DARA

Dara dodged out of the way as Jiyong's drink exited his mouth in a spray. Had they been having any other conversation, she would have found it comical. The bartender's towel came down and mopped the counter as if he'd been expecting as much.

Leave it to Kwon Jiyong to not realize the immediate implication of nine months. He'd been so busy flirting that he hadn't been able to wrap his head around anything other than what her legs might be wrapped around by the end of the evening. The memory of their night together sent an uncontrollable shiver racing through her, but she set it aside—as she often had these past two months—to try and focus on more pressing matters...like the unforeseen consequences of their explosive hookup.

"Yep. Great at biology, but not so good at math, are you?" Dara offered as she took a long pull of water. What she wouldn't give for the burn of that offered whiskey right about now, but she had cut out alcohol the second she found out she was pregnant.

Jiyong stared at her like she had just grown a second head...which in a roundabout way, Dara guessed she sort of had. She thought she might find some bittersweet relish, or at least relief, upon breaking the news to Jiyong, but neither came easily beneath the weight of his incredulous dark eyes. So she said simply, "I just complimented your prowess, Jiyong. You should thank me."

"Thank you," he repeated stiltedly. Then the dreaded question came; no matter how much Dara had prepared herself to face it, she almost lost her nerve knowing what he was about to ask. "Is the baby...?" he began.

"It's yours," she confirmed before he could finish. "We can always test if it would make you feel better."

"I don't feel...I mean...I don't know...how I feel," Jiyong concluded. He proceeded to drain his drink in a single gulp, looking as if he wanted to order another but couldn't remember how. Dara noticed the bartender watching them raptly; she hoped he was enjoying the unfolding soap opera. Time for the .

"I'm keeping it," she stated.

A shot landed in front of Jiyong, and he threw it back without looking. He didn't even grimace at what Dara was sure was the astringent sting of a very strong spirit. He surprised her by nodding his head repeatedly in agreement. She sat back to consider the state her bombshell revelation had left him in.

Jiyong was, and had probably always been, the single most attractive man that Dara had ever known. She couldn't remember a time when he hadn't been a bronze-skinned Adonis; even back when they were kids, Jiyong's love of sailing had meant he rarely spent any time indoors. He'd grown into an outdoor man boasting a rock-hard musculature to match beneath that expensively-tailored suit...a physique that Dara now had firsthand experience with, she reflected. She had always been content to look before, but never touch. Jiyong's father and her own had been old friends, after all, and after Jiyong's dramatic affair with the daughter of one of his clients, Dara had understood the need to keep things platonic between them.

Or at least, she thought she had.

Their passionate night together wasn't proving easy for her to forget, that was for sure. Baby aside, the memory of with Jiyong still aroused tingles of anticipation all along her spine as if he was impressed into her bones. Just thinking about what he could do with his hands made the insides of her thighs uncomfortably slick with perspiration; she crossed her legs now to try and push it from her awareness. She could devote more thought to what Jiyong could do later when she was alone, and the object of her reflection wasn't sitting directly beside her.

Jiyong's gorgeous tan had taken a momentary backseat; now, he looked pale and seasick, a sensation Dara felt