Free Baby Mine (Stubborn Texas Siblings Book 1) by Faith Loveright Page B

cowboys in the area; and that’s no lie.”
    They were flying over the road towards the hospital where she worked and Madeline was relieved that she had Eric with her for support. She couldn’t imagine having gone through this on her own as she had planned. It was nice, having someone to lean on in times of strife.
    As he pulled in to the parking lot, Eric released the breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding. Nerves had him going in at least ten different directions at once. He hopped out of the truck and ran around to her side, helping her out and gliding her body slowly down his.
    Madeline’s eyes grew wide as she saw the look of longing on his face as her heavily rounded belly rubbed against his body. Then she felt the hard press of his erection poking into her before he groaned and reluctantly turned her around and pointed her towards the double automatic doors and helped her make her way over the length of the parking lot without another word.
    She wanted to ask him what was going on, but another strong contraction hit her and it was all she could do to breathe through it. By the time she was settled in a hospital bed and some of her coworkers were swarming her room, all Madeline wanted was for all them to go away and leave her in her misery … just herself and Eric… and perhaps the doctor who was meant to deliver her daughter. Thankfully, Eric seemed to sense her discomfort and he shooed everyone but the doctor out of the room.
    His eyes scraped slowly over her body, so hot, she could feel the heat all the way from the bed. If another powerful contraction hadn’t hit her, she might have been tempted to ask him to come over and show her what he was thinking about.
    The next thing she knew, she was pushing and the doctor was telling them that the baby was a girl. If she weren’t in so much pain, she would have been tempted to tell the teary-eyed cowboy at her side that she’d told him so. They would be words she would take great pleasure in saying … But if it meant finding out where he planned on taking the flame of desire she’d seen in his eyes earlier, she’d happily let it slide.
    Sweet little cries filled the silence and Madeline felt her heart skip a beat in response. The big man at her side stilled and his eyes were glued to the tiny little girl as the doctor cleaned her up and wrapped her in a soft pink blanket. He seemed so far away. She could only imagine where he’d gone. She had a feeling that she wouldn’t want to know, since she was fairly certain wherever it was, he’d gone; his dead wife was involved… Most likely, he was picturing her lying in the bed in her stead, having birthed his sweet baby girl.
    All the sudden, she didn’t feel so good and she couldn’t handle having him there in the room with her any more. She needed to be alone with her daughter. “Eric… would you mind?” she asked, nodding towards the door, hoping he got the message.
    His eyes shot back to hers and his brows dipped as he frowned. “There’s no way I’m leaving this room without her,” he said, nodding towards the baby girl who was being placed on her chest.
    The nurse cleared her throat and looked up at Eric. “I was just getting ready to take the baby to the nursery to be weighed and get her first shots… Her daddy is more than welcome to join us, to give the new mommy time to rest.”
    Madeline opened her mouth to argue but Eric beat her to the punch. “This Daddy will be more than happy to accompany his precious baby girl just about anywhere. I’m not letting that little angel out of my sight… Ever.”
    Sighing in resignation, Madeline nodded her head in agreement. “Her name is Lillie Rose.”
    The nurse took note of the name. “And her last name?”
    Both Eric and Madeline gave their last names at the same time and they shot a nasty glare in each other’s direction. She could tell by the way he was holding himself stiffly erect, that if she fought him on this, he would argue to the