by Sarah Morgan
‘What’s that?’ Muzzy-headed from lack of sleep, she picked up the envelope and gasped as she saw the amount of money inside. ‘Where did this come from?’
‘Your landlord.’ Jake started the engine and glanced over his shoulder before pulling away from the kerb. ‘I explained that you were living with me now and he apologised profusely for the state of the property that he’s renting to you and immediately returned your deposit and last month’s rent as a goodwill gesture.’
‘You spoke to the landlord?’
‘That’s right.’ His eyes were fixed on the road. ‘Very reasonable chap.’
There was something about the grim set of his mouth that made her wonder and then her gaze dropped and she saw the red mark across his knuckles. ‘You hit him! Oh, my God, Jake…’
‘He walked into my hand.’
She covered her mouth with her hand, appalled. ‘What’s come over you?’
‘I don’t like people who take advantage of other people.’ He glanced in her direction, his eyes glittering dangerously. For once there was no trace of humour in his gaze, just grim determination and a hardness that she hadn’t seen before. ‘Once we’d had a good chat, he saw sense.’
‘How dare you interfere?’ She was outraged. ‘Jake, I didn’t ask you to get that money for me!’
He pulled into the drive of his house and switched off the engine. ‘The guy is a crook, Miranda.’
‘It doesn’t give you the right to hit him.’ She undid her seat belt with shaking hands. ‘I—’
‘What’s the matter?’
Her heart was banging against her chest. ‘You really need to ask me that question? You just beat someone up and—’
‘I didn’t beat anyone up.’ His voice was weary. ‘He said some things I didn’t like. Things he shouldn’t have said. He’s a bully, Miranda. A sleazy, nasty bully.’
‘You hit him.’
Jake ran a hand through his hair. ‘He attacked me, Miranda,’ he said quietly. ‘Accused me of taking away his business.’
Self-defence? She relaxed slightly and the pounding of her heart slowed. ‘He hit you? I’m sorry.’ Her voice was little more than a whisper. ‘It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have let you go in there.’
‘Better me than you. Next time choose your landlord with more care.’ Without waiting for a response from her, he opened the car door and walked towards the house.
She caught up with him in the kitchen. Looking at his stiff, icy profile, Miranda felt frustration and something else that she couldn’t quite identify. A tiny part of her felt warm and cosseted. No man had ever defended her before. Maybe it shouldn’t have felt good but it did.
He was only trying to help and she’d been rude and churlish. He’d been injured, standing up for her, and all she’d done had been to yell at him.
Suddenly ashamed of herself, she wrapped her arms around her waist and took a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry,’ she began, and he muttered something under his breath, before turning to her with a smile.
‘No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I’m used to women who like to be pampered. You’re the most independent person I’ve ever met. I thought I was doing you a favour.’
‘You were doing me a favour. I hate that man—he makes my flesh crawl. It’s just that I don’t want you to feel sorry for me.’
‘I don’t.’ His voice was soft. ‘But you’re a friend and it’s natural to want to help a friend, isn’t it?’
Miranda bit her lip. ‘I don’t know. I suppose if I’m honest, I’ve never really had a close friend before.’
‘Are you joking?’ He reached into the fridge for a beer. ‘Women always have close friends.’
‘Do they?’ Miranda pushed away thoughts of her childhood and sat down at the kitchen table. ‘I suppose I’ve always found it hard to be close to people.’
He studied her face for a moment and then smiled. ‘Any chance of some first aid for my knuckles?’
She rummaged in his freezer for an icepack and fussed over his hands. ‘Does it hurt badly?’
‘If I say yes, will you kiss it better?’
She shot him a warning look. ‘Be careful or I might damage your other hand.’
As the days passed Miranda felt nothing but pleased that she’d agreed to move in with Jake. In the warmth and comfort of his house, she slept better. In fact, there were several occasions when Jake had to wake her in the mornings.
She knew that, at some point, she was going to have to find somewhere to live once the baby was born, but she was so busy at work that all she wanted to do when she arrived home was collapse in a heap and sleep until her next shift.
And Jake made it easy for her to do that.
He was easy to live with, she discovered, and after that first night he’d kept the conversation friendly but impersonal.
Which was a good thing, she told herself firmly as she slid out of bed on a Saturday morning a month or so after she’d first moved in. She didn’t want anything else.
Anticipating a slow, lazy day, she dressed in comfortable clothes and went downstairs to the kitchen to find Jake frying bacon.
‘It’s a lovely day.’ He glanced towards her. ‘Fancy a walk?’
After her first, disastrous foray into the mountains, he’d taken her to the mountain rescue base and shown her all the equipment they used in rescues and talked to her about safety. She realised again how fortunate she was that he’d been the one to find her on Christmas Day. Since then he’d found walking gear that fitted her and had insisted on taking her on some gentle hikes.
She slid a hand over her rounded abdomen. ‘You fancy delivering a baby in the wild, Mr Blackwell?’
‘You know me.’ He gave her a wicked grin as he slid crispy bacon onto a plate. ‘I love a challenge.’
She stared at the bacon. ‘Is that for me? Because I can cook my own breakfast and you don’t have to—’
‘I don’t have to wait on you.’ His tone was patient. ‘I know that, Miranda, and I’m not waiting on you. I was making breakfast for myself so adding a few extra rashers of bacon seemed like common sense.’
It sounded logical, put like that. ‘I’m going to be the size of a small bus.’
‘You have no flesh on you whatsoever,’ he said dryly, dropping two slices of bread onto her plate and putting a jug of coffee in the centre of the table. ‘That bump is all baby. Am I allowed to pour your coffee or does that offend your independent streak?’
‘I know you’re laughing at me but I won’t depend on anyone.’
‘You can relax. I don’t want you to depend on me. Just for the record, you’re cooking dinner tonight.’ He poured coffee into two mugs and pushed one across to her. ‘There we are. You should put milk in it. You need building up.’
She patted her stomach and there was humour in her eyes. ‘You want to have to refashion all your doors just so that I can pass through them?’
‘As I said, that bump is all baby.’
‘Big baby, then.’
‘Does that worry you?’ He bit into his own sandwich and she looked at him, thinking, not for the first time, that he was incredibly astute. She saw it over and over again at work and not just among the women he delivered. He noticed when a midwife was slightly off colour, he knew that Delia in the staff restaurant was having trouble with her hip. He didn’t miss anything and she really liked that about him.
Men were supposed to be useless at picking up signals and yet Jake seemed to notice everything.
‘Honestly? A bit, yes. I suppose all women are apprehensive about delivery.’ She picked up the sandwich and nibbled the corners. ‘But I’m sure it will be all right. I took your advice and saw Tom Hunter. He’s a nice guy.’
‘Everything all right?’
‘Yes, seems to be. I’m boringly healthy. Low blood pressure, plenty of movements.’ She felt a little embarrassed discussing it. ‘He didn’t anticipate any problems.’
‘He’s a good obstetrician.’ Jake sipped his coffee
and grinned. ‘Not as outstanding as me, of course, but I couldn’t deliver your baby.’
‘Why not?’
His eyes locked on hers. ‘Because I’m emotionally involved and that isn’t a good thing. Obstetricians have to be able to take a step back.’
His words made her insides shift alarmingly. ‘Why are you emotionally involved? I’m just your lodger.’
He studied her face for a long moment, his blue eyes revealing nothing of his thoughts. ‘If you’ve finished your breakfast, I think we should go for that walk. Exercise is good for you. If Tom didn’t mention that fact then he should have done.’
‘Jake—’ she couldn’t let the subject drop that easily ‘—we’ve been living together for a month now and you haven’t mentioned—’ She broke off and he smiled.
‘The fact that there’s this amazing chemistry between us?’
She blushed. ‘After a month of living with me you’ve probably discovered that I’m a long way from being your ideal woman. I’m stubborn and independent and I fall asleep when I’m not working—’
‘I’m assuming that the sleep thing will improve once the baby is born, and I happen to like your independent streak.’ He stood up. ‘Let’s leave the clearing-up until later. It’s February and you, of all people, know how changeable the weather can be. The sun’s shining at the moment so we should make the most of it.’
Aware that he’d changed the subject, she followed him to the door, feeling as though the conversation was only half-finished.
‘Jake—’
‘Miranda.’ He turned to face her, his eyes gentle. ‘Are you sure you want to pursue this line of questioning? If you ask me, I’m going to be honest about how I feel and you’ll be obliged to tell me that the relationship isn’t going anywhere and then I’ll argue with you and that will ruin our walk. So let’s drop it for now.’
For now?
He was implying that he still had feelings for her, and yet…
She bit her lip, knowing that he was right. Whatever he said, she was going to back off.
‘Get your boots on.’ Jake pushed them towards her. ‘I’ll do them up for you.’
‘I can do them myself, just about.’ She slipped on another thermal layer and pulled on a jumper and then her coat. ‘I’m boiling.’
‘That’s because you’re in my house. It’s freezing outside. We won’t stay out for long and we’ll do something flat so that it isn’t strenuous.’
‘What do you think I am?’ She frowned as she fastened her boots, determined not to show him what a struggle it was. ‘Pathetic?’
‘No. Seven months pregnant.’ He stepped forward, zipped up her jacket and handed her a hat. ‘Wear that.’
‘I’ll get hat hair.’
‘Women.’ He rolled his eyes and walked towards the door. ‘Better hat hair than hypothermia, sweetheart. Wear it.’
He drove to a lake that she hadn’t visited before and parked the car. ‘We’ll just walk around the shore path. Very gentle and easy.’
It was a perfect clear day, crisp and cold but fresh and invigorating. The snow crunched underfoot and Miranda stamped her foot down into virgin snow. ‘Don’t you just love that?’ She couldn’t hold back the grin. ‘Being the first person to touch the snow?’
‘Just as long as the mark is caused by your foot and not your bottom.’ He took her arm. ‘I know I’ll be on the receiving end of a lecture about your independent nature, but hold onto me or you might slip and break something. Perhaps we shouldn’t have come.’
She lifted an eyebrow. ‘You think I’ve forgotten how to walk?’
‘No. I think the ground is slippery and your weight distribution has shifted.’
‘You’re just looking for an excuse to touch me.’ She was teasing but the look in his eyes made her smile fade.
‘I don’t need an excuse, Miranda,’ he said softly, his eyes burning into hers. ‘When I think the time is right, I’m going to touch you and we won’t be by a frozen lake when I do it.’
Suddenly she found it difficult to breath. ‘Jake—’
‘We agreed not to get serious today.’ He stroked a hand down her cheek and then turned away, adjusting the rucksack that he always carried on his back. ‘Come on, walk. But hold my arm so that you don’t slip.’
Feeling slightly weak and shaky, she did as he instructed, her fingers curling into the solid swell of his biceps. She wanted to ask what he meant but she was afraid of stirring up something she wasn’t able to handle.
They walked for about half an hour and Jake stopped and pulled out a flask. ‘It’s cold today. The temperature is dropping. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have more snow.’
‘Is the lake really frozen?’
‘Only around the edges. It’s very deceptive. The ice is extremely thin. Last year we had to rescue two children who thought it would be fun to skate and fell in.’
‘Oh, my goodness.’ Miranda took the hot drink from him gratefully. ‘How did you get them out?’
‘We balanced logs on the ice and used the ropes from our climbing gear.’ They drank and talked and then Jake stuffed the flask back in his backpack. ‘Have you finished? We probably ought to be making a move.’
‘Let’s go a bit further before we turn back. It’s so lovely to be outdoors.’
His blue eyes gleamed. ‘Can this possibly be the same girl who was wearing trainers and not much else when I met her on Christmas Day? I thought you were a city girl.’
‘Not any more.’ She shook her head and glanced around her wistfully. ‘I never want to go near a city again. The baby and I are going to live here happily ever after.’
‘That sounds lonely.’
Aware of his searching gaze, she blushed slightly. ‘I don’t think so. As you once said to me, families come in many different guises.’
‘I meant, lonely for you.’ He stepped closer to her. ‘Aren’t you a little young to be dismissing the male species from your life?’
It was impossible to look away and her heart fluttered and skipped at the look in his eyes. ‘I’m trying to keep my life simple.’
‘Is that right?’ Somehow his head had moved nearer to hers and now his mouth hovered, tantalisingly close. She stared up at him, hypnotised by the slightly slumberous look in his eyes. His jaw was rough with stubble and he looked more handsome than any man had a right to look, and her body’s reaction was as intense as it was instant.
Her legs wobbled, her insides tumbled and swirled and that was before he even touched her. Perhaps he knew the effect he was having on her because the last thing she saw before his mouth came down on hers and her eyes drifted closed was lazy amusement in those wicked blue eyes.
Then he kissed her and she slipped into his kiss as easily as she had that first time, on Christmas Day.
No wonder she hadn’t been able to resist him, she thought dizzily. His mouth was warm and skilled, his kiss slow and so erotically seductive that all the power drained out of her legs. Unable to stand without support, she clutched at his jacket and felt his arms slide around her as he pulled her against him.
Lost in a mysterious world of sensation that she’d never before discovered, it was only after he’d reluctantly released her that she realised his mobile phone was ringing.
Swearing fluently under his breath, Jake kept one arm around her and used the other to dig deep in his pocket for his phone. ‘Yes?’ His response was less than enthusiastic and she could understand why. She was ready to strangle the person who’d interrupted them. Or perhaps she should be grateful, she said to herself as she eased herself away from the pressure of his arm, taking advantage of the fact that all his attention was now on the phone. It seemed that it was all too easy to give in to Jake’s charms. No matter how hard her lesson, she seemed to have no willpower where he was concerned.
‘Problem, I’m afraid.’ Jake snapped the phone shut and dropped it into his pocket, his eyes narrowed as he stared down the path ahead of them.
‘You’re not
on call. Mr Hardwick is supposed to be covering this weekend.’
‘It isn’t a baby. It’s a woman who’s slipped by the lake and broken her ankle.’
‘Which lake?’
Jake was squinting into the distance. ‘This lake. You and I are the advance party, sweetheart.’
‘You want me to help you with a mountain rescue?’ It was hard to keep the irony out of her voice and he turned to her, his eyes gleaming with appreciation.
‘Actually, we’ve always thought that an extremely pregnant woman would be an asset to the team.’ He trailed a finger down her cheek in an affectionate gesture that had her heart racing. ‘We’re not up a mountain and I don’t need you to do any rescuing, but I do have to go and help and I’m not prepared to leave you here or let you walk back to the car on your own.’
Wondering what it was about him that had such a powerful effect on her, she adopted a frosty tone. ‘You think I’m helpless?’
‘No, I think you’re very pregnant and this walk probably wasn’t a sensible idea, but it becomes even less so if you go back on your own. What if something happens, Miranda?’ He frowned. ‘It isn’t about independence, it’s about common sense.’
She thought for a moment and nodded. ‘All right. I’m not going to argue with you.’
‘You’re not?’
‘No. What do you want me to do?’
‘She dialled 999 a few minutes ago and the leader of the mountain rescue team thinks that she’s not far from here. If he’s right then we should be able to stretcher her down the valley and meet the ambulance at the road.’
‘I only see one problem with that.’
He started walking along the path. ‘What’s that?’
‘We don’t have a stretcher. Or do you carry one in your magic bag, along with the hot chocolate?’
He laughed. ‘My colleagues will be bringing the stretcher, the ambulance will wait at the end of the path and our job is to administer first aid and make sure she’s comfortable.’
‘They’re going to walk along here, carrying a stretcher?’
‘It breaks into pieces.’
‘Oh, yes, I remember now. You showed me one that evening you took me around the mountain rescue centre.’
