‘No,’ Dylan said quietly. ‘Sadly, her parents were both killed in an accident recently.’
‘Oh…I’m so sorry.’ Jennifer was also very curious. She glanced from Dylan to Jane and back again, pressing her lips together, obviously restraining herself from asking for more information.
Dylan took pity on her. ‘Jane was a close friend of my brother’s wife,’ he explained. ‘I wanted to break the news in person.’
‘And you came all the way from Scotland with a baby to do that? Wow!’
The tone was one of amazement, heavily laced with admiration. Dylan was becoming even more a hero and he didn’t appear to be in any hurry to jump off the pedestal.
He simply smiled. And that smile was directed at Jennifer.
‘How’s Shane?’ Jane’s tone was clipped. ‘Was he having an MI?’
‘He certainly was,’ Jennifer nodded. ‘Massive ST elevation on all inferior leads. We gave him oxygen, morphine and aspirin and sent for priority transport. You probably heard the helicopter?’
‘Yes. Very efficient.’
‘We would have started thrombolysis if there’d been any delay but he should be in the catheter laboratory within an hour from onset of symptoms and angioplasty is the best option.’ Jennifer smiled at Dylan. ‘Yet another reason I need to persuade you to come and work here. Not many of my nursing staff are experienced with monitoring a patient that does require something like a streptokinase infusion.’
‘I’m only here on a visitor’s permit.’
‘You could upgrade,’ Jennifer suggested eagerly. ‘With a working permit you’d get at least twelve months in the country, I think. Probably longer, if you have an employer prepared to sponsor you.’
Jane couldn’t decide whether the possibility was good or not. Twelve months. A whole year to get to know Sophie.
And Dylan.
But what then? They’d be so much a part of her life nothing would ever be the same.
‘I couldn’t anyway,’ Dylan said apologetically. ‘As tempting as it is, I’ve got this wee bairn I’m looking after.’
‘I could guarantee any number of people who would be more than happy to help in that quarter, but it’s up to you, Dylan.’ Jennifer glanced at her watch. ‘I’d better go. Drew will be wondering why on earth I’m not home with the supplies for lunch.’
She walked both Dylan and Jane back towards the main entrance, pressing a buzzer on the reception desk.
‘That’ll bring Marg back,’ she said. ‘And your wee Sophie.’
She paused on her way out the main doors. ‘Think about it,’ she said to Dylan. ‘And call in if you have any questions. Better still, come up for dinner some time soon. We’re in the phone book. Bring Sophie.’
He was thinking about it for the rest of the day.
How could anyone not fall in love with a charming country hospital set on a hill with a view of that stunning harbour and the surrounding hills?
With patients who were comfortable and well cared for by people who knew them personally? While a lot of the nursing care would be routine, the links with the community as a whole would make up for that, wouldn’t they?
And there’d be emergencies. Like the one today. Trauma cases as well as medical ones that would need stabilising before they could be transferred to the larger hospital in the city. Babies would be born in that lovely new maternity wing. Children probably came in to recuperate after surgery elsewhere. There would be enough variety in any case to keep the job interesting.
Jane didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic about any of it. She seemed to be avoiding him for the rest of the day. Reading journals and dead-heading roses in the garden and making a trip to the supermarket for groceries. To her credit, she did produce the scrambled eggs and bacon for their dinner and Dylan tried to make an effort as well. To start a conversation that was more than polite and monosyllabic.
‘Jennifer’s lovely, isn’t she?’ he asked.
‘Mmm.’ Jane was busy buttering a slice of the fresh bread she had served to accompany their simple meal. ‘She certainly seems to be happy as a GP here.’
‘Her husband was a specialist surgeon in the States for years.’
‘Really? And he came to work here?’
Dylan ignored the implied put-down. ‘It’s because of him they’ve got the X-ray facilities now. And the theatre. They can do more than small stuff if they have to.’
‘How on earth did they meet? Was he here on holiday?’
‘I don’t know.’What was it about Jane’s tone that made him feel defensive of a small town he’d only been living in for a week? ‘I’ll ask her when I go for dinner, shall I?’
Jane gave him a look that provoked something like rebellion.
She didn’t like the idea of him working at the hospital. Why?
Because she thought it was his job to make sure Sophie was cared for and nothing else should matter to him?
Because she didn’t want him around for that long?
That wasn’t the impression Dylan had been given last night. In those magical few minutes with the flicker of firelight and the soft notes of his music and Jane looking at him like…like…
Dylan sighed. It was a given that he would have led Jane upstairs to make love to her if Sophie hadn’t interrupted that moment, but he wouldn’t have even considered it if he hadn’t been damned sure that Jane would have been as willing as he was.
She had wanted him but she had thought better of it. Because Sophie had reminded her of her presence? Was the reason Jane didn’t want him here for a long time because it meant that Sophie would also be here?
His niece.
She hadn’t even had the decency to acknowledge the relationship she had with this tiny, vulnerable human being.
It wasn’t good enough.
Maybe it was time to stop being nice. Making excuses for Dr Walters.
Dylan met Jane’s glare steadily. ‘You really don’t want me to stay here long enough to make it worthwhile getting even a part-time job, do you?’
‘You wouldn’t want to stay here that long anyway,’ she countered swiftly. ‘You never have before so why start now?’
‘I told you,’ Dylan said patiently. ‘Sophie needs to be settled. To have a place to call home and grow up in. The way I see it, I could do a lot worse than settle in a place like this.’
‘But…why here?’ Jane had put her fork down, her appetite apparently deserting her. Her hand was resting on the paper serviette lying beside her plate. Dylan watched with interest as her hand closed into a fist, trapping the serviette. He could hear the edge in her tone that sounded like panic. He looked up only to catch her avoiding eye contact, but if she thought she was hiding by doing so, she was wrong. Dylan was watching her very carefully.
‘Why not?’
‘What about…your family? Your father?’ Triumph was winning over any panic now. ‘He won’t want to miss seeing his only grandchild growing up.’
‘True,’ Dylan conceded calmly. ‘So it’s just as well he’ll love being here, then, isn’t it? He’ll love the harbour and the boats and…’ He couldn’t help a quick smile. ‘And it’s the perfect answer to getting help with wee Sophie while I go to work.’
Jane shook her head. ‘Have you any idea how difficult it is to emigrate these days?You might get a working permit but your father isn’t likely to qualify. And what do you do after the twelve months or two years or whatever? Pack everybody up and move on somewhere else?’
Dylan said nothing. He was too busy watching. First the way the serviette was being scrunched and torn and then the way emotions were flitting across Jane’s features. It was hard to analyse what was going on behind eyes that were far more brown than green at the moment. So dark. Distressed.
Was that was she was afraid of? That she would get attached to Sophie and then he would take her away somewhere else?
‘Why…here?’ Jane repeated. The query was a pale, puzzled echo of the previous demand.
Dylan r
eached across the table and put his hand over the fist that was clenched around the ball of soft paper.
‘Because you’re here,’ he said softly. ‘Because you’re wee Sophie’s mother.’
To his amazement, Jane’s eyes filled with tears.
‘I’m not a mother,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t know how to be.’
‘You’ll learn,’ Dylan promised. ‘I can help.’
‘But—’
‘It doesn’t have to happen overnight. We can have all the time we could possibly need if I settle here.’
‘But…’ Jane was staring at his hand, which was still covering hers. She seemed mesmerised by the way he was stroking his thumb over her skin. Slowly. Firmly enough to, hopefully, convey reassurance. ‘It won’t be easy,’ she continued. ‘You might not be allowed to stay.’
‘Oh, I think we could get around that.’
‘How?’ Jane looked up and…Yes, that flash in her eyes couldn’t be anything other than hope, Dylan was sure of it.
He smiled. ‘You could marry me, hinny.’
CHAPTER TEN
‘MARRY you!’
‘Aye.’ Dylan’s mouth twisted into a wry, lopsided smile. ‘Is the prospect that horrible?’
‘It’s—it’s preposterous!’ Jane snatched her hand away from his touch.
Eyebrows rose as the corners of his mouth fell, making him look absurdly disappointed. ‘Why?’
Jane gave an exasperated huff. ‘We barely know each other.’
‘I think we’re getting to know each other very well.’ Dylan’s gaze was softening. Very intent. Reminiscent of the way he’d been looking at her last night over the top of his guitar. That look of connection.
Of desire.
Jane’s heart gave a painful thump and then started racing. Her mouth had gone so dry she instinctively licked her lips and then saw the heat that darkened Dylan’s eyes into that extraordinary dark blue and her heart missed another beat. What woman alive wouldn’t fall for someone like this?
He was the most gorgeous man she had ever been this close to. Physically beautiful with those expressive eyes and lips and that tousled dark hair. Big and strong and— the glint of gold in his ear caught her eye—a little bit wild. He was also intelligent, capable of using his strength when it was needed but also capable of being astonishingly gentle. She had seen him use that gentleness with Sophie. With his music…
This was crazy. She was actually excited by the notion of marrying him?
‘You’re crazy,’ she whispered.
His head shake was slow. Sure. He got up from his seat on the other side of the table and came to her side. He pulled out the chair beside her and perched on its edge. He took hold of her hand again and this time Jane didn’t pull away. She couldn’t. She was too stunned, both by his suggestion and her reaction.
‘I’m Sophie’s uncle,’ Dylan said quietly. ‘The closest thing she’s ever going to have to a real father.’
Jane couldn’t refute the statement so she kept listening. She concentrated on the sound of his voice to try and distract herself from the way it felt to have him holding her hand.
‘You’re her mother,’ Dylan continued. He gave her hand a little squeeze, then, and she felt that squeeze run up her arm and then spread through her whole body. ‘Or as close as she’s ever going to have. Don’t you think it’s only right that her parents should be married to each other?’
‘Not…not if it’s being done for the wrong reasons.’
‘Is giving wee Sophie a wonderful place to grow up and a whole family around her so very wrong?’
‘N-no.’ Of course it wasn’t. Jane’s brain was curiously foggy. There was a reason why it was completely wrong, she just couldn’t catch hold of it.
‘We don’t have to live in your gran’s house, if that’s what’s bothering you. I have plenty of money. I can buy another house. Two, even. One for me and Sophie and one for her grandpa. We passed a wee house that had a “for sale” sign on it today. Not very far away from here at all.’
Jane shook her head. ‘An obvious marriage of convenience for the sake of giving someone residency would get you sent out of the country like a flash. They check up on discrepancies like that.’
Dylan’s smile held more than a hint of satisfaction. ‘So we’ll have to live in the same house, then. But not with my da.’ His smile was fond. ‘Not that he’s not a lovely man, mind, but it might be just a wee bit stressful for you to live with an extended family when you’ve been used to being on your own. Too much to ask from a newlywed.’
‘I’m not…I can’t marry you!’
But if she didn’t, Dylan would go away and take Sophie with him. Maybe not immediately, but eventually he would have to leave the country. Jane could feel an odd ache now. As though her arms were aware of something missing. Were they remembering how it had felt to hold Sophie this morning while she fed her? Yes. That ache was located inside her chest. Near her heart. Just where Sophie’s tiny head had been resting.
‘Would…?’ Her throat was so tight, Jane had to pull in a new breath to release her words. ‘Would it be a marriage in name only, then?’
Dylan still had hold of her hand. He was also holding the eye contact but he said nothing.
A second ticked past. And then another.
And then, without breaking the eye contact, Dylan leaned forward. Close. And then even closer.
Jane could feel his breath on her face. The warmth of his skin. She could see every one of his incredibly long, dark eyelashes. She had to close her eyes as she felt him move again. Felt his head tilt and his lips touch hers. A feather-light touch. Across her top lip and then her bottom lip.
Oh Lord, was she sitting here with her eyes closed and her mouth open like a stunned mullet?
Jane’s eyes snapped open to find Dylan had drawn far enough away to be watching her. So intently, he seemed to be looking right into her soul.
She closed her mouth and then licked lips that felt curiously abandoned seeing as he hadn’t actually kissed her. Or had he? Desire was spiralling out of any hope of control. Jane could feel a pulse hammering in her neck. Her limbs felt oddly weak and heat was pooling in her belly.
Yet it hadn’t been a kiss. Not a real kiss.
Jane couldn’t look away. Couldn’t think. Her whole body was clamouring for a real kiss and not just that experimental touch.
This time, when Dylan closed the gap between them, she was ready. It might even have been her movement that closed the gap. The touch was just as gentle but it was on both her lips at the same time.
And then Dylan’s fingers slid into her hair to cup the back of her head and the pressure of the kiss increased. A tiny sound like a moan came from somewhere deep within Jane and was lost inside Dylan’s mouth.
She was lost inside that mouth.
Mirroring his action, Jane slid her fingers into the tousled curls on his head, revelling in the luxuriant, thick waves as she tried to anchor herself as the kiss came alive.
Tantalisingly, he broke the contact of their lips again, drawing back to stare into her eyes, his own dark and unsmiling. And then it was Dylan’s turn to make a sound. A raw sound of…what…defeat? Surrender? Whatever it was, it gave Jane a sense of power that she had never experienced before. He wanted her. More than any man had ever wanted her.
This time the kiss was nothing like any gentle exploration. The pressure was bruising. Their tongues tangled. Dylan’s hands moved to grip her shoulders and then slide down to brush exquisitely tender nipples and mould breasts that felt swollen with desire.
When they finally had to draw apart to take a breath, they stared at each other again in a kind of wonder. The only sound was their ragged breathing.
And then, amazingly, Dylan smiled.
‘No,’ he said hoarsely. ‘I dinna think this will be a marriage in name only, do you, hinny?’
Jane couldn’t catch her breath enough to form a coherent word so she did the only thing her body would allow her to do. S
he shook her head.
‘The wee one’s asleep,’ Dylan whispered. ‘Do you think that…?’ He touched her lips with his. Softly. Unbearably softly. ‘Maybe…’ He kissed her again. Slowly. ‘We should give this marriage idea a wee test run?’
Jane gulped in some air. She was watching Dylan’s mouth. Waiting for it to come close enough to claim with her own. Her lips were trembling with anticipation.
‘Y-yes.’ She had to force the word out because she wanted to do things with her lips that had nothing to do with talking. ‘I…think we should.’
‘Aye.’ Somehow, Dylan managed to stand up, scooping Jane into his arms as he did so. And he managed to carry her up the narrow staircase and into her bedroom. He put her down on the edge of her bed, kissing her again until she felt so boneless she leaned back and Dylan let her go until she was lying across the bed.
‘Don’t go away,’ he said softly. ‘I’ll be right back.’
It took a moment or two for Jane’s brain to start functioning. To stop feeling bereft and wonder what Dylan was doing. Had he gone to check on Sophie? Find a condom?
Jane was shocked that she wouldn’t have thought of either of those necessities. Even now, applauding him for his ability to think beyond what was happening between them, she was aware of disappointment.
Dylan wasn’t as carried away by passion as she was. Yes, he wanted her. Possibly as much as she wanted him, but he wasn’t lost in it.
He wasn’t in love with her.
This wasn’t about her. It was about testing the possibility that a marriage of convenience might be enough to be satisfying for both of them.
No. All of them.
Because this was for Sophie’s sake, wasn’t it?
Was it enough of a reason? Jane sat up, pushing back hair that felt as tangled as her emotions. She could pull the plug on this. It might be incredibly difficult but it would be possible. She could avoid getting any deeper into a chain of events that was changing her life irreparably.
But then Dylan came back into her room. He pushed the door almost closed. Giving them the illusion of privacy but leaving enough of a gap to hear a baby cry.
Her Baby Out of the Blue/A Doctor, A Nurse: A Christmas Baby Page 12
