"You're a spoiled brat, Cinderella. Has anyone told you that lately?"

"Not since this morning. By the way, when am I going to get the other gla.s.s slipper?" She smiled at him as she sat down on his lap.

"When you promise me that you're not going on tour, and not going to wear yourself out while you're pregnant. If you promise me that, you can have anything you want."

"I may hold you to that."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Was it a question? It sounded more like an order to me." She raised an eyebrow and ran a finger around his ear.

"I'm serious, Kate. This means a lot to me."

"It does to me too. But you don't have to coerce or threaten to get me to take it easy. Trust me a little."

"Not when it comes to your work ... and our child." He looked at her with a small worried frown. "Is that going to be very hard on you, Kate? Handling both, I mean?"

She shook her head, but she didn't answer for a moment. "No." She hoped not anyway, but if so, they'd work it out.

"Had you thought of ... of ..."

But she cut him off before he could say the words. "No, I wouldn't do that," And then she pulled him closer into her arms. "I want your baby, Nick. I think I've always wanted that. Tygue is special, and he has always been just mine. I never got to share him, the waiting, the getting born, all those special moments that come later ... I never had anyone to share that with. With us, with this baby, everything will be different."

"Including the fact that we're not married." He sounded a little embarra.s.sed as he said it, and searched her face again. "Will that be very hard on you and Tygue?"

"Of course not. Tygue's too young to care, and do you really think I care about what people think about that? Besides, we'll get married someday." She looked down at the pale line on her left hand where the wedding ring had once been. "In the meantime, it doesn't really matter. Unless ... will it matter to you? On the show, I mean? Could it cause you problems?" She had to think about that too. Her reputation wasn't the only one at stake, but he was already grinning in response.

"In that crazy world I work in? Are you kidding? They'd think we were strange if we were married and having a baby. But you know, I thought of something last night." He looked momentarily embarra.s.sed and then decided to go ahead and tell her his idea. "If it does bother you, or Tygue, we could tell people that we are married. Who's to know that we're not? We could say we went off somewhere quietly and got married. And then ... later ... we could do just that. n.o.body has to know if we're really married or not." But she was already shaking her head with a look of negative determination.

"Nope. No way, Mr. Waterman, I won't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because when we finally do get married, I am not going to sneak off anywhere to marry you, sir. I am going to do it with more pomp and ceremony and noise and style than you've ever seen. And the whole world is going to know. How about that?"

"You know what, Cinderella?"

"What?" She was smiling as broadly as he.

"For that, you get your other gla.s.s slipper."

She grinned at him and put her mouth over his for a long tender kiss. "Do you have any idea how much I love you, Nicholas Waterman?"

"Want to come upstairs and show me?"

"Anytime, Mr. Waterman. Anytime."

Books by Danielle Steel.

THE WEDDING.

IRRESISTIBLE FORCES.

GRANNY DAN.

BITTERSWEET.

MIRROR IMAGE.

HIS BRIGHT LIGHT:.

THE STORY OF NICK TRAINA.

THE KLONE AND I.

THE LONG ROAD HOME.

THE GHOST.

SPECIAL DELIVERY.

THE RANCH.

SILENT HONOR.

MALICE.

FIVE DAYS IN PARIS.

LIGHTNING.

WINGS.

THE GIFT.

ACCIDENT.

VANISHED.

MIXED BLESSINGS.

JEWELS.

NO GREATER LOVE.

HEARTBEAT.

MESSAGE FROM NAM.

DADDY.

STAR.

ZOYA.