Bosom Buddies

by Holly Jacobs

Allie nodded, which made more noise, and she tried to stay perfectly still.

  “One, two, three,” he said quietly and rolled.

  Allie rolled too, but she was nervous and overestimated how far the edge was. Instead of standing, she fell inelegantly onto the floor.

  “So much for being quiet,” Ian said, and then he did a totally unexpected thing. He laughed. Not just a small, social, that-was-a-funny-joke sort of laugh, but a wet-your-pants sort of laugh, the likes of which Allie had never heard him utter before.

  And it was at that precise moment that Allie faced the truth about her feelings for Ian. She knew why he was so different than the other men she’d known—she loved him. She didn’t just think so, it wasn’t some nice little potential sort of love thing. It was an if-he-left-her-world-would-shatter sort of thing, a feeling so deep and profound that it literally took her breath away.

  She loved him—the words felt scary even though she’d only said them in her mind. She knew why she’d wanted to push him away. Not because of all her other bad relationships. Not because they were so different. She’d wanted to keep her distance because if she loved him and he didn’t love her in return, she’d be done in. Now she realized that she’d given him her heart without him ever knowing it—without even her knowing it.

  When he offered his hand to pull her to her feet, she took it shyly. Touching him brought back the wildness she’d been feeling moments before, but mixed with it was a tenderness that hadn’t been there before.

  Love.

  “Come on, honey, I don’t think the couch squeaks.”

  “I’ve never heard it make a peep downstairs,” she said. Allie was amazed that her voice sounded normal. It should sound different since just a second ago her entire world shifted.

  An hour later, he pulled her into his arms. “That was . . .”

  “Not nearly as noisy as the bed would have been,” she supplied with a wicked grin.

  “I’m ordering a new one tomorrow.”

  “So you don’t disturb Anne’s sleep when you toss and turn at night?”

  “No, so my sister doesn’t know each time I make love to you.” He looked at her thoughtfully. “Although if you yell my name as loud as you did just now, she’s going to suspect anyway.”

  “I didn’t yell,” she said with ladylike primness.

  “Ha.”

  “I think you were as loud as I was,” she said.

  “Maybe I was. I can’t be sure of anything—it’s all a blur.”

  “You don’t remember?” she asked innocently. She sighed. “The problem with dating older men is things start to slip. I mean, first it’s the memory and then it’s their memory maker.”

  “Memory maker?” He chuckled.

  “It’s better than pasta al dente.” She laughed as well, her heart overflowing. She loved Ian Ryan. It was amazing, intriguing, and it filled her heart.

  “Hey, my imagery was just fine.”

  “I’m just saying mine was better.” She looked him over hungrily. “And since you don’t remember how loud you yelled, I think we should see if we can refresh your memory. That is, if you don’t think it will be too much for you?”

  “Let’s see who it’s too much for,” Ian said, rolling onto her and accepting her challenge.

  In the end, it wasn’t too much for either of them.

  Allie felt like a teenager sneaking home after a date. Trying not to wake her brothers. Only this time she was trying not to wake Ian’s sister.

  “So, how was your, er, walk?” Anne’s voice called from her room.

  So much for sneaking.

  When she stopped and thought about it, Allie had never been overly successful sneaking in on her brothers either. “It was fine.”

  She opened the door and smiled at Anne, who was sitting in the middle of her bed, her crutches leaned against the wall, Ryane sleeping peacefully in her lap.

  “Must have been a very long walk,” Anne said, her face much too innocent.

  “We just got to talking and didn’t realize how far we had gone,” Allie tried.

  “Talking? Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

  “Of course they call it talking, what else would they call it?” Allie did her best to assume a confused manner, which wasn’t all that difficult. She was very confused by what had just happened with Ian. Very confused.

  “Er, eek, er, eek—thud,” Anne said with a grin. “What I want to know is what precisely happened at the thud?” Laughing, she held up a hand. “Never mind, I take that back, I don’t want to know. Ian’s my brother, after all.”

  Allie sank on the edge of Anne’s bed. “You heard.” She sighed the sigh of a defeated sneak.

  “Even if I hadn’t, I would have guessed.”

  “How?” Allie asked.

  “You’re glowing.” Anne said. “You’ve never looked like this before.”

  “I’ve never felt like this,” Allie admitted.

  “So?” Anne leaned forward and grinned.

  “So, what?” Allie asked, innocently.

  “I don’t know, that’s what I’m asking.” The grin grew broader.

  “Wish I could answer, but I don’t know either. When we first met, we didn’t even like each other. We just sort of got together because of Ryane and you. I thought we were buddies. And after you got out of the hospital, we became more sparring partners. Sniping at each other. I think we were both trying to keep our distance and not complicate things.”

  “And now?”

  “Well, I don’t not like him anymore.” Allie wasn’t ready to admit she loved him, not to Anne, certainly not to Ian—she almost hated to admit it to herself.

  “Well, when I heard the squeaking begin, I sort of figured you weren’t fighting.” Anne chuckled. “So, should I expect you to be staying upstairs, or will you just be visiting from time to time? I mean, if you’re just visiting, I can make it a point to go out somewhere.”

  “The answers to your questions would be, I don’t know.”

  “Well, if you need to talk, Ian may be my brother, but I’d like to think I’m your friend, and I’m available.”

  “You are and if I need to, you’d be the first I’d come to. You know the same goes for you.”

  A shadow of pain flitted across Anne’s face. “When I’m ready, you’d be the one I’d come to. I just can’t yet . . .” Her voice trailed off.

  Allie reached over and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry.”

  “So am I,” Anne said cryptically.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “Mrs. Riker, how are things today?”

  Allie bustled into room 689 for her tenth consult of the day. There had been a mini–baby boom at the hospital and most of those booming mothers had chosen to breastfeed. Mrs. Riker had come to Allie’s first series of breastfeeding classes and everything had been going wonderfully yesterday, but Allie had learned that things could change quickly.

  “Things are going great. Shelby’s been nursing every two hours or even more.” The new mother smiled at Allie.

  “No pain?”

  “No, I’ve been careful with my positioning and how she latches on, just like you said.”

  Allie grinned. “You’re exactly the type of patient I love to visit, one who has everything under control.”

  Mrs. Riker grinned as well. “Shelby’s going to be exceptional, her father and I decided. It makes sense that our breastfeeding would be exceptionally smooth.”

  Allie laughed. She loved a patient with a sense of humor. She pulled a sheet of paper from her bag. “I know I gave you one in class, but here’s my number again, call me, night or day. And here’s the local listing of La Leche League Leaders. They’re that volunteer organization that works with new moms. They have evening and afternoon meetings, and like we talked about in class, they’re a great support
group.”

  Mrs. Riker took them. “Thanks again for everything.”

  “Any time.”

  She leaned over and tickled under little Shelby Riker’s chin. “You take care of this little girl, because I think you’re right, she’s exceptional.”

  Allie walked out into the hall. She’d seen all the new moms who were being released that day. It had been a long morning. Things weren’t going as smoothly as they were for Mrs. Riker for all her new mothers. She’d worked with two mothers with sore nipples and one with a jaundiced baby. Now it was time for a lunch over paperwork and then back to the mothers who had delivered last night or this morning.

  She wished she had more time, wished more mothers took breastfeeding seriously or had time to take classes beforehand. So many of the problems she saw were easy to avoid if you knew what you were doing.

  Ruminating over how things would be if she ran the world, Allie didn’t pay attention to where she was going and bumped right into Dr. Slimeball.

  “Excuse me,” she said as coolly as possible.

  He looked up and down the hall nervously and then scampered away without saying a word.

  Allie felt a certain vindictive pleasure. Oh, it wasn’t a part of her she liked to admit to, but the man had been an utter toad. Leading her on, wining and dining her. And all that time he was married. Then the horrible rumors had started at work.

  She sighed, knowing she should still be annoyed at Ian, but in actuality she was very grateful. The rumors and animosity at work had all but evaporated, and Dr. Slimeball was now getting a taste of his own medicine.

  She shook her head.

  She’d moved away from home to escape meddling brothers and knew she should resent Ian’s meddling as well, but she didn’t. She sort of enjoyed letting him play white knight. Once in a while, she added mentally.

  Maybe it was okay to be rescued on occasion, as long as your knight let you have a turn at rescuing him. After all, Ian was right, she had sort of pushed her way in that first day with Ryane. Maybe that was what had been missing in her other relationships. Maybe a relationship had to be equal amounts of give and take in order to work.

  And Allie knew she wanted this one to work.

  She loved Ian. She couldn’t remember what she’d ever seen in the slimy little toadish doctor—she couldn’t remember what she’d ever seen in any man other than Ian.

  But the question remained, just how did he feel about her?

  Alexandra McGraw knew she was going to find out. The question was, when? Allie sat at the nurses’ station and started flipping through charts as she searched for answers.

  “So, how was your day?” Ian asked.

  They had shared dinner with Anne and were beginning another walk.

  She smiled at him, as if pleased he’d asked. “Fine. We’re going through a mini–baby boom at the hospital, but most of the moms are doing just fine.”

  That little smile made Ian feel like he’d taken some kind of prize, just for asking a small social question. But it wasn’t small or social in nature. Ian wanted to know everything about Allie—what she thought, what she did when he wasn’t with her.

  “Well, I’m sure with Alexandra McGraw at their side, they were.” He smiled back at her.

  He was smiling a lot more these days and he knew the reason was the woman at his side. Just why this dark-haired, blue-eyed nurse affected him like she did, Ian wasn’t sure, but he was beginning to suspect he liked it.

  He liked it a lot.

  “So, what did you do?” There was interest in those eyes.

  “Oh, this and that. I did order something I thought we both might enjoy.” He was purposely cryptic.

  “A surprise?”

  Ian knew he should warn her off. He wasn’t a good bet. He’d never been in a relationship that had lasted more than a month.

  No, he was a bad bet and the thought of hurting her cut him like a knife. He really should cool things off. He’d been telling himself that all week, but all week he’d found one reason or another not to.

  It would be awkward, what with Anne living at Allie’s. Maybe he should just wait until Anne was able to move into his place.

  “So, what is it?” she asked excitedly.

  “Follow me.” Ian took her hand and it was like a shot to the heart.

  Every touch.

  Every smile.

  Every moment. He felt the need to gather them all in and save them for the day when she wasn’t there.

  In the center of his room was a bed. Not just any bed, a king-size bed. Rose petals covered red satin sheets. “The lady at the furniture store got all swoony when I said I was buying a new bed for my girlfriend. She said presentation was everything.”

  Allie seemed stuck somewhere between delight and amusement.

  She liked it, he could see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice. “I was afraid you’d think it was too much, but she said you’d love it.”

  “She was right.” She moved into his open arms. “Ian, thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For this. No one has ever done anything like this for me.”

  “I thought it might be a bit cliché.” He felt as nervous as a schoolboy taking a date to the prom.

  “It’s wonderful. Whenever I’m with you like this, I feel beautiful.”

  “You are.” He meant it.

  Ian wasn’t one for flowery speech or, for that matter, for satin and rose petals. And yet, with Allie he wanted to change that. He wanted to be as poetic as Cyrano. He wanted to ride against windmills like Don Quixote. He wanted to give her the world. He wanted to tell her all that, but instead, he just said, “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.”

  She snorted.

  He pulled her to the new bed. “Come here and let me show you.”

  Unfortunately, new satin could be slippery.

  Very, very slippery.

  Thud.

  Allie looked at him from her position on the floor. “I seem to be spending a great deal more time on carpets than on beds when I’m with you.” She giggled. “I don’t want you to think I’m a complete pushover.”

  “Oh, that’s bad.” He kissed her. “But this is good. Wherever we are, you and me together, it’s good.”

  “Yes, we are.” Floors, carpets—it didn’t matter. When Allie was in Ian’s arms, everything was perfect.

  “Long walk?” Anne asked with a laugh. She was propped on her bed with Ryane sleeping next to her when Ian and Allie came in from their walk.

  The doorbell rang, saving Allie from coming up with a suitable response. She left Ian to deal with his sister’s teasing and went to answer the door.

  “Conner,” Allie cried as she opened the door. She let go of the handle and threw herself into her brother’s arms. At five six, she wasn’t a small woman, but she was dwarfed by her brother.

  “So, how’s it going, Shrimp?” asked the oldest of her three brothers.

  “Come in,” she said, pulling him into her apartment. “And it’s going great.”

  She led him to the couch and plopped down beside him. “And what brings you to Erie?”

  “Well, mainly I’m here to check on my little sister.” He smiled the smile that generally put him back in any female’s good graces.

  Only Allie wasn’t simply a female. She was a sister, and his smile wasn’t enough to win her good graces. “I was afraid of that. Your checking was why I moved.”

  Conner didn’t look the least bit rueful. “I know—we all know—but old habits die hard. I figure four months with no in-person checkup was pretty good. It was a record, you know.”

  Allie wanted to be annoyed, but she just couldn’t manage to sustain the feeling. She was too happy to see Conner. Her brothers might have been pains on occasion, but she loved them and missed them all more t
han she’d thought possible.

  She grinned. “You’re right, four months for you was more than good, it’s almost miraculous.” She pulled her feet onto the couch, wrapping her arms around her knees, preparing for the onslaught she knew was coming.

  Right on cue he asked, “Making any friends?”

  The inquisition. She’d always thought Conner was such a good cop because of all the practice he’d gotten on Zac, Zeb, and her. “Quite a number, actually. You see . . .” She was about to tell him about Anne when the door opened.

  “Hey, Allie, our girl’s looking for you,” Ian said, coming from Anne’s room holding Ryane.

  Conner’s face darkened as if a cloud had descended on it.

  Allie stood and took Ryane from Ian’s hands. “Conner, I’d like you to meet Ian, and ‘our girl’ is Ryane. Ian, this is my brother—”

  She never got the rest of the introduction out. Conner turned on her. “So, now I meet the real reason you moved out of town. When were you going to tell us about the baby, Al?”

  “You think . . .” Allie was annoyed. If she weren’t holding the baby, her fists would be as well.

  Ian seemed bound and determined to pick up the flack for her, stepping between them like some kind of human shield. “Seriously? She’s a grown woman. She doesn’t need you showing up and making asinine assumptions. So back down and let her explain.”

  “Who’s going to make me?” Conner bellowed back.

  Just what she needed—two Neanderthal males strutting their stuff. Allie had left town just to avoid these scenes.

  “That’s enough,” she yelled, startling Ryane, who started whimpering.

  Anne came from the bedroom on her crutches. “What in the world is going on out here?”

  “Meet one of Allie’s brothers. He seems to think Ryane’s Allie’s,” Ian told Anne.

  “She’s not?” Conner asked. He had enough sense to look a bit nervous at the sudden twist of events.

  “No,” Anne, Allie, and Ian all said at once.

  “Why don’t you bring the baby in here, Allie,” Anne said. “Then you can go handle our two testosterone-prone brothers.”