“Thank you. I’m not even going to argue with you because I feel so desperate.”

“I’ll do whatever I can for him—and for you.” He held her for a long time, until she was finally able to relax into his embrace. Running his hand up and down her back, he said, “You must be hungry.”

“I could eat.”

“Scotty and I made sauce.”

“From scratch?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Show-off.”

“I learned a few things growing up with an Italian grandmother. Want me to make you a plate?”

“In a minute,” she said. “I need a little more of this first.”

“As much as you want whenever you want it.”

“All the time. What did I ever do before I had you to come home to?”

He released the clip that held up her hair and combed his fingers through the unruly curls that fell below her shoulders. “I love when you come home to me. Every night, when you come in, I realize I’ve been holding my breath all day waiting to see you, to know you’re safe...”

She raised her head and looked up at him.

He framed her face and gazed into her eyes as he kissed her softly and sweetly. Then he leaned his forehead against hers. “We need a date in the loft tonight.”

“Yes, please.”

“First, let me feed you.”

Reluctantly, Sam released her hold on him and took a seat at the table. He poured a glass of the chardonnay she loved and then brought her a plate of pasta with the sauce he and Scotty had made. “Smells amazing.”

“It tastes pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.”

“So many talents,” she said, waggling her brows.

He opened a beer for himself and joined her at the table.

“What went on around here today?”

“A few things.” The words were spoken casually, but his lips tightened with tension that she noticed right away.

“What things?”

“Andy called looking for you and said he’ll be home all night if you want to call him back.”

“Oh, good. I need to get the lowdown on Lori’s attorney for the custody case as well as the social worker.”

Fiddling with the bottle cap, he said, “He also told me they think they’ve found Scotty’s father in New Jersey.”

The bite of delicious pasta got stuck in her throat. When she finally managed to get it down, she took a sip of her wine. “They actually found him.”

“Yes.”

“So what now?” The question belied the bolt of terror that seized her at the thought of anything messing with their plan to adopt Scotty.

“Now Andy goes there and has a conversation with him.”

“What if he wants him? What do we do then?”

Nick reached for her free hand. “Even if it were to go to court—”

“Court? It could come to that?”

“Purely speculation on Andy’s part, but even if it came to that, Scotty is old enough now to say what he wants, and we know what he wants. I felt better when Andy put it like that.”

“So what’s the worst-case scenario with the father?”

“Andy thinks he’ll want money if he finds out who we are, so he’s going to try to get this done without him finding out.”

“That’s a long shot.”

“Agreed, but he figures it’s worth a try. He’s going up there to see him this week.”

Sam put down her fork and rested her free hand on her stomach. “And we’re supposed to function while this is going on?”

“I know. But the good news of the day is that Scotty asked me if it would be okay—at some point—to call me Dad.”

“Oh, wow,” she said softly. “That must’ve been a moment and a half.”

“It was.”

She squeezed his hand. “I want this done. I want him to be ours forever.”

“We’re working on it. We have to be patient and dot all the Is and cross the Ts.”

“I hate Is and Ts. All those dots and crosses drive me nuts.”

Nick laughed and bent his head to kiss her hand. “Let’s keep this between us for now. I don’t see any need to worry him until we know what we’re dealing with.”

“Totally agree.”

“Finish your dinner.”

“I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Samantha... Clean your plate or no dessert.”

“Are we talking dessert or dessert?”

“The good kind. The loft kind.”

“In that case...” She twirled another forkful of pasta. “This sauce is amazing. I’m truly impressed.”

“Scotty said it was better than the stuff in the jar.”

“High praise coming from him.”

“So there’s this thing at work tomorrow night.”

“What thing?”

“The West Wing staff is having a reception to welcome us to the team. They invited you and Scotty to come too. If you want to.”

“Oh.”

“It’s at the White House.” He watched her closely as she absorbed that news, amusement dancing in his gorgeous hazel eyes.

“You want me to go to the White House for a...thing...tomorrow night with no time to prepare myself for this?”

“Only if you want to.”

She scowled at him. “Don’t do that.”

“What am I doing?”

“Letting me off the hook when you shouldn’t let me off the hook. I’m your wife. I should be there when you celebrate your new job. At the freaking White House.”

He rolled his lips together to keep from laughing.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me.”

“I wouldn’t do that.”

“Yes, you would!”

“Not when I want to get really, really lucky tonight.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “You get really, really lucky most nights, even when you laugh at me.”

“Have I mentioned lately how much I love you?”

“Don’t do that either!”

“I’m not allowed to tell you I love you?”

“Not when you’re trying to coerce me.”

“I love to coerce you. It’s one of my favorite things to do, but since it’s making you cranky, tell me how the case is going.”

“It’s going,” she said with a sigh. “We’ve got a few leads that we’ll dig into tomorrow. The faster we get this sewn up, the faster Gonzo’s life can get back to normal.”

“I can’t believe they’re actually trying to pin it on him. They were giving him the hero’s treatment a few short weeks ago.”

“The thing is, we can’t prove he didn’t do it. Someone dicked with the security cameras in his building, his name and address were found under the floor mat in the car Lori was in and he and Christina are each other’s alibi. They both love Alex, and Lori was making trouble for them.”

“So you’re saying the only way to completely take the heat off them is to find the person who actually did it?”

“Yep. We’re doing everything we can, but so far we’ve yet to find anyone who had more of a motive than they do. It’s early in the investigation though.” She took another sip of her wine and smiled when he topped off her glass. “So Freddie was at the ER at GW with Elin, who took a hit to the face at work today.”

“Is she okay?”

“I guess so. I don’t really know the details yet, but she was able to call him. She said she saw Shelby there. With Hill.”

“What? How come?”

“Apparently she’d fallen on the sidewalk and cut up her knees.”

“Huh.” Nick scratched at the stubble on his unshaven jaw. “I hope that’s all it was.”

“What else would it be?”

He glanced at her tentatively.

“What?”

“She came by earlier today to share some news with me. It’s news you might find upsetting, and she wanted me to decide how best to tell you.”

“She’s pregnant.”

“Yes.”

“Well, you’re just full of all kinds of information tonight.”

He scooted his chair closer to hers and took hold of both her hands. “It’s okay to feel a little undone by this news. I did too.”

“I’m happy for her. I am.”

“I know you are. And I know your heart breaks a little more every time someone around us gets the one thing you want more than anything.”

She shrugged off his concern even as her heart did in fact break. His sweetness and understanding went a long way toward soothing the ache. “So if she was at the ER, it might be more serious than skinned knees.”

“Jeez, I hope not.” He released her hands to pull his phone from his back pocket.