Seth cocked the gun. There was no way in hell she was getting into his house—his life. He didn’t even want her on the same planet with him!
Aiming the shotgun with his left hand, he opened the door with his right. Shirtless and barefoot, dressed only in threadbare jeans, and pointing a weapon, he knew he probably looked like her royal bodyguards’ worst nightmare. A crass commoner with a firearm. He smiled. It was too bad King Dad wasn’t here to see this.
“What do you want?”
“Seth!” Lucy said his name like a gasp, then—as if she didn’t see he had a loaded gun—she fell against him.
He caught her with his free arm but not before her cheek pressed into his bare chest. Shivers of joy ricocheted through him, but he gritted his teeth and squelched them. She’d brought him more pain than joy, and ultimately more anger than pain. He didn’t want anything to do with this woman.
He nearly shoved her away from him. Then her weight and the shape of the body that collapsed against him caused him to realize that her raincoat was huge because she was pregnant!
“Oh, this is rich!” he said, just barely keeping his voice from becoming a shout, though he silently savored his anger. He had earned it. She had disposed of their marriage with a quick, easy annulment. Now it appeared she’d hidden her pregnancy from him. He had every reason in the world to be furious.
He didn’t intend to let her see she still had the power to move him, not even to anger, so he softened his tone. “You’re pregnant! You…Princess!” he said the title like a curse, because to him it now was.
Rain sparkled on her smooth, pale skin. Gazing up at him with dark eyes that glistened, she drew a quick, shallow breath and said only, “Help.”
The distress in her voice caused Seth to forget their fight and to remember that a scream had brought him to his front door. Her scream.
He glanced outside to confirm that she was without her bodyguards and he saw that she’d driven the little red Chevy she sometimes used to sneak out when she wanted privacy.
He peered at her pain-filled face. “Lucy?”
“I think I’m in labor.”
“Oh, my God.” Before Seth could prevent it, a protective instinct rose up in him. As quickly as he could, he carefully leaned his shotgun against the wall, scooped Lucy into his arms and carried her across the pale tile floor of his entryway, through the dining room and into the living room where he deposited her on his white sofa.
“Not here!” Lucy groaned. “This is your living room!” Her eyes bore into his. “If I’m really in labor, we’ll ruin your sofa!”
Seth scowled and he set her down anyway. Damned princess! “Even in pain, you’re worried about possessions.”
“I’m not worried about possessions! I’m being practical. You used to like that about me.” She blew her breath out in three quick puffs, then ran her trembling fingers over her forehead. “The contraction is over.”
Realizing her problem wasn’t life-threatening, Seth tamped down his panic and allowed his anger to return. Still, he didn’t let any emotion to filter into his tone when he said, “While I call an ambulance, maybe you would like to explain what you’re doing here.”
Lucy drew a quiet breath. “Okay.” Her voice shook. Her eyes stayed downcast. “I left Xavier Island when I realized I was pregnant. I needed to finish the mansion in Miami, but I also wanted time alone to decide what to do. In the end I couldn’t keep your baby from you.”
Seth snorted in disbelief as he picked up the receiver of the portable phone on the end table by the sofa. Eight months ago, she’d let her father’s representative end their marriage. Now she expected him to think she considered his feelings? His interests?
“Yeah. Sure. I believe that. I also have some swampland that would make a perfect retreat for your dad. Lots of alligators.”
“Seth,” she implored, grabbing his hand. “I know things ended badly between us.” She caught his gaze. “You also have a right to be skeptical. I wasn’t going to tell you about the baby because I thought it best that we never see each other again, but…”
She broke off with a gasp, then groaned loudly.
Seth’s knees turned to rubber again. “Lucy! Do not have this baby on my sofa!”
She squeezed his hand. “Seth, something is wrong. Everything’s happening too fast…I’m not even due for four weeks! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have risked this long trip!”
“I think your doctor may have miscalculated your due date.”
She closed her eyes and, between pants of air, she said, “That would mean I got pregnant the first night we made love…Aghghghgh!”
Ignoring the vivid images that assailed him when he thought of the heart-stopping passion that had propelled him and Lucy to the bed of his Miami hotel room before they’d even had their first date, Seth punched 911 on the phone’s keypad. When the dispatcher answered, he said, “I have a woman in my house who is in labor.”
“How far apart are her contractions?” the dispatcher calmly asked.
Seth faced Lucy. “How far apart are your contractions?”
Lucy panted a few times before she said, “I had one pain when I got out of the car. One when you opened the door. And now the pain is back. It hasn’t even been a minute. It’s almost like the contractions don’t stop!” She drew a quick breath then groaned again.
Seth said, “There doesn’t seem to be any time in between the pains.”
“Hold on, sir, while I fix your location…” Obviously tracing his address from his phone number, the cool, calm and collected dispatcher said, “I have you listed as Johnson Road. You’re not very far…”
Seth glanced at Lucy. When he saw she was gasping for breath, he said, “Just get someone here!”
“Sir, an ambulance is on its way. Stay on the line and I’ll guide you through…”
Lucy cried out in pain. Seth squeezed her hand. “Hold on, Lucy. An ambulance is on the way.”
“I can’t hold on.” She moaned in agony. “Oh, God!”
Seth fell to his knees beside the sofa. “Operator, things are not going well here.”
“Relax, sir, and tell me what’s happening.”
Before Seth could answer, Lucy said, “I’m going to have this baby right now!” She slid down on his sofa, with her feet flat on the cushion and her knees raised. Every inch of her shook, as if she’d been standing in the cold for hours. Her raincoat crackled and crunched from the nearly violent movement.
Seth said, “Operator, she just said she’s going to have this baby right now, and I believe her. I have two neighbors who are volunteer firemen.” He knew the volunteer firemen had paramedic training because he had considered joining the department himself. “So I think I’m going to hang up and see if I can get one of them to come over.”
He disconnected the call, and, phone in hand, ran to his office to get the number of the two brothers who lived down the street. Once he found it, he dialed quickly, then began running to the living room again.
“Mark,” he said when the older of the two brothers answered on the third ring. “This is Seth Bryant. I don’t have time to explain, but my ex-wife is having a baby in my living room. I need you right now! And I do mean right now!”
Without giving Mark a chance to answer, Seth clicked off the call and raced to the sofa again. Lucy lay groaning and Seth dropped the phone and started undoing the closures of her coat. “Let’s get this off.”
She