she said, licking dry lips.
He handed her the glass of water Megan passed to him. “Hey, sweet stuff, you’re making my day a lot more interesting than it might have been. It’s not all that often that a man gets to take a beautiful woman in his arms on his coffee break. I’ll be the envy of my men.” From somewhere he managed to dredge up a reassuring smile.
“Thank you for being kind.” An entrancing trace of pink tinged the lady’s cheeks. She looked away. As if she thought he would repeat tales of her most private moments to his men.
Which reminded him, his co-workers would be thinking he’d gone back to Dallas and left them behind.
“Excuse me, Ms. Maitland, but…” He nodded toward the window, not wanting to mention his concern and worry his lovely little mother-to-be even more.
Megan nodded. “I already had our receptionist let your crew know we had commandeered your services. You don’t mind?”
He minded, but he could tell that the beauty was listening. The truth was that he’d spent his whole adult life avoiding women who represented hearth and home. In fact, the last time he’d been this intimate with a woman, he’d been intent on making sure he didn’t make any babies while he took his pleasure. He’d certainly never thought to see the inside of a birthing room.
Shouldn’t be here now, he thought, but he turned his attention to the woman and Megan, who was, essentially, his employer these days.
“You came in alone,” Megan said to the woman. “Have you met with one of the doctors here before?”
A vehement shaking of the head followed. “I just arrived in town today.”
“Do you…have someone meeting you here?”
Those soft green eyes looked suddenly unsure. “I’m here alone. I’m—not married, if that’s what you mean. But I’m okay. Really, I can do this on my own,” the woman added quickly, looking at Mick.
In spite of her uncomfortable condition, she managed to raise that delicate chin in an attempt at bravado. Her skin was dewy and pale, a startling contrast to pink lips, dark hair and the vulnerable but rich green of her eyes. The thought that some man had tasted those lips, brushed his fingers through that silken hair and gazed into those eyes as he joined his body to hers nine months ago skimmed through Mick’s mind, and his breath snagged in his throat. Instantly he felt like even more of a heel than the jerk who’d left her to deal with the consequences.
But she was still staring at him, waiting. Obviously she wanted him to leave. No surprise. This was an intimate situation. He could understand her reluctance to share it with a stranger. She’d be even more reluctant to have him here, and so would Megan if they knew who he was and that he was at Maitland Maternity under false pretenses.
“You’re quite a gutsy lady,” he said with a nod of admiration at his dark-haired woman. “Make sure and say hello to your little one when she arrives.”
He started to rise, but Megan shook her head.
“Not yet,” she said, before turning to her patient.
“I admire your determination, dear, but I hope you’ll reconsider,” Megan said gently. “I’ve gone through labor alone, and believe me, it’s much better to have someone coach you along, even if they’re inexperienced. Mr. Hannon’s been given the green light to stay. It’s unorthodox to have him here, perhaps, but we’ll find him a help. You will help, won’t you?”
He wanted to say no, but there didn’t seem to be any answer but yes. If he left, who would she hold on to when the pain came? Megan’s fingers looked much too fragile. The nurse who had entered moments ago had other details to see to.
“I’ll stay,” he agreed.
“That wouldn’t be fair,” the woman was saying. “You just had the misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And really—I don’t need anyone. I want to do this by myself.”
He really ought to be relieved at her dismissal. The thought of staying here and watching this woman suffer ranked right at the top of the list of things he didn’t want to do today or ever. But the memory of that lost, frightened look in her eyes was still fresh.
“I’d consider it an honor if you’d let me stay,” he said, countering her request. “Who knows when I might need to know how to do this again?” he tried to tease, and it seemed to work.
“See there, dear. You’d be doing Mick a favor for when he has his own children,” Megan agreed brightly.
Even though he’d never have any children, Mick thought.
Still, when the next contraction started, he reached out for her hand and welcomed the soft pads of her fingertips pressing into his skin. He stroked his thumb over her palm.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he whispered. “You’re the bravest woman in the city right now. Your baby’s going to be lucky to get someone who’s such a fighter.”
He slipped his hand behind her and rubbed small circles over her slender lower back as Megan directed him to.
The woman looked up at him helplessly.
“Hold on to me,” he whispered. “Let me help you. Yell at me if it helps. Tell me what you think of the male race,” he urged when she simply clamped her hands down harder on him.
That made those green eyes flash. “Men—I—yes. I—I just can’t say. I don’t want to talk now. I can’t think straight,” she choked out, but the words were said with such intensity that Mick hoped that she’d found some release.
Finally the contraction slid away. The woman slumped back in her chair. She cast a slightly guilty look at Mick, but not too guilty, he noted. There was a little resentment thrown in, as well.
He grinned at her. “I almost got you to swear, didn’t I?” he asked.
“I never swear.”
“But you wanted to. And you didn’t think about the pain while I was irritating you, did you?”
A wan smile lifted one corner of her lips. “Now I’m on to you,” she said tiredly. She looked down. “Thank you,” she said in a small voice. “You ever consider doing this for a living?”
“I’ll take it up with my boss. If any of the guys go into labor, maybe he’ll make use of my services.”
Megan chuckled. She’d been coaching Mick during the contraction, but now she took up the clipboard the nurse had carried in with her and turned to her patient. “Well, dear, we really seem to be doing things backward today,” she said, “but we do need to get a bit of information from you, now that we have some breathing space.”
The woman seemed to gather a cloak of pride around her. She withdrew her hand from Mick’s. Her fingers absently pleated a fold of her yellow maternity top. “You want to know who I am.”
“For starters, yes,” Megan said gently.
The woman took a long, deep breath. For a minute Mick thought she was going to have another contraction, but then she squared her shoulders
