“Spoken like a true mother leaving her infant for the first time. Emma will be fine. If Ruby has a problem, we’re only five minutes away.”
“I suppose.”
“Now, Nik,” he chided gently, “this is our date, remember? Just you and me. No one else.”
How had she forgotten? This was the moment she’d been waiting for and had dreamed about since their days at St Luke’s. It was a time when she could finally shake free of the constraints she’d placed on herself and see him as more than just a friend and colleague. It was also her opportunity to show him the woman underneath the lab coat and medical degree.
“You’re right.” She smiled up at him as she threaded her arm through his. “For the next three hours, it’s just the two of us.”
“If we only have three hours, I don’t want to waste a minute of it.”
As far as Nikki was concerned, they filled each second to the brim. Galen took her to dinner at a private club where a single rose and candle taper decorated each white linen-covered table and a string quartet played softly in the background.
She glanced around the room at the other patrons. “I’m underdressed,” she whispered across the table, conscious of her khaki skirt and plain light blue sweater in comparison to the other women’s elegant black skirts and beaded tops. “You should have warned me.”
He ran his gaze over the crowd. “Underdressed? I don’t think so. They’re showing more skin than you are.”
“You know what I mean.”
He raised his wine glass in a toast. “To the most beautiful woman here.”
His appreciative gaze warmed her down to her toes. “Thank you.”
Over dinner, the conversation flowed easily as Galen regaled her with stories about his career in Seattle while she shared the details of the places she’d worked. She was almost disappointed to break the spiritual connection when he’d announced it was time to go if they wanted to catch the movie.
Nikki almost suggested that they save it for another time, but as soon as the theater turned dark and he lifted the arm rest between them to tuck her under his arm, she was glad she hadn’t.
She’d never been as aware of him as she was during those ninety minutes. Every move, every rustle of his shirt, every brush of his arm against her, every place his finger touched became indelibly marked on her memory.
She closed her eyes and simply let herself feel his solid presence beside her and breathe in the scent that was so uniquely his. If she could have made time stand still, she would have done so without a qualm.
Later, while he drove toward her apartment—she noticed how well he stayed under the speed limit—she let out a sigh.
“Tired?” he asked.
“No. Disappointed our date is over.”
“There’s always next Friday night.”
An entire week away, she wanted to protest. “That’s true.”
“It isn’t as if we won’t see each other in the meantime,” he commented. “I spend as much time here as I do at my place.”
“Speaking of which,” she said, turning to face him, “when are you going to show us your apartment?”
“After I’m home long enough to clean it.”
“Tsk, tsk,” she teased. “Do you mean to tell me you’ve picked up bad housekeeping habits?”
“Domestically challenged is the politically correct word these days.”
“I stand corrected. But if we’re interfering with your chores, maybe you shouldn’t come over one night so you can clean.”
“Not a chance. I’ll live with the dust.”
He parked in a bay near the entrance of her building. “Here we are. Right on time.”
“I suppose we should go in and find out how those two managed together.”
“I’ll walk you up before I leave.”
It had been an unwritten rule that he left by ten, out of respect for Emma’s bedtime. Right now Nikki wanted to extend their unspoken curfew, even if only for a few more minutes.
A few minutes later he unlocked the door and they quietly slipped inside to find the lights dimmed and Ruby watching television.
“Hi,” she said softly, clicking off the television as she rose.
“How did things go?” Nikki asked.
“Great. She’s the sweetest baby. One of the best I’ve ever watched.”
Nikki chuckled. “She has her days,” she said, thinking of the episode earlier in the week.
“If she sleeps later than usual, don’t worry,” Ruby said with a sheepish smile. “We were playing and I lost track of time so she didn’t go to sleep until about an hour ago.”
“As long as everything went well, I don’t mind.”
Ruby gathered her things, promised to return next week, and left a few minutes later while Nikki peeked in on Emma.
“She’s fast asleep,” she said when she rejoined Galen in the living room.
“I guess this means I should go, too.”
Nikki suddenly felt like Cinderella, who knew she should be leaving and couldn’t. Being in similar shoes, she understood why Cinderella had lost her slipper. She’d simply been squeezing every last second out of her evening.
Nikki thought fast. “Are you hungry? How about a scoop of ice cream before you leave?”
He stepped closer, his heavy-lidded gaze trailing over her. “Ice cream is good on a hot night like tonight.”
She nodded numbly, conscious of his mouth hovering dangerously close to hers.
“I’d rather taste something sweeter, though.”
His breath brushed across the bridge of her nose and forced her own lungs to struggle in their simple task of moving air. “What would that be?” she managed to choke out in a hoarse voice.
“I’ll show you.”
He pulled her close and took her mouth in one smooth action that left her reeling from the bolt of lightning that shot from head to toe.
She’d wanted him to kiss her like this, to kiss her until she was mindless of everything but him, and the reality of it exceeded what her imagination had conjured up. If there’d been a meter for intensity, the reading would have sailed off the scale into infinity.
He stopped abruptly, but his hold didn’t slacken. For several long moments he simply stared at her, his face wreathed in shadows as he waited silently.
Nikki studied his ruggedly handsome features, hoping to find some flaw, some detail that would cause her common sense to override the yearnings of her heart. She found none.
Instead, she saw something in his expression that was a combination of fierce desire and awed appreciation. His eyes remained steady, the contours of his face unchanged in the space of those heartbeats. He didn’t smile, didn’t say word, and she sensed that he wouldn’t. He’d argued his case and now the decision rested solely upon her shoulders. Like a man who was waiting for sentence to be passed, he simply…waited, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.
Logic demanded that she look before she leapt, weighed the consequences of impulsive actions. Her spirit begged otherwise.
She hadn’t realized until that moment how hard it must have been for him to walk away a year ago because refusing the unspoken question shining out of his eyes required a strength she didn’t possess.
Perhaps he’d changed, as he’d said, and perhaps he hadn’t, but weren’t some things in life worth the risk?
“You offered an invitation to me a few nights ago,” she began slowly. “Is it still good?”
“Indefinitely.”
“Then I accept.”
“I’ll spend the entire night,” he warned.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
ONCE those small details had been addressed, nothing else mattered but Nikki’s feelings for the man in the room. Galen drew her into his arms again and she went without hesitation. His touch was electrifying as he slipped his fingers underneath the hem of her sweater and anchored her close.
“The lights,” she mut
tered against his mouth, as eager to feel his hands on her bare skin as he obviously was. “And I need to lock the door.”
He grunted, presumably in agreement, before he broke contact. Pulling her behind him, he strode across the room to flick the light switch and throw the deadbolt.
Knowing his night vision hadn’t adjusted enough to see his way through her apartment, Nikki brushed past him to lead the way into her bedroom. She intended to turn on the small lamp beside the four-poster bed, but he grabbed her arm before she touched the knob.
“Wait.”
She straightened. Had he changed his mind again? If he had, she was going to throttle him for bringing her to this state of heightened arousal without giving her relief. “Wait?” she asked, incredulous. “Why?”
He touched the front closure of her sweater and freed three more buttons. “I want to see you covered only in moonlight,” he murmured.
Moonlight? She hadn’t thought of that, but now that he’d mentioned it…She hadn’t closed the curtains or the window when she’d gotten ready for her big evening. Now nothing stopped the moon’s glow from softly illuminating the room or held back the light breeze of night air.
“Oh. I thought…” She bit back her sentence, deeming it inconsequential under the circumstances as he completely unbuttoned her shirt and tugged it off her arms
“You thought what?” he asked, his eyes wide and dark as he focused unwaveringly on hers.
“Never mind.”
He studied her with the same intensity he used when examining a challenging patient’s history. “Did you think I would stop again?”
It didn’t seem appropriate to be anything but honest. “Yes.”
“I won’t,” he promised as he pulled both bra straps off her shoulders. “Not this time.”
An instant later, she was completely naked to his gaze. “So beautiful,” he murmured as he reached out to touch her.
Suddenly she wanted to see him, too. She tugged his shirt out of his chinos and worked the clasp of his belt with more determination than skill, until he finally came to her rescue and took care of it himself.
She reached for his zipper, but he closed one hand around her wrist. “If you want this to be slow and easy…”
She didn’t let him finish. “Who said I did? We’ve wasted too much time as it is.”
“We have, haven’t we?”
“Not only that,” she said, turning on a seductive smile, “slow and easy can come later. Much later.”
By mutual agreement, patience had ceased being an option. Instantly the rest of their clothes flew in every direction. Nikki didn’t know whose hands undid what, but she didn’t care. Only the end result mattered, that they were going to share the most beautifully intimate experience that two people could share.
In one smooth movement, he lowered her onto the bed. His head hovered near hers, his mouth only a breath away, when, once again, he froze.
She wanted to pound her fist against the mattress in frustration. “What now?”
“This isn’t the night your brothers call, is it?”
“No, but even if it was, they can leave a message.”
He relaxed, then mumbled as he trailed kisses over her face, “Good. I don’t want any interruptions.”
Nikki wanted to accuse him of doing a rather effective job all by himself, but chiding him for it would only prolong the delay that was already driving her mad. She didn’t want to say or do anything that would interfere with upcoming events.
Instantly, a mental image of one big—actually, only about fourteen pounds’ worth—interference flashed into her head.
She stiffened. “Emma.”
Galen raised his head to listen. “I don’t hear her.”
“No. But she’s in the other room. Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this…”
“Emma isn’t going to care,” he mumbled as he returned to blazing a trail of kisses down her neck. “And if her real parents were here instead of us, how do you suppose they’d manage to give her brothers and sisters?”
He nibbled on a sensitive spot at the base of her throat and she melted. “You’re right.”
“Of course, I am. And if they need each other the way I need you right now, Emma will some day come from an extremely large family.”
Then, before she could say a word, he started to work his unique brand of magic and Nikki forgot about everyone and everything except the man beside her.
Galen might tease her about being a wren, but for the first time in her life she soared with the eagles.
The next few weeks passed by in a haze of happiness. Before, she’d always marked the passage of time with each new locum job, but now she had a different standard. She had Emma to use as her clock…her first giggle, the first time she held onto her rattle a full minute without losing it, the first time she blew bubbles.
And Galen? He’d become as much a part of her routine as Emma. He’d slipped into her life as easily as he had when they’d been residents, and on those nights when she lay in bed alone, she wondered what would happen when her contract ended. As far as she knew, Hope didn’t have any plans to add an extra ER physician to their staff, even though it was obvious that they could use one.
All of which meant that she’d have to return to her locum assignments. She couldn’t afford not to with her medical school debts looming over her head. The thought of only seeing Galen every few weeks and carrying on a courtship via the telephone wasn’t a happy one, but it was better than the alternative of not seeing him at all.
No matter what happened in the days ahead, he was a part of her life now. Although she’d tried to tell herself not to get too close—just in case—her heart hadn’t listened. A single touch or a mere glance was enough to melt away all resistance and send her pulse into a full gallop.
It wasn’t just the physical side of their relationship that kept her enthralled. She simply enjoyed spending time with Galen. He made her laugh and look forward to the experiences of a new day. The thing she’d missed most was the way they discussed their patients and gave each other different perspectives when they were needed. Most importantly, she felt safe in his presence, which probably wasn’t a smart thing under the circumstances.
Nikki didn’t know what she’d do if she started to count on him and he walked away. The longest he’d ever dated a woman had been five weeks and they would reach that milestone in a few days. She’d told herself not to care one way or another, that she would survive just as she’d survived her mother’s abandonment. Today was a gift and therefore this time was what counted. She’d let the future take care of itself.
It looked rather bleak without him, though.
It also looked rather empty without Emma.
The article in the local newspaper mentioning the start of the Arches murder trial only reminded her that she was living on borrowed time.
She pointed out the news story to Galen while he fed Emma her dinner. “How long do you think the trial will run?”
“I don’t have any idea,” he said. “Several weeks, I’m sure. The wheels of justice grind slowly.”
“Then I probably won’t have my little house guest for as long as I’d originally thought,” she mused aloud.
“It’s possible.” He paused. “How do you feel about that?”
“I’m happy for Emma and her mother,” she said slowly, “but I’ll miss her terribly. The apartment will seem so empty without her and her things.” She glanced around the room. Baby toys and books lay on the coffee-table and several of Emma’s garments were slung over the sofa. Galen had scrounged a baby swing from somewhere and it stood in one corner, next to a play-pen.
“Who am I kidding?” she confessed in a teasing note. “My life will seem empty without her. I’ll lose my confidante, you know. Emma knows all of my deepest secrets.”
“I’ll loan you my ears,” he offered.
While it was an attractive proposition, she couldn’t possibly accept. Too many of her secret thoughts involved
Galen in some way, and the foremost one was why, after their relationship had escalated to a new level these past few weeks, he never talked about the future he’d claimed to want.
She didn’t know if it was accidental or intentional. Galen wouldn’t say anything he didn’t mean, so she didn’t have to worry about him making an empty promise, but the reassurance didn’t make her stop aching to hear one anyway.
If she didn’t stop second-guessing everything, she’d drive herself crazy.
“You can keep your ears,” she answered lightly. “Can’t have girl-talk with a guy. It’s a rule.”
“Too bad.”
“How do you feel about Emma leaving?” she asked.
“You mean, other than the fact that I won’t be on call for her fussy moments?” He grinned.
“Hey,” she protested, “I only telephoned once at 1:00 a.m. She’d had a rough day. It’s not my fault she only wants you when her tummy aches.”
“I’m not complaining. I’ll take any excuse I can to spend the night.”
“If you moved in, you wouldn’t need an excuse.” She spoke lightly to hide how serious she was.
“No?” His raised eyebrow couldn’t have expressed his doubt more eloquently. “You’ve had two different brothers drop in unexpectedly during the past two weeks. They were startled enough by Emma’s presence. How do you think they would have handled the news that I lived here, too?”
Edward and John had both been surprised to see Emma in her apartment. Although they’d accepted her story about the little girl without a second thought, she’d seen the concern in their eyes. Only Edward, as the oldest, had dared to voice the question of how she managed by herself. She’d quickly informed him that if she could be responsible for people whose lives were hanging on by a thread, she could look after one healthy infant.
To her great irritation, Galen had sized up her brothers quite well—probably a guy thing that hearkened back to the days when a man had to mark his territory and know who his enemy was and who his friend. In any case, if they’d known about her new relationship with Galen, they would have grilled her mercilessly about his intentions without a second thought. After struggling to earn her trust, they would ensure that anyone else took the same care with it that they did.
The Baby Rescue Page 12
