The Surgeon's Surprise Baby

by Tina Beckett

  He grinned. “In that case, I thank you.”

  “Your mom knows we’re not together?”

  His hand went back to the gear stick and she immediately regretted voicing the words. He’d already said he would let his mom know that they had broken up. “Yes, she does.”

  “Sorry. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t supposed to play your doting wife.”

  He laughed. “Would you? Play a doting wife, if I asked you to?”

  He’s joking, Elyse. He doesn’t mean anything by it.

  “Of course I would.” She batted her eyelashes at him in a theatrical sort of way. “Think your mother would believe us?”

  “Probably not.” He took a turn that put them on the ramp to a highway. “She always knew when I was lying before I even opened my mouth.”

  “Well, I guess we shouldn’t lie about our relationship then, should we?” Which made Elyse a little nervous, since she was no longer certain what was truth and what wasn’t. She’d told herself she was over him for so long that she’d come to believe it. But was it the truth? There were moments when the past came blazing through in all its glory and she was sure she’d been wrong about everything. Like after they made love the other day. It had taken everything she had to reason herself out of it.

  If Luca asked her today to stay in Italy, stay with him, would she?

  He didn’t love her.

  But what if he did? something inside her whispered.

  What if he did?

  “So no lies, right?”

  The words made her jerk around to look at him. “What?”

  “Where were you?”

  “Oh, sorry, I was thinking about what to wear to the party.”

  One of his brows went up and stayed up, but he didn’t challenge her words.

  No lies? Ha! She was starting out on the right foot with that one.

  If his mom was as intuitive as Luca said she was, she was going to have to watch her step before the woman decided she and her son were actually meant for each other. “Go ahead and call her.”

  “Thank you. She promised it would be a small affair.” He pushed a button on his dashboard and she heard a woman’s voice answer in Italian. Luca answered in kind and a rapid-fire conversation took place, none of which Elyse understood. But she heard Luca placing emphasis on certain words and his mother answering.

  Priscilla—wasn’t that her name?—had a melodic voice that Elyse instinctively liked. There was a strength to it, but not the kind that forced its will on anyone.

  Within five minutes it was over, and Luca pushed another button. “She said to say thank you and tell you that she loves you already.”

  Her heart clenched.

  “She sounded sweet on the phone, even if I couldn’t understand her.”

  “My sisters are a lot like her.”

  “Tell me about them.” That seemed like a safe enough topic.

  “Well, Isabella is a lawyer. She’s very smart and intuitive about people.”

  Another person who would be able to see right through her. She was starting to get this horrible sense of foreboding about this whole visit. “And the other one?”

  “Sarita is the baby. She is studying to be a psychologist. She’s in her final year of studies.”

  A lawyer and a psychologist walk into a bar...and try to figure out the biggest lie of them all: that she no longer loved their brother.

  Because she suddenly realized she did. She still loved him, after all this time.

  God. How had this happened?

  So much for thinking her feelings for him were dead. Obviously that wasn’t the case.

  Fake it. Fake it good, Elyse.

  “So do Sarita and Isabella live in Rome?” Maybe they would only arrive for the party and then head right back out.

  “They both do, so you’ll get to spend some time with them.”

  Well, at least he’d mistaken the reason she’d asked. “That will be great. Do they speak English?” Maybe if they couldn’t understand her, they wouldn’t read between the lines.

  “Yes, they both are pretty fluent, unlike my parents, so they can help translate as well.”

  That was the last thing she wanted. Would her body language immediately give her away?

  “Great.” Time to switch her thoughts to the road in front of them to keep herself from keeling over in shock. Or start to worry that every little thing she said would make him guess the truth. She swallowed, trying to shake the fear away.

  “The signs on the highway look so bizarre to me. Did the ones in the States seem strange to you when you were there?” Thank heavens her voice didn’t come out as shaky as she felt inside.

  “What?”

  “Everything being in another language.”

  He glanced at her. “A little. The worst was getting used to miles instead of kilometers and Fahrenheit instead of Celsius.”

  “I can see how that would be strange.” She licked her lips and reached for another neutral topic. “Italy is gorgeous. I love everything about it.”

  There was a pause. “Everything?”

  Had he seen through her already? If she kept on like this, she was doomed.

  She tried to deflect one question with another. “Did you love everything about Atlanta?”

  “Pretty much. Maybe not the traffic, even though we have that here as well.”

  She ran out of questions, so she sat there and leaned her head against the headrest. Anna was sound asleep in the back, so she focused on the sound of the tires against the roadway, instead of the realization that had shaken her to the core.

  Random bits of thought swirled around like the leaves caught in a stiff breeze. She might be able to reach out and catch one of them, but she was too afraid of what she might find written on it. So she let them go on their way, closing her eyes and blocking out everything except for that constant background hum, her limbs slowly relaxing. Gradually getting heavier and heavier.

  The swirling stopped, and one leaf drifted downward, settling in the corner of her mind. And on it was a single terrifying word.

  Love.

  * * *

  Elyse had seemed distracted ever since they’d arrived at his parents’ house. It was understandable, but he was sure there was something else underneath it. That feeling that she’d kept something hidden from him ever since her arrival in Italy.

  Well, he hadn’t spilled his every thought to her either.

  He’d translated the introductions, and she’d responded politely when they made small talk, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

  So far the only genuine smile he’d seen on her face had happened when his mother had lifted Anna into her arms and squeezed the baby to her chest, eyes closed, tears pouring down her cheeks. At that moment Elyse had glanced his way and smiled, putting her hand over her trembling lips.

  That had been genuine. But it had also been short-lived.

  Priscilla, who’d installed herself in an ornate rocking chair, looked up. “Would you show Elyse to her room and carry her bags up? I’ll hold the baby.”

  She wasn’t likely to let go of Anna anytime soon. And that was fine with him. It was better than the alternative, which was for her to have given Elyse a much cooler reception.

  But she had been warm...effusively warm. His dad had beamed as well. He hadn’t had a chance to hold Annalisa yet, but he’d only left his wife’s side long enough to bring a pitcher of water and some fruit juice, setting the offerings on a sideboard with some glasses. He wasn’t as openly emotional as his wife, but he too was deeply moved by seeing his grandchild for the first time.

  He glanced at Elyse. “Are you okay with that?” He wasn’t going to assume anything. Not anymore. Especially with the mood she was in.

  “I am. But I can get my bags.”

&nbs
p; He picked them up before she could make a move. “I’ve got them. Care to follow me?”

  Leading the way up the stairwell, he glanced back and saw her hand reach for the banister and grip it tight.

  Hell, she was shaking.

  “They love her.” If that’s what she was worried about, he wanted to set her mind at ease. “I told you they would. She’s their granddaughter. Even if she wasn’t, they would still love her.”

  “She’s yours. I swear.”

  He reached the landing and turned around quickly, which made her pause a couple of steps from the top. “Have I ever implied that I thought she wasn’t mine?”

  “No, but I could understand how—”

  “I know she’s mine. I don’t need a test to tell me that. I never did. I know you. Know I was the only one you were involved with, even if we weren’t always getting along very well.” He set the bags down and went to her, cupping her elbows. “She has your eyes, but I definitely see a melding of the two of us when I look at her.”

  “So do I.” She wrapped her arms around his midsection and laid her head on his chest. The move left him glued in his spot.

  “I wish...” She sighed. “I guess it doesn’t matter what I wish. It is what it is, and we just have to do the best we can.”

  He rested his chin on her hair, closing his eyes. He’d missed these moments.

  Suddenly her arms dropped back to her sides and he felt that slow withdrawal that had happened so many times toward the end of their relationship, when he’d been left wondering what had gone wrong.

  Dammit. Turning, he started back up the stairs.

  They stopped at the end of a long hall of closed doors. This door in front of them was also shut tight. “This is yours. Mine is right across the hallway.”

  She gave a quick laugh. “I would have thought they’d have put us as far apart as possible. Maybe even on different floors.”

  “No, it would have been you who did that.” He couldn’t resist throwing out a reference to a distance that was so much more than physical.

  “What do you mean?”

  He wasn’t touching that question, because he might say something he regretted. “You’re the one who insisted on separate bedrooms.”

  “I know.” She muttered something under her breath before pushing open the door. Her breath came out in a whoosh of sound. “Luca, it’s beautiful.”

  The room was big, as were all the bedrooms. And directly across from them was a huge four-poster bed carved from mahogany.

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  He set her bags on the floor just inside the door. He nodded over at a matching tall dresser. “The drawers will be empty. Feel free to unpack.”

  “Will your mom be okay with Annalisa for a while?”

  “Of course. I’m sure she’s hoping we’ll be a while.”

  He realized how that sounded when something flashed in her eyes, and she was suddenly back from wherever she’d gone, wholly present, wholly accessible.

  Unsure how long this reprieve was going to last, his gaze trailed over her features before settling on her lips.

  She’d fallen for him at one time.

  And what about now?

  If he kissed her, would she kiss him back?

  Would they slam the door and fall onto that tall bed and make love?

  If he stood here much longer, he was going to do exactly that. So it was time to leave. And fast.

  Before he put his thoughts to the test and gave his mother a false sense of hope. Because even if he would have liked another chance to work things out, it was doubtful that Elyse would. Despite that one episode on the hood of his car.

  “Do you want anything before I go?” His lips tightened when those words were as blundered as the last ones.

  “No. Nothing, thanks. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

  He took that as a dismissal and was through the door in an instant, closing it behind him before he said something he’d regret. Something that could never be erased.

  Heading back the way he had come, he threw one last glance at the dark wooden surface of the door and wondered if she knew.

  Wondered if she realized that as he’d stood there wishing he could kiss her, he’d almost muttered the phrase he’d held back that night in Atlanta.

  He loved her. Had never stopped loving her.

  And, hell, if it wasn’t going to be his undoing.

  Because there was nothing he could do—no deity he could implore—that could erase what was now burned onto his very soul.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  THE PARTY HAD been organized for tonight, the penultimate night of their stay, which was both good and bad. It was good in that she’d barely seen Luca the evening before except for dinner. Elyse wondered if he was making himself scarce on purpose, which would be good for her. Except she didn’t seem to feel that way.

  This morning, though, he’d met her for breakfast and said he’d show her around the grounds. “If you need some privacy, there’s a small terrazza a little way from the house, which is where I used to go as a kid. I built a fort there for just that reason, in fact.”

  “Wow, is it still there?” Somehow she couldn’t imagine Luca needing to get away from anyone. He was self-assured and confident. She was pretty sure he hadn’t suddenly gained those characteristics the second he’d become an adult.

  “The terrazza. Yes, it’s still there. The fort? No, it’s long gone. It was made out of a collection of cardboard boxes. It even had different rooms.”

  “I somehow can’t imagine you making a play fort.”

  He tilted his head. “Why not? Don’t most kids?”

  “Yes, I made my share in the house. Blankets over the dining-room table. I didn’t quite get as ambitious as you did. I just wanted to have a secret place to read.”

  “So did I.”

  That was another thing that surprised her. She’d pictured him playing soccer and doing sports, not being a kid with his nose stuck in a book. “You liked to read?”

  “Loved it. Especially adventure stories. I loved danger.”

  Now, that she could see. Maybe the danger in those books had infused itself into his being, because she couldn’t imagine a man more dangerous to her senses than Luca was.

  Before she could think of an answer that was as far from that thought as she could get, Priscilla swept into the room and said something, which Luca translated as a greeting. Then she and her son had a quick argument, and his mom gave him a frown and looked at Elyse and said something in Italian. When Luca didn’t explain, she said in broken English. “Please say her.”

  Luca sighed. “She wants to know if she can take Annalisa into town and get her a new dress. I told her she has all the clothes she can possibly use, but Mamma wants her to have something that’s from her. For the party.” He looked in her eyes. “If you don’t want her to, I’ll explain that.”

  “Heavens. Of course she wants Annalisa to have something new for the party. It’s fine. I have a bottle ready in the fridge for her.”

  When he relayed that back to Priscilla, she smiled, setting off a dizzying array of crinkles beside her eyes that really brought out the beauty in her face. Luca looked like her. So did Annalisa, if she was honest.

  * * *

  An hour later the two were out the door, leaving Elyse almost alone in the house with Luca, since his father had gone to work for the day.

  The housekeeper was there, but she was busy with the caterers and other professionals who were getting things ready for the party that night. Luca had promised her it would be a small affair but, seeing the crew in action, somehow she didn’t believe him. Who hired caterers for dinner with the family? And something about the way Luca had said “party” when he’d first talked to her about it made her think it wasn’t going to be as simple as he made it out to be.
All she could do was smile and hope for the best.

  “Do you want to go for a walk? I can show you the actual garden where treasures were smuggled and dragons were slain.”

  That made her laugh. “Well, when you put it that way, how could I refuse?”

  He led her down a mown path, the splash of flowers on either side of them looking wild and free. The funny thing was, those flowers had probably been carefully tended to do exactly what the gardener wanted.

  “So where was this magnificent fort?”

  “Right here.”

  The flowers had given way to an open cobblestoned area that had a couple of benches. Off to the side was a crystal clear pond that bubbled with fish and water plants. “Your parents let you have a cardboard village in the middle of all of this beauty? How long was it here?”

  “A couple of years on and off. My sisters tended to tear it down almost as fast as I could build it. This is where they brought their friends, and they certainly didn’t want their brother messing things up for them.”

  She could picture that scene happening. Since she was an only child, she hadn’t had any of the competition that faced siblings. “They probably brought their boyfriends here later. It’s the perfect place.”

  “Yes. It is. And they did.”

  She didn’t want to ask, but she couldn’t help it. “And you. Did you bring your girlfriends here?”

  “Hmm... I can remember a time or two.”

  “A time or two? I bet you had them swarming over you.”

  He motioned her to a bench and then sat next to her. “No. No swarming. I’ve never been one to play around.”

  “No. You never were.” Memories of them colored so many parts of her brain that she was pretty sure he’d traveled along most of her synapses.

  He turned toward her. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “I don’t know, exactly. Annalisa. The crazy times we had. Something beautiful came from what I’d always seen as scorched earth.”