in the small of her back. She felt the heat of his casual touch through the material of her dress, burning through the thin silk slip and panty hose.
    She breathed a sigh of