Awakened (Intimate Relations) by Kate Douglas Page B

light shadow at the end of the day, and she liked this look. A lot. Tilting her face to his, she kissed his scruffy chin.
    “You okay this morning, babe?”
    She loved the way he cupped her face in his hands, the way he looked at her as if she were someone special. “Better than fine, Marc.”
    “Aren’t you worried about…?”
    “That’s just it.” She went up on her toes and kissed him. Hard. “I know how we can find out what your dreams are about. I’ve got a great idea!”
    “Dreams? I’m thinking about the broken condom. You’ve said more than once you’re not ready to be a mother, but the risk…”
    Shaking her head, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging as tight as she could. “I told you it’s highly unlikely, but I also thought about it last night, and I realized that I’ve always figured I’m not ready because there was no one I knew whose child I would want. That changed when you moved in, Marc. No, I don’t choose to get pregnant now and the odds are that I won’t, but if I do, I can’t think of a better man than you to have as a baby’s father.”
    She saw a flicker in his eyes, knew what he was thinking. Realized how well she knew this man after only a couple of months. Before he could speak, she covered his lips with her finger. “No. Don’t think it, don’t say it. It’s not because you have money. You could be dirt poor and I would still be thrilled to have a baby with you. You’re a good man. I keep telling you that, and wondering how I can make you believe me. I can’t imagine you not being there for your child. You know what it’s like to have been abandoned by your parents, and that’s going to make you a really good father because you will never let that happen to your own children.”
    He lowered his head and rested his forehead against hers. “Thank you. I really hope you’re right.” Because he’d been worse than abandoned. He’d been used. Was still being used.
    Smiling, she said, “Of course I’m right. I hope you can learn to deal with that, because I generally am. Just ask Lola.”
    “Okay. I just might do that. So what’s the big idea you’ve got?”
    “C’mon. I’m going to fix us some breakfast and then I’ll tell you all about it.”
    Mandy had eggs and toast ready in just a few minutes. She loaded their plates at the stove while Marc filled a couple of bowls with sliced melon and set the table. When she’d finished, Mandy carried the plates over, and sat across from him.
    It felt sort of weird to be the only two here. They generally had a crowd at meals, but that was usually Lola’s doing. She always planned on leftovers, but generally had extra bodies show up at the table and rarely had anything left over.
    Marc gave Mandy time to eat most of her breakfast before he finally nailed her with that intense gaze of his. She took her last bite of egg, wiped her lips, and set her napkin aside. “Okay. I will tell you my idea. I met a lot of interesting people while I was working at the coffee shop. Lots of our customers stopped in almost every day. One of them is a really interesting man who came by around mid-morning every few days and would get a double-shot espresso and a muffin.
    “I used to tease him about his wake-up coffee, and he said he thought of it as his ‘keep awake coffee,’ because that’s what his wife called it. His name is Alden Chung. Turns out he’s a hypnotherapist, and he has an office not far from the shop. One day when it was really slow, I asked him about hypnotherapy, and he was really forthcoming about what he can do and how he uses it in his practice.”
    Marc steepled his fingers beneath his chin and shrugged. “So how does this very interesting man who hypnotizes people affect me?”
    “He does a couple of things that might apply. He told me once that he can help people interpret their dreams, but he said that it’s sometimes part of a therapy they call ‘age regression.’ Essentially, he takes you back in