Still edgy from the kiss on the plane and woefully in need of something to ease the tension crackling through her veins, she cupped her mug of warmed cider, a plate of assorted finger foods on the end table beside her. Carlos devoured a larger, more substantial sandwich on pumpernickel. Not that he seemed to even notice how someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make even deli food look like a masterful creation, all the way down to the lettuce curling artfully around the edges.
He ate as he always did, efficiently, regarding the food as nothing more than fuel for his body. The meal was nothing more than a necessary regimen, much like how he must wash his hands before surgery. She couldn’t help but admire him in this moment. He had all of this wealth and privilege at his fingertips, yet he chose to live out his life serving others. There was an unmistakable honor in that.
Although she’d also seen in her job how easy it was for the driven humanitarians to burn themselves out. Perhaps he needed this time away for reasons he hadn’t even begun to recognize.
Lilah sipped her cider, the stoneware warming her hands. “This place is … beyond words.”
And it was exactly what she needed after the way work had overwhelmed her these last few months. The stress of finding out about the baby and not being able to share it with Carlos had taken its toll in ways she was only starting to appreciate. Right now, she couldn’t help but feel grateful for this time out from real life to sort out her future. Somehow the secluded mountain mansion felt warm and welcoming. A safe haven in a crazy time.
At least she hoped it was the house making her feel that way and not the magnetism of the man.
Wiping his mouth with a linen napkin, he finished chewing. “Once my father accepted that his sons were not going to live their adult lives in hiding with him on his island, he tried to make sure our other properties were set up to have everything at our fingertips.” Mug in hand, he gestured round the room with a semicircle sweep. “Less reason to step out into everyday society.”
She shivered to think of all the worries a parent carried around in a normal world—to shoulder all the fears for his sons’ safety that Enrique Medina faced seemed overwhelming.
Her hand slid protectively over her stomach. “He had reason to be fearful for your safety.”
“Understood. But a life in hiding is no life at all.” He polished off the last corner of his sandwich.
“Even if that life is spent in pampered luxury,” she said, trying to inject a tone of levity into a suddenly too dark conversation.
“Especially so.” He tossed his napkin on his empty stoneware plate and swung his legs up onto the sofa, almost managing to disguise his wince of discomfort. “All that said, however, this does make for one helluva vacation. It’s even equipped with a golf room with a full swing simulator. Although we’ll have to bypass the wine cellar this time since you’re expecting.”
This time? There would be more visits here?
Of course, once he realized this was his child there would be so many reasons for their paths to intersect. Whether or not he appreciated it yet, she knew her life was unequivocally intertwined with his forever. So many new concerns had come her way of late, it seemed impossible to absorb them all before another came rocketing through her brain. She struggled to follow his words.
He scratched the back of his neck, stretching the sweater taut across his broad shoulders. “The personal sauna is probably a no go too. I seem to recall from med school that pregnant women should use caution when it comes to saunas and hot tubs.”
Heat flooded her face as she thought of their encounter in the hot tub at his place, the night they’d made the baby. His home had been starkly utilitarian except for the mammoth jetted bath, large enough for two. Intellectually, she knew he likely had the luxury installed for practical purposes because of his back, but they’d most certainly put the spa bathroom to totally impractical, indulgent good use that night.
The air between them snapped with awareness as she saw in his heavy-lidded eyes that he was remembering that night as well. And it affected him. Not surprising given their out-of-control kiss earlier on the plane.
But since that evening at the party when he’d really touched her for the first time, she hadn’t been able to think of much else except the feel of his hands on her skin….
From the hospital rooftop garden, Lilah stared out at the Christmas lights twinkling through Tacoma’s skyline. So intent on taking a breather from the overloud band and press of patrons at the party inside, she almost missed the sound of footsteps approaching behind her.
She stiffened in alarm, then heard the uneven gait she recognized well after four years of working with Carlos. And quite honestly, she could use the distraction of his company tonight after the disturbing call with her mother, in tears over finding the receipt for a nightie—red and not her size. Lilah gripped the icy rail tighter.
A second later, Carlos’s hand skimmed her bare arms as he eased a velvet wrap around her shoulders. “Wouldn’t want you to catch a cold out here.”
“Thank you.” She hugged her wrap closer as snow sprinkled from the sky. “You were especially nice to the board of directors tonight. I’m not going to grouse if you want to cut out early. “
He stuffed his hands in his tuxedo pockets, dark eyes reflecting the string of tiny white lights strung around a potted evergreen. “Are you insinuating I’ve been less than polite in the past?”
“I know these sorts of gatherings aren’t your thing.” She scrunched her icy toes inside her pumps. “You usually have that vaguely tolerant look that lets us all know you’ve got one eye on your watch so you can get back to work.”
“It’s impossible to look at any watch when there’s someone as beautiful as you to admire instead.”
Her jaw dropped then snapped shut quickly. They’d been work friends for a long time, always careful never to cross that line. She’d accepted her attraction to him but never guessed he’d noticed her. “Uh, thank you?”
Her heart fluttered in a way that was totally out of character for her. She was usually so controlled.
“Obviously, I’m much better at hiding my emotions than you give me credit for if you’ve never noticed how you affect me.”
A suspicion tugged at her mind. “Have you been drinking?”
“Not a drop.” He crossed his heart with two fingers like the Boy Scout she couldn’t picture him being.
“Me neither.” Her breathy answer puffed into the cool night air.
“Actually, I’ve had a helluva day and something in your face tells me you have, too. The kind of day no alcohol can fix.” He zeroed in with a perception that had her eyes stinging.
Thank goodness the rest of the partiers were still inside and out of sight. How he’d found her here, she didn’t know. Maybe he needed the peace as much as she did.
She blinked hard and tried to tell herself it was just the biting wind making her tear up. Emotions aswirl like the spiraling snow, she boldly tugged both sides of his tuxedo tie. “You look quite stunning yourself, Dr. Medina.”
His fingers banded around her wrists, hot and strong and so very enticing. Like him. “Then since we’re both clearheaded, lovely Lilah,” he whispered, nipping her ear once, lighting a static spark in her veins, “there’s no reason not to