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Cordy snorted. “Please don’t pretend that you’re dumb. We both know you’re not.”

Chance smiled slowly at her. “We do?”

“Are you really that desperate for me to stroke your ego?”

The wordstrokeput all kinds of things in Chance’s mind, things that shouldn’t be there if he was about to walk into a labor and delivery class.

He cleared his throat. “Honestly, I’m desperate for you to laugh. Or even smile. You seem stressed.”

“I am,” she admitted softly. “Or at least Iwas, thinking about how I would manage without a partner. Um… thanks for coming.”

He wanted to sayyou’re welcome. He wanted to tell her she didn’t have to do this entirely alone. He wanted…

Chance pulled back from whatever nonsense his brain had been about to spit out. “It’s no problem. You’ll cut me a check after, right?”

Thatmade her smile. A small one, but still. “No one uses checks anymore.”

“Oh, so I’m getting it in cash? Nice.”

She bit her lip, and Chance sensed she was readying a smart remark. But then they arrived at the classroom. A line of expecting couples snaked out the door.

The women gave Cordy sympathetic smiles.We’re all in this together!

The men jerked their chins smugly at Chance.Look at us, our swimmers work!

Chance nodded back. He didn’t actually know if his swimmers worked, and he hoped he never did.This was going to be his first—and last—labor and delivery class.

Cordy’s expression grew increasingly serious the closer they got to getting inside. Her face was set in stone by the time it was their turn. She didn’t look like a happy mom-to-be. She looked like she was heading to an execution. Maybe her own.

If they wanted this to work, Chance would have to turn her mood around. He leaned in close. “What’s the story here?” he asked quietly. “Are we supposed to be married?”

“No,” she said. “Not that.”

“So you’re taking advantage of me?”

She swung around to face him. “What?”

“You’ve got the baby.” He gestured to her belly. “And you’re refusing to make an honest man of me.” He tapped his ring finger with his thumb. “You’re getting the milk without buying the cow.”

One corner of her mouth quirked up. “So I’m using you for…?” She licked her lips.

Heat pooled in his belly. Chance made himself ignore it. “Stud service.”

Cordy huffed out a laugh. “I refuse to call you a stud.”

Her eyes were remarkable in this light, which was strange because hospital lighting was some of the worst in the world. But her eyes were glinting like sunlight on a fast-flowing creek.

Chance tried to think of something to say, but his brain was stuck on her.

“What?” Cordy’s smile faded. She touched her face. “What’s the matter?”

He forced himself to look past her. “It’s our turn.”

The woman at the sign-up table was in her late forties, with a cap of salt and pepper curls and a no-nonsense expression. She didn’t look comforting, but she did look like she’d be good in an emergency.

“I’m Carrie Reston,” she said. “I’ll be your instructor.”

“Hi.” Cordy reached up for the strap of her bag, then glanced back at Chance when she realized she didn’t have it. “I’m Cordelia.”