"Well, you know... you could do a couple of pushups." My tone was serious as I looked him over. "And maybe some bicep curls."

"Oh really?" His voice was light with humor and his blue eyes sparkled. "Is that all?"

"Your abs look a little flabby." I pretended to look embarra.s.sed for him. "So maybe some sit-ups as well."

"I promise I'll still love you if you get fat." He grinned at me and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Uh huh."

"It could happen soon if you're pregnant."

"Oh," I groaned. "My body." I clutched my stomach and twirled around. "My modeling days will be over."

"You can model for me any day of the week, baby."

"Don't you mean night?"

"Day or night. I'm always ready to be wowed by your beauty."

"Liar! Way to try and b.u.t.ter me up, flabby chest." I giggled and reached over to run my hands down his chest. "Now get ready so we can go eat. I'm hungry."

"I'm guessing that's not for me?" He looked at me hopefully and I walked away from him, laughing.

"I'm going downstairs, Don Juan. Hurry."

"I used to be the one who said that." He grabbed his towel and started drying off his body, and I felt my face flush as I thought about all the things I could be doing to him right now.

"Don't be long." I ran out of the room and down the stairs. I walked to the kitchen slowly, stopping to look outside into the backyard. There were a lot of pretty flowers in bloom, and I stared as they swayed in the light wind. The pinks and the yellows against the deep green of the gra.s.s made me feel warm and cozy inside. I decided to make some coffee and come back and sit outside while I waited for Zane.

As I sat drinking my coffee, a sudden panic rose up in me. What if I was pregnant? Was I allowed to drink coffee? I knew I wasn't supposed to drink alcohol, but I had no idea about coffee. I had no idea about anything that had to do with pregnancies and babies. I'd never really been around any pregnant women. A wave of sadness crashed down on my heart as I realized I couldn't even ask my mom for help. I pictured my mother's smiling face and I thought about what she would say if she knew the situation I was in and how irresponsible I had been. I groaned as the enormity of everything I had done came crashing down on me. I had basically quit my job and had withdrawn from school-all for a guy. A guy I barely knew. A guy who had more issues than I did. A guy I wasn't sure would ever be able to fully give me his heart, no matter how much he wanted to. A man who may have gotten me pregnant. How was I going to go back to school with a baby? Would I now be a college dropout? I knew my mother would have admonished me. She and my father would have been upset at my choices. I should have asked Zane to let me finish college first. I should have held on to my rules a little longer.

A noise behind me distracted me from my thoughts and I looked behind me. I saw Zane walking through the living room and into the kitchen, and my heart lit up. It literally felt as if someone had lit a match and the warmth was heating up my entire body. I felt light and happy, and as I watched him, I knew that I wouldn't have done anything differently if I had to do it all over again. This was my moment. He was my Zane and this was how it was meant to be. I just hoped that everything worked out the way that I wanted it to. I wasn't sure if I would be able to cope if it all went wrong.

"Where do you want to go for breakfast?" Zane joined me outside in the garden and drank his coffee.

"I don't know. Maybe we can grab something and go eat in the park?"

"Like a picnic?"

"I guess."

"I suppose I should get some flowers and champagne as well?" He grinned at me.

"Well, I don't know if I can drink." I bit my lip and blushed as he realized what he had said.

"s.h.i.t! I didn't even think about that." His face turned serious. "I don't really know much about babies."

"Neither do I." I put my mug down and picked some of the flowers next to me. "In fact, I know nothing."

"What a fine pair we make." Zane chuckled and I looked up to see his eyes were shining with mirth. "We'll have to take some cla.s.ses. And read some books. Yes, let's go to the bookstore and get some books."

"Before or after we shop for new sheets and groceries?"

"I guess we can go and get the books tomorrow."

"Let's wait to see if I'm pregnant first." I heard the words coming out of my mouth, but they seemed so surreal. Everything seemed surreal. I pressed my hand to my forehead and closed my eyes.

"What's wrong?" Zane rushed towards me with concern in his voice. "Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes and saw him staring at me with worry. I smiled at him shyly, not sure how to feel about him being so protective. On the one hand, it made me feel like he really cared, but then it also made me feel like he thought I was weak. And I never wanted to be that weak girl. Not again. I'd matured past that.

"Do you need to go lie down?" He reached over to pick me up, and I pushed him away.

"No, I want to go and eat. Preferably pancakes."

"Pancakes on a picnic?" Zane gave me his special 'I like you, but you're kind of kooky' look, and I had a vision of him at the diner a few months ago, sitting at his special booth, waiting for his date to decide between a garden salad and a veggie burger. I had stood there waiting patiently, trying not to tap my foot and sigh, and he had given me a special look while his date had taken her sweet time thinking about what to order. I can still remember the special feeling that had caressed me and I laughed now as I had then: uncontrollably and hysterically. I was laughing so hard that I had to bend over to catch my breath. "You okay, Lucky?"

"Yes," I gasped. "Just don't make that look again." I hiccupped and Zane wiggled his eyebrows at me. "Or do that," I glared at him and he contorted his face.

"Would you rather me look like a scary monster?"

"You're still a handsome scary monster."

"She thinks I'm handsome, she thinks I'm handsome." He jumped up and ran around the garden, pumping his fist in the air, and I laughed again. This time I was able to control it and I watched him running around like a man with no worries or concerns. For that brief moment, everything was all right and was going to be fine. There was nothing that was weighing our minds down.

"Zane, are you done yet? I'm hungry." I jumped up and looked at the flowers still in my hand. "And what flowers are these? I love them."

He walked over to me, still smiling, and looked down at the stems in my hand. He picked up the flower with the huge white petals and a green center and smiled. "This is my favorite; it's a Pom Daisy."

"A Pom Daisy? Like a pom-pom?" I questioned, secretly happy that his favorite flower was my favorite of all the flowers in his garden as well.

"Well, you can't do a cheer with it, but yes," he laughed.

"I bet you dated all the cheerleaders in high school, didn't you?" A flash of jealousy hit me as I asked the question and I surveyed his face intently. I wanted to ask him what sort of girls he usually dated, but I knew that would be opening Pandora's Box and I didn't really want to go there.

"Not all." He stared back at me. "Just some."

"Oh, sounds like me, I only dated some of the football players," I retorted instinctively. I groaned inside at my words. How immature was I?

"I'm sure they all wanted to date you," he said lightly, his eyes piercing into mine. "Now, this flower here," he continued and picked up another flower from my hand. "This flower is an Amaryllis. It's a native plant of South America. Do you see how the petals are red on the outside and white on the inside? Well, I always call these petals blood-soaked."

"Blood-soaked?" My voice rose. "Well, that's morbid."

"I know." He grinned and handed the two flowers back to me. "I wish I had some roses to give you, then I could recite Shakespeare or make up my own ditty: Lucky, let me count the ways that ..."

"You want to eat me," I interrupted laughing.

"Well, among other things."

"Zane!" I grabbed his hand and pulled him inside with me. "Let's go out. And no more s.e.xual innuendos for the rest of the day."

"That I can't promise."

I licked the last drops of syrup from the corners of my mouth and grinned at Zane. "I can't believe I've never noticed the way you eat before." I watched as he put his cutlery down on the plate. "You're so prim and proper, Miss Emily would be so proud."

"Who's Miss Emily?" He looked at me in confusion.

"The etiquette queen, duh."

"Oh you mean Emily Post?"

"Yes!"

"I've never heard her called Miss Emily before. It must be a southern thing."

"I'm not southern," I growled.

"You're from the South."

"I'm from Florida."

"Florida's in the south." He grinned. "Or do you need a geography lesson?"

"I know it's in the south, but it's not the South like South Carolina and Arkansas. Now they are the South."

"What about Alabama and Mississippi?"

"Well, they are as well." I rolled my eyes at him as if to say, duh.

"So all the states in the south are the South aside from Florida?"

"That's not what I mean."

"So are you telling me I'm not dating a Southern Belle?"

"I'm telling you that if you're looking for Scarlett O'Hara, you're dating the wrong girl."

"Did your grandparents live on a plantation? Did they have slaves? Did your mother have a mammy?" Zane c.o.c.ked his head at me and I reached over and slapped his hand.

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Tell me, Lucky, what do you think of the Civil War? Do you wish the South had won?"

"Zane Beaumont," I growled. "I do declare that you're trying to upset my righteous mind, but I will not let you do that to me this fine morning." I spoke in my best Southern accent and we both laughed.

"It's fascinating though." Zane looked up at me seriously. "Our country has such a rich and deep history. Our grandparents lived such different lives, had such different views. I sometimes wonder what life would be like if certain things didn't change."

"I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have lived in the 1940s." I paused and looked up to make sure I wasn't boring him. "And in the Middle Ages."

"The Middle Ages?"

"Yes, I've always wanted to witness what society was like during that time. There was an expansion of population of about 35 million to 80 million people in Europe between 1000 and 1347. Can you believe that? That's incredible! And then there were the religious crusades and the system of feudalism was introduced. It's all so fascinating."

"Wow, you really do love history."

"I do. My heart is with modern history, as you know, and the Civil Rights Movement, but I'm a bit of a European history buff as well. I've often thought about doing my dissertation on the parallels between the Middle Ages and the Civil Rights Movement."

"There are parallels?" Zane looked surprised and I laughed.

"Well, I'd have to research. That's the point." I laughed and then looked down as I remembered that I may never get to do that research. I'm not sure how I would be able to do it if I were pregnant and had a baby. How would I be able to go to grad school then?

"What's wrong?" Zane frowned as he saw my expression change.

"Nothing." I smiled brightly, not wanting to share my thoughts with him. "Are you done? We still have to go shopping." I changed the subject quickly.

"Did you know that when I was in school, we learned about William the Conqueror and Harold of Hastings, and Noah and I would always play a game called The Battle of Hastings comes to Los Angeles?" Zane smiled at the memory. "And we used Star Wars light sabers that my dad got us. And we would run around, zapping each other." He laughed. "I just remembered that, that was a fun game."

"I'm impressed that you remember what happened in 1066." I smiled at him gently and leaned forward. "You're more of a history buff than I thought."

"I should note that William had R2D2 on his side and Harold had C-3PO and we weren't fighting for England, but for the moon," Zane laughed.

"Well, as long as it was for the moon." I reached over and grabbed his hand. "I wish I would have gotten to meet Noah." I spoke gently, not wanting to upset him.

"So do I." He laid some money on the table and stood up. "Now, let's go shopping."

"I can't believe you wanted to come to Ikea." Zane looked lost in the sea of people. "I can't say that I've ever been here before, but I've never heard it was the place to get bedding."

"I don't know that it's the place to get bedding, but it is the place to get affordable bedding." I made a face at him.

"I don't want to push the fact that I have money in your face. But I don't need to go to the Costco of bed sheets."

"This isn't the Costco of bed sheets, you sn.o.b." I shook my head. "In fact, I don't even know what that means. How can this be the Costco of bed sheets? Do you think we're going to get a big pack of 10 sheets and duvets?" I laughed. "To go with our 100 pack of toilet paper."

"You can get a 100 pack of toilet paper rolls?" Zane looked like a light bulb had gone off in his head. "You mean I could buy a lifetime's supply of toilet paper on one trip?"

"Zane! Focus, we're here to buy sheets and a duvet cover."

"I'd still like to know why we're in an Ikea, and not some sw.a.n.ky store in Beverly Hills."

"I can't afford to buy sheets in Beverly Hills." I sighed. "I wanted this to be my treat to you because you're changing them for me."

"Lucky, no." Zane looked at me in shock. "You can't afford that."