Their Little Princess

by Susan Mallery

  “I’ve never had any contact with her or her parents, but her grandparents on her adoptive mother’s side have stayed in touch with me. They keep me updated on her progress, send pictures. Their daughter couldn’t have children, so they’re very grateful to me for giving them Annie.”

  “Does she know she’s adopted?” he asked.

  “Oh, yes. It hasn’t been a secret. But she’s not interested in meeting me. Maybe in time, but for now she’s happy with her family the way it is.” She straightened. “I know she’s fine. I know that her life is a good one and that she has loving parents. But I can’t help wondering how it all would have been if I hadn’t chosen to be selfish. If I’d just—”

  She hadn’t heard Tanner move, but suddenly he was standing behind her, turning her to face him. “Don’t,” he commanded. “Don’t say it and don’t you dare even think it. You were seventeen years old, Kelly. You had a hell of a choice to make and you did the best you could. Sure you could have kept her and then what? Gotten a job right out of high school? What about your dream of being a doctor?”

  “What about my daughter?”

  “What about her? Are you saying you could have done better?”

  “I don’t know.”

  His blue eyes darkened as he gripped her shoulders. “I want to shake you,” he said. “Don’t do this to yourself. Don’t second-guess the past. You have a wonderful life and so does she. If the situation were to happen today, you would have chosen differently. But it wasn’t today. You were a kid. Give yourself a break.”

  “I want to,” she said. And she did. She’d spent so much of her life beating herself up for her choices back then. Was it wrong to let the past go? She wanted to believe she was allowed, but she wasn’t sure. “As for my life being wonderful, sometimes it is, but sometimes it’s very lonely.”

  Tanner’s mouth tightened. “Why did I know you were going to say that?” he asked, but he didn’t seem to be expecting an answer. Instead of holding her shoulders, his hands were moving up and down her arms. “I wish you hadn’t told me this,” he said, then shook his head when he saw the look on her face. “Don’t get all weird on me. I don’t mean because I think less of you. If anything, I admire you even more. But knowing about your past makes you…”

  “What?”

  “Approachable.”

  He was standing so close, she thought. She could feel his heat warming her. His hands were firm on her arms. He was a strong, solid man—the kind of man who made women feel safe and protected.

  “It’s as if you’re just like everyone else,” he murmured.

  “I always have been.”

  “Not to me, and I think I preferred it that way.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it would have kept me from doing this.”

  She knew what he was going to do before he did it. Even so, his kiss startled her. Not the fact that his lips pressed against hers, but because they felt so right in doing so. There was a sense of coming home—which was crazy, but true. The scent of his body filled her and it was as if she’d already known that scent. He kissed slowly, as if they had all the time in the world. As if taking that time would only increase their passion. Desire flickered low in her belly as heat poured through her body.

  He drew his arms around her and pulled her close. She went willingly—practically melting into him—as her arms encircled his neck.

  They were nearly the same height but he was so powerfully built that she felt small by comparison. Her breasts nestled easily against his chest and her hips seemed to surge against him with a will of their own. But all that faded when compared to the perfection that was their kiss.

  He brushed her mouth gently with his, moving back and forth so slowly that she could have escaped at any time—if she’d wanted to. But what woman would want to move away from the wonder that was Tanner Malone?

  She felt the faintest rub of stubble against her chin. The friction delighted her, making her want to feel that slight scratchiness all over her body. Delicious images filled her mind, of them together like this, only more together. Pressed hard and naked, surging in the most intimate dance of all. She was over-heated and breathless and all they’d done was kiss. Good grief, what would happen to her if they actually did make love? She would never survive.

  But it would be a glorious way to go.

  He drew his tongue along the seam of her mouth. The sensual movement drew her back to the present, to their kiss. She slipped one hand up so that her fingers could bury themselves in his thick, dark hair. Her other hand moved down his back feeling the movement of muscles against her palm. Then she parted her lips and invited him inside.

  The jolt when his tongue touched hers nearly made her scream. There was a flash of heat and energy, but that wasn’t what aroused her the most. It was Tanner’s reaction to their shared intimacy. Beneath the hand on his back she felt his entire body tense. Strength turned to rock. At the same time, he took a step closer and pressed himself against her fully. She felt the length and breadth of his arousal…and it was as impressive as the rest of him.

  Kelly found herself getting lost in the experience of kissing him. She clung to him, wanting to be closer. His tongue moved against hers, then explored her mouth. Each caress brought with it new and exciting sensations. She found herself needing more, kissing him back, wanting more. She was thirty-two years old and she couldn’t remember the last time a man had really kissed her. It was a sad statement on her life.

  But it wasn’t just being with a man that reduced her legs to jelly. It was specifically this man. Because she’d been on the occasional date and those men had sometimes given her a chaste good-night kiss. Not once had she ever reacted so strongly.

  She wanted him and it felt so good to want a man. She wanted to tell him that it was okay with her if he pushed her up against the counter, pulled down her jeans and panties and did it with her right there in the kitchen. She who had never been daring enough to leave the lights on.

  His hands moved from her back to her face. He cupped her cheeks as if he were afraid she would try to run away. Had she been able to speak, she would have told him there was nowhere else she would rather be.

  He nipped at her lower lip, then soothed the erotic ache with his tongue. He drew her lip into his mouth, sucking her and creating tiny pulls that tugged all the way to her breasts. Her nipples were hard and as hungry as the rest of her.

  “Kelly,” he breathed against her mouth, then slipped one hand under her braid.

  He kissed her again, deeply, and she welcomed him. They circled each other, stroking, learning, breathing heavily. She was so incredibly aroused. Shudders rippled through her as if they’d been kissing for hours. Maybe they had. Maybe the rest of the world had disappeared and only they were left to live in the magic of this moment.

  Boldly, she let her hands trail down his back to the high, tight curve of his rear. As if reading her intent, he surged against her, rubbing his arousal against her belly, making her gasp. One of his hands dropped to her waist, then moved up her side toward her breasts.

  In the back of her mind a voice whispered that things were getting out of hand and wouldn’t that be nice. She caught her breath as his fingers moved higher and higher, reaching for her aching curves. Then her side vibrated.

  Tanner wrapped his arms around her and rested his forehead against hers. “I would like to take credit for that, but I’m not good enough.”

  She smiled faintly, still caught up in what had, until this second, been going on between them. “Too bad,” she murmured as she removed her pager and stared at the display. “It’s the hospital. I’m guessing it’s one of my patients.”

  He stepped back and motioned to the phone. Kelly picked up the receiver and dialed from memory. Her head was still thick with passion and she was afraid her voice would sound funny. She cleared her throat a couple of times before the nurse’s station picked up.

  “This is Dr. Hall. I received a page.”

  “Y
es, Doctor. One of your ladies is here. Her name is Wendy…”

  The nurse continued talking and Kelly carefully wrote everything down, but it was incredibly hard to concentrate because Tanner had come up behind her and was trailing damp kisses down the nape of her neck. It was all she could do to keep taking notes. Finally she hung up the phone.

  “You have a patient in labor,” he said, still standing behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest. “You have to go.”

  “Yes,” she said as she placed her hands on top of his. Had they really just shared the most extraordinary kiss?

  She turned to look at him. Passion darkened his eyes to the color of sapphires. His expression was equal parts aroused and self-satisfied.

  “You’re something of a kisser, Dr. Hall,” he said.

  “I could say the same about you.”

  “Go ahead.”

  She laughed. “You’re a great kisser, Mr. Malone. Thank you.”

  They were standing close together, but not touching. Then Tanner cupped her face. “I’m not sorry. The timing is probably poor, but I can’t regret kissing you.”

  Kelly drew in a deep breath. With his words, reality crashed in around her. Who they were—why they were together. This wasn’t a date and they weren’t a couple. She was helping out a friend, nothing more. She didn’t do relationships, and Tanner, well, she didn’t know all that much about him except that he was in the middle of a hundred-million dollar construction job and had just brought an infant into his life.

  She took a step back. “I agree with both sentiments,” she said. “The timing is less than perfect. Everything about your life is changing and the last thing you need right now is a woman getting in the way.”

  “That’s my excuse, what’s yours?”

  Kelly didn’t really have one except she’d fallen in the habit of being alone. Right now she couldn’t think why.

  “I would like to help you with Lia, but it will get complicated if we’re more than friends,” she said.

  She held her breath, then relaxed when he seemed to accept her explanation.

  “So now what?” he asked, shoving his hands into his rear pockets. She tried not to notice how the action pulled the material of his jeans tight. Thank goodness she’d been paged. If not, they might have acted out her fantasy of doing it in the kitchen.

  “Now we agree to keep it simple. Friends. Good friends.”

  “I get the message. No more kissing.” His mouth tightened. “But I’ll be thinking about it, Kelly. Probably for longer than I should.”

  She swallowed. “Yeah. Me, too. I’ve got to go.”

  She collected her purse and walked out of the house. When she got in her car, she found her gaze drawn back to the front door. What would it be like to know that after she’d safely delivered her patient’s baby she would be returning here? Not just as Tanner’s friend, but as someone important to him.

  She didn’t have any answers, she told herself as she backed out of the driveway. Nor were they necessary. For now she and Tanner would keep things simple—they would be friends. In time…

  Here Kelly wasn’t so sure. In time, what? Maybe she would have to figure out why she’d spent all her adult life running from relationships. Maybe she could figure out what was wrong with her. As a child and a teenager, she’d always planned on getting married and having a family. What had happened to that dream? Was it too late to get it back or was she destined to spend the rest of her life alone?

  “Tell me good news, Angel,” Tanner said as his foreman slumped into the opposite chair.

  “It’s all good, boss,” the short, stocky man said with a grin. He gestured with his unlit cigar. “We’re sticking to your revised schedule, so we’re catching up a little each week. I’ve been calling suppliers, and for once they’re getting it right. If this keeps up, we’ll coast right up to our deadline. Oh, and the toilet problem is fixed.”

  Tanner let out the breath he’d been holding. For a while he hadn’t been sure they were going to come in on time, let alone on budget. Having the funding pulled when he was more than a third of the way through the project had about done him in. Between having to pay for labor and delivered supplies while trying to stall other orders, he’d been within days of going under.

  He leaned back in his chair. The situation had been unavoidable, he reminded himself. He paid for many of his materials up front. Suppliers gave him a discount that way, and that discount had been figured into his bid on the project. Labor costs were paid as incurred. Most large projects required loans to float the costs of building until the general contractor was paid, but this time Tanner had decided to use his own money. He had enough, as long as the regular funding came through. Who could have predicted that one of the executives would embezzle the foundation’s money?

  “It’s April now,” Angel was saying. “Exterior painting will start in late May or early June, just like we planned. The inside work is going faster than expected.” He held up a hand before Tanner could interrupt. “Every department is making sure there are inspections and quality checks every step of the way. No one is going to shortcut on this project.”

  “Good, because you know the rule.” Tanner made a practice of firing any individual or company who cut corners. Everything was built to code, with the finest materials available.

  Angel grabbed his clipboard and stood up. “That’s it, boss. Now I’m gonna go explain to the electrical contractor that hospitals need a lot of plugs. They’re saying we made a mistake in the design. No one needs that many plugs in each room. Not to worry. I know the design’s right and by the time I’m done with them, they’re gonna know it, too.”

  He gave a wave and stomped out of the room. Tanner grinned. Angel might not be the most refined guy in the world, but he got the job done.

  Tanner was about to turn on his computer and start checking scheduling, when someone else walked into his office. He glanced up and saw his brother Ryan.

  “How’s life?” Ryan asked as he settled into the chair Angel had vacated. “Did you get much sleep this weekend?”

  “More than I thought. Lia wakes up every few hours, but then she goes right back to sleep. The baby nurse Ronni recommended is great. She calls me every couple of hours just to let me know that things are going well at home.”

  “Sounds like you have it under control.”

  Tanner nodded. “Here, too, Ryan. I know you’ve been worried, but the project is on schedule. We’ll be meeting the September first date.”

  Some of the tension in his brother’s face eased. Tanner knew that Ryan tried not to show that he was concerned, but Ryan had a lot of responsibility. He was the one who had found the funding for the hospital project, then he’d been the one to recommend Tanner’s company. While the temporary loss of funding hadn’t been Ryan’s fault, he’d taken it hard. He’d busted his butt to get the project up and running, and so far they were doing fine.

  “I knew I could count on you,” Ryan said.

  “You can also count on me to take the kids when you and Ronni head off to get married at the end of the month. I can handle them and Lia, too.”

  Ryan laughed. “Yeah, right. In your dreams. Your daughter is sleeping her life away right now but that changes. Besides, we’ve already made other arrangements. My three are going to be well looked after.”

  “If you’re sure,” Tanner said. “I’ll be happy to take them.”

  “Worry about your own, right now.” Ryan rose and shook his brother’s hand. “Congratulations again. Both on the project and on Lia.”

  “Thanks.”

  Tanner watched his brother leave, but instead of returning his attention to his computer, he rose and crossed to the window. His temporary office was going to eventually be the lab. Right now scaffolding obscured most of the view, but he could see out. It was a sunny spring day, with temperatures near sixty. But he didn’t see the newly budding flowers planted on the hospital grounds. Instead he pictured
his daughter sleeping peacefully in her crib.

  He was flying by the seat of his pants with her—which was what he’d done with most of his life. When he’d bought the business, he’d been afraid he would fail completely and publicly, but he hadn’t—despite his history of screwing up.

  Maybe he was maturing. It was bound to happen eventually. His business was successful and so far fatherhood was even better than he’d thought it would be. He loved Lia, and he was willing to do whatever he had to so that he could give her a decent life.

  Thinking of Lia made him think of Kelly because for some reason they were linked together in his brain. And thinking of Kelly made him remember the kiss they’d shared last Sunday. The kiss he hadn’t been able to forget.

  He was done screwing up, he reminded himself. Which meant no more weekend flings with women like Lucy Ames. He had to go for someone right, or not bother. When he’d first decided to take Lia, he’d told himself he wasn’t going to do the relationship thing at all. That would be easier. But now he wasn’t so sure. He might be willing to give it a try if it meant being with someone special…someone like Kelly.

  Chapter Eight

  “So how’s my favorite girl in the world?”

  Kelly leaned back in her chair and smiled. “I’m great, Dad. How are you?”

  “Not bad for an old man.”

  Kelly shifted the phone so it nestled between her shoulder and her ear, then slipped off her pumps. She’d spent most of the day on her feet. For once she hadn’t been interrupted by one of her patients giving birth, so she’d actually gotten through her regular appointments. Now it was nearly six and the office was quiet.

  “You’re not old. You’re just getting started.”

  “I like to think so,” Daniel Hall answered. “But some mornings it’s tough to pull on my sweats and go jogging. The boys are starting to beat me.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  Her father was as fit today as he had been when she’d been a little girl. He ran every morning with the high school athletes. Some of them were members of his church, but most weren’t. Daniel had been a fixture on the morning exercise scene through hundreds of students’ lives. He was always available to listen, or even give advice if asked. More than one crisis had been averted because the kids involved had gone to Daniel. Somehow a man out jogging and sweating wasn’t nearly as scary as approaching a minister of a church.