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“They’re thinking of selling the house and getting something smaller.”
The McPhersons’ home was huge by any standards. They’d held large family gatherings there. Thanksgiving. Christmas. Any holiday had been an occasion to be celebrated. He couldn’t picture them living anywhere else. The family’s wealth had been another thing that had come between him and Kady at the end. She had insisted her grandparents were willing to hire a fertility expert to make sure the odds of having another baby with Tay-Sachs were as low as possible. He’d been dead set against it. Not because of the money it would take. Her grandparents could afford all of that and more. His argument had been more along the lines of not being able to guarantee with a hundred percent certainty that they would not have another child like Grace.
“That would take some getting used to for them, wouldn’t it?”
“I think they’re ready for a change.”
Just like Tucker had been. Looking back, though, he wondered if it wasn’t so much that he had been ready for change as it was that he’d been running from his grief. The hopeful look on Kady’s face whenever she’d spoken of another baby had been enough to send an icepick through his heart. Eventually the organ had become a sieve, any emotional involvement leaking away until there had been nothing left.
“I hope it all works out for them.”
“Thank you.”
And on that note it was time for him to get back to his own retooled life. “Well, I have a surgery today at two. I’m assuming the medical students will be coming tomorrow, since Phil didn’t mention them being at the hospital today.” He paused. “Do you need anything while you’re here?”
He wasn’t sure what he would do if she came up with something personal.
“No. I think I’m good. I guess I’ll see you later this afternoon, if you’re in any of the sessions.”
“I’m scheduled for the anesthesia and pregnancy track.”
She nodded. “I’m not in that one. I have ‘Monitoring the High-Risk Pregnancy from Beginning to Delivery.’ So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Any idea at all on when we’re supposed to meet the students?”
He hadn’t thought to ask, although Phil had probably told him at some point. “I’m not sure. I’ll get hold of him and give you a call at the hotel, if that’s okay.”
“Yes. I’m in room 708. You can leave a message if I’m not there.”
No offer of her cellphone number. But then again, he’d told her he’d call her at the hotel, so maybe she thought he didn’t want it.
He didn’t.
Did he?
Hell, no. It would just give his fingers an excuse to push and erase those numbers again and again. Or, worse, call her with some trumped-up excuse just so he could hear her voice.
That was all he needed—one more thing to brood over. Not that he’d tried to call her since the divorce. Her cellphone number could be the same, for all he knew.
She said goodbye, and this time when she turned to leave he didn’t try to stop her.
Even though there was a small part of him that wanted to do just that.
And he had no idea why.
* * *
Kady had the morning to herself. It was still early and the pool was deserted. Dropping her towel onto a nearby lounger, she went over to the water’s edge and dipped in a toe. A shiver rippled over her at the difference in temperature. All the windows were fogged up, but the heat and humidity of the room were a welcome change from the icy interior of the hotel. She kind of liked the misty atmosphere. It gave her a sense of privacy. As if this was her personal luxury spa.
She hadn’t seen Tucker at the convention the previous night, but then again they’d been in separate sessions. As soon as her part had ended, she’d gone straight to her room. She’d had a headache, and a dull listlessness had stolen over her, something she hadn’t felt in a while. The result of seeing Tucker again?
Probably.
It was a shock, that’s all. Anyone in their right mind would feel a big old jolt of disbelief at seeing their ex after all this time.
All this time? It wasn’t like it had been ten years since she’d seen him. From her horrified reaction, it might as well have been, though.
And he hadn’t called to say what time they were supposed to meet the medical students, so she assumed that wasn’t happening until later. Or maybe he’d told Mr. Harold that he preferred she didn’t come. That made her frown. She would have expected him to let her know, either way. Unless he’d tried and couldn’t reach her.
She probably should have given him her cellphone number, but it hadn’t even crossed her mind until she’d been almost out of the hospital. To run back and breathlessly give it to him smacked of teenaged infatuation. And Kady had long since passed those days of young love.
Young love. Ha!
“Cynical, Kady. Cynical.”
Okay, it might be cynical, but better that than be hurt by another man. Tucker had talked about never having any more children? Well, she was pretty sure she wasn’t getting married again. She hadn’t even wanted to date since they’d broken up.
She could just take the plunge and put up a profile on one of those date matcher-upper things. Instead, she took a different kind of plunge and jumped into the pool. The chill shocked her system, almost causing her lungs to contract and blow out all her air reserves. She controlled the urge and then kicked her way to the very bottom. She tooled around, following the downward curve until she reached the deep end. Nice. This was the only kind of plunge she wanted to take. Her eyes burned slightly from the chlorine, but she was used to that. She drifted to where the light was, putting her palm over it before she went even deeper, glancing up at the surface above. She couldn’t remember if the pool had an eight- or twelve-foot depth.
What did it matter? She could just stay down here forever.
Except she couldn’t.
As they always did, her lungs sent the first twinges of protest to her brain. Just another few seconds.
She closed her eyes and let herself “be.” Something she could only seem to do in the water. But her lungs’ distress calls had now been taken up by other parts of her body. Time to go. She pushed off the concrete floor and shot toward the light above, breaking the surface and sucking down one huge gulp of air after another, before reaching toward the edge. Instead of a cold tiled surface, she encountered something firm but warm. Curling around her hand.
Blinking the water out of her eyes in a hurry, she glanced up.
“Tucker?” The name rasped across her vocal cords right before shock took control of them and rendered her silent. She wasn’t even sure why she’d asked, other than letting her brain in on what her heart already knew: it was him. It had to be, even if the light behind him cast his face in shadow. That, along with his dark jeans and black shirt, gave him a slightly sinister look. He could be a dark god. Or a fallen angel. She couldn’t quite decide which fit him better.
Neither.
Breathe, Kady, breathe.
She did just that, trying to figure out if she was just imagining it or if Tucker was really crouched by the side of the pool, gripping her hand. His skin was warm. She could just curl into his palm and...
And nothing.
“I was just about to go in after you.”
“You were?”
“You looked pretty lifeless down there. One minute you were swimming like a fish and the next you went into some kind of suspended animation.” His thumb made a slight movement across the back of her hand. Small enough to make her wonder if she’d imagined it. Imaginary or not, it sent raw sensation skittering down her nerve endings, making them scramble to interpret it.
There was nothing to interpret.
She struggled to get her tongue to wrap around the words. “You’ve seen me like that before.” He had. Many times.
He paused, fingers tightening slightly on hers. “Yes. I have.”
Were they talking about the same thing? “Okay, so you know that I’m fine.”
“I do now. You’re a land creature, Kady. You belong up here.”
Next to him? When he looked like that? When just the touch of his hand on hers was making her picture all kinds of crazy scenarios? Like pulling him into the pool and seeing what it started?
There was no way in hell she was going to do that. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“I lost the slip of paper with your room number on it.” The pad of his thumb shifted again. This time there was no way it was her imagination. Why was he still holding onto her anyway? And why the heck wasn’t she pulling away?
“How did you expect to find me when you came over, then?”
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” He smiled. “Want me to help you out?”
She took stock of the situation. Her towel was way over there. And she was dressed in a pretty skimpy bikini. He’d seen her stretch marks and the changes in her abdomen from carrying Grace before. But they’d been married back then. When things between them had been easy and comfortable.
She was no longer comfortable in his presence. She was self-conscious and nervous. And she didn’t like it.
Better to just face it. “Sure. Thanks.”
She gave a quick kick of her legs to help him, and Tucker hauled her up and out of the pool. His eyes skated across her torso, then he dropped her hand as if he’d grabbed the wrong end of a scalpel. Then he swore, his gaze moving up and out—landing on anything except her.
What the...?
When she glanced down, she shrieked. The side strings on her bikini top had come undone, something she would have noticed had she not been so busy trying to figure out if he was stroking her hand. And getting worked up over it.
Well, she wasn’t worked up anymore!
Turning away quickly, thankful now for the fogged-up glass, she yanked the strings behind her back and attempted to tie them. Except she normally turned the top around and tied it in the front before twisting it to the back once more and then knotting the top.
Why couldn’t she have worn a one-piece?
Well, she hadn’t expected Tucker to walk in on her, for one thing.
Why do you care? The man has seen you naked, for heaven’s sake. He’s seen you giving birth. He cut the cord afterward.
But that noise he’d just made hadn’t been an “Oh, big deal” sound.
It had been more like, “Did I just see what I think I saw?” In the old days, she would have thrown him a sexy quip and invited him closer. Much closer. They then would have spent the next couple of hours tangled in a heap, finding the first available surface. The bed. The sofa. The dining-room table.
On the fourth try with the strings she let out an exasperated breath.
“Do you need help?”
“No.” She wasn’t going to admit it, even if she did.
“Here, let me.”
Warm hands brushed her icy ones aside, fingers gliding across her skin. Prickles broke out, rippling across her body and ending at her nipples, which tightened unbearably.
Because this time the slow, soft touches weren’t in her imagination.
Lordy!
She hadn’t invited him to come closer, but he had anyway.
It wasn’t for the same reasons, but her body thought it was. It was busy rolling out the red carpet for the man while he worked on unaware.
As embarrassing and awkward as her reaction to the workings of his fingers was, it was even worse when he suddenly stopped. “I think that’s got it. Do you need it double knotted?”
There was a low roughness to his voice that made her stomach contract. She should tell him, no, that she was fine, that she was done anyway.
“Please.”
Was that her head talking? Or her overly eager libido?
She had no idea, only knew that her eyes slid closed as soon as he touched her again. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. And, God, she had missed this part of their relationship.
His movements weren’t quite as sure as they’d been a few minutes ago. His palm brushed her back, all five fingers trailing down her spine in a way that was burned into her memory. Then his touch was gone.
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