Too bad her poorly dressed behind was hanging out, ruining the entire effect of that scene. When Chance deposited her at the door of the master bath, Melora touched his arm and looked up at him imploringly.“Uhm, Chance… How about I let you catch up with your father? I’ll see you later… maybe?!”          His hand closed over hers with a telling squeeze.“Not a chance in hell, babe! I’m giving you thirty minutes and then you’ll sit there with us enjoying breakfast and making small talk with Professor Benson. That’s what good, supportive, wonderful girlfriends do for their men,” he replied and smiled mischievously at her.  “Oh… I see it now… Tell me, Chance Benson, are you afraid of your father?”          She rais

          Minutes later they were rounding the top level of the parking garage in Chance’s building. The sun burned low in the sky, casting the plain concrete supports in gilded rays.“It was incredible, Chance!”          He barely heard her over the roar of the engine echoing through the structure and waited until he’d pulled to a stop and cut the engine to respond. Pushing the machine up on its stand, Chance grinned.“Glad you had fun.”“I’m not entirely sure fun even begins to describe it…”          She was so hyped… Chance stripped off his helmet and then turned to help her with hers. Damn it! That smile was enough to drive a man crazy. And about that… he had some payback to attend to.“Come here!”  

“Mother, Brando’s here,” Melora called, watching from the front window as the black Porsche pulled into the circular drive.          It had been weeks since she’d seen Brando and, aside from the one brusque call she’d received about the folly of getting involved with ‘Benson’, he’d been unusually quiet, busy running ‘Channing Industries’ outstandingly well.          Heading to the foyer, Melora heard the thud of a car door and then stilled mid-step at the sound of another. A moment later the front door swung open wide and her brother strode in, an insolent grin on his face and Charlton behind him. Melora’s back straightened, her jaw setting hard.“Hey, Mel,” Brando said in a naughty tone as he crossed to take her in a quick hug. “Hope you don’t mind that I’ve

          Melora’s gown crinkled, gaping in falls of stiff, creased blue paper as she sat atop the padded exam table, legs crossed with as much lady-like decorum as she could muster given the circumstances. While waiting for Dr. Jackson, Melora tried to calm her trembling hands, blocking her every thought about Chance. At least for that day.          The last months and a half had been extremely tough on her, she’d almost lost her mind and her will to live. Thank god for her students at school! They literally saved her life, keeping her sane and focused at least a few hours a day.            After breaking up with Chance, she had been grumpy, sick, and depressed for a long time. She kept fighting what had become a perpetual state of lethargy for weeks. But one morning, she left her room and decided she wouldn’t

          How in the hell was he supposed to make this work when Melora wouldn’t give a damn inch? “Chance, I’m not giving up my job!”           Her cheeks were flush, her eyes overbright with shadows beneath as she planted hands on hips and glared at him from across the distance of his living room. “People work because they need the money, Melo,” he answered steadily, unwilling to be baited into a shouting match with this stubborn little demon woman carrying his child. “You don’t need the money.”           Chance was the calm one, this time. The reasonable one. Casually sprawled in his chair, smiling his most patient, unfazed smile, his hand, all the while, discreetly flexing the tension from his body behind the arm of the wingback.           They’d been going aroun