just how red and wrinkled and, well, not particularly beautiful most babies would seem to the average male. While she waited for the doctor and nurse to finish with her baby, she smiled her gratitude at Mick. He was trying so hard to think of something positive to say.
But then he looked at the baby again and his eyes darkened with concern. “Is she really supposed to be that tiny?” he asked Dr. Abby. “Surely not. She’s not much bigger than my cupped hands. How could anything that small cause so much trouble?”
Megan chuckled. “I’m sure she’ll cause her mother a great deal more trouble before she’s grown up. It’s one of the wonderful things children do, you know.” Laura had the feeling she meant every word.
When Dr. Maitland gave Laura her baby to cuddle close to her, Laura captured one tiny flailing hand and kissed the softness of her child’s skin. A sudden sense of wonder, of having been involved in a small miracle, of having been given a gift too overwhelmingly generous for anyone to ever deserve, filled her. Unbelievable as it seemed, this baby had come from her, from inside her own body. This vulnerable, amazing child was hers to keep and care for and love. From a relationship that had ended ugly, from an experience that had threatened to overpower her, had come this amazing, sweet little being. Gratitude filled her soul.
She looked up into Mick’s dark blue eyes. He was gazing at her and her daughter intensely, with a sense of awe and disbelief that rivaled her own, and with an unmistakable air of…reservation. As if he wanted to move closer and edge away at the same time.
Laura smiled at him. She held out her free hand. “Thank you for helping me,” she said weakly. “I was pretty scared there for a while, I think.”
He shook his head. “You were pretty brave, I think, and no thanks are needed. You were the one who did all the work.”
He took a deep breath and now she was absolutely sure that he wanted to step away, that now that the crisis had passed he wanted to get out of here fast. Well, he’d definitely earned his freedom. He probably had plenty of important tasks waiting for him, maybe even a woman wondering where he was. Of course he would have a woman, and of course there was no reason for him to have to stay any longer, but she couldn’t let him go without letting him know just how important his presence had been.
She reached out and took one of his big callused hands, turning it over. In spite of her exhaustion or maybe because of it, a frisson of sensation spiraled down her arm and headed straight through her body when her skin met his. Strange that she should react to the man now when she’d been gripping these same hands for hours, thinking only that they represented safety and strength. Small red indentations marred his palms.
“You let me dig my fingernails into you, and you didn’t complain,” she said softly. “The guys on the crew are sure going to wonder what you’ve been doing.” Exhausted as she was, she wanted to do this right. She knew that once he walked out that door, his part in her life would be past. But it had been such an important part. She wanted him to leave feeling good about this experience, not uncomfortable. He’d teased her earlier when she’d been embarrassed. How could she do any less?
“No problem. I’ll just tell them I’ve been wrestling with a tigress,” he promised. “A courageous, determined, green-eyed tigress. That’ll make them wonder. In fact, I should be grateful to you, Ms. Maitland. You’ve probably made my reputation. I disappear for hours and come back scratched and barely able to think straight.”
She couldn’t help smiling. “Ah, we’ve done a good day’s work then, love,” she told her baby, kissing the top of her head.
“You have,” Megan agreed, and Laura turned her attention to the beaming eyes of the woman still standing beside her.
Tears came to Laura’s eyes. “Thank you for helping me,” she said softly. “I see now why your clinic has such a good reputation, even among the rich and famous. Do you always give such personal service?”
Abby Maitland chuckled.
For the first time Megan Maitland looked mildly flustered. “Any woman would have done the same. And you are family. Now, you rest. I’ll see you around, my dear,” she said, tucking her hair back into place and smoothing her jacket as she repaired whatever damage had been done. “Come on, Abby,” she told her daughter. “Let’s let Laura have some time to get acquainted with her baby.”
Mick started to move away, too, as the women filed out the door, but Laura reached out and touched his arm.
He stopped.
She realized that they were totally alone for the first time since this ordeal had begun. She realized what an incredibly, stunningly handsome man he was. The kind of man who undoubtedly had women hitting on him every day and not because they needed a labor coach, either.
“I know I’ll see Megan again, but I doubt we’ll meet again, Mr. Hannon. I’d like to repay you in some way. And please don’t say it’s not necessary,” she said as he opened his mouth. “As nice as you’ve been, I know this couldn’t have been on your list of things to do on a busy workday.”
He gave her that “are you crazy?” look that some men are so very good at. “Top of the list,” he insisted. “Holding a beautiful woman’s hand is always a pleasure.”
She smiled. “You’re quite a charmer, Mr. Hannon, but seriously, let me do something for you. At least give me your address so I can send you an appropriate thank-you gift.”
His lips thinned into a stubborn line. “I don’t live in Austin. I’m just in town for the duration of the job.”
“And there’s nothing I can do for you?”
He looked down at where her baby was sleeping on her stomach.
“If she were a boy, I’d gladly name her Mick,” she said gently.
He shook his head. “Thank you, but you wouldn’t want to do that. Just…be careful. Don’t marry the first man who comes along just to give her a father. The results can sometimes be disastrous.”
She widened her eyes. “I suppose you don’t have to worry, then. I don’t intend to marry at all.”
His eyes seemed to turn fiercer than before, but he only gave her a quick nod. “Then that won’t be a problem, will it?”
He gently touched just the tip of his finger to her baby’s cheek, then he took her hand in his and studied it, as if remembering the hours they’d spent with their fingers linked.
Carefully he curled her fingers closed. He lay her hand back on her child. “Sleep,” he whispered. “Rest. Have a good life, Ms. Maitland.”
And quietly he turned to leave her. She watched his broad back disappear.
He wasn’t the first man she’d watched walk out of her life. Her father had walked away many times. Her baby’s father had been offended that she would even ask for him to consider taking home the daughter of a Vegas showgirl to meet his family.
So it shouldn’t have made her feel a bit sad to see Mick Hannon leaving. Heavens, she didn’t even know him. She certainly didn’t want him to stay. She didn’t want any man in her life anymore, especially one as wickedly handsome and tempting as Mick Hannon.
Even so, he wasn’t a man she would turn around and forget by morning. Lifting
