Marcus took the tearful little girl, who stopped crying as soon as he lifted her up to his face. “Well, aren’t you a pretty little thing?”

The mother beamed. “I know, she’s gorgeous, isn’t she?”

He nodded, never once taking his eyes from the baby’s toothless grin. “What’s your name?” he asked the baby as if she could answer, and she happily replied with a gurgling mountain of spit bubbles.

Without missing a beat, he used her bib to wipe off the spit...and Nicola started falling.

She wasn’t sure how long she stood there staring openmouthed at how good Marcus was with the baby—he was now maneuvering her as if she was a mini diapered airplane, even making the noises to go along with it—until the kid’s mother said, “Found the camera.”

Nicola snapped to attention as if from out of a deep fog. The kids were now standing on either side of her, smiling for the camera.

Oh God. She couldn’t possibly be falling for him already. She hardly knew him, didn’t know what he did for a living, or what he did for fun.

But, a contrary little voice in her head told her, don’t you already know everything that matters? That he loves his family and is good with children and has been kinder—and gentler—to you than anyone else ever has? Not to mention the way you go up in flames when he kisses you....

“Say cheese!”

Nicola smiled for the camera, the same smile she’d given thousands of times over during the past few years. But when the woman turned the viewer around and said, “Look at how cute you all are,” she was shocked to realize it wasn’t the same smile at all.

Instead of Nico the pop star smiling back at her, it was Nicola, a woman who’d just been flattened by unexpected emotion, looking utterly bewildered by what had just hit her.

Wanting desperately to reset back to normal again, she turned her complete focus on the kids, asking them their names, what grades they were in, if they had a favorite song. She asked their mother if she could have their email to send special concert tickets over for her show on Saturday night.

Finally, Marcus put the baby back in her stroller and gently strapped her in. The family left, calling goodbye. She waved back at them, glad for the movement to hide how unsteady her hands were.

Marcus pushed the elevator button again and followed her in, his hand on the small of her back, just as it had been the night before when they’d walked out of the club. She was immediately enveloped by his heat, along with that sense of safety she’d felt from the first moment she’d met him in the club.

She pressed the button for the penthouse suite and when the elevator doors closed, he said, “You were great with those kids."

“I love kids,” she admitted to him. “They’re so honest about their feelings.”

“Honesty means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

She thought about Kenny, about how he’d betrayed her trust. “It means everything to me.” Realizing how serious a turn their conversation had taken—and that if she wasn’t careful she’d be crying on his shoulder about how bad it hurt to be lied to, she smiled and said, “I’ve never seen a baby take to anyone so fast.”

He didn’t deflect her compliment, but simply said, “I’ve spent a lot of time with babies over the years.”

She’d wanted to ask him about his family last night in the taxi after speaking with his mother, but she hadn’t let herself because she’d been afraid of building a connection deeper than sex with him. Well, she was already screwed on that front, wasn’t she? How could it possibly hurt much more to drill the screw in a little deeper?

“Lori adores you. I take it the rest of your brothers and sisters do, too?”

“We watch out for each other.”

“It sounds like it’s mostly you watching out for them,” she pointed out.

“Do you have any siblings?”

“Two younger brothers.”

“Let me guess,” he said. “They both drive shiny new cars courtesy of their big sister.”

She had to laugh at the way he’d turned it around on her and pointed out that she did just the same thing with her own family. “I knew I shouldn’t, but I just couldn’t help myself.”

“When Lori and Sophie turned sixteen I threw them one heck of a party at a safari place near Napa.”

“Complete with elephants and zebras?”

“Alligators and pythons, too.”

“No wonder Lori loves you so much,” Nicola teased, but then, before she could stop herself, she added, “Although I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t need to spend a dime on her and she would love you just as much.”

His smile slowly receded at her very personal statement, one that included multiple uses of the word love.

Wow. Way to play it cool.

Not.

Thankfully, the door opened to the penthouse just then and she was able to hide her flaming cheeks from him as they walked to her half of the top floor. She pulled her key card out of her bag and opened the door.

She appreciated it when Marcus didn’t make a big deal out of how nice the room was. It always made her uncomfortable when people all but asked what her net worth was.

The thirty minutes since they’d left the dance studio seemed like hours ago now. She felt awkward and unsure of herself again. “I’m all icky from rehearsal. I should probably go take a shower.”

Marcus shut the door behind her and locked it. When he looked at her, his eyes held none of their earlier laughter from discussing their families.