Pushing thoughts of Lois from her mind, Sheila continued to smile down at the baby. And as if on cue the little girl stared up at Sheila with the most gorgeous pair of hazel eyes, and suddenly stopped crying. In fact, she smiled, showing dimples in both cheeks.
Sheila couldn’t help chuckling. “What are you laughing at, baby-doll? Do I look funny or something?” She was rewarded with another huge smile from the baby. “You’re such a pretty little thing, all bright and full of sunshine. I think I’ll call you Sunnie until we find out your real name.”
“Dr. Phillips is on his way and I’m needed on the fourth floor,” Jill said, making a dash toward the elevator. “How did you get her to stop crying, Sheila?” she asked before stepping on the elevator.
Sheila shrugged and glanced back at the baby, who was still smiling up at her. “I guess she likes me.”
“Apparently she does,” a deep, husky male voice said from behind them.
Sheila turned around and her gaze collided with the most gorgeous set of brown eyes she’d ever seen on a man. They were bedroom eyes. The kind that brought to mind silken sheets and passion. But this wasn’t the first time she had looked into those same eyes.
She immediately knew where she’d seen them before as her gaze roamed over his features. Recognition appeared in his gaze the moment it hit hers as well. Standing before her, looking sexier than any man had a right to look, was the guy who’d been in the car next to hers at the traffic light. He was the man who’d given her a flirtatious smile before she’d deliberately sped off to ditch him.
Evidently that hadn’t done any good, since he was here, standing before her in vivid living color.
Two
This was the second time today he’d seen this woman, Zeke thought. Just as before, he thought she looked good … even wearing scrubs. Nothing could hide the wavy black hair that came to her shoulders, the light brown eyes and luscious café-au-lait skin.
He wondered if anyone ever told her she could be a very delicious double for actress Sanaa Lathan. The woman before him was just a tad shorter than the actress, but in his book she was just as curvy. And she was a nurse. Hell, she could take his temperature any time and any place. He could even suggest she take it now, because there was no doubt in his mind looking at her was making it rise.
“May I help you?”
He blinked and swallowed deeply. “Yes, that baby you’re holding …”
She narrowed her eyes and clutched the baby closer to her breast in a protective stance. “Yes, what about her?”
“I want to find out everything there is about her,” he said.
She lifted an arched brow. “And you are …?”
He gave what he hoped was a charming smile. “Zeke Travers, private investigator.”
Sheila opened her mouth to speak, when a deep, male voice intruded behind her. “Zeke Travers! Son of a gun! With Brad Price as quarterback, you as split end and Chris Richards as wide receiver, that was UT’s best football season. I recall them winning a national championship title that year. Those other teams didn’t stand a chance with you three. Someone mentioned you had moved to Royal.”
She then watched as Dr. Warren Phillips gave the man a huge bear hug. Evidently they knew each other, and as she listened further, she was finding out quite a lot about the handsome stranger.
“Yes, I moved to town six months ago,” Zeke was saying. “Austin was getting too big for me. I’ve decided to try small-town life for a while. Brad convinced me Royal was the place,” he said, grinning. “And I was able to convince Darius Franklin he needed a partner.”
“So you joined forces with Darius over at Global Securities?”
“Yes, and things are working out great so far. Darius is a good man and I really like this town. In fact, I like it more and more each day.” His gaze then shifted to her and her gaze locked with his as it had done that morning.
The clearing of Dr. Phillips’s throat reminded them they weren’t alone.
“So, what brings you to Royal Memorial, Zeke?” Dr. Phillips asked, and it was evident to Sheila that Dr. Phillips had picked up on the man’s interest in her.
“That baby she’s holding. It was left abandoned at the TCC today with a note claiming Brad’s the father. And I intend to prove that he’s not.”
“In that case,” Dr. Phillips said, “I think we need to go into that private examination room over there and check this baby out.”
A short while later Dr. Phillips slid his stethoscope into the pocket of his lab coat as he leaned back against the table. “Well, this young lady is certainly in good health.”
He chuckled and then added, “And she certainly refused to let anyone hold her other than you, Nurse Hopkins. If you hadn’t been present and within her reach, it would have been almost impossible for me to examine her.”
Sheila laughed as she held the baby to her while glancing down at the infant. “She’s beautiful. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to abandon her.”
“Well, it happened,” Zeke said.
A tingling sensation rode up her spine with the comment and she was reminded that Zeke Travers was in the examination room with them. It was as if he refused to let the baby out of his sight.
She turned slightly. “What makes you so sure she’s not Bradford Price’s child, Mr. Travers? I recall running into Mr. Price a time or two and he also has hazel eyes.”
He narrowed his gaze. “So do a million other people in this country, Ms. Hopkins.”
Evidently he didn’t like being questioned about the possibility. So she turned to Dr. Phillips. “Did that social worker who came by while you were examining the baby say what will happen to Sunnie?” she asked.
Dr. Phillips lifted a brow. “Sunnie?”
“Yes,” Sheila said, smiling. “I thought she was a vision of sunshine the moment I looked at her. And since no one knows her name I thought Sunnie would fit. Sounds better than Jane Doe,” she added.
“I agree,” Dr. Phillips said, chuckling. “And the social worker, Ms. Talbert, is as baffled as everyone else, especially since Brad says the baby isn’t his.”
“She’s not his,” Zeke said, inserting himself into the conversation again. “Brad’s been receiving blackmail letters for five months now, threatening to do something like this unless he paid up.”
Zeke rubbed the back of his neck. “I told him to ignore the letters while I looked into it. I honestly didn’t think the person would carry out their threats if Brad didn’t pay up. Evidently, I was wrong.”
And that’s what continued to bother him the most, Zeke thought as he glanced over at the baby. He should have nipped this nasty business in the bud long ago. And what Ms. Hopkins said was true, because he’d noted it himself. The baby had hazel eyes, and not only were they hazel, they were the same shade of hazel as Brad’s.
He’d asked Brad if there was any chance the baby could be his, considering the fact Brad was a known playboy. But after talking to Brad before coming over here, and now that he knew the age of the baby, Zeke was even more convinced Brad wasn’t the father. Warren had confirmed the baby’s age as five months and Brad had stated he hadn’t slept with any woman over the past eighteen months.
“To answer your question, Nurse Hopkins,” Dr. Phillips said, breaking into Zeke’s thoughts, “Ms. Talbert wants to wait to see what the paternity test reveals. I agreed that we can keep the baby here until then.”
“Here?”
“Yes,