Jenna fought to hide a smile.
Nick let out a breath, shook his head, looking overwhelmed by the thought now that he’d had a glimpse of what labor entailed. “Sorry.”
Twenty minutes later, Holly got a strange expression on her face. “Something feels different.”
Jenna put on a pair of sterile gloves and checked Holly’s cervix. “Guess what? You’re fully dilated. It’s time to have a baby.”
Holly and Nick looked at each other, the anticipation and nervousness on their faces universal to first-time parents.
Jenna told Holly what to expect and how best to push effectively even though the epidural limited her sensation. “You’ll need to listen to me. As long as the baby looks happy, we can keep going. If we have to, we can turn the epidural down so that—”
“No! No, no.” Holly looked horrified by that thought. “I’ll push. I promise.”
With the support of her husband and mother-in-law, Holly was true to her word, working hard, bringing the baby’s head farther down with each contraction.
“Good girl! Good!” Mama Andris said.
“Push, push, push!” Jenna coached. “Here’s the top of your baby’s head. Another few pushes like that, and you’ll be crowning. Give me your hand.”
Holly reached down between her legs, Jenna guiding her so that her fingers brushed the crown of her baby’s head.
Holly’s eyes went wide, and she smiled. “Oh, God! A baby.”
“Nick, do you want to feel?”
He nodded, steeled himself as if he were about to jump out of an airplane, and looked between his wife’s thighs, his fingers joining hers. He laughed. “Wow.”
Another push and another and another.
“The head is out. Reach down, Holly, and catch your baby.” Jenna guided Holly’s hands, supporting the baby’s shoulders as it slipped into the world with an indignant cry.
“My baby!” Tears of happiness spilled down Holly’s cheeks.
“Congratulations!” Jenna helped Holly lift the baby into her arms, rubbing it with a towel to stimulate it, leaving it to the nurse to wrap the baby in a warm blanket. “You did a great job, Holly. Good work, both of you.”
Nick leaned in to look at his newborn, an ear-to-ear smile on his face. “It’s a girl!”
Mama Andris crossed herself in the Orthodox way, her eyes bright. “She is beautiful, just like her mama.”
It didn’t matter how many babies Jenna had caught. Seeing the joy on parents’ faces as they got acquainted with their healthy newborn never got old.
* * *
Derek arrived with flowers for Holly just after breakfast, jet-lagged and pumped up on caffeine. He found himself in the OB waiting room with Laura and Corbray—and a gaggle of Holly’s friends from her journalism days. He knew most of them.
Kara McMillan, a freelance writer, and her husband, Reece Sheridan, the state’s lieutenant governor. Marc Hunter, captain of Denver SWAT, and his wife Sophie, who still worked at the paper. Julian, head of Denver’s vice unit, and his wife, Tessa Darcangelo, also a freelance journalist. Natalie McBride, a romance author, and her husband Zach, now the U.S. Marshal for the Colorado Territory.
“Hey,” Derek said. “I hear it’s a girl.”
“Aw, you brought flowers. Isn’t he sweet?” Natalie said.
Derek had just gotten back from Afghanistan an hour ago. Cobra had been tasked with providing security for negotiations between Talib fighters and Afghan security forces. While there, Derek had also taken medical supplies to the Kazi Women’s Hospital—a gift from Jenna. He’d had tea with Farzad, who had graciously accepted the supplies and sent his best wishes to Jenna. Hamzad, Derek had discovered, no longer worked there.
“After what he did, I sent him home,” Farzad had explained. “Any man who works for me must be loyal to me and no one else—not even The Lion.”
Derek had been happy to hear it.
Corbray motioned him over, and the two of them stepped off to one side.
“Any problems with Kazi?”
Derek shook his head. “He seemed a little less full of himself this time.”
“I’ll bet.” Corbray glanced over at Laura, who sat talking with Natalie. “It’s always hard for her when one of her friends has a baby. I told her she doesn’t have to come, but you know Laura. She faces everything head on.”
Derek respected her for that. “Have you two thought of having a baby?”
Corbray shook his head, but he didn’t explain.
He didn’t need to.
Some experiences changed a person forever.
“Here he comes!” Kara shot to her feet.
Everyone stood as Nick walked toward them, his gazed fixed on the bundle in his arms, the expression on his face that of a man in love.
Jenna walked beside him, looking tired but happy in blue scrubs, her hair in a ponytail. “Time to meet your adoring fans, baby girl.”
Nick walked to Derek and Corbray, held the baby so they could see her face.
Corbray shook his head. “You are in so much trouble, bro.”
Derek had to agree. “Yeah. You’re in for it.”
Darcangelo looked down at the sleeping baby. “In about sixteen years, you’re going to have your hands full.”
“Oh, she’s precious!” Tessa said.
Sophie took one glance and smiled. “She looks just like Holly!”
“She really does,” Hunter said. “Are we sure there was even a father?”
Nick grinned. “I’m sure.”
Everyone laughed.
From the color of the fuzz on her little head to her long lashes to her perfect Cupid’s bow mouth, the baby looked just like her mother.
“What’s her name?” Sophie asked.
“Katerina—after my mother.” Andris let others take turns holding her.
“How was it?” Derek asked, curious.
Andris let out a breath, shook his head, clearly overwhelmed. “It was awful and wonderful and amazing. I hated seeing Holly in so much pain, but the epidural took care of that. Jenna was incredible.”
“I was just doing my job.” Jenna slipped into Derek’s arms. “Welcome home.”
Derek kissed her, glad to be back. “I missed you.”
In the almost eight months they’d lived together, he’d grown more reluctant to leave Jenna, the days and weeks away from her harder than he had imagined. He’d only recently realized that this was how Corbray and the other married operatives felt about leaving home. But then, Derek had never truly had a home—until Jenna. It hadn’t mattered to him where he was.
“I missed you, too.”
McBride walked up, baby in his arms. “When are you and Jenna going to settle down and make one of these?”
Derek looked into Jenna’s eyes. “All in good time.”
“Don’t pester the man,” Sheridan said. “But if they’re looking for someone to, say, perform a wedding ceremony, I know a guy.”
That made everyone laugh.
Sheridan had officiated at Nick and Holly’s wedding. Derek had been there and had thought it was nothing more than a costly and antiquated ritual. But now…
Now it didn’t seem so absurd.
* * *
Jenna changed out of her scrubs and collapsed onto the sofa, exhausted but happy. Holly’s birth had been her fourth this week—a busy week for a midwife in the U.S. but an average day in Afghanistan.
Derek set his duffel down. “Want a drink?”
“God, yes.”
“Pinot Grigio?”
“Perfect.”
They settled outside on the balcony, Jenna leaning against Derek, his arm around her shoulders, the two of them watching the late August sun set behind the Rockies, a cool breeze blowing the heat of the day away. “I’m so glad you’re home.”
He’d been gone for two long weeks this time.
“So am I.” He kissed her. “Farzad wanted me to say hello.”
“How is he?”
“He’
s good. He fired Hamzad.”
“He did?” That was good news.
“He said to thank you for the supplies, too.”
It was the least Jenna could do. She’d left the hospital shorthanded, though they had replaced her six weeks later. Marie had finished her time there, and a new OB-GYN had taken her place. She and Jenna stayed in touch by email now.
Jenna sipped her wine, let herself relax. “It was wonderful seeing Holly and Nick so happy. Isn’t that baby girl adorable?”
“She really does look just like Holly.”
Jenna smiled. “She does.”
“So, you want to go through that. You want to have a baby.”
“I was thinking two, maybe three.”
“Three.” He repeated the word as if considering that. “And you want me to be the father.”
She laughed, looked up at him. “Who else? You’re the man I love.”
He kissed her temple. “I might turn out to be a terrible father.”
Aha. That’s what this was about. “What makes you say that?”
“I never knew my dad, and the guys who fostered me were pretty much all assholes. I wouldn’t trust any of them with a dog, much less a baby. I haven’t exactly had good role models.”
“I had a lousy father. My mother killed herself.” Jenna sat up straight and turned to face Derek, knowing that this fear was real for him. “We are not our parents.”
He didn’t seem convinced.
“Look what you’ve done with the life you were given. You had such a rough start, but you prevailed. You’ve served your country as an elite operator. You’re the wealthy CEO of a successful private military company. Most men in this country couldn’t measure up to you if they tried. Any child would be proud to have you as their father.”
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t know what to do with a baby.”
Jenna couldn’t help but smile. She’d heard this from parents-to-be ever since becoming a midwife. The thought of caring for a tiny, helpless human being was overwhelming for most people. “Generally speaking, babies don’t just drop into your lap. You get about nine months to prepare. There are books you can read, classes you can take. There’s no such thing as a perfect parent. You can only do your best.”
“And if your best sucks?”
Jenna didn’t want him to feel pressured. “We’re still young. We have time. This isn’t something we have to worry about now.”
“I’m all for it—on one condition.”
What had he just said?
“You’re for it? You’re for us having a baby?”
He smiled, his gaze soft. “On one condition.”
“What’s that?” She hoped he wasn’t about to say that he would never change a diaper. She found that kind of thing to be so disappointing in a man.
“We can have a baby—or two or three maybe—but only if you marry me first.”
“Wh-what?” Was she dreaming?
No way had he just asked her to marry him.
“You’ll have to marry me first.”
Oh, yes, he had.
She hadn’t seen this coming.
“I don’t want to bring a child into the world unless we’re official first. I grew up without a real family. I don’t want that for my kids. If something happens to me—”
“God, don’t say that.” It was the fear that fueled her nightmares.
“It’s a possibility in my line of work. You know that. If something happens to me, I want to know it’s all legal and ironclad, that you and any kids we have are taken care of. So, you’ll have to marry me first.”
“Okay.”
For a moment, there was silence.
“So, I guess I just proposed, and you said yes.”
“I guess so.”
They laughed, then kissed, happiness enfolding Jenna, palpable and warm, the last rays of the sun turning the sky pink.
“I’m so in love with you, Jenna.” Derek ran his thumb over her cheek. “I didn’t know it was possible to love someone so much. But can you promise me one thing?”
If she could, she would give him the world. “Anything.”
“No gongs.”
Jenna’s head fell back, and she laughed, her heart soaring.
Thanks for reading Hard Target. Check out these other titles in the Cobra Elite series:
Hard Asset (Book 2)
Hard Justice (Book 3)
Hard Edge (Book 4)
Follow me on Facebook or on Twitter @Pamela_Clare. Join my romantic suspense reader’s group on Facebook to be a part of a never-ending conversation with other Cobra fans and get inside information on the series and on life in Colorado’s mountains. You can also sign up to my mailing list at my website to keep current with all my releases and to be a part of special newsletter giveaways.
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Check out more of Pamela’s books on her website.
Covert Evidence
by Rachel Grant
Covert Evidence
Evidence Series
Falling in love was never part of his mission…
With visions of professional glory, underwater archaeologist Cressida Porter embarks on a research trip deep into the heart of Eastern Turkey. Her dreams turn into nightmares when she becomes the unwitting courier for a terrorist network. Stranded and unable to speak the language, she turns to a handsome and enigmatic security specialist for help, even while fearing he may be behind a violent assault that leaves her vulnerable.
CIA Case Officer Ian Boyd’s mission is clear: follow the courier, identify the terrorist leader, and intercept the microchip before it falls into enemy hands. For Ian, cozying up to the alluring archaeologist to find out where her loyalties lie isn’t exactly hardship duty. But spending time with her proves dangerous when she awakens a longing for a life he can never have.
Attraction wars with distrust as Cressida and Ian are forced on the run. When violence erupts in the already unstable region, Cressida discovers everything she knows about Ian is false. With all secrets revealed, Cressida must decide if she can trust the spy with her life, while Ian faces his own impossible choice: Cressida or his mission.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Description
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Epilogue
Want More?
Author’s Note
Chapter One
Antalya, Turkey
August
Music pulsed from the nightclub speakers several decibels
above comfortable. Cressida stayed on the dance floor only because she’d promised her friend Suzanne she’d cut loose and have fun on her last night in Antalya before leaving the university-sponsored underwater excavation and heading east on a solo research trip. But her feet hurt along with her ears, and she had to leave for the airport in six short hours, making her regret her promise.
Suzanne was oblivious to Cressida’s discomfort as she danced with three men at once. The locals really had a thing for leggy American blondes, and Suzanne had a matching appreciation for Turkish men.
Bumped into from behind, Cressida pitched forward, regaining her balance when a hand caught her shoulder before she slammed into another dancer. She turned to thank her rescuer, a smile on her face, but her stomach dropped when she met the familiar gaze.
Her reaction was instinctive. Her hand curled into a fist, and she swung out, slamming her knuckles into Todd Ganem’s jaw with all the force she could muster from her five-foot-six frame. Caught by surprise, he stumbled back as his head snapped sideways.
The people around her froze as Todd teetered, then fell. She stepped over him, leaving the dance floor and gawking dancers. Her body flushed with adrenaline, or maybe she was going into shock.
What the hell is Todd Ganem doing in Turkey?
She made a beeline for the table where her group—graduate students from the underwater archaeology program at Florida State—sat, all with jaws agape and eyes wide. She came to a dead stop as she met the gaze of Dr. Patrick Hill. Shit. Dr. Hill, the head of the MacLeod-Hill Exploration Institute and the man she was counting on to fund her grant, had just seen her deck Todd. Could this get any worse?
She turned sharply, spotting an empty table far from Dr. Hill and the others. She needed a few minutes to regroup before facing them. She’d leave the bar and head to her overpriced hotel room right now if she could, but the translator had said he’d meet her here tonight, and she needed the translation for her trip into Eastern Anatolia.
She dropped into an empty chair, relieved to see Suzanne had followed her. She needed a friend right now. Decking Todd in front of Dr. Hill could well have just crushed her grant proposal—and she hadn’t even written it yet. On the eve of embarking on the most important research trip of her academic career, the run-in with Todd could undermine everything she’d been working toward.
Dangerous To Love Page 254
