Sam gave her the most incredulous-looking smile. “What—carry a woman?”
Amanda felt a blush rise to her cheeks. She had no idea why she had asked him such a dumb question. Of course, a guy like him had carried a woman before. Plenty of times, no doubt. And straight up to bed, she was more than willing to bet. Nonetheless, determined now to see this moment through, she met his stare evenly. “I was referring to the fact that Lucy’s in labor,” she added for clarification.
The corners of Sam’s mouth twitched up. “Well, now that you mention it, I once came to the rescue of a pregnant woman.” He tightened his hold on Lucy. “But it’s a long story. We probably don’t have time for it right now.”
Lucy groaned.
Amanda felt another wave of heat rise to her face.
“N-no, of course not,” she finally stammered after coming to her senses. Still, she found herself intensely curious about his story—particularly about the pregnant woman. And though she usually minded her own business, she would have liked nothing better in that moment than to have heard its details. “Follow me,” she commanded instead.
“I want Tom with me,” Lucy wailed, wrapping her arms around Sam’s neck.
They reached the nearest examining room. “Place her in here,” Amanda said. Sam entered the room and gently laid Lucy down on the examining table that had been made ready for her just moments ago. Then he stepped back, clearly with the intention of leaving the room.
Reaching out, Lucy grabbed hold of his arm. “Don’t leave me,” she cried. “Please...”
Startled, Sam gaped at her. Finally, he said, “I’m not what you need, Lucy. I’m not a doctor.”
“I don’t care,” she cried out. “Tom’s not here. Please don’t leave me.”
Sam glanced up, his startled gaze meeting Amanda’s. His eyes probed hers and he didn’t blink once during the following few seconds. But finally, unable to deal with the intensity of the moment, Amanda had to look away. Shrugging her shoulders, she said, “If Lucy wants you to stay, that’s fine with me.”
Looking completely bewildered, Sam shook his head from side to side. “Now wait a minute,” he said, his hands perched on his hips. “You’ve got the wrong guy here. That story I mentioned a moment ago had nothing whatsoever to do with delivering any baby. The woman just happened to be pregnant. Period. I don’t know the first thing about women having babies.”
Which was the truth, Sam realized. On both occasions when his girls had been born, he had been out of the country on a mission.
“It’s not all that difficult,” Amanda found herself saying. “All you have to do is tell her when to breathe and when to push.”
Once again, Sam’s eyes met Amanda’s. And, once again, the encounter did strange things to her. Things she would have preferred not to have to recognize. Suddenly, she felt hot all over.
“Is that all there is to it?” he asked.
“That’s it,” she replied breathlessly—and she was completely aggravated with herself for feeling that way.
But, in spite of everything, Amanda had a feeling that Sam Arquette was quite capable of filling in as Lucy’s labor coach. In fact, she had a feeling that he was quite capable of doing anything he put his mind to.
“Well, Mr. Arquette, you’re going to have to hurry and make up your mind on this one,” Amanda stated in no uncertain terms. “As you can see, there isn’t much time. Either you’re in or out. So what’s it going to be?”
It was going to have to be out, Sam told himself. This was one time he was in way over his head.
He sucked in a deep breath and tried to find the right words to explain his decision to the lady-doctor and her patient. Surely once he did, they would understand why he couldn’t be a part of this.
But then Lucy started moaning, again.
And then Sam remembered something.
Something very vital to his nature.
There was no way he could ever live with himself if he turned his back on a woman in need.
He simply wasn’t made that way.
Regardless of the circumstances.
Dammit.
He slipped off his bomber jacket and threw it in a far corner of the room. Then he began rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. “Okay, tell me what I have to do,” he said, resigning himself to the inevitable.
Amanda was impressed, both with the man and his decision to stick by Lucy when it was obvious that wasn’t what he really wanted to do. “Stand at her head,” she instructed him. He quickly moved into that position. “Now,” she added, “when I give the word, lift her shoulders slightly off the table and instruct her to push hard. When she isn’t pushing, you want her breathing like this.” She demonstrated the technique. “Got it?”
“Got it,” he replied.
But it wasn’t long before Sam realized that he didn’t have it quite like he thought. Giving birth was a laborious job.
In fact, it was downright exhausting, and he was only the coach. Lucy had to do all the work. Poor woman. If she wasn’t pushing so hard that her face was turning as red as a beet, she was working hard at breathing correctly. Amanda Lucas was the coolest person there. She was in total control. Thank goodness, someone was, he thought.
But Amanda was anything but cool. As a doctor, she was in control of the situation. But as a woman, practically forced into the company of a man she found extremely attractive, she was on fire. Burning up. Nonetheless, this was her moment of glory—her reason for deciding to specialize in prenatal care and delivery. If she couldn’t have children of her own, she would help other women give birth. Somehow, even if it was vicariously, it helped to ease the ache inside of her. Right now was a moment of joy...a moment of complete wonderment.
Amanda’s heart began to pound. “It won’t be long now, Lucy,” she said. “The baby’s crowning.” Then, without actually glancing up at Sam, she added, “Are you all right?”
“Uh—yeah—sure,” Sam replied. “Is the baby coming?”
“Uh-huh...a couple more minutes should do it,” Amanda said.
“That’s it?” he asked in awe.
Amanda gazed up at him momentarily. “You’re doing fine, Mr. Arquette. Hang in there just a few minutes longer. A good way to stay focused is to think of this baby as your child being born.”
“Is it a boy?” he said, grinning. “I always wanted a boy.”
For some silly reason, Amanda’s heart sank to the floor. “Then this should be easy for you.”
“Not as easy as it looks for you.”
“I’ve done this many times, Mr. Arquette,” she reminded him.
At
