“It’s not something we have to do often, but her case was very complicated. Only a few pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons in the country do this particular procedure.”
And Dan Morris was one of them, she thought with a tiny thrill of pride. But then reality sank in and she glanced around with a sigh. “I didn’t pack an overnight bag.”
“There’s plenty of extra toiletries here.” he said gent ly. Before she could respond, he surprised her by coming forward to pull her into his arms. “I’ve missed you, Molly,” he murmured before taking possession of her mouth in a deep kiss.
Her ability to think was severely hampered by the way he kissed her so thoroughly. She soon became lost in his embrace. He’d actually started tugging her toward the bedroom and, heaven help her, she wasn’t resisting when his phone rang.
“Dammit,” he muttered, pulling away from her to fumble for his phone. “Yeah? Hi, Rebecca, what’s going on?”
Molly took several deep breaths and smoothed her hair, trying to calm her erratic pulse, as she listened to the one-sided conversation. She’d managed to convince herself that a relationship between them was impossible, yet one kiss and she’d been ready to toss her fears and insecurities aside.
She must be going crazy. Granted, he’d called her on Sunday, but by the time they’d talked, she’d already convinced herself she must get over him.
Now she wasn’t sure what to do.
“Okay, give her ten ccs of blood to run over an hour and I’ll be there in ten—fifteen minutes tops.”
She tried to hide her dismay. “Has the baby taken a turn for the worse?” she asked when he’d hung up.
“Not terrible, but she has been bleeding, so I really need to go in to see how she’s doing.” His dark brown eyes were full of regret. “I’m sorry, Molly.”
“That’s okay, I understand,” she said lightly. And she truly did understand. Clearly a tiny life hung in the balance. She would do a lot for her patients, too.
He came over and gave her another hard kiss, before turning back toward the door. But then he paused and glanced over his shoulder at her. “I don’t expect you to wait up for me, because I don’t know when I’ll be back.” He hesitated, and then added, “Make yourself at home, either in my bed or in the guest room. Wherever you’re most comfortable.” He said the last few words in a rush, and then left without waiting for a response.
She stared at the door long after he’d gone. Did he really mean what she thought he’d meant? That if she wanted to pick up their relationship where they’d left off on the weekend, she could sleep in his bed? Or if she wanted privacy and or distance she could use the guest room?
And what about Josh? He was old enough that he probably wouldn’t wake up in the middle of the night and his inability to walk meant he wouldn’t wander into Dan’s room. Still, Josh could get up early and use the wheelchair to come in. Or would Dan expect her to sneak out in the morning before Josh was up?
She collapsed on the sofa and stared at the ceiling, her thoughts in turmoil. What was the right answer? What should she do?
No matter how badly she wanted to, she couldn’t come to terms with the idea of crawling into Dan’s bed. Not while Josh was so close.
But she didn’t go into the guest room, either, worried that she might send the wrong message. Instead, she took her book and settled in the corner of the sofa, using a quilt for warmth. Soon the book slipped from her grasp, falling to the floor with a soft thud as she drifted into sleep.
“Daddy, shouldn’t we wake her up?” Josh asked in a loud whisper.
Molly shifted and let out a low moan at the shaft of pain that shot through her neck from sleeping at an awkward angle. She prised her eyes open and found Josh’s face scant inches from hers.
“Good morning,” she murmured as she tried to unwrap herself from the quilt cocoon. She lifted her gaze to Dan, who stared at her with an enigmatic expression that she couldn’t interpret. “Hi. How’s your patient?”
A smile curved his mouth, softening his expression. “She’s a true champ. Thankfully, she stabilized enough that I didn’t have to take her back to the O.R.”
“I’m so glad,” she said, truly happy that the tiny newborn was doing so well. “Um, what time is it?”
“Six forty-five. I wasn’t sure how long to let you sleep, because I didn’t know if you had an eight o’clock patient or not.”
“Six forty-five?” She shot up to her feet, having momentarily forgotten that today was Wednesday, a work day. “I don’t—you’re my first appointment of the day, but I still have to get ready.”
“I’ll make breakfast while you shower,” Dan offered. She belatedly noticed that he must have already done that as his short hair gleamed with dampness.
“Thanks.” She didn’t like the thought of putting her same clothes back on, but at least she had a spare set of scrubs at work for emergencies like when a patient threw up or bled all over the place. She would have to make do with what she had.
But as she washed her hair in the shower, she couldn’t help wondering what time Dan had gotten home, and if he’d been disappointed when he’d noticed she hadn’t chosen the option of sleeping in his bed.
And why she cared so much in wanting to know.
Dan suppressed a yawn as he drank more coffee, trying to compensate for fewer than three hours of sleep. He couldn’t deny having been sorely disappointed to come home at two-thirty in the morning to find Molly asleep on the sofa. Fantasies of coming home to nuzzle her awake for some gentle lovemaking had instantly dissolved in a puff of smoke.
He’d stared at her for several seconds, tempted to lift her up and carry her to the guest bedroom, but then worried he’d only wake her up. So he’d left her alone, the way she’d apparently preferred, and gone to bed.
Where he’d wasted a precious thirty minutes he could have been sleeping, with tossing and turning and missing her.
Josh had woken him up at six, which was good because he hadn’t been sure what time Molly needed to be at Angel’s. And he’d taken time to do a quick check on Erica.
It wasn’t until he’d started making breakfast that he’d realized that if Molly had slept with him, Josh would have come in to see them together. Not exactly something that would make him a candidate for father of the year.
The knot of tension between his shoulder blades eased, as he convinced himself that obviously that possibility had been what had caused Molly to avoid making herself comfortable in his room. Once again she’d proved she knew more than he did about kids, as he hadn’t even considered that possibility until now.
And, worse, he suspected she might think less of him for even suggesting it.
For a moment he braced his hands on the counter and stretched the kinks from his neck. Being a single father in a relationship was much harder than he’d anticipated. Thankfully, Molly seemed to roll with the punches.
“I’ll give you a back rub if you return the favor,” she said from behind him. “My neck is killing me.”
He swung round to face her. “I’ll take you up on that offer any time,” he said in a low voice. Just the thought of her hands on him made him tighten with need.
“What’s for breakfast?” The way she shied away from the subject helped cool his desire.
“Just cereal today, hot or cold. Josh wants maple and brown sugar oatmeal.”
“Sounds good to me. Make that a double.”
“I’ll make it a triple, since that’s easiest all the way around. Just give