Amber couldn’t help but notice that he did indeed have the same pale blue eyes as their daughter. His hair, a thick, rich brown, naturally highlighted from the sun, fell recklessly to his collar.

It was the exact shade of Taylor’s.

But the physical attributes weren’t important, not when compared to the heart-wrenching, awestruck way father and daughter stared at each other.

Amber’s chest had tightened at the first sight of Dax, and the fist gripping her heart only tightened with each passing moment. She could hardly stand it.

“What’s her name?” he demanded.

“Dax-”

“Her name, Amber.”

“Taylor Anne.”

“Last name.”

Amber hesitated, only for a second, but he noticed. His jaw tightened. “It’s a simple enough question, I think.”

“Her last name is Riggs,” she said quietly. “But you’re on the birth certificate.”

Dax looked at her then, with eyes as cold as ice and filled with fury.

“I have a copy of it for you,” she added inanely.

“You’re not going to deny it then?”

“No.” Her eyes were filled with bright, scalding tears she refused to shed. “She’s yours, Dax. That was the one thing I never had any doubts about.”

5

“DAMN YOU,” he said softly, the hardened expression on his face melting when Taylor drooled and waved two fists in the air. “How could you not have come to me?”

“I called. You weren’t in your office.”

He swore again, less softly and thrust his hands through his hair. “And you didn’t think that maybe this deserved a second call?”

“I left a message.”

Those ice-blue eyes pinned her to the spot. “I never would have pegged you as cruel, Amber. Never.”

“Oh, Dax. I never meant to be, but I knew how you felt about becoming a father.”

He stared at her in disbelief, so much hurt in his gaze she nearly couldn’t look at him. “You know nothing about me if you thought I’d appreciate your silence on this,” he said quietly.

“I’m sorry.” The words were completely inadequate, and she knew it. “Dax, I’m so sorry. I knew I had to call you again. I planned to, but I just got back into town myself and…” And she’d let her fear stand in the way.

“I looked for you.” His laugh was short and completely without mirth. “I wanted to see you. You were nowhere to be found.”

“I went to Mexico.”

“Alone?”

She nodded.

He looked away from her, down into Taylor’s face. His eyes warmed and he lifted a finger to stroke it down the baby’s face. “What about your family? You didn’t go to them?”

Amber thought of her father, and how he’d reacted to the news of her pregnancy. After his shock, he’d recovered quickly, blaming her mother’s genes. He’d told Amber she was an embarrassment to him. Worse. And that he didn’t want to see her ever again.

She couldn’t admit that shame to Dax. “Going to my family wasn’t an option.”

“No? Well coming to me should have been. You should have told me. I should have been there. For you, for Taylor. For me.”

“I thought-”

“You had no right to make that decision for me, no matter what you thought.” His voice was no more than a whisper, but it was so harsh, she cringed.

“You cheated me,” he said. “You cheated her, your own daughter.”

Amber knew that, God she knew, and she couldn’t possibly feel more cruel or guilty. Speaking past the lump of emotion in her throat was impossible.

“Um…Dax?”

At the soft voice behind them, he stiffened, then drew in an agitated breath before carefully rising to his feet to face the woman who was looking at them, confused.

With clear difficulty, Dax smiled at the beautiful, tall blonde whose stomach seemed ready to pop. “You should be sitting down somewhere,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Waiting for your appointment.”

“What’s the matter?” the woman asked, reaching out for him. “Something’s wrong.”

“I’m fine,” he said.

“No-”

“Suzette.”

Something in his voice must have warned her. Now the woman looked Amber over in frank curiosity, and Amber looked right back. She couldn’t help herself.

Another pregnancy?

“I’m Suzette,” the woman said to her, thrusting out her hand.

Amber stared at it, automatically lifting her own from years of enforced manners, wishing she’d stayed in Mexico, wishing that she and Dax could have had this inevitable confrontation without his “latest” witnessing it, wishing that she was anywhere but here.

“Suzette, this is Amber Riggs,” Dax said.

“Oh, are you a friend of Dax?” Suzette asked her.

Amber figured that as a not-so-subtle attempt to figure out the relationship between her and Dax, and she would have liked to crawl in a hole. “Well-” She glanced at Dax.

No help at all, he just looked at her from fathomless eyes.

Fine. She could handle this. “It’s been awhile since we’ve-”

Dax raised a brow.

“-seen each other,” she finished. “A year.”

“Well it must be nice to run into each other.” Suzette smiled. “And here of all places. How funny.”

Hysterical.

Taylor chose that moment to squeal loudly, making her instant hunger known to everyone within hearing distance. Amber tried to soothe her by giving her a pacifier, but she spit it out and turned bright red, a sure sign of an upcoming fit.

“Let me,” Dax said, reaching for the baby. His eyes dared Amber to defy him.

She wouldn’t, not over this. She handed Taylor over.

At the loss of her mom’s arms, Taylor let out an indignant howl.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Dax asked, expertly cuddling the baby close.

She’s had only me! Amber wanted to say, but at the equal mixture of terror and joy on Dax’s face, she restrained herself. “She’s hungry. I have formula.”

“You aren’t…?” Dax jutted his chin out toward her chest. “Breastfeeding?”

“Yes,” Amber said quickly, feeling herself go red at his bluntness. To add insult, her body betrayed her by reacting to his nonsexual gaze in a very sexual way. Her tummy fluttered, her nipples hardened. “When we’re out, I’d rather give her a bottle.”

“Oh.” Appeased, Dax looked down at his daughter, his expression so bare and honest and fierce she could hardly stand it.

Suzette jumped when her name was called from the main desk. “Oh, dear. It’s time.”

“Yeah.” Dax nodded toward a man who’d just gotten off the elevator. “Look, there’s Alan. You’ll have a ride home.”

“But-”

“See you,” he said, kissing her cheek, nudging her gently away.

The look Suzette shot Dax over her shoulder was filled with questions.

“Have a good one,” Dax said, waving, ignoring her silent curiosity. “Talk to you later.”

“Yeah. You’d better.” With one last glance, Suzette left them to walk toward the man, but that last look Dax received wasn’t difficult to read.

She wanted answers.

Amber wondered if she’d get them. “She’s pretty,” she said inanely. “When is she due?”

“A week or so.”

Taylor reached out with a wet fist, and partly by luck, latched onto the front of Dax’s T-shirt. There was already a drool stain down the front of him, then she tugged, wrinkling it. Amber winced but Dax simply cupped the back of her little head with his big hand and smiled at her.

Watching them, Amber’s heart wrenched. She didn’t want to see how wonderfully perfect the two of them looked together, father and daughter, but there was no missing it. “Shouldn’t you be going into the appointment with Suzette?”

“Me?” Dax glanced after Suzette’s wobbly figure. “She’ll be okay.”

Anger vanquished her guilt. “Oh, I see. You don’t need to be there for all the hard work, right? Only the fun stuff.”

Dax’s mouth opened at that, then carefully shut. In spite of the hurt and anger still clearly visible, he let out a little disbelieving laugh. “Tell me you don’t think Suzette’s baby is mine.”

Amber lifted her chin, gave him her best intimidation stare.

He didn’t even flinch. “My God. You do.”

“I don’t know what I think.”

“Yes, you do. You’re just too polite to share it.”

She lifted her chin another notch and he shook his head, disgusted. “Suzette’s my sister, Amber. Alan is her husband.”

It was hard to remain indignant, she realized, when she was an idiot. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” He leaned close, close enough that she caught the scent of him, one hundred percent male. It was so achingly familiar, it would surely haunt her that night.

“Fun stuff?” he asked, his brow raised. “Is that what you call it?”

She managed to keep her eyes level with his, barely, but she couldn’t control the blush she felt creeping up her face.

“I have to admit, I find it as ‘fun’ as the next guy,” he said a little thickly, his gaze dropping to her mouth for just an instant. “But as I recall, what we shared was a hell of a lot hotter than just ‘fun.’ In fact, it was downright scorching.”

Though he was right, she swallowed hard. The ball of lust he’d created inside her didn’t go down though. “Stop it.”

“You headlined my fantasies for weeks,” he told her in that same sexy tone. “The way you cried my name, remember? And those sexy little mewling sounds you make when you come-”

“Stop.”

The teasing left him instantly and he straightened. “You’re right, this is not amusing. Not in the slightest.” He shifted Taylor closer, looking like a natural dad. “Let me ease your mind,” he said curtly, in direct opposition to the gentle way he surrounded his daughter. “I told you I’m not married. That’s still true.”

The leap in her heart was ruthlessly ignored.

“And you’re right about one thing,” he agreed. “I might never have chosen to be a father, not yet, but in no way does that mean I won’t be the best dad in the world to my baby. I’m a responsible man, Amber, though I have no idea why I’m explaining myself to you, when you obviously didn’t care enough to even ask.”