Tanner hesitated outside his front door. Every instinct screamed at him not to go inside.
“You gotta do it, boss,” Artie said. “It’s not so bad.”
Tanner glared at his foreman. “How do you know? Have you done this before?”
Artie shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. “No, and if I’d kept my big mouth shut, this wouldn’t be happening now. But I had to go and mention it to my wife. Gloria got all excited and said she wanted to come, too.” He snorted. “As if I would have done this without her.”
Tanner completely understood the other man’s reluctance. Sure, Artie was with him, and Ryan had promised to drop by. Probably just to laugh, Tanner thought grimly. But Kelly had insisted so there was no point in putting off the inevitable.
Tanner sucked in a deep breath and pushed open his front door. At that moment, a gale of female laughter drifted through the house. He shuddered and stepped inside.
The living room was as he’d left it that morning. Still half-finished and empty except for the Christmas tree in the corner. But the family room was a different matter. Chairs from the dining room had been pulled in beside the sofas, forming a rough circle. Kelly had told him this would be a combination Christmas party and baby shower, so he hadn’t expected quite such an explosion of femininity. Come to think of it, he didn’t see a single nod to Christmas in the room. This was 100 percent baby shower. Pink-and-white streamers fell from the ceiling, while matching balloons had been gathered in bunches and tied to chairs, window sashes and even the refrigerator handle. A dinner buffet covered the counter closest to the family room, and he could see the large cake waiting in the dining room. Piles of presents stood by one of the few empty chairs left. Nearly two dozen laughing, talking women sat in the remaining chairs and on the sofa.
If hell was a baby store, then purgatory was a baby shower. Why had he let himself be talked into this?
Tanner swallowed hard and thought about retreating. So far no one had seen him. He could make a clean escape and call from his car, claiming a work crisis kept him from attending. But before he could take even one step back, Kelly glanced up and saw him. Then she smiled.
He hadn’t seen her much in the past week. First she’d taken her trip to San Francisco to visit her daughter’s adoptive grandparents. Then she’d had a couple of emergencies. He’d had a crisis or two of his own, and while they’d spoken on the phone, they hadn’t had the chance to spend any time together since the night they’d made love.
Just seeing her sitting there, her wide eyes bright with humor, her smooth skin begging to be touched, he wanted her. Not just for sex but also for conversation and even to hold. He’d missed her.
“Tanner!” she called. “You’re finally here. We were beginning to wonder.”
All the women turned to look at him. He recognized several of his female employees. There was Kelly, of course, and Patricia, along with the wives of some of his employees. Artie made his way to the side of a petite brunette in a business suit.
Tanner gave a general wave and walked to the waiting chair next to Kelly. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been more uncomfortable.
“Isn’t this great?” Kelly asked as he sat down. “Everyone came.”
“Great. Where’s Lia?”
“Napping. She was up a little bit ago and was a hit with your guests.”
He wanted to point out that the guests were hers, along with the idea of a baby shower. Why on earth had he agreed?
“We were about to start the games,” Patricia said. “Would you like something to drink first?”
“Games? What kind of games?”
His sister-in-law grinned. “Nothing all that tough. You’ll be fine. Why don’t I get you some punch?”
As she stood up and started walking toward the kitchen, Tanner had his first chance to notice what the women were eating and drinking. As he did so, his mouth turned down in an involuntary grimace. Everything was pink. The punch, the salad accompanying the small sandwiches, even the cookies. Now that he thought about it, the cake had been pink, too. Or the icing had been. He didn’t dare think about what it would look like when they cut it open.
He leaned toward Kelly. “If I’d had a son, would everything be blue?”
“Of course.” She smiled. “Normally the baby shower occurs before the blessed event, when the sex of the child is unknown. But when the shower comes later, or the parents already know the sex, the shower theme reflects that.” She patted his hand. “Don’t worry. You’re going to have a great time. First we’ll play a few games—then you can open presents.”
“I can’t wait,” he muttered. “What about the cake?”
“Oh, we’ll do that while you’re opening presents.”
What he really wanted to know was when everyone would be going home. After all, this thing couldn’t go on too late—could it? He wanted to spend some time alone with Kelly. He wanted to sit with her and talk; then he wanted to take her upstairs and make love with her.
The front door opened, and Ryan walked in. “Over here,” Tanner called, feeling the tiniest bit rescued from the situation. “You’re just in time for the games.”
Ryan looked as puzzled as he had at the mention of games. Then his older brother glanced around the room and started to laugh.
Patricia handed Tanner a plastic cup filled with bright pink, foamy punch.
“It tastes better than it looks,” Kelly said. She waited until Patricia had settled back on the sofa and everyone had moved over to make room for Ryan. “Let’s get started.” She stood up and walked into the kitchen.
“There are several pads of paper on the coffee table. Take one and pass the rest along until everyone has one. We’re going to play the first game.” She returned, carrying a large tray covered by a dish towel.
Today she wore her hair up in a twist of some kind. Her long bangs hung to her eyebrows. Something shiny stained her lips, making Tanner think about licking them clean, then maybe licking her all over. A navy pantsuit emphasized her long legs and slender waist. She was tall and lovely and so much more than he’d ever known in the past. Was she all he’d ever wanted? Was Ryan right about it being time for him to let go of the past?
“The point of the game is to remember as many objects as possible. I’m going to walk around with the tray. No one can start writing until I say so. Are we ready?”
Tanner glanced at Ryan who shrugged.
Patricia grinned. “To answer that unasked question, yes, of course you two are going to play. The prize is a facial at a beauty salon near the hospital. If a man wins the game, which is so incredibly unlikely as to not even be worth mentioning, he will give the prize to his significant other.” She patted Ryan’s cheek. “In your case, that would be me.”
“Thanks for the reminder,” Ryan grumbled.
Kelly took off the towel and made a slow circuit of the room. Tanner studied the various items. He recognized most of them. A rattle, baby powder, a pair of earrings that Kelly frequently wore, Lia’s baby bracelet from the hospital and a condom. The last made him raise his eyebrows, but he didn’t say anything. Finally she returned to the kitchen and told them to begin.
Tanner wrote quickly but steadily. He mentally reviewed the tray, going clockwise, filling in the spaces. Had there been two cotton swabs or just one? He figured it didn’t really matter. After a couple of minutes, Kelly called time. She asked everyone to count up how many items they had. The person with the most had to read his or her list aloud to verify accuracy.
“Eleven,” Patricia called out, looking smug.
“Fourteen,” Gloria, Artie’s wife, said.
Tanner counted his list again but didn’t say anything.
“How many, Ryan?” Kelly asked.
“Nine.”
The women all laughed.
“Hey, I got ten,” Artie called. “At least I did better than him.”
“How could you remember all that?” Ryan asked.
Kelly settled her gaze on Tanner. “What about the proud father? How many do you have?”
He thought about lying, then figured Kelly would probably be able to tell. “Eighteen,” he muttered.
There was a collective murmur of surprise.
“Really?” Kelly said. “Want to read them back to me?”
“Sure.” He cleared his throat. “A diaper, cotton swabs, an earring, a condom—” Several women laughed.
“Yeah, well, it didn’t keep me out of trouble,” he said, then continued with his list. “Lia’s hospital bracelet, baby powder, a rattle, paper clips, a fork, toothpicks, diaper ointment, a sock, lipstick, a car key, a quarter, two theater tickets, a wedding band—yours, right?” he asked, shooting his brother a look.
Ryan nodded.
“And a pager.”
“Wow.” Kelly picked up the tray and carried it back into the living room. “The only two things he missed are the washcloth and the battery. Very impressive, Mr. Malone. Looks like you’ve got yourself one facial.”
Which they both knew he’d give to her. “Gee, thanks.”
Somehow their gazes got locked together. Even though he told himself to look away, he couldn’t. Kelly seemed to be having the same problem.
“I, um, think it’s time to cut the cake,” she said. “Want to help?”
“Sure.”
He excused himself and followed her into the dining room. He knew that they were the center of attention, but right now he didn’t care. Instead he pulled her into a corner, out of sight of the family room, and drew her close.
“I’ve missed you,” he told her just before he kissed her.
“Me, too.” Her words were muffled against his mouth.
She felt so right in his arms, he thought, needing her more than he thought possible. She wrapped her arms around him and deepened the kiss. He cupped her face and pulled back enough to talk.
“Stay with me tonight,” he said. “After the baby shower. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” She smiled. “Actually, you’d have to throw me out. I already have an overnight bag in my car.”
“I want to hear about what happened when you went out of town.”
“Good, because I want to tell you.”
The sound of someone clearing her throat made them step apart. Patricia stood in the doorway of the dining room.
“The crowd is getting restless,” she said. “I have an idea. Why don’t the two of you go back and start opening presents, while I work on cutting the cake?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Kelly said and led the way.
Tanner settled down in his chair again, but now he didn’t feel so very out of place. As he started to open presents, he found himself thinking about the hours that would follow, about how much he wanted to be with Kelly.
Maybe Ryan was right. Maybe it was time to let go of the past and take a chance on the future. Except he was still just a construction worker and Kelly was still a doctor. Did they have a prayer of making it work? What about his fear of losing everything he cared about? Would he survive losing her?
He opened the first box Kelly handed him. It was flat and light, so he guessed clothes. Inside was a red velvet dress with a white lace collar.
“It’s for Christmas,” Mattie, one of his electricians, told him. “I didn’t know if Lia had a Christmas dress yet.”
“Thanks. It’s very nice. And, no, Lia only has one dress right now.”
The next box was large and square. He shook it, then glanced at the tag. He recognized Kelly’s scrawl.
“You didn’t have to get anything,” he told her.
“I wanted to. That’s half the fun of a shower...buying a baby present.”
“That and the pink punch,” he said, motioning to his still-untouched cup.
He tore off the white-and-pink paper. Inside was a box with a picture of a lamp. The base was a ballerina teddy bear with a matching shade. He pointed his finger at her. “You’re the reason that woman at the store kept telling me this sucker was back-ordered.”
“Absolutely. Once you got serious enough to put up a border print, I knew that Lia had to have the lamp. I bought it right after you put up the wallpaper. The woman at the store knew and had been sworn to secrecy.”
Ryan leaned forward and handed Tanner a slim box. Inside was a savings bond in Lia’s name. “For her college fund,” Ryan explained. “It’s going to be that time before you know it.”
College? His daughter? Of course he wanted her to go, but it seemed so far away. Ryan’s gift made him think that the future would be here quicker than he realized.
“Look at all this,” Kelly said. “Dresses and lamps and money for college. You’re turning into a real dad.”
She was right. The baby stuff didn’t scare him anymore. Nor did his daughter. No matter what happened, he now knew that he and Lia were going to make it. The question was would they make it alone, or would someone else join their little family?
* * *
“I can’t get enough of you,” Tanner whispered, his hands buried deep in Kelly’s long hair.
She lay beneath him, her naked body all feminine curves and welcoming heat. He could feel her breasts pressing against his chest and the pressure of her legs wrapped around him, urging him deeper. He was so damn close, but he didn’t want to finish...not yet. He wanted their lovemaking to last longer. As it was, they’d barely made it upstairs after the last guest had left. Their clothes lay scattered on the stairs, and it was all he’d been able to do to control himself enough to slip on a condom before plunging inside her.
“Oh, Tanner.” She breathed his name with a passionate gasp. She was as responsive this time as she’d been the last.
He’d brought her to climax just by kissing her breasts. When he’d touched between her legs, she’d been so very ready. Slipping one of his fingers inside her, he’d felt the deep contractions of her muscles as she convulsed around him. Even now, with each thrust, she climaxed, shuddering and clutching, urging him on, to make her do that again.
The problem was watching her react like that was such a huge turn-on that he couldn’t hold back. But he had to try. So he forced himself to think of something else. Work maybe or—
She grabbed his buttocks and pressed down, forcing him deeper. She contracted again, milking him. Pleasure built unbearably. He swore, knowing he’d just crossed the point of no return.
“I want you,” he growled, then kissed her. He plunged his tongue into her mouth as he plunged his maleness deep inside her. Her movements were frantic, begging, intoxicating. She whimpered.
He moved faster and faster, lost in the moment, feeling himself collect for the ultimate release. Then it was on him. All he could do was hang on as his body collected itself, then exploded, sending his release rocketing through him. Even as he absorbed the exquisite pleasure, he felt her tightening and releasing as her own climax rippled through her.
They clung to each other until their heartbeats returned to normal. Then he opened his eyes and gazed at her. “Wow.”
“My thoughts exactly,” she whispered. “How do you do that to me? How do you make me react that way?”
“Just luck.”
“Oh, I think it’s more than that. Chemistry, maybe.”
Or love. But he didn’t say that because he wasn’t sure. Did he love Kelly? Could he risk it all with her? He touched her face, then gently kissed her mouth. He couldn’t imagine her not being a part of his world. She’d entered his life along with Lia, and in some ways the two were irrevocably linked in his mind.
“Thank you,” he told her.
“Thank you, Tanner. It’s wonderful to finally get what all the fuss is about.”
He rolled onto his side, drawing her with him. “I’ve missed you.”
“Me, too. It’s been a long week.” She smiled. “I have a lot to tell you. Many things have happened in the past few days.”
“Good things or bad things?”
She paused to consider. “Mostly good. I’ve learned a lot about myself and my past. I went to see—”
An electronic beep filled the room. Kelly sat up. “That’s my phone, but where on earth are my slacks?”
“The stairs,” he said.
While she went to check her text message, he looked in on his daughter. Fortunately Lia had grown accustomed to the sound of Kelly’s phone. The baby barely stirred.
Two minutes later he heard Kelly in the hallway. He went out to join her and found her frantically pulling on clothes. “I have to go,” she said.
He frowned. “I thought you weren’t on call tonight.”
“I’m not. It’s someone from the clinic. Corina.” She looked at him. Her face had gone pale, and her eyes were huge. “It’s too early. There’s something wrong. Dear God, she’s only seventeen. She’s had enough trouble in her life already—she doesn’t need this.” She pulled on her shirt and headed down the stairs. “I’m sorry, Tanner. I have to be there. I don’t have backup for my clinic patients.”
“It’s okay. I understand.”
She paused at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at him. “Are you sure? I didn’t mean to end our evening this way.”
“I know. It’s fine. Do you want me to drive you to the hospital?”
“No. I don’t know how long I’ll be.” She paused. “I have to go.”
And then she was gone. He listened for the sound of the front door closing. After that, there was only silence. Their parting seemed so unfinished. At first Tanner wondered if he was angry with her and just didn’t want to admit it. Then he realized it wasn’t that at all. What bothered him was what he’d wanted to say as she’d been leaving.
I love you.
He’d wanted to speak the words to her, calling them out as both a talisman and a prayer—for her knowledge and her safekeeping.
I love you. He’d never said those words to anyone before in his life. Women had said them to him, and he’d always assumed they were lying.
He turned on his heel and returned to his daughter’s room. Even though she was sleeping, he touched her face, then her tiny hand. “Hey, Lia, it’s your dad. I just realized something. I’ve never told you I love you.” His throat tightened. “Well, I do. I love you more than I can tell you. I’m going to tell you every single day for the rest of your life.” He smiled. “Or at least while you’re living under my roof. It’ll be hard to say it every day when you’re off at college. I want you to know how important you are to me. I want you to know that I’m always going to be here for you.” Then he bent over and kissed her.
Finally he returned to his bedroom. Not to sleep but to wait for Kelly to return.
* * *
“She’s bleeding,” the nurse told Kelly as she scrubbed at the large sink. “The baby is doing all right for now.”
Kelly’s mind raced frantically as she considered possibilities. “Is the neonatal unit ready for us?” she asked.
“Yes, Doctor.”
Kelly stepped away from the sink and headed for the labor room. She had a bad feeling they were going to have to take the baby. A C-section wasn’t the end of the world, but it would probably send Corina into a panic. Still, if she was in trouble, there wasn’t another choice. No way was Kelly going to lose either of her patients.
“How’s it going?” she asked as she stepped into the room.
Corina looked up and tried to smile, but she was crying too hard. “Not great. Something’s wrong, Dr. Kelly. I can feel it.”
“Your baby wants to come a little early,” Kelly said, her voice reassuring. She was frantic to start examining Corina, but experience had taught her that thirty seconds of reassurance at the beginning of a problem could literally be a lifesaver later. “It happens all the time. Some babies are impatient, and there’s not much we can do about that. But you’re well into your thirty-third week. It’s manageable.”
What was less manageable was the blood she saw staining the towels that had been tossed into a bucket below the table. Kelly glanced at the monitors attached to Corina and the baby. They didn’t have a whole lot of time.
“It’s my fault,” Corina cried as tears poured down her cheeks. “I know I did something terrible.”
“No, you didn’t,” Kelly told her. “It’s not your fault. It just happened.”
Big brown eyes bore into her soul. “My baby knows I don’t want it. It’s trying to die.”
Kelly walked over to Corina and took her hands. “You’re not doing anything wrong. You and the baby are going to be fine. Do you trust me?”
Corina stared at her, then nodded slowly.
“Good. Now try to relax. I’m going keep both of you safe.”
“Doctor?”
Kelly glanced at the screen, then at the nurse monitoring the bleeding. “Let’s get going,” Kelly said.
She started issuing orders even as she bent to examine Corina. The rest of the world seemed to fade around her. Her mind cleared. She didn’t even have to think; she just knew the next step. She was going to make sure both mother and child came out of this just fine.
* * *
Four hours later Kelly stepped into the hallway. It was well after midnight, and all she could think about was crawling into bed. The problem was it was too late to go back to Tanner’s, so she was going to have to crawl into her own bed and sleep alone. Right now that seemed like an empty proposition.
Despite the late hour, there were still people in the hospital corridor. The medical institution never shut down. Which was good news. She could leave knowing that Corina and her baby would be well cared for throughout the night.
“You look exhausted,” a familiar voice said.
Kelly glanced up and saw Tanner leaning against the wall. Despite how tired she felt, her heart fluttered in her chest and she couldn’t help smiling.
“What are you doing here?”
He shrugged, then walked toward her. “I missed you. I was also afraid you’d get some fool idea that it was too late to come back to my place, so I wanted to be here to tell you that you were wrong. I want you in my bed. To sleep,” he amended as he reached out and squeezed her hand. “As much as I’d like to do other things, we both have to get up early in the morning.”
She blinked. This wasn’t making sense. “You came down here in the middle of the night to see me? Where’s Lia?”
“Charming the nurses,” he said, jerking his head back toward the nurses’ station. “I sneaked her in. So far no one has threatened to call security.”
“How long have you been here?”
“About twenty minutes. I called and kept track of how things were going with your patient so I would know when you would be finished.” His expression softened. “They told me it was touch and go for a while, that you saved the girl’s life and her baby’s.”
“You’re not a family member. They wouldn’t have given out that information to just anyone.”
“I’m not just anyone.”
He wasn’t. He was someone very special to her, she thought.
“I know it’s not my business, or my place, but I’m proud of you, Dr. Kelly Hall. From what I heard, you pulled off a Christmas miracle tonight.”
He pulled her close, and she went willingly into his arms. It hadn’t been a miracle, but for a while she’d thought she might actually lose them both. Corina had started bleeding even more, and then the baby had become distressed. It could have been a disaster, but everything had turned out in the end.
“I had great training,” she said. “I knew what to do to save them.”
“It was more than that. I overheard a couple of nurses talking. They said that you’re gifted. It’s as if you know exactly how much more your patients can stand before their strength gives out.”
She started to protest, but then she realized he was right. She’d always had the way of sensing the strength of both her mothers and their infants. She loved her work. Tonight wasn’t the first time her skill had saved both mother and child.
Kelly pressed her lips together and tried to grasp the significance of what she’d just figured out. She’d saved lives. She was good at what she did—maybe gifted was too strong a term, but she was highly committed and skilled. That counted for a lot. At one time she’d chosen her specialty as a second best—not what she wanted to do but close. Yet now, after having been in practice for several years, she suddenly understood that this was where she belonged. She was a terrific gynecologist and obstetrician. She had nothing of which to be ashamed.
She wrapped her arms around Tanner’s waist and hugged him tight. “Thank you for being here tonight.”
He smiled at her. “I’m not even going to bother saying ‘You’re welcome.’ Where else would I want to be?”