“I’m so sorry, Gabe—”

“Don’t. Just don’t.” He held up a hand as the familiar pain welled up inside him. “No one is sorrier than me. And sorry doesn’t help.” He glared at her. He’d had a lot of practice pushing people away, but regret flashed through him that he’d been a bastard to Rebecca.

Then she did the most unexpected thing.

Without saying anything, she moved closer and put her arms around him.

Gabe tensed, started to pull away, but she moved closer and tightened her hold. The warmth, soft and sweet, seemed to melt the ice inside him.

“I know nothing can make it better, Gabe, but a touch can be healing. A little hug can’t hurt.”

Maybe not, but it could be dangerous. She was so beautiful, her lips so close. The temptation was too much….

MILLS & BOON

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Dear Reader,

Four years ago, I moved to Las Vegas and noticed license plates from all over the United States—including Alaska and Hawaii. Apparently it’s quite a melting pot. Sooner or later everyone passes through the most exciting city on the planet.

In The Millionaire and the M.D., Gabriel Thorne relocates to Las Vegas to expand his successful company—and escape painful memories. Instead, the past catches up and leads him to Rebecca Hamilton, a gifted doctor with secrets of her own. They come together to help a troubled teen, and find that whether they like it or not life does go on. And love makes it worth living.

I hope you enjoy their story.

All the best,

Teresa Southwick

The Millionaire And The M.D.
Teresa Southwick

www.millsandboon.co.uk

TERESA SOUTHWICK

lives with her husband in Las Vegas, the city that reinvents itself every day. An avid fan of romance novels, she is delighted to be living out her dream of writing for Silhouette Books.

To Gail Chasan—it’s a pleasure to work with you.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter One

It wasn’t sitting in a doctor’s waiting room full of pregnant women that made Gabe Thorne want to put his fist through a wall.

He’d done it before—the waiting room. And the fist. But right now he was remembering the waiting. With the woman who had finally agreed to marry him. He’d gone to every prenatal appointment with Hannah, his excitement and anticipation expanding in direct proportion to the size of her belly as their child had grown within her. The moment he’d seen the plus sign on the stick, it was about being the best father he could be. It was about his child’s brand-new life.

Except there was no life because Hannah had died and so had their baby. And a baby doctor’s office was the last place on earth he wanted to be, especially with his unmarried, pregnant, teenage sister.

Amy was his parents’ “oops” and had come along right about the time he’d passed his driver’s test. He glanced sideways at her, the sun-streaked brown hair pulled into a ponytail and away from her face. Big green eyes full of angry resentment looked back at him. An oversize T-shirt with the words Bite Me clung to her gently rounding belly. The sight brought back more memories of Hannah and a pain so deep he could feel himself being sucked back into the black void he’d just barely climbed out of. And once again, just like he had eighteen years ago when his mother died, he wished his sister hadn’t come along.

Two days ago she’d shown up on his doorstep and threatened to run if he called their father. Part of him was okay with that, but he couldn’t take the chance. There’d been too much loss already.

And just like that, more memories came flooding back—visions of the night before he was going to marry Hannah. After the rehearsal dinner he remembered following her little compact car, to make sure she got home okay. She’d insisted on driving herself because they were into the gray area of the groom not seeing the bride before the wedding. Hannah insisted it was bad luck.

As it turned out, their luck couldn’t have been worse. The whole thing flashed through his mind again, in slow motion, like horrifying scenes in a movie. The car that ran a red light and broadsided Hannah. The god awful sounds of shattering glass and grinding metal. Within minutes, emergency personnel were there with equipment to get her out. Jaws of life? Not so much. Hannah was conscious only a few moments, just long enough to put his hand on her belly and beg him to save their child.

The baby was the most important thing.

So here he was with Amy. And he was angry because the sight of her brought back all the painful reminders of how very much he’d lost. But here she was and he didn’t know what to do. Damned if he did; damned if he didn’t.

Damned if it mattered because nothing did after losing his family.

“Amy Thorne?”

Gabe looked up and saw a young woman in blue scrubs standing in the doorway between the waiting room and back office. He and Amy got up and followed her down the hall and through the last door on the left.

“Hi, I’m Grace, Dr. Hamilton’s nurse.”

“Gabe Thorne,” he said. “This is my sister, Amy.”

“So you’re going to be an uncle.” She smiled. “Amy, if you’ll just step up on the scale, we’ll get your weight. Then I’ll take your blood pressure—all the usual stuff. You’re probably used to it by now. You look like you’re about six months along.”

Amy shrugged.

To Grace’s credit, she didn’t react to the attitude. After making a note in the chart, she said, “The doctor will be with you in a few minutes.”

Gabe looked around the exam room, so similar to the ones he’d seen with Hannah. His chest tightened when he recalled those last times when the two of them and their baby had been together. He’d talked to her belly, telling the baby about baseball, football, how someday he wouldn’t think girls were from another planet and that hamburgers would be a lot more appetizing when they didn’t get processed by Mom first. In that little room decorated with poster-size anatomy charts and the blood pressure cuff mounted on the wall, he’d had everything he could possibly want. His fingers curled into his palms so tight his knuckles ached.

Then the door opened and a blonde wearing a white lab coat walked in, holding a chart. He did a double take because no way was this beautiful woman the doctor. Just like that, he felt like all the blood was sucked out of his head.

She looked at both of them. “Hi. I’m Rebecca Hamilton.”

“Gabe Thorne. And this is my sister, Amy,” he said, relaxing his fist as he extended his hand.

The doc took it, then shook hands with Amy. “Nice to meet you both.”

If she had questions about the situation, it didn’t show on her face—a practically perfect face with a sprinkling of freckles across her nose. And behind her wire-rim glasses were a pair of pretty brown eyes. He’d noticed a lot in a couple of seconds, including the fact that she seemed awfully young.

“I’m sure you hear this all the time, but are you old enough to be a doctor?”

She smiled and the unexpected brightness of it made him blink, then redirected the blood flow just returning to his brain.

“I promise I’ve taken all the classes, passed all the exams and done all the training,” she said.

“You hardly look older than Amy.”

“I am. Trust me.”

Trust me? Not exactly words that inspired confidence these days. Maybe he should have done some research. Access to a recommendation would have been pretty easy, and now he wished he’d made the time to ask instead of taking an appointment with the first doctor who had an opening. But why should he be concerned when Amy didn’t seem to give a damn?

He folded his arms over his chest. “I’m going out on a limb here and guess that you skipped high school and went directly to college.”

“Not quite. Just a few grades with a lot of AP classes thrown in.”

God help him he was going to hell for being a male chauvinist pig, and deserved to lose the hospital project that would expand the women’s wing, but it was hard to believe a knockout like Rebecca Hamilton could be that smart.

She smiled. “One patient asked if I was playing Baby Doctor Barbie. You’re quite the diplomat.”

If she could read his mind, she wouldn’t say that.

Rebecca sat on the rolling stool beside the exam table and carefully read the chart. “Amy, according to your paperwork you’re six months pregnant.”

“Yeah. I guess. I don’t know exactly.”

“She just arrived in Las Vegas,” Gabe explained.

“Okay.” The doc nodded. “We can request your records from your previous physician.”

“She hasn’t seen a doctor.”

For an instant, disapproval flashed through the doc’s eyes as her mouth tightened. “Is there a reason you haven’t been to a doctor?”

“I’m fine. He made me come today.” Amy lifted her chin and shot him a glare.

Rebecca met his gaze and nodded. “Good for you, Mr. Thorne—”

“Call me Gabe.”

“All right, Gabe.”

He wasn’t looking for a pat on the back, or anything else for that matter. So why in hell would her approval and his first name on her lips make him feel…What? Something. It was weird. He didn’t like weird any more than he liked feeling. If he had any choice, he wouldn’t do either.

“It’s hard to get medical care when you’re on the streets, Doc. She ran away from home. In Texas,” he added.

Amy gave him her best drop-dead-bastard look. “I’m eighteen. I can do what I want.”

“The hell you can,” he said.

“I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah?” Her tone was surly and brought back that fist-through-the-wall-feeling. Her behavior was immature, irresponsible and he resented the hell out of her. He’d done everything right and lost his child. Amy didn’t give a damn and had a baby in her belly. What was wrong with this picture? “If you take such good care of yourself, who was that hungry, scared little girl on my doorstep? Because she sure didn’t look like a grown-up who doesn’t need anyone.”

“Time out.” Rebecca stood and moved between them. “What about the baby’s father?”

Amy’s defiant expression pulled her mouth tight, and he knew she wouldn’t tell the doc any more than she had him, which was exactly nothing. “She won’t give me a name. But if I ever get my hands on him—”

“It’s not your business,” Amy snapped.

“No? You didn’t get like this on your own. He needs to take responsibility. Why are you protecting him?”

“You don’t know anything.”

“You’re right. I don’t. And that’s okay. But Dad—”

“Don’t you dare. You promised.” Amy’s voice shook with the threat and her narrow-eyed gaze dared him to call her bluff. “I’m out of here if you call him.”

He wanted to. He wanted to call his father and hand off the problem. He wanted her gone so he could go back to forgetting. But he knew if he made that call and she made good on her threat, there could be more he’d need to forget about, and he was already on overload.

“Calm down, Amy.” Rebecca patted the teen’s shoulder. “Do your parents know where you are?”

“My mother’s dead,” Amy said, glancing at him.

“Your father, then,” she persisted. “He must be concerned about you.”

“I called him. Gabe made me. But I did it from a pay phone.”

“You don’t want him to know you’re with your brother?”

“No.”

“Okay. We won’t worry about that for now.”

We won’t? Gabe’s gaze snapped to hers. He hadn’t realized until that moment just how much he’d wanted her to order Amy to call her father. He’d been hoping for someone older, wiser, with more seasoning to tell his sister in no uncertain terms that she needed to go home. But Rebecca Hamilton had hung him out to dry.

“Wait a minute,” he said. “We need to talk about this. I think—”

Rebecca gave him a warning look. “What we need right now is to determine Amy’s general health,” she said in a cool, professional tone. “We need to get some blood work. There’s a test that will tell me the gestational age of the baby—”

“Ultrasound?”

“Yes.”

He couldn’t tell if she was surprised that he knew about it. For her the procedure was routine. Not for him. And he didn’t intend to explain that he’d had firsthand experience. His pain was none of her business.

“Are you going to do that today?” Amy asked.

“We’ll schedule it for another appointment. Right now I need to examine you.” Rebecca’s voice warmed and gentled by a lot, and she squeezed Amy’s hand. “Don’t worry. I’m going to take good care of you.”

For a split second, his sister’s sullen look slipped, revealing fear and uncertainty as she stared at the doc. “Thank you.”

When Rebecca looked back at him, the warmth was gone, replaced by a cool, just-this-side-of-disapproving expression that made him uncomfortable. When was the last time that happened?

“I’ll just have a seat in the waiting room,” he said.

Gabe left, relieved to get out of the exam room, away from the reminders. But his relief only lasted until he took a seat in the outer office where several pregnant women waited. Some days he managed to forget what he’d lost but today wasn’t one of those days and the future didn’t look promising, either.

He cared about Amy. They weren’t close, but she was his sister. Hannah had often told him that no one gets family right every time, he just had to persevere. But without her he didn’t want to keep trying, and looking at his sister’s growing belly would remind him every single day why.

Still something happened in that exam room—so quick if he’d blinked he’d have missed it. He was pretty sure he’d seen a chink in Amy’s attitude and he’d bet his stock options in T&O Enterprises that the doc had something to do with it. He wasn’t sure exactly how, but there might be a way he could use that to his advantage.

The name Amy Thorne caught Rebecca’s attention as she looked at the stack of patient charts on her desk. She might not look old enough to practice medicine but she certainly felt old, she thought, remembering the scared, impossibly young girl with the defensive attitude. The teen had problems, one of which was a high-risk pregnancy.

From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of someone in the doorway, and her heart jumped, then pounded as if it would burst out of her chest. It was normal for a woman alone to be nervous. Yet Rebecca’s nerves always seemed to be running on high-test and hope was fading that the feeling would ever go away. The man who’d broken into her body the way a burglar breaks into a house had stolen her sense of safety, and she would always hate him for that.

“Are you okay, Rebecca?”

“Yeah, Grace.” She let out a breath and forced herself to relax. “I thought you’d already left.”

Green-eyed, redheaded Grace Martinson was her friend and combination nurse/office manager. When her practice grew sufficiently, Rebecca planned to hire more staff, but in the meantime it was Grace and her against the world.

“Still here, but if there’s nothing else you need, I’m going home.”

“Have a nice evening.” Rebecca hesitated, then said, “Wait a second. What’s your impression of Amy Thorne?”

“Mixed-up teenager.” Grace frowned. “Now ask me about her brother.”

Rebecca didn’t want to go there, but participation in the conversation was easier than explaining why she didn’t want to go there. “Okay. What do you think of him?”

“Above and beyond the call of duty comes to mind.”

“Really?” It was reluctant duty at best in Rebecca’s opinion.

“It’s not every brother who would make sure his pregnant sister got medical care.” Grace smiled. “And he’s not hard on the eyes.”

“You think so? I didn’t notice,” she lied.

“Oh, please. How could you not? He reminds me of someone.” Grace snapped her fingers. “I know. The actor who was in that movie How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days.”

Rebecca didn’t need ten days to lose a guy. For her it was ten seconds, the time it took to tell her fiancé about the assault. Maybe not quite that fast, but everything had changed afterward until finally he dumped her. And that’s how she learned that there was more than one way to violate a person’s trust.

“I didn’t see that movie. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I saw any movie,” Rebecca admitted.

“You need to get out more.” Grace tsked sympathetically. “There’s more to life than work.”

This was an ongoing debate and a continuing waste of breath. Rebecca was perfectly happy, and it did no good to tell her friend that a personal life was highly overrated. She loved being a doctor and believed herself lucky that her career was deeply fulfilling. If she was a little lonely, well, it was better than giving trust another try only to confirm that the third time is not the charm.

“Weren’t you going home?” Rebecca reminded her.

“Right. See you tomorrow.” Grace waved, then was gone.

Rebecca picked up Amy’s chart again and thought about the teenager. Definitely mixed up, but there was something about her. The flinch, the shame, the fear in her eyes when they’d talked about the baby’s father. Rebecca had felt fear and shame once and wondered if she and her patient shared the same soul-shattering secret.

Or was she imagining victims where none existed? God, she was tired. She wished she could blame it on an all-nighter at the hospital, but she’d simply had a bad dream. The first in a long time. It was the noises in her new condo. That was normal when one moved to a different place. Right?

And when she could identify all the things that went bump in the night, she wouldn’t wake up gasping for air because she was dreaming that same terrifying dream, reliving the nightmare of what happened to her. As soon as she felt comfortable and secure, the past would go back deep inside and stay buried where it belonged. And she would stop assigning a similar experience to a patient who’d probably just had unprotected sex with her boyfriend.

A shadow in the doorway startled her again. This time she ignored it. Without looking up she said, “I thought you went home, Grace—”

“Hi, Doc.”

She looked up. Speaking of the devil. Standing there in the doorway was the noble brother in question.

“Gabe.” Rebecca struggled to slow her pounding heart and get her breathing under control. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” He grinned and turned on the charm Grace had seen.

Rebecca felt a little shimmy in her stomach that was as annoying as it was surprising. She’d felt it earlier, too, in the exam room, a feminine reaction to his masculine appeal, but the doctor part had taken over and concentrated on her patient.

This time she was one-on-one with him. He had startled her, but that was all. She wasn’t afraid. She couldn’t be afraid of a man who’d brought his runaway teenage sister to a prenatal exam any more than she could help noticing how blue his eyes were and that his dark-blond hair could use a trim. Any woman with a pulse would find it impossible to ignore his broad shoulders, wide chest and flat abdomen in the white dress shirt tucked into a pair of well-cut slacks that showed off his muscular legs and great butt.

“I saw Grace in the parking lot,” he said, his voice like warm chocolate and Southern Comfort. “She let me in.”

“Why did you come back?”

“I want to know how my sister is.”

“Amy and I discussed everything.” Rebecca had done all the talking so “discuss” was stretching it. But she’d given the teen a lot of information. She took off her glasses and tossed them on the stack of charts. “Did you ask her how she is?”

“Yes. Now I’m asking you.”

“If there was something she didn’t understand, I’d be happy to explain it again. To her.”

“I’d appreciate it if you’d explain it to me.”

“She wouldn’t tell you.”

It wasn’t a question. If he knew, he wouldn’t be here, which would certainly make her life easier. But she was puzzled. Amy had gone to him for help and now was holding back. Why?

He leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb as he shrugged. “You know how teenagers are. A lot of it went over her head. She couldn’t remember. So just give me the facts.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why?” he demanded. “I’m her brother. I’ve got a right to know.”

“Not so much.”

He blinked. “How’s that?”

“Amy is not in a coma,” Rebecca explained. “She’s able to give consent and she’s choosing to make her own decisions about her medical treatment.”

“I’m not asking to make decisions.”

“Right.” She suspected he wanted to be in control, otherwise he wouldn’t have come back for information. If Amy wasn’t inclined to share it, why had she gone to him in the first place?

“Don’t look now but your skepticism is showing, Doc. I just want to know what you told her.”

“There are laws protecting a patient’s right to privacy. If Amy wants you to know, she’ll tell you.”

“She won’t say anything.”

Then neither would Rebecca. She folded her hands on the mess of paperwork in front of her and stared at the baffled expression on Gabe’s face. For a man who liked to be in control it wasn’t a comfortable place to be. And why that tugged at her she couldn’t say.

When the silence stretched out, determination replaced bafflement. “If possible, Amy’s even quieter after seeing you earlier. I’d like to know whether or not I should be concerned.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It could be,” he argued. “All you have to do is tell me she’s fine. Or how about this. I’ll say it and you just nod. One for yes, two for no.”

“I can only say that this is a discussion you need to have with Amy.”

“Who’s going to know if you tell me anything? It’s not like I’m going to rat you out. For that matter, I wouldn’t even know who to tell.”

“I’m sorry, Gabe.” It occurred to her that Grace might have a point. He was annoyed, yes, but if he didn’t give a damn he wouldn’t be here after hours badgering her for information. Chalk one up for him. “Clearly you care about your sister, but my professional obligation is to my patient. I’m Amy’s doctor.”

“I’m Amy’s brother. The way I see it that close personal relationship trumps your professional obligation.”

What the hell did he know about her professional obligations? She sat up straighter. “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a builder. T&O Enterprises is one of the fastest growing companies in the country.”

“And aren’t there rules you have to follow? Standards you have to maintain in order for the integrity of whatever you build to pass inspection? Obtain a certificate of occupancy?”

“Yes.”

“And if you don’t follow the rules, there are people you have to answer to. Isn’t that right, Gabe?”

“You know it is, Rebecca. Do you mind if I call you Rebecca?” he asked, turning on the charm.

“Yes, I do mind.” But she minded more that her heart had sped up again and it wasn’t because he’d startled her. This so wasn’t a good time to find out her high IQ was no match for his charm. “So you can understand that doctors have rules, too.”

He moved out of the doorway and farther into the office, stopping in front of her. She swallowed the familiar taste of fear. It was automatic; it was habit. She owned this problem. He’d done nothing threatening and she wasn’t afraid of him.

“My sister left home without a word to anyone and when things got rough she showed up on my doorstep. In your opinion, is that sound judgment?”

Of course it wasn’t. But Amy’s judgment might have been impacted by trauma, and Rebecca had no intention of sharing those suspicions. “It doesn’t matter what you or I think. In the eyes of the law, she’s old enough to call the shots.”

“She’s eighteen. Just a kid herself.”

“Even if you were her parent, I couldn’t give you her medical information without her permission.”

“That’s nuts,” he said emphatically.

She shrugged. “That’s the way it is.”

He stared her down for several moments, then ran his fingers through his hair, his frustration obvious. “Can you at least tell me she’s fine? That’s not actual information. It’s more in the nature of how’s the weather. How about those Dallas Cowboys. Or have a nice day. Just tell me she’s okay.”

“As I said before, it’s not that simple.” Rebecca couldn’t tell him anything without divulging her medical information.

“What’s wrong, Doc?”

“I never said there was anything wrong.”

“Your face does. You’re worried about something.”

Was she that easy to read? Or was he just good at it? Or was he simply fishing for information? She hoped not—on all counts. Because she really didn’t want him questioning whether or not she was nervous. Her jumpiness wasn’t about the present, it was about the past. And that’s where she wanted to leave it.

“I gave Amy all the facts she needs for now.”

Facts like her blood pressure was high and a cause for concern. The minuscule amount of information she’d been able to get out of the teen convinced her that when she’d eaten at all, her diet had consisted primarily of fast food, which meant too much salt and fat and not enough nutrition. Teen diets were notoriously bad, which increased the number of high-risk pregnancies. And a teen who’d had no prenatal care was at even higher risk. None of which she could discuss with Gabe. He seemed the type who would push the advantage if she gave an inch.

She stood. “I’ve said all I can. We have nothing more to talk about.”

“Actually, we do.”

“I can’t imagine what.” Rebecca stared up at him, way up. He was tall and muscular and very good-looking. A normal woman might flirt, but she wasn’t normal.

“Doc, I need your help.”

“With what?”

His blue eyes snapped with intensity, and his big body practically hummed with a nervous, almost desperate energy. “Help me convince Amy to go back to Texas.”

She hadn’t expected that. “I don’t understand. If you planned to send her back, why did you bother bringing her to see me?”

“I knew she hadn’t seen a doctor and that prenatal care is important.”

All Rebecca could focus on was the fact that this guy’s teenage sister was “in trouble” and troubled, so much so that she’d run away from home. He wanted to send her back and she couldn’t believe that he had the nerve to ask for her help. Grace might be fooled into thinking Gabe was a noble human being, but Rebecca knew different. She’d learned to spot a jerk a mile away. Unfortunately, this jerk was a lot closer than that.

After what happened to her Rebecca had known first fear, then anger. She was clear on the difference. When she pointed to the door and saw that her hand was shaking, she knew without a doubt it was outrage.

“If you can’t be part of the solution, then you should take yourself out of the equation. My office hours are over, Mr. Thorne. Please leave.”

Chapter Two

“You have to understand, Doc—”

“Oh, I think I get it.” She stared at him for several moments. “I’m pretty smart, Gabe.” Pointing to her framed diplomas on the wall, she said, “I didn’t buy those at the dollar store.”

“This isn’t about you.”

“Or you either. It’s about Amy. She’s young and scared. And she needs her family.”

“You’ll get no argument from me. But it’s her father she needs.”

“Apparently she doesn’t agree, if actions are anything to go by. She chose you.”

“She’s wrong. Like you said, she’s young and scared. And not making good decisions. I’m asking you to give me a hand in convincing her to go home where she belongs.”

If actions were anything to go by, he couldn’t be bothered with his sister. Rebecca put her glasses back on and sat up straighter as she met his gaze. “If that’s why you brought Amy to me, you’ve made a big mistake. I won’t pressure her to do something she doesn’t want to do simply because it would be more comfortable and convenient for you.”

His eyes narrowed. “This wouldn’t be about losing a patient and the revenue, would it? I mean, you’re running a business—”

“How dare you.” She stood up and glared at him. “I would never put business above the welfare of a patient. Especially the welfare of a teenage girl who’s at risk—”

“Risk?” He tensed and was instantly alert. “What risk?”

“No, you don’t.” She’d let him sucker her temper into a twist and slipped up. It was a mistake she wouldn’t make again. “I’ll supervise Amy’s pregnancy until her baby is born or she fires me, whichever comes first, regardless of her ability to pay. Is that clear?”

“Perfectly. And send me the bills.”

“Fine. Then I think we understand each other. And we’re finished.”

“For now.” The man had the audacity to grin but it didn’t chase the anger from his eyes. “See you around, Doc.”

“Not if I see you first,” she mumbled.

And she wouldn’t hold her breath about seeing him at all.

There was no question that he was good-looking, and she hated that she noticed, but Rebecca knew her judgment in men was seriously flawed, and Gabe was all the worst parts of mistake number two. If that was anything to go by, it was pretty unlikely that she’d see him around.

And yet she couldn’t help wondering why he’d pushed so hard for Amy’s medical information. Why would he bother to get her examined when he planned to pack her off to Texas? Probably to make sure she was healthy enough for the trip.

He’d shown his true colors, and any minute now she would stop thinking about Gabe Thorne because it was a waste of time. Thanks to men just like him, she’d already lost too much that she could never get back. Smart women learned from their mistakes, and she was nothing if not smart.

Rebecca walked briskly along the sidewalk under the portico and toward Mercy Medical’s automatic front door. There was a whooshing sound as it opened into the two-story rotunda with marble floor and information disk on the right, gift shop on the left. Every time she entered this hospital, the echo of hushed voices and hurrying footsteps surrounded her along with a feeling of reverence. The medical center endeavored to treat the whole patient with a combination of technology and compassion that healed mind, body and spirit.

When Rebecca looked around at the quiet beauty of the yellow rose painting on the wall and the words inscribed over the archway—Dignity, Collaboration, Justice, Stewardship, Excellence—her own soul sighed contentedly. Within these walls, she felt confident, fulfilled, at peace.

She stopped at the information desk and smiled at the older woman with glasses. “Hi, Sister Mary.”

“Dr. Hamilton. How wonderful to see you. You’re here for your workshop. Do you also have patients to see?”

The hospital board of directors had talked her into doing ongoing educational workshops to educate the public about the prevention and risks of teenage pregnancy. This was her third time and the first two had had dismal turnouts. Sister Mary was in charge of volunteers and felt guilty that Rebecca’s time was wasted unless she also had another reason for being here.

Rebecca nodded. “Yes, I have a couple patients to look in on while I’m here.”

“Good.” The nun glanced down at a paper in front of her. “You’re in the McDonald conference room again.”

Rebecca nodded. “If anyone shows up, promise me they won’t go down the street for a Happy Meal.”

“I’m terribly sorry about that misunderstanding, dear. The volunteer was new. We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“Assuming anyone actually shows up.”

“Someone already has. I made sure he knew the McDonald conference room was not a fast-food establishment.”

“Thanks, Sister.”

Rebecca’s curiosity spiked as she walked away from the desk. He? Her goal was to reach teenage girls and prevent situations like Amy Thorne’s. But it takes two to tango as the saying went and just because boys were anatomically incapable of carrying a baby didn’t mean they shouldn’t understand their responsibilities in preventing conception. Unfortunately, she’d found that an abundance of testosterone limited a boy’s ability to think with his head, and they didn’t normally seek out information voluntarily. So a he at her workshop was a major surprise.

She pulled open the heavy conference room door and walked past the chairs in the reception area. The McDonald conference room was divided into two smaller areas that could be combined into one large room if turnout warranted. Based on past results, she had no illusions it would be warranted for her.

When she rounded the corner into the tiny room and saw who her “he” was, she wanted to walk out again.

“Gabe,” she said, hoping he’d chalk up her breathless tone to hurrying into the room. It was, in fact, on account of her heart beating too fast, something quickly becoming a habit when she saw him.

He was resting a hip against one of the long tables in front of a dry erase board. “Rebecca.”

“How nice to see you again. It seems like only yesterday.”

One corner of his mouth quirked up. “It was yesterday.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I work here.”

She wasn’t born yesterday. “Really? Patient facilitator? As in facilitate them right back to Texas?”

“You have quite the sarcastic streak. Did they teach you that in medical school?” he asked.

“No. It’s a gift.” She readjusted her stethoscope, then folded her arms over her chest.

“Nice accessorizing.”

“I like it.” Unlike you, she thought uncharitably. “Seriously, why are you here?”

“To talk to you.”

“How did you know I’d be here?” she asked.

“Like I said, I work here.”

She was in and out of this hospital all hours of the day and night, and she had never seen him until two days ago in her office. “Doing what here exactly?”

“My company was retained to do the hospital expansion project.”

With great difficulty Rebecca resisted the urge to smack herself in the forehead. She knew Mercy Medical was adding four patient floors to their existing facility in order to accommodate the explosive population growth in the Las Vegas Valley. She’d seen the evidence of construction—a portable trailer and signs around the hospital that said T&O Enterprises, but she hadn’t connected the dots. For a smart woman she was d-u-m-b.

“I see,” she said.

“Because of that, I’m in and out of the hospital. There are flyers everywhere publicizing community outreach programs—yours included. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try again to get you on my side.”

“And what if I didn’t have time to do this with you again?”

He looked around the still-empty room, then met her gaze, a knowing glint in his own. “Yeah. I can see where that’s a problem. What with the line out the door waiting to get in and hear Dr. Rebecca Hamilton’s words of wisdom.”

“I see someone else has a sarcastic streak.”

“Imagine that. Common ground. It’s a beginning,” he said.

A beginning was the last thing she wanted. And when he graced her with a grin that made her heart palpitate, the wisdom of her instincts was confirmed. Her knees actually went weak and she felt giddy as a schoolgirl. She’d never felt giddy when she was a schoolgirl. She didn’t want to talk to him again.

“My answer is still the same, Gabe. You’re wasting your time.”

“It’s my time to waste and I don’t think I am,” he added. “Because, I have to tell you, it worried me when you let it slip that Amy is at risk.”

She could understand that. “Amy can tell you what you want to know.”

“I tried. She won’t say anything.”

“Do you have any idea why?”

“Not a clue.” He met her gaze, and his own was full of flirtatious charm. “So you’re not going to give me any information?”

“Nothing’s changed. I can’t. But I have a question for you.”

“Okay. Shoot.” He folded his arms over his chest and gave her his full attention.

All that attention made it hard to draw in a deep breath. Rebecca took a step back hoping a little distance would take the edge off her reaction to him. “Maybe the baby’s father can get through to her. Did she ever mention him?”

“Not to me. But then we never talked much.” He shook his head. “And since I moved here, well, let’s just say nothing’s changed. I haven’t been in touch with the family as much as I should have been, I guess.” He shrugged, but the movement was more uncomfortable than cavalier. “I’ve been busy.”

Doing what? she wondered, when he frowned the mother of all frowns, and the bleakest expression she’d ever seen settled in his blue eyes. Was it possible he really was worried? That brief vulnerability was the only reason she asked, “What’s kept you too busy to keep in touch with home?”

“Opening a branch office of the company here in Las Vegas. It kept me too busy to think—”

“About what?” she asked.

“Nothing. Never mind.” He met her gaze, but his own held lingering traces of sadness. “The building industry here in the valley is booming. A successful, multimillion-dollar company doesn’t get that way by ignoring opportunities.”

She stared at him. Cocky she understood, which was the effect he was going for. Arrogant she could deal with, although he hadn’t quite gone there. Flirtation she was on guard against, because he was too good-looking for her not to be. But vulnerable? She didn’t know what to do with that.

“I didn’t mean to pry. And the past doesn’t matter. What’s important now is building a relationship with your sister. Get her to open up about what happened—”

“Hold it.” He frowned. “She’s having a baby. It’s pretty obvious what happened.”

Rebecca shook her head and only said, “Maybe.”

His eyes narrowed. “You think there’s something special she needs to open up about?”

“Not that she told me. And that’s the truth,” she added at his skeptical look. “Has she said anything, anything in passing, any hint, that she doesn’t want her baby?”

He stood up. “Where did that come from? Did she tell you that?”

“No. But something’s wrong. Do you have any idea what?”

He frowned for several moments, then said, “I’m not sure if this is on Amy’s mind, but my mother died after giving birth to my sister.”

That could be pertinent information. “Is she nervous about having a baby?”

“I don’t know.”

“You might try getting her to open up about that,” she suggested.

“Maybe.”

Suddenly all traces of charm disappeared and he looked angry, reminding Rebecca a lot of his sister. “How about you?”

“Me? What?”

“Losing your mother, especially unexpectedly from complications of childbirth, must have been very traumatic.”

“It was a long time ago.”

Rebecca had learned that what people didn’t talk about was often as important as what they did. “The fact is your sister is going to have a baby. Did you ever hear her say she doesn’t want children?”

“No.”

He shifted his shoulders when he answered, as if he were uncomfortable with the question. Something was very off between these two and that begged the question—why would Amy turn to a brother who hadn’t been there for her? It was a logical assumption that she believed he was the only one between her and the streets and she had nowhere else to go. In reality their issues were only Rebecca’s problem if it affected the health of her patient and the infant she carried. But tell that to the part of her that was overly curious, in a very female way, about this man. She didn’t like that she was interested.

For that reason she wished she could champion his cause of convincing Amy to go home. But that crossed the line between professional and personal. “So I guess I’ve made my position clear?”

“You have.” His mouth pulled tight. “And I’ll do the same. If I can’t convince my sister she’d be better off in Texas, then I will be involved. I’ll be there for her.”

Rebecca nodded. “Okay, then.”

“So what can you tell me? What can I do?”

“It’s important that she eats right. She really is eating for two. The baby will get what it needs from her and that will take a toll on her body unless she replenishes with proper nutrition. She needs to hydrate herself. No soda. Juice and water are best. Lots of sleep. And she’s supposed to call the office to set up an appointment for an ultrasound.”

“Okay. I’ll see she does all that. What else?”

“Encourage her to share her feelings. This is a life-altering event. You haven’t made a secret of the fact that you’re not happy she’s here. As much as possible, let her know she’s not alone.”

“Okay. Thanks, Doc.”

When he put his hand out, Rebecca only hesitated a second before putting her fingers in his palm. It was warm and strong, and again she had the sensation of not being able to draw in enough air.

Since Amy had gone to her brother in her time of need, it was a good thing he had, however reluctantly, decided to support her. It was good for Amy, not so much for Rebecca. It meant she hadn’t seen the last of him as she’d hoped.

But that was today. From experience Rebecca knew that tomorrow he could decide it was all too much trouble and that would be that. She’d learned the only one she could count on was herself and hoped her patient wasn’t in for a similar painful lesson at the worst possible time.

Gabe turned his BMW right from Siena Heights onto Eastern Avenue and crawled through the congestion to Horizon Ridge Parkway. Wasn’t it handy that Dr. Rebecca Hamilton had her office up the street from Mercy Medical Center? He had a portable trailer set up there for his office, which made it easier to supervise construction on the hospital expansion. But the short drive didn’t give him a lot of time to plan what he’d say to the doc when he read her the riot act. What kind of game was she playing? He and Amy had their problems, but he wouldn’t stand by and do nothing when his sister’s medical needs were being ignored.

Just past the Radiology Center he turned left into the parking lot and pulled into an empty space. The desert landscaping outside the medical building was rock and shrubs—different from the lush bushes, grass and trees in Texas. But he knew from his last visit that the inside would bring back memories he’d done his damnedest to forget.

And as for Doc Goody Two-shoes, she talked a good game. Miss I’ll-Treat-Her-No-Matter-What might look like an angel, but not so much. He had a bone to pick with her.

Inside, Grace was sitting in the reception area and smiled when she saw him. “Hi.”

“I want to see Rebecca.”

He didn’t give a rat’s ass whether or not the doc wanted him to call her that.

“The doctor is with a patient. If you’d like to take a seat—”

The last thing he wanted was to be here at all. Next to last was taking a seat.

“I want to see her now,” he said.

Grace’s eyes widened as she studied the look on his face. Apparently, she knew he meant business because she stood and said, “I’ll let her know you’re here.”

Gabe paced in front of the reception window and noticed the waiting room was empty. It was after five and probably she was with her last patient of the day. Not that he cared if he inconvenienced her. She wasn’t being especially accommodating.

Grace returned to the reception desk and said, “I’ll show you into the doctor’s office.”

“I know where it is.” He walked through the door that separated the waiting area from the back office and went down the hall, turning left into the room with the desk and diplomas where he’d seen Rebecca working.

Grace was right behind him. “If you’ll have a seat, the doctor will be here in a few minutes.”

“I’ll stand,” Gabe said.

The office phone rang and Grace looked torn. She picked up the extension and listened, then put the caller on hold. After giving him a don’t-touch-anything look, she left.

He glanced around the small room, which was as cluttered as the last time. Charts, a computer and papers littered the top of her desk. On the wall in front of him was a seascape and another of a gondola gliding under a bridge on a canal, probably Venice. Apparently, she liked water. That was about as personal as she got because there were no photographs scattered around.

Before he could think about that, he heard voices in the hall, then saw Rebecca with a very pretty, very pregnant woman.

“Should I make an appointment, Doctor?”

“Yes. Although I don’t think you’re going to need it, Elena. I have a feeling the next time I see you it will be in Labor and Delivery at Mercy Medical.”

The woman crossed her fingers. “From your mouth to God’s ear.”

Rebecca hugged her. “Very soon you’ll be holding your baby.”

“I can’t wait.”

Gabe’s chest tightened painfully. The woman’s pregnancy glow hurt his eyes, and the overwhelming feeling of emptiness and loss hurt his heart. And that was why he hated being here.

Rebecca glanced into the office, waved goodbye to her patient, then came inside. “Is Amy all right?”

“You tell me. Not only am I kept out of that particular loop, apparently further information from this office won’t be forthcoming. At least not anytime in the near future.”

She walked behind her desk but didn’t sit in the chair. When she met his gaze, her brown eyes were shadowed and puzzled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“And I have no idea what’s going on. Did you or did you not promise to take my sister as a patient?”

“You know I did.”

“Then why was she turned away?”

The puzzled look intensified. “Again, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“When I asked Amy about her ultrasound appointment, she said she didn’t have one because when she called there were no openings.”

“That’s not possible,” Rebecca said, shaking her head.

“Define ‘not possible.’”

“She’s an existing patient. The next very important step of her treatment is an ultrasound. I want the test done stat—ASAP,” she translated. “No way would she be denied an office visit.”

“Well, she was.” He folded his arms over his chest and stared at her.

She glared back. “She’s your sister, but she’s a mixed-up, hormonal teenager. And I’m not going to argue with you, Gabe. Grace answers the phone and makes most of the appointments. If she’s unavailable, I do it myself. I’ll clear this up right now.”

The look she flashed him just before leaving the room was rife with irritation, and he had the absurd thought that she was beautiful when she was angry. He didn’t like his next thought any better. He wanted to see what kind of curves she had going on under her shapeless white coat. That kind of thinking felt like cheating. Cheating felt like crap and was just another in a growing list of reasons why he didn’t want to be here.

Rebecca returned, looking grim, a stark contrast to how she’d looked with her patient Elena. “Amy never called here, Gabe.”

“What?”

“Like I said, Grace or I would have talked to her. If she’d called, we would have scheduled an appointment that was convenient for her or we’d have fit her in. Neither of us has spoken with her. I’m quite sure she never contacted the office.”

He rubbed his neck. “Amy lied to me?”

Rebecca shrugged as she slid her hands into the pockets of her lab coat. “She’s trying to avoid her pregnancy. The problem with avoiding your problems is that when you bury your head in the sand you leave your—”

“Backside exposed,” he finished.

“Pretty much.” The look she gave him was guarded. “The thing is, I don’t know you and you don’t know me. What we do know is that your sister is troubled. But sooner or later she’s got to face what’s happening to her. She ran away from home, but for her sake and the baby’s, she’s got to stop running.”

“She ran to me and I don’t know why.”

“Me, neither.”

Her look was wary and suspicious and made him feel more like crap than he had before. She definitely acted differently with him than she had with Amy, Grace or her patients. The weird thing is that he noticed at all. Since losing Hannah he’d been all work—no social life, extracurricular activities or interpersonal interaction. But through circumstances beyond his control he’d become responsible for his pregnant sister and was feeling a man/woman kind of vibe for her doctor.

He wasn’t very happy about either situation. Ignoring this “thing” with Rebecca was a piece of cake, compared with ignoring the fact that his sister was going to have a baby. And Hannah’s words echoed through his mind.

The baby is the most important thing.

“Okay.” Gabe nodded. “I get the point.”

“If you say so.”

“Look, Doc, I’m sorry about storming in here. It won’t happen again.”

“Right.”

Her hostility was showing, and part of him didn’t like that. But he couldn’t afford to care. One crisis at a time. Right now that crisis was getting Amy in here for the test.

“On my way out I’ll stop and make an appointment for the ultrasound. You have my word that my sister will show up for it.”

“Okay.”

Her tone said she didn’t believe him, and he wanted to say her cynicism was showing, but that would prolong a meeting that had definitely not been his finest hour. Actually, dignity was the least of his problems. The fact that he’d been tempted to prolong this meeting at all had taken him by surprise.

After stopping to schedule the appointment, he left the office and realized getting out of there fast wasn’t as much about saving face as it was the fact that he wanted to pull sexy Dr. Hamilton into his arms and kiss the daylights out of her.

That was bad enough. Worse was that he had to bring Amy back to see the doc again. All of that begged the question: Which god had he pissed off, and what penance could he do to stop the harassment?

Chapter Three

Rebecca stood with Gabe in the hallway outside the exam room where his sister was going to have her ultrasound.

“What’s going on? Grace said you needed to see me.”

Poor Grace was getting worn-out being their go-between, Rebecca thought. If it was up to her she wouldn’t see him at all, but she wasn’t the pregnant teenager who was on the other side of that door waiting for a test she didn’t understand and trying really hard not to let anyone see that she was scared spitless. Ultrasound technology wasn’t invasive or painful, which made it an extremely useful diagnostic tool for gathering information.

Most expectant mothers were excited at the prospect of “meeting” their child for the first time. The majority of them brought along the expectant father to share in the joy. But Amy had no one, at least no one she felt she could count on. No one except her brother. And counting on him was iffy at best.

“Amy asked if you could be there while she has the test done.”

“My sister?”

Rebecca smiled. “Do you know another pregnant Amy?”

“What I meant was—are we talking about the same sister who thinks I don’t know anything?”

“That would be the one. I know tolerance is a challenge when she’s been so difficult. But try to put yourself in her shoes.”

One of his eyebrows rose. “Did you ditch those anatomy classes in med school?”

“Humor me. Just try to get in touch with your feminine side.” Yeah, right, Rebecca thought. Could the man possibly look more masculine with his long sleeves rolled up, revealing wide wrists with a dusting of hair on his forearms. It was a sexy look and so far from feminine she felt stupid for even making the suggestion. Taking a different tack she said, “Try to understand that her body is changing and all of this is new to her. In spite of the fact that she’s doing her best to pretend it’s not happening, she’s scared and would like someone there when she has the test.”

“She’s got you.” The look on Gabe’s face said he’d rather hike barefoot through a foot of snow on Mount Charleston than walk in that room.

Benefit of the doubt, Rebecca thought. Maybe he was one of those squeamish types who couldn’t handle seeing a loved one in discomfort. During Amy’s first appointment he’d known about the ultrasound, but the procedure was so routine that practically everyone knew the term, although not necessarily the specifics of how it was performed. A few of those specifics might help.

“Look, Gabe, it won’t hurt her. It’s a noninvasive procedure. I’m going to take a transducer—a wandlike instrument—and move it across her belly. It bounces harmless sound waves off the fetus and gives us an image that will tell me the approximate size and weight of the baby, and general information, possibly the sex—”

“She doesn’t really want me in there.”

He started to turn away, but Rebecca put her hand on his arm and he froze. The muscles beneath the warm skin were hard and unyielding, not unlike the man. Which made the unexpected flutter in her stomach all the more puzzling.

Ignoring the sensation, she said, “Not so fast.”

The teen had been alternately passive, hostile and defensive. There’d been apprehension in her eyes and a tremor in her voice when she’d asked if Gabe could be there, and it was the first time she’d asked for anything. Rebecca had no idea what their history was or the nature of the problems between them, but he was the grown-up and wasn’t getting off the hook.

He looked surprised as he glanced at the hand still on his arm, then met her gaze. “Not so fast?”

“I’m not letting you walk out on her.”

One corner of his mouth curved up. “And just how do you plan to stop me?”

She removed her hand, then curled her fingers into her palm. “I haven’t quite figured that part out yet.”

She inspected the width of his shoulders and the idea of using physical force lost some appeal at the same time it produced even stronger stomach flutters. The sensation did not improve her odds of figuring it out and, in fact, made thinking even more of a challenge. What were they talking about? Oh, yes. Stop him from leaving.

She could share the fact that his sister was at increased risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension. Violating a patient’s privacy would be a minor blip on the trouble scale if she couldn’t get the teen to take care of herself. But she’d rather not break a rule.

She figured it was a positive sign that he was still there. “I’m hoping you’ll just do it.”

Gabe didn’t say anything for several moments. Then his mouth thinned and a muscle jerked in his jaw before he simply nodded his head.

“Okay. Let’s do this,” she said, opening the door.

Amy was lying on the exam table with the head slightly elevated. She looked expectantly at Rebecca, then smiled when she saw her brother. Not a big smile, but it was the first Rebecca had seen. It was a start.

“Gabe, you sit there next to Amy.”

He did as instructed and the teen started to reach out for him then dropped her hand when he ignored it and sat. Not a good start, Rebecca thought, when he rested his elbows on his knees and linked his fingers.

She walked around the exam table and sat on the stool beside the instrument. “This won’t hurt. I promise.” She gently lowered the sheet covering the teen’s belly, then picked up a tube of gel. “I’m going to squirt some of this on. It’s not cold. One of the really exciting advances in medicine is warm gel. Now, if someone could just come up with a way to keep a stethoscope above freezing.”

This was a tough room and she was getting no cooperation in her attempts to ease the tension. One look at brother and sister told her the bridge over those troubled waters would have to be miles long. Probably it would be best just to get this over with. She picked up the transducer and pressed it against Amy’s stomach, then moved it around, relieved that she saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“The baby is active. That pulsing is the heart—it’s normal and strong. Everything looks very good.” She glanced at her patient, who was staring straight up at the ceiling. Again, benefit of the doubt. Sometimes it was hard to decipher organs and limbs unless they were pointed out. She pointed at the image on the screen. “Here’s a foot. And a little hand. See here?”

Amy said nothing and Gabe wasn’t looking, either. He was staring at the floor and frowning as if it were a competitive sport. What was up with these two? She suspected she knew what Amy was going through, but Gabe’s reaction puzzled her. Did he not like babies? Or doctors? Or his sister? Whatever it was, they were going to have to get over it because there was a life at stake. An innocent life.

“The baby has a very strong kick. Right now it’s turned away, but if it moves just right, I might be able to tell you the sex.” She looked at them to gauge a reaction to that suggestion, but neither responded, and she didn’t understand the absolute indifference. But she couldn’t make them care. All she could do was her job. The best outcome to this pregnancy was a healthy mother and baby and she’d do everything in her power to make that happen.

When she’d seen everything and gauged a due date, she moved the transducer around and typed in the command to print various views of the fetus. After wiping the gel off the teen’s stomach, she said, “Okay. We’re finished. I can—”

Amy pulled her shirt down, sat up and swung her legs to the side of the table before sliding off. “I’m going to the car.”

Gabe stood. “Amy, wait. Dr. Hamilton is—”

The girl never looked back but simply opened the exam room door and left.

Gabe rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, then met Rebecca’s gaze. “I apologize for my sister’s rudeness.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Hard not to.”

“I’m concerned, but not about her manners.”

His frown deepened. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything looks okay with the baby. I was just hoping that this procedure would help her connect to what’s going on, engage her emotionally with the changes in her body, help her bond with her baby. But she’s still in denial.”

“I guess I can understand.”

“Then maybe you can tell me why she’s indifferent to this pregnancy,” Rebecca said.

“Why would I be able to do that?”

“Because you’re acting the same way.” She folded her arms over her chest. “Gabe, you wouldn’t look at the baby, either. Is it possible that she’s interpreting that as disapproval?”

“I’m not judging her.”

“Does Amy know that?”

“You’d have to ask her. But like you said, what with all the changes happening to her, it’s—” He blew out a long breath. “I don’t have a clue why she’s acting the way she is.”

And he didn’t volunteer an explanation about his own attitude, which unfortunately made Rebecca acutely curious, on a strictly personal level. The difference was he was in perfect health and not facing a life crisis like Amy. Maybe it was time to say out loud what she suspected.

“Is it possible, Gabe, that this pregnancy is a result of your sister being sexually assaulted?”

If she’d punched him in the stomach, he couldn’t have looked more stunned. “No.” He shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

Two for two in the Thorne family denial department. Rebecca needed him to get it, but no way would she tell him her own experience was the source of her gut feeling. When she’d talked to Amy about the baby growing inside her, the defensive expression was replaced by a bruised look and she’d bet it was all about trust betrayed in the most intimate way. Rebecca knew how that felt. She just didn’t know how it would feel to have a part of the assaulter growing inside her.

“Look, Gabe, I know you think I’m young and inexperienced, but I’ve handled a lot of pregnancies. They don’t give you a license to practice medicine unless you have the training. I’ve seen a lot of reactions—from the unplanned pregnancy in a committed relationship to the infertile woman heartbroken when she learns that she will never feel a baby move inside her. In my experience, even the mother who didn’t plan to get pregnant usually gets excited and is emotionally engaged when she sees her baby for the first time. Amy wouldn’t even look. A child conceived through an act of violence would explain why.”

He shook his head again. “That’s just not possible.”

“No?”

He loosened his tie with a quick and irritated jerk of his hand. “It’s just…Amy…In your practice…Have you seen assault victims?”

Every time she looked in the mirror. Rebecca’s chest tightened, but this wasn’t about her.

She let out a long breath. “Yes. Unfortunately. Before, when I suggested you get in touch with your feminine side, I know you can’t. Not really. And especially with something like this—Men don’t understand what it’s like to feel powerless. But it would explain a lot about Amy’s apathy.”

“If she’d been—If someone had…raped her…she would have—” Anger snapped in his eyes, making them a bottomless blue. “I’d like to say that she would have said something to me. But—”

“What?”

“But the truth is we’ve never been close.”

“Maybe this is an opportunity to change that.”

“The age difference,” he went on. “And…other things.”

Rebecca couldn’t afford to care what those other things were, although she was curious. And, okay, she did care. But he wasn’t eighteen and pregnant. Whatever he was dealing with would have to wait. The clock was ticking for Amy and she needed him.

“It’s possible that this situation could bring the two of you closer.”

For a split second amusement flashed through his eyes. “Has anyone ever told you that sometimes people just want to brood and be ticked off? They don’t want to see the silver lining in any situation.”

“I understand.” She leaned a hip against the exam table.

He did the same and half sat, just inches from her. “I doubt it. You’re Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.”

Not so much, she wanted to say. But his words opened up a warm fuzzy place inside her—a place where she wanted to be a normal woman attracted to a very good-looking man. But…There was always a “but.” And she’d learned there always would be. Her trust had been betrayed twice—first in body, then in spirit. There wouldn’t be a third time.

She opened her mouth to say something, and Gabe silenced her with his index finer. In spite of her cold thoughts the touch made her warm again, but it was a heat that started in her center and radiated outward. She’d never experienced warm-and-fuzzy warm followed by wow-he-makes-me-hot warm. It was a one/two punch and she so didn’t need it.

“I’m not Shirley Temple. I’m not an empty-headed optimist. I’m a doctor and my name happens to be Rebecca.”

“So now it’s okay for me to call you Rebecca?”

It had been okay since he barged into her office demanding that his sister get an appointment. The man might want his sister to go home, but he wasn’t going to leave her out in the cold.

She lifted one shoulder. “You strike me as a man who does what he wants regardless of permission. Not a judgment, just an observation and none of my business. But Amy is. Like it or not your sister is having a baby. Make the best of a bad situation. It could be an opportunity for the two of you to get closer.”

Rebecca reached for the black-and-white photos she’d printed of Amy’s baby and picked out the best one. She held it out to him. Gabe took it automatically, but when he looked down, all the teasing vanished from his expression. In its place was a bleak look that startled her. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost, and she couldn’t stop the question.

“Gabe? What is it?” She wanted to hug him. The reaction was instinctive and unnerving.

He set the pictures on the exam table as if they’d burned his fingers. Bleak blue eyes looked into hers, and his mouth pulled tight. Paleness crept into his cheeks despite the healthy tan. “I have to go. Amy—”

Then he walked out as abruptly as his sister. Part of her wanted to go after him and demand to know why he’d looked like that. But the part of her in charge of self-preservation held back. She had the horrible feeling that something deeply and tragically emotional had put that expression on his face and whatever it was had everything to do with why he wanted no part of his sister’s pregnancy. She’d stopped herself from following him because if he wasn’t the unfeeling bastard Rebecca believed, she could be in a lot of trouble.

She’d been shattered twice and put herself back together. She didn’t want to find out whether or not she had the emotional fortitude to do it a third time.

In the hospital cafeteria, Rebecca bypassed the steam table with the day’s specials and the refrigerated ready-made sandwiches in favor of the salad bar. Then she grabbed a cup and filled it with ice and diet soda. After picking up her tray, she carried it around the corner and kept walking when the cashier waved her on. Complimentary meals were a perk, however dubious, of doctors on staff at Mercy Medical.

Rebecca glanced around the sparsely filled room where people in civilian clothes mixed with employees dressed in different-colored shapeless scrubs similar to her own royal-blue ones. It was nearly seven-thirty and dinner was over. The cafeteria would close in about half an hour. She spotted a nurse she knew from the E.R. and walked over to her.

Kate Carpenter was a beautiful brunette with big hazel eyes and a gift for connecting with the patients who came into Mercy Medical for emergency care. She was alternately tender and tough, depending on what was needed, and situations in the E.R. could get pretty intense. It was important to have someone who moved fluidly between people looking for help and the doctors who made the hard calls. Rebecca knew some of them weren’t easy to get along with.

“Hi, Kate. Mind if I join you?”

Kate shrugged. “Sure.”

Rebecca sat down in the hunter green plastic chair across from her. “How’s life in the E.R.?”

“Hectic. As usual.” Kate pushed away her plate and what was left of her salad. “How’s your patient doing?”

“Elena Castillo. Mother and baby are doing fine.”

She’d gone into labor and come into the hospital through emergency. Kate was on duty and on the ball. She’d sent her straight up to Labor and Delivery. It didn’t often happen, but sometimes an expectant mother got hung up with paperwork. Kate was good about making sure that didn’t happen.

“Thanks for sending her straight upstairs,” Rebecca added. “There wasn’t much time to spare. That baby was in a big hurry. Her last office visit was three days ago, and I told her then that she wouldn’t need another one. I was sure the next time I saw her would be here.”

“And you were right,” Kate said with a smile that showed off her dimple.

“I love being right,” Rebecca agreed. “And now she has a beautiful baby girl.”

Kate cut her apple in half then in quarters. “Good APGAR?”

APGAR, an acronym for activity, pulse, grimace, appearance and respiration, was the test designed to quickly evaluate a newborn’s physical condition post delivery. It was done at specific intervals.

“The one-minute APGAR was eight. Not bad for a forty-year-old mother’s first baby.”

“Any reason she waited so long?” Kate asked.

“She didn’t want to go the single mother route, and it took her a while to find the right guy.” Her friend didn’t comment, and Rebecca noticed the pensive expression. “Speaking of babies, how’s your little guy?”

“J.T. is perfect.” She smiled and the shadows in her eyes evaporated. “Getting too big too fast.”

Rebecca didn’t believe she would ever experience those maternal feelings, and that made her a little sad. She believed that a child should have two parents in a committed relationship and since Rebecca wouldn’t commit again, she wasn’t likely to become a mother. She knew her friend was a single mother, but not much more than that. “What does J.T. stand for?”

“Joseph Thomas. After his father.”

“Joe—nice name,” Rebecca said. “What does he do?”

“He’s a Marine Corps helicopter pilot.”

“A dangerous job these days,” Rebecca commented.

The shadows regrouped and gathered in Kate’s eyes again. “Yeah.”

“Is he excited about being a father?” Rebecca asked.

Kate stirred her coffee without looking up and finally said, “He never responded to my letter telling him about the baby, so I’d have to say he wasn’t happy.”

“Is it possible he didn’t get the letter? Maybe—”

“I don’t mean to be rude, Rebecca. But it’s not something I’m comfortable talking about.”

“Of course. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be nosy. I just—I wish I could help.”

“I know and I appreciate it. That’s just not a time in my life I want to dwell on. It’s taken a while, but I’m okay.” She shrugged, but the troubled look in her eyes belied the words. “I have a beautiful boy and will always be grateful to Joe Morgan—”

“Morgan? His father’s last name?”

She nodded and a smile curved up the corners of her mouth. “It’s who he is. With him around there’s never a dull moment.”

Rebecca picked that moment to glance over her shoulder and saw Gabe Thorne in the doorway looking around the room as if searching for someone. “Speaking of dull moments—”

“What?” Kate sat up straight to look over her shoulder. “Who’s that?”

“Brother of one of my patients. President of T&O Enterprises.”

“Isn’t that the company doing the hospital expansion?” At her nod, Kate continued, “He doesn’t look like a happy camper.”

“No kidding.”

Rebecca could count on one hand the times he didn’t look like he wanted to implode something. Right now wasn’t one of them. But the few times she’d seen him smile or grin were pretty unforgettable. Like three days ago when he’d been annoyed by her optimism. One minute his grin was a wicked challenge, the next it was replaced by sadness brimming in his eyes. The man definitely got to her and that was unacceptable. She hunched forward, hoping he wouldn’t notice her.

“He’s a nice-looking man,” Kate observed.

“Nice-looking? If there was an APGAR for guys, he’d score off the scale,” Rebecca said.

“Oh, really.” Her friend’s voice dripped innuendo like a leaky paper cup.

“What?” Rebecca stared at Kate. “I may be a brainer geek, but I know a good-looking man when I see one. But that’s all there is to it.”

“If you say so.”

“What does that mean?” Rebecca asked.

“Nothing. But your body language is speaking volumes.”

“No way.”

“Oh, yeah,” Kate said, clearly enjoying this. “You could crawl under the table so he doesn’t see you. Oops, too late. He just glanced this way and is now striding purposefully in this direction.”

The next moment Gabe stood beside their table. “Your answering service said I could find you here. Rebecca, I need to talk to you.”

“I was just leaving.” Kate stood and picked up her tray.

He seemed to realize his behavior was abrupt. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt. Miss—”

“Carpenter. Kate,” she said.

“Miss Carpenter.” He nodded. “Don’t leave on my account. I just need a minute—”

“No problem. I have to pick up my little guy. Bye, Rebecca.”

“See you later.” She watched her friend’s back for a few moments. Anything to put off the reaction she knew was coming, the reaction that always followed when she was this close to Gabe Thorne. She braced herself and met his gaze while the hum of attraction vibrated through her.

Taking a deep breath, she said, “So, why did you want to talk to me?”

“Have you seen or heard from Amy?”

“No. Is something wrong?”

“I hope not,” he said grimly. “I’m afraid she’s taken off again.”

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