her ex would be faithful. Wrong! She hadn’t been able to trust him.
The fact that he’d been unable to satisfy her in bed over their two-year marriage might have had something to do with it. But Beth had never been good at faking anything, and she hadn’t hidden that one important fact from him. Evidently his ego had only waited so long before he’d gone searching for a more responsive partner.
So long and good riddance.
If she was frigid, what could she call what had happened with Gavin that night? He’d taken her on a rocket trip to bliss in record time.
And now her period was late.
Was that her reward for finally cutting loose?
Damn.
If she did wind up being pregnant and she didn’t miscarry, she’d keep the baby and figure out what to do about Gavin later.
The moment Beth opened the doors to the allergy department on Wednesday morning the phone rang. She swooped up the receiver, assuming it was the supervisor from the ER to tell her her fate.
“Allergy, this is Beth.”
“You owe me dinner.”
She heard Gavin’s deep voice, loud and clear. Her heart rushed a beat or two.
“Are you there?” he asked when she paused.
“May I ask who’s calling?” Lame!
After a brief hesitation he said, “It’s Stud Muffin.”
Her cheeks flamed faster than a brush fire. Obviously his son being present had kept him from saying what had been on his mind yesterday.
She stifled a giggle.
“I’ll pick you up in front of the hospital on Friday night at seven…Sweet Cakes,” he said.
How could she not smile? The guy was being silly and going overboard, trying to get her to laugh.
She played with a pen she’d picked up from the counter. Two could play this game. “I’m afraid ‘Sweet Cakes’ isn’t available on Friday night. She works at the teen clinic in Venice.” The pen shook in her hand.
“How late?”
She clicked the pen several times and heard an impatient sigh on the other end. She’d taken it too far. It also occurred to her that the poor man might have been up all night working—if the overflowing ER when she’d left last night had been any indication. Did he deserve her giving him a hard time? “I work until ten. You might be awfully hungry by then. I suggest we take a rain-check.”
“Then let’s have a drink and get to know each other. You can buy me dinner another night. I know where that clinic is—I’ll pick you up from there on Friday.”
She faltered. Had he just finagled two dates out of her? What about her plan to avoid him?
He sighed again. “Just say yes, Bethany. I need to get some sleep.”
“Yes, Bethany, I need to get some sleep,” she parroted softly, her mind swirling with what-ifs.
“Have a good day…Sweet Cakes.” She heard a smile in his voice.
Would it be a good day after the lab called?
“Wait!” she said.
“Yes?”
“How’s that boy, Andrew?”
Gavin cleared his throat. “The surgery went well. We’ll have to wait and see if the hand will be functional. By the way, what you did with his sister was commendable. And my son. Thanks for that. I’ll see you Friday.”
She’d agreed to get-to-know-each-other drinks with a man she’d already had sex with. Well, what would “Stud Muffin” think about her predicament? He might change his dating tune if a certain lab test came back you-know-what. And more importantly, if she was pregnant, would she have the guts to tell him?
No sooner had she hung up than the phone rang again. On automatic reflex she gave the department name, followed by her own.
“This is Rick from the ER. I’m not sure if this is good news or not…but it’s definitely news.”
For the second time in two days Beth felt faint. “I’m pregnant?”
“Most definitely.”
She couldn’t remember afterwards if she’d said thank you and goodbye or had just hung up, but suddenly she was standing in the allergy clinic with her arms tightly folded across her stomach to keep from falling apart. Her eyes stung. Nervous tingles made her skin prickle. Tears brimmed. She bit her lip to keep from crying out.
Maybe this third time the pregnancy would stick. Could she afford to be hopeful, again? Or should she be horrified? I’m not married and I got knocked up on a one-night stand with a stranger.
She’d always wanted children, but only under the right circumstances, in a loving relationship and preferably married. Talk about bad timing. Hell, she’d worked at the teen clinic long enough to know life threw everyone curve balls, but in this case she’d been the accomplice who’d helped the pitcher wind up and let fly.
And now, oh, God, she was pregnant.
On Thursday afternoon Gavin pushed through the swing doors into the allergy waiting room. At the nursing podium, Beth was in the middle of giving shots to one of her regular weekly patients. She’d just finished drawing up antigen from a vial when she spotted him.
Thanks to morning sickness, which seemed to be lasting all day, she didn’t need any help with the sudden urge to vomit. Seeing him made her lose control and she dropped the vial. Damn. What could she do but try her best to act naturally? She felt out of control, as though someone had taken a hand mixer to her stomach.
She was pregnant and he was the father and somehow, some way, she’d have to tell him. But not now!
He nodded at her. “I need to set up an appointment for Patrick for asthma training.”
“Sure.” She managed to find her voice, nodding to the patient waiting for a shot and trying her hardest not to let the trembling of her hands show.
Navy blue slacks, pale blue shirt, colorful yellow tie, obviously just out of the shower with his hair still damp…he dripped confidence. And his woodsy scent had her thinking about being skin to skin with him and places she’d never been before. And though the smell soothed her queasy stomach, the memories whipped it right back up again.
Her patient cleared her throat. Right. The shot.
“I’ve been summoned,” he said, pointing down the hall and continuing on toward Dr Mehta’s office.
A few minutes later, just when Beth had calmed herself down, Gavin’s voice startled her when he snuck up from behind.
He tossed some paperwork onto the podium. “I’m signing
