Are you having fun?”
Kelsey nodded with a definitive jerk of her head, sending her chestnut curls into a dance. Then she leaned over and cupped Michelle’s cheek, taking Nick by surprise. Normally she was guarded with strangers, yet she seemed totally captivated by Michelle. He could relate to that.
“You’re pretty,” Kelsey said, surveying Michelle’s face with open worship. The force of Michelle’s responding, dimpled smile sent Nick’s whole body reeling. The way she placed her hand over Kelsey’s made him value this soft side of Michelle Lewis that much more.
“Not as pretty as you, sweetie,” Michelle said. “You look like your daddy.”
“Yeah. Like daddy.”
Jeanie Lewis placed a kiss on Kelsey’s face, leaving a pink lip imprint on her cheek. “This one’s a doll, Nick.” She looked over Kelsey’s head right at Michelle. “Shelly, are you all right?”
Michelle averted her eyes. “I’m fine, Mom.”
“I think she’s had too much sun,” Nick said. “I’m making her sit awhile before she goes back out.”
“Good idea. She’s probably exhausted. She works much too hard.” Jeanie continued to study Michelle as if trying to read her thoughts. “Isn’t that some news about Brooke, Shelly? I didn’t know what to say, especially with Brooke’s asthma. But I guess it will all work out.” She didn’t sound too confident.
Kelsey squirmed in Jeanie’s arms. “I wanna go now.”
Nick bussed his daughter under the chin, for once glad the four-year-old had a limited attention span. “Anyone ever tell you patience is a virtue, kiddo?”
Jeanie slid Kelsey to her feet and took her hand. “I’ll watch her, Nick. I need to get in some practice with a grandchild on the way.” She patted her bobbed, silver hair and sent him a sunny smile that seemed strained. “You and Michelle have a nice visit.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Lewis. I’ll be out in a minute.” He crouched down and framed Kelsey’s sweet face in his palms. “You be a good girl.” After popping a kiss on her chubby cheek, he straightened.
Kelsey sent Michelle a demure wave. “’Bye, Shelly.”
Michelle’s smile returned. “’Bye, Kelsey.”
After Jeanie led his fidgeting daughter out the door, Nick faced Michelle again. She wrapped her arms low around her tanned midriff, but not before he caught a partial glimpse of her navel. Man, he’d give up his vacation to see the rest of it and all points below. Silently scolding himself for his wicked thoughts, he dragged his eyes back to her face.
“Your daughter’s beautiful, Dr. Kempner.”
So are you, he wanted to say. Instead he settled for, “I can only take half the credit. She is a great kid, though.”
Michelle dropped her gaze to the floor. “Thanks for the explanation you handed my mother. I didn’t want to upset her.”
“No problem.” He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “She seems a little worried about Brooke.”
Michelle finally raised her eyes to his. “She is. And with good cause.”
“The asthma?”
“Yes. But as she said, I’m sure it will all work out.”
Michelle didn’t sound at all confident. Nick couldn’t blame her. Although OB wasn’t his thing, he suspected maintaining a pregnant asthmatic could have its challenges. But Brooke and Jared had overcome a lot of stumbling blocks to reach this milestone, and he figured this was only one more to overcome. At least they had each other to lean on.
A nagging heaviness settled on Nick’s chest like an uninvited, long-lost cousin. He ignored it, choosing instead to focus on Michelle, now working her bottom lip with her teeth—a full bottom lip he could definitely enjoy kissing.
“Well, I guess I’m heading home now,” she announced, cutting into his questionable thoughts.
He didn’t want her to go, for many reasons. “Hey, I just got here. The party’s only begun to get interesting.”
She slicked a hand over her scalp and tightened her ponytail. “I can only imagine. But that’s all I’ll be able to do since I need to get some work done.”
“On a Sunday afternoon?”
“I brought some stuff home with me. Until this campaign’s over, I’m not going to have much time to slack off.”
“Are you sure? I make a mean margarita.” He topped off the offer with a grin.
She tightened the towel at her waist and crossed her arms over her chest. “That sounds tempting, but I’ll have to pass.”
He wanted badly to smooth the worry from her face. Make her stay. “So they call you Shelly, huh?”
A slight blush tinged her cheeks. “Heavens, yes. Luckily no one calls me that at the hospital. Makes me feel like I’m Kelsey’s age.”
“Okay, so I’ll just call you Michelle. And you can call me Nick.” She would call him much worse if she knew the path his thoughts were taking. He couldn’t seem to pull his eyes away from her face, had an even harder time keeping them away from her body, where he took a subtle mental inventory. The perfectly carved collarbone, the scoop of the bikini top that revealed ample cleavage, the slender torso, all painted a fascinating portrait of a fascinating woman.
“Well, Nick, I really do need to go. I’m so sleepy that if I stay, I’ll probably have to find a bed.”
If she stayed, he’d help her find one. And join her.
Releasing an exaggerated sigh to keep from groaning, he said, “Okay. But don’t work too hard. Life is short. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.”
She reached for a canvas bag hanging on the back of a chair and slipped it over her slender shoulder. “How so?”
Man, that could take hours to explain. He wasn’t up to baring his soul completely, so he’d give her an abbreviated version of the whole sorry story his life had been. “I missed out on a lot when Kelsey was a baby because of my work. And now I only get to see her every other weekend, so I guess you could say I’m still missing out.”
“That’s a shame, Nick.” She sounded as if she meant it. As if she understood how badly he hated the part-time dad thing.
“Yeah, but that’s just the way it is.”
Michelle clutched the bag to her chest. At least now Nick could concentrate better on the conversation. “Can you ask for more time with her during the week?”
He had asked. About a thousand times. He was even willing to cut out of the office early. But Bridget wouldn’t budge. She didn’t want Kelsey exposed to “his women,” as if he really had a revolving door in his two-bedroom apartment. Not that he hadn’t indulged a time or two in female companionship. But it hadn’t been that often, although the hospital scuttlebutt would say otherwise.
