Faith frowned at the spilling fountain of white blossoms, the green foliage almost hidden by the spirea blooms. She glanced at her watch. Nine more minutes before she absolutely had to start back to the office. Should she make a loud noise or try to creep past them? It didn’t sound as if they would notice her. Or care even if they did notice.
“Honey, wait a minute. There,” the man said. “Let’s get rid of this dress, darlin’ blue eyes. Big, big blue eyes. Oh, what long lashes you have! You’re my precious sweetie. . . .”
What would make perfectly sane adults resort to such ridiculous baby talk? Never in her life had Faith felt inclined to talk in such an absurd manner to any male she had dated. Nor would she ever.
The man’s voice faded, replaced by sounds that made Faith blush. She didn’t want to hear the noises, but now she certainly didn’t want to walk past them. And to get out of her hiding place, she would have to do just that.
She looked at the brick wall and contemplated going over it. The vision of herself in heels and hose and a tight cotton skirt sliding over that wall in front of the busy intersection killed the notion instantly. The only other way to avoid the couple would be to crash through the spirea hedge, and she could, just imagine how she would look returning to work with flowers and leaves in her hair.
She glanced at her watch. She had heard about couples having sex in the park, but she had dismissed the rumors as frivolous. All she had ever encountered were other business people and a few transients.
Seven minutes. The gurgles and growls and giggles made her cheeks burn. She debated what to do. Were they stark naked? she wondered.
How many times had her friend Leah warned her that they were too isolated when they came to this spot? Next time she would listen.
“Oh, honey, I love you!” came a whisper. Then more kissing sounds and cooing. “Yum, yum, yum. Take a li’l bite here. . . .”
“For corn’s sake!” Faith whispered. She looked at her watch. Five minutes. She bit her lip and frowned. Maybe if she just ran past them, they would never notice her. But could she avoid noticing them? Sex was not a spectator event.
The sounds became more primitive and garbled, and she could too easily imagine what might be happening on the other side of the spirea.
“Oh, God! Oh, darlin’!” Unidentifiable sounds she didn’t want to hear disturbed the quiet.
Faith wanted to scream. She wanted to yell to them that they were in a very public place and could get arrested for what they were doing. “Get a room!” She silently mouthed the words.
“Darlin’, what’s the matter?”
In the midst of her mental tirade, Faith realized the man’s voice held terror. The woman sounded as if she was gagging. Or having a seizure. The woman might be having an attack of some kind!
“Oh, Lordy, Lordy,” the man cried out “What do I do? What should I do? Merry, darlin’, can you breathe? Oh, Lord, help.”
He sounded desperate. Faith had CPR training. Knowing she couldn’t stand by and ignore someone who was hurt, Faith clamped her jaw, prepared to face two naked lovers, and plunged through the spirea, scattering white petals like a rain shower in springtime.
She spit out spirea blooms and froze in momentary shock, staring into dark brown eyes as a man on his knees looked up at her. Sunlight splashed over broad bronzed shoulders that gleamed with a faint sheen of sweat. Shaggy black hair fell around his face. A muscled chest tapered to a narrow waist.
For one brief moment they stared at each other and then Faith’s attention shifted. In his arms he held a baby who was choking. A baby. She wore a diaper and a pink ribbon in her tiny black curls, and her little face was screwed up in agony.
“She’s choking,” the man said, but Faith needed no explanation. The coughing and gasping signaled the baby’s distress.
Faith reacted instinctively and with the experience of having dealt with a younger brother, sisters, nieces and nephews. She took the choking baby from him and quickly positioned the child face-down across her lap. With the heel of her free hand, she struck the baby on the back between the shoulder blades. On the second blow, something squishy shot out of the little girl’s mouth.
The baby instantly gasped for breath and screamed.
Standing, Faith placed the tyke on her shoulder, patted her back, hugged her close and talked softly to her as she jiggled her gently.
“Thank God!” the man exclaimed. “Oh, thank you, thank you!”
Watching the slender blonde quiet his baby, Jared Whitewolf experienced a kaleidoscope of emotions: shock when the woman appeared out of the bushes; terror over Merry’s choking; swift relief when the woman cleared Merry’s throat of the obstruction. Then his relief transformed into curiosity. Who was the pretty lady covered in white blossoms? Merry was snuggling in the woman’s arms, quiet now except for an occasional hiccup.
Jared couldn’t have been more dazzled if the sun had dropped halfway to earth. This woman knew how to handle a baby. A bona fide, world-class champion baby handler. Probably a mommy with three kids. His gaze ran down her slender figure, noticing her ringless fingers when she turned her profile to him. Her blond hair, sprinkled with white petals, was fastened with a clip behind her head. A practical watch with a leather strap circled her slender wrist. The blue skirt ended above great knees and long, shapely legs.
Jared stood, wiped his brow and hoped his heart would stop racing. The woman turned to face him.
“Thanks,” he said. “That’s the biggest scare I’ve had in years.”
“What did you feed her?”
“I gave her a banana.”
The woman glanced at the baby in her arms, then frowned at him, and he knew he had blundered. “She’s too little unless it’s mashed up. You didn’t let her have the whole banana, did you?”
“Well, not a whole one, but too damned much,” he answered perfunctorily, his thoughts moving on. Merry was twiddling with the woman’s silver hoop earring, as blissfully happy now as if the whole incident had never occurred. This golden-haired rescuer really knew how to care for a baby.
He thought of the few disastrous dates he had had since Merry had come into his life. He hadn’t met a woman yet who could cope with Merry for more than an hour and never in a crisis. And until today, he had never had a crisis that had been, life-threatening.
“She’s very pretty,” the woman said softly, looking down at Merry. The baby gurgled, smiled and stared at the woman. Jared’s pulse jumped.
“You’re really good with babies.”
“I should be,” she said without looking up, and he braced himself to hear she had a house filled with her own. She stopped to smile at Merry, both of them looking beautiful, adorable and contented.
“Why should you be good with them?” he asked, holding his breath.
“I grew up with three younger siblings, as well as an older brother. They are all married now with babies,” she answered.
He moved closer, catching a fragrance more enticing than the spring flowers surrounding him. Looking into her wide green eyes, he felt a tension that he recognized instantly and was delighted to discover. The sexual chemistry was icing on the cake.
“Hold still. You have petals in your hair,” he said, reaching up to pull white blossoms from the silky waves. His hand brushed her throat, and he felt a tingle that echoed through the emptiness deep inside him.
She reached back to unfasten the clip that held her hair and gave a shake of her head, scattering petals over her shoulders and onto Merry.
“Here, let me help,” he said, watching the woman as he placed his hands on either side of her head. While he looked