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He felt bad for her, even partly responsible for the fix she was in. He truly wanted to help her, to do what he could. Doug knew that everything he’d just told Maura was true. But he also knew that there was one reaction to her news he had not disclosed. A gut response even stronger than all the rest.
He wanted a baby. He’d wanted one for a very long time. It was the real reason his marriage had fallen apart, and after that disaster his chances of being a father seemed even farther out of reach.
After his divorce, he just couldn’t seem to let any woman close enough for a serious relationship. He’d had that once, and once was enough. Romance was for movies and books, as far as he could see. People only fooled themselves into thinking those earth-shaking hormonal rushes were true love. After the tornado died down, there was only disappointment and pain.
So how would he ever be a father? Unless he got some woman pregnant by “accident,” as Scott had done to Maura. But that would never be Doug’s style.
He put two slices of bread into the toaster, then jammed it down with a bit more force than necessary. The news of Maura’s pregnancy and Scott’s reaction had felt like salt poured into an open wound. He cursed Scott for the way he’d treated her, and felt an even deeper bitterness for the way the man had turned his back on his child. Doug felt his jaw grow rigid as the anger swelled in him all over again. If a woman like Maura had come to him with news like that, it would have been the happiest day of his life. Why was life so unfair sometimes?
Doug scooped the cooked eggs onto a plate, then spread some jelly on the toast. He grabbed a fork and napkin, then headed out to the living room. But even before he reached the couch he could see that Maura was fast asleep. She looked so peaceful, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. He didn’t have the heart to wake her. Watching her sleep, he felt another wave of sympathy for her. She was such a good person. A wonderful person, truly. He really couldn’t remember knowing a woman he liked or respected more. She didn’t deserve Scott’s mistreatment. She didn’t deserve to face such an overwhelming problem all alone. But what could he do to help her? Stand by her as her friend? Give her money maybe, if she’d let him? There didn’t seem much he could do. And what if she moved away? What then? They would lose touch and he’d never see her again. Or her baby.
The possibility upset him. He almost had the urge to wake her and get her to talk some more about her plans. Instead he set the dish of eggs on the coffee table, then sat down to wait.
Maura’s eyes opened slowly. Doug’s face, very close to her own, filled her field of vision. His golden eyes glittered in the shadowy light, rugged features tempered by a slight smile. She stared up at him, studying the strong lines of his brow and chin, his amber eyes, square jaw and wide, soft mouth.
Then he lifted his hand and softly pushed a lock of her hair off her cheek…and she knew she wasn’t dreaming. This was real. Too real for her peace of mind.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep again,” she murmured.
“Better get used to it. Pregnant women fall asleep at the drop of a hat,” he reported with a slight smile. “Your scrambled eggs got cold. But you looked so peaceful, I didn’t have the heart to wake you.”
He was seated on the edge of the couch near her hip and leaning over her. His gaze met hers, and she couldn’t look away, feeling only vaguely aware of the movement of his hand, as it came to rest on the curve of her waist. Maura thought to sit up and move away, but she felt frozen in place. She felt as if everything was suddenly moving at a superslow pace. Even her words seemed delayed as she tried to speak.
“It must be late,” she said finally.
Doug made no move to check his watch, and she wondered if he had even heard her. His gaze moved slowly over her face, studying her, feature by feature, as if seeing her for the very first time.
“You probably ought to go,” she whispered.
“Probably,” he replied in a low, husky tone. His hand moved from her hair to cup her cheek, and before Maura could utter a single word, his mouth met hers in a deep, hungry kiss.
The touch of his lips to hers started out as a sensual savoring. Maura’s senses reeled with pleasure. All logical thought was totally short-circuited as Doug’s supple lips teased and tasted, coaxing her full response. Her hands automatically rose up to his strong shoulders, and the feel of his firm muscles and warm skin under fingertips instantly melted her last resistance.
She made a small moan in the back of her throat, a sound of half pleasure, half surrender.
She felt his response as his arms moved tightly around her, his kiss growing deeper. Their passion accelerated instantly, from zero to one hundred in a millisecond. It was as if a mysterious switch, hidden somewhere deep inside, had been flipped. Her mouth opened easily under his probing tongue, and her arms wound around his powerful shoulders. She felt him move next to her on the couch and she shifted over, so that he stretched out next to her, their legs and arms and tongues entwined.
The kiss that had begun so tenderly grew bolder. Hungry and intense. A knockout sensual punch that sent Maura’s senses spinning.
His embrace tightened as his tongue plunged into her mouth, sliding seductively against her own. His large, strong hands glided down her satin-covered back, sweeping over her waist and hips, then down to cup her bottom, pulling her close to his heat.
Then his warm lips left her mouth and wandered in a scintillating path down the column of her throat. His hand glided up over her soft curves and gently cupped her throbbing breast.
What was happening here? she wondered vaguely as she kissed him back. For all the months and all the intimacy she’d shared with Scott, he had never once kissed her like this.
No one had ever kissed her like this.
And never once had she felt this way in any man’s arms. So vibrantly alive, so sensual, so uninhibited.
Then suddenly, as if remembering himself, Doug lifted his head. “Maura…” he murmured in surprise. He dropped his head against her shoulder and took a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have done that,” he admitted in a harsh whisper.
Then, with some effort, he pulled away and pulled her robe up to cover her shoulders. “I came here to help you, not cause more problems.”
“I know that,” Maura said. She believed it, too.
Still, she felt shaken. Shaken to the core. His merest touch had sent her up in flames. She suddenly realized with a shock the strong attraction they shared. An attraction that she had so far been basically unaware of.
He sat up and took another long breath, then glanced at her with an awestruck expression. Then he got up and walked across the room as if he truly needed to put some space between them. He stood with his back to her, his hands on his hips.
Maura sat up, too, and fumbled with her robe. She wondered what he was thinking. Probably he was just plain confused. She felt confused, as well. One minute Doug was her pal, her surrogate big brother, and the next minute…
Well, to be perfectly honest, she always knew there was a spark on her side, but she’d been committed to Scott and never even dared explore those feelings. Besides, she only once had the slightest hint that Doug felt drawn to her that way. Did he have feelings for her that he’d never revealed because she was not free?
Then again, they had never been alone like this before, in such an intimate situation. An emotional tinderbox. That was it right there, she decided. Things like this can happen to people in a crisis. He’d just been swept away by the circumstances. He was feeling sorry for her, maybe even protective.
All these emotions had gotten confused in his mind. In her mind, too. It didn’t mean anything. She couldn’t allow herself to think that one kiss—one mind-blowing kiss, she had to admit—signaled something more.
Finally he turned to her, his handsome features calm and composed. She willed herself to act the same.
He looked about to speak, but she cut in before he could say a word. “That’s okay. Don’t even say it.”
His thick brows drew together in a frown. “How do you know what I was going to say?”
“I just know,” she replied. “You’re sorry you kissed me. You didn’t really mean it. These things happen. And you hope that it doesn’t change our friendship. Right?”
He stared at her with a narrowed gaze. “Wrong,” he said firmly. “I’m not the least bit sorry I kissed you. Surprised, maybe, and hoping you don’t think I was trying to take advantage of you. But definitely not sorry.”
“You’re not?”
“Heaven knows, I didn’t mean for it to happen like that, but it’s probably just as well. It makes the next thing I want to say easier.”
She was confused again. Had she missed something? “The next thing? Which is…?”
“Which is,” he said slowly, drawing the word out in his deep, low voice, “that I’ve figured out what you should do.”
He walked slowly toward her, and Maura felt her heartbeat quicken at the strange, unsettling light in his eye. Inner warning bells sounded. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she felt something was about to happen to her.
Something momentous and totally unexpected.
He was standing right in front of her now, his muscular arms crossed over his broad chest. She had to tilt her head back to look up at him. Her mouth felt dry as she started to speak.
“And what do you think that is?” she asked in a halting tone.
“Simple.” His low, commanding tone gave her chills. “Marry me.”
“Marry you?” Maura wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. She couldn’t believe he was proposing to her.
“That’s what I said. I’m asking you to marry me,” he repeated patiently, holding her wide-eyed gaze.
“But how can I marry you?” She knew the question sounded silly as soon as she spoke the words, but she was too stunned to edit her reaction. “I mean, our relationship…we’re just friends. I can’t just marry you.”
She saw him blink, yet his expression showed no other reaction. She unconsciously bit her lip and looked away.
“A husband and wife should be friends,” he replied smoothly. “Don’t you think?”
“Of course I do. It’s just that there has to be something more to it.”
“Like love, you mean?” His deep voice held an uncharacteristically cynical note. “Let me tell you something, Maura. People get married every day thinking they’re totally, wildly, unbelievably in love. And more than half of them end up having rotten marriages.”
“Yes,” she said quietly. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sure that’s true.”
He was referring to his own failed marriage, no doubt, and she was curious to hear more. Yet she could tell it was still a painful topic and she didn’t think it was the time to ask him about it.
“I know you think this sounds crazy,” he continued. “I thought the same, too, when I first had the idea. But I’ve had some time to think it through while you were dozing,” he gently teased her. “I know this could work. I feel it in my gut. I respect you. I care for you. We share the same values and understand the demands of the kind of work we both do. We both love children. And you even laugh at my bad jokes,” he added with a smile.
“Only because I don’t want to hurt your feelings. I know how thin-skinned doctors can be,” she returned with a grin.
He laughed, and she met his warm gaze.
He really was so handsome. Even more so than usual right now, with that persuasive, hopeful expression on his face. And she knew that he was a decent man. Kind, even noble. Intelligent and successful, as well.
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