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She plopped into the closest chair.
“Poor thing. She’s dead on her feet,” Lila cooed in a motherly fashion, despite the fact that she was only a few years older than Melissa. Neither did the fact that Melissa was there stop them from discussing her as if she wasn’t.
“I agree.” James addressed Lila, but his eyes never left Melissa. She could feel them boring into her, like he knew she’d discovered his secret—that he hid behind walls. “I’ve talked with Dr Kirby. He’s going to arrange for a cot to be placed in whatever room your mother is assigned to on the medical floor. You and your sister can stay the night with her if you like.”
The woman praised James, making Melissa’s nausea worse.
“Now,” Lila ordered, sending a concerned look Melissa’s way, “get Dr Conner home for some rest.”
James planned to do just that.
He’d thought she’d appeared tired earlier in the evening and he’d not known the cause. Now he knew. Melissa was pregnant and that explained the fatigue etched on her face.
He felt stupid for not picking up on the signs, but for months they’d been leading separate lives, with the occasional late evening spent together and nighttime sex thrown in.
Now they were going to be parents.
James took Melissa’s hand, ignored the tingle of awareness that always came with touching her, and helped her to her feet. He placed a guiding hand in the small of her back.
“I’m fine,” she protested. “Just tired.”
Which was his line from earlier, when he hadn’t been fine at all but contemplating shaking up her world so she’d notice him. If he’d only known.
Not that he hadn’t been tired, too. He’d been without sleep more hours than he cared to consider. But he’d spoken out of frustration. Frustration he still felt.
How were they going to bring a baby into the world and provide a happy home when Melissa valued his presence in her life so little? When a baby was the last thing he wanted and the one thing in life he feared most?
He assisted a tight-lipped Melissa into her car and was ten minutes into the drive before he glanced toward her. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn’t asleep.
She looked vulnerable. Which made him want to go and slay dragons on her behalf. Crazy. Melissa preferred slaying her own dragons.
But she didn’t look capable of swatting away a kitten, much less slaying a dragon.
“We’re getting married.” James wasn’t quite sure where the comment had come from and it couldn’t have surprised Melissa any more than it had him.
Her eyes opened and she rolled her head toward him. “Married?”
“As soon as it can be arranged. My parents will want to fly in from Boston.” Now that the idea had formed, his mind raced ahead. Whether he’d meant to become a father or not, Melissa was pregnant with his baby and he took his responsibilities seriously. A baby changed everything. She’d have to make concessions whether she wanted to or not. “You can start looking for someone to buy your practice.”
“Buy my practice?” Her head jerked up. “I’m not selling my practice.”
James shot a quick look at her then returned his gaze to the road. “You’ll want to stay home after the baby arrives.”
“No, I won’t.” She shook her head.
She wanted to keep practicing? What was he saying? This was Melissa. Of course she’d want to keep practicing. Medicine was in her blood, but her practice took too much of her time.
“I can get you on at the hospital. We’ll hire a nanny to help with the baby.” They’d make it work. And he’d somehow deal with his worst fear, having a baby. “Two weeks? Maybe three? However long it takes to apply for a license
and throw a quick ceremony together. We can be married within a month.”
“Earlier tonight you were moving out of my house so you could be with another woman.” Melissa squinted at him. “Now you’re proposing?”
CHAPTER THREE
THE next morning Melissa went through the motions of her day, wondering how she could fault James for being detached when she was so removed from everything.
Removed? No, that wasn’t the right word. Overwhelmed was more like it.
