do you.”
Moving toward her, Nick had the distinct impression that his nearness bothered her. He sensed her tension as the space between them disappeared, but despite her discomfort, she held her ground.
Closer, Nick decided that she looked downright haggard. She was at least ten pounds underweight. Her skin was drawn tightly over her cheekbones, making her features seem that much more angular and exotic.
And vulnerable. Much too vulnerable for a thirty-six-year-old woman who had already been through more in her short career than others would be in a lifetime.
Shaking away the thought, Nick slid his hands into his pockets.
“Why are you here, Lucy?” he asked quietly.
Lucy assumed a look of bravado that she patently didn’t feel.
“I need help, Nick.”
The words were offered so grudgingly that he might have smiled if she’d been anyone else.
“From me?” he blurted in disbelief. A short bark of laughter escaped before he could stop it.
Lucy frowned. “You needn’t sound so shocked.”
She was so obviously wounded by his affront that he laughed again.
“And why not? As I recall, we didn’t exactly part on good terms. Let’s see, you told me you were choosing your job over me, then you ran for the exit.”
A flush spread up her neck and over her cheeks. “What happened in the past is hardly relevant.”
“It seemed damn relevant to me at the time,” he countered.
“A lot of years have passed since then.”
“Five, to be precise.”
She sighed. “I haven’t come here to rehash the past.”
“Then why are you here?”
She hesitated for an awkward beat of silence. Then she lifted her chin and announced, “I need a favor that only you can grant.”
His eyebrows rose. “What’s wrong? Couldn’t find a date for the Emmys so you’re falling back on an old relationship?”
Her cheeks burned even more and she clenched her fists, but her voice remained calm and even. “No. I need your help with a professional matter and you’re the only person I can trust.”
Nick snorted. He should have known. She’d come for a story, nothing more.
“I’m sorry, I don’t give interviews.”
“I haven’t come for an interview.”
He rocked back on his heels, eyeing her suspiciously. “Then what do you want?”
“I need your help with a…medical matter.”
For the first time, Nick was forced to acknowledge that Lucy’s pallor might be a result of something other than mere vanity. Was Lucy ill? The thought was more disturbing that he cared to admit.
Instantly, he was swamped by the urge to protect her, but he pushed the sensation away in self-disgust. He’d experienced those same emotions before, and look where they’d taken him.
“I’m a pediatric surgeon,” he said bluntly. “You’re a little old for my specialty.”
“I know.”
When she continued to watch him with pleading ice-green eyes, the full meaning of her response sank into his brain. “You have…a child with a problem?”
“Yes.”
She was married.
Or not. Women didn’t necessarily marry these days in order to have a baby.
Still, the image of Lucy with a child was unsettling. He’d assumed that she was single and unfettered by family ties. Call it hubris, but he’d believed that if she wouldn’t marry him, she wouldn’t marry anyone.
A baby. His hands curled into fists and he fought the tension gathering in his stomach.
“No.” His response was low and curt.
“No?” she echoed blankly.
“No, I can’t help you. It wouldn’t be a good idea.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“I won’t help you,” he said firmly. Any prolonged contact he might have would only breed more trouble.
Nick turned, making his way toward the door.
“Wait!” She reached out, stopping him. “You haven’t even heard what I have to say.”
Her touch was like a firebrand and his reaction was visceral and complete. Damn it all, hadn’t he learned anything? The sexual attraction between them had always been intense and instantaneous. But there was no substance to their emotions, nothing other than passion. They’d never had what it took to make a truly lasting relationship. That had been the most painful truth he’d had to acknowledge five years earlier. Eventually he’d seen that it was better the two of them hadn’t married. They’d each been too independent and too self-absorbed to sustain anything but a passionate affair.
“You’ve got to hear me out,” Lucy said urgently, tugging on his arm. “Please.” She reached into her pocket and withdrew a photograph. “This is the reason I’ve come to you for help.”
Chapter Two
It took a moment for Nick to absorb what he was seeing. The photo was of two children placed close enough together that their bodies touched and appeared to be entwined. No, not entwined.
Conjoined.
As Nick peered at the picture, he could see that the tiny, naked bodies were fused from the breast-bone to the abdomen. Otherwise, the little girls, no more than a few weeks old, looked fairly healthy, if a little underweight.
He was so absorbed in studying the twins that he couldn’t even remember how he’d come to be holding the photograph. “Where did you get this?”
“The children—the twins—have been placed in my care.”
His forehead creased. The twins were dark as the finest chocolate. Wisps of black fluff dusted the tops of their heads and eyes bright as new coins stared curiously in the direction of the camera’s lens. Judging by the clarity of the shot and the haunting quality of the image, the photo had probably been taken by Lucy. During her undergraduate studies, she’d made a name for herself with her stark portrait photography—a sideline job that had helped Lucy pay her way through college.
With a wave of shame, Nick realized that Lucy had been honest in insisting that she’d come to him for medical reasons rather than personal ones. He could
