Free The Heart Doctor and the Baby by Lynne Marshall Page A

baby.”
    â€œTaking a risk to explore this—” her hand swam back and forth, gesturing to him and her several times “—this thing between us is too risky. Unfortunately, our timing is off.”
    â€œStory of my life.” He went for humor again, a sorry attempt to lighten the heightening confusion and his drooping spirits.
    Her caramel gaze drifted demurely to her lap and her hands. “You don’t want anyone to know you’re the father.”
    â€œRight.”
    â€œAnd you’re planning that sabbatical.”
    â€œRight again. And you wanted a baby without any strings attached. And the last thing I ever want again is commitment. Any commitment.”
    â€œRight. So we’ve got to go back to how it was before—” she glanced at him and quickly at the floor “—before we realized…”
    â€œThat we turn each other on.” He finished the sentence for her, used the words he wanted her to hear, not her beat-around-the-bush, let’s-make-this-all-go-away-nicely explanation.
    She sighed. “Yes.”
    At least she’d admitted it. He’d have to settle for that crumb when the whole cake sat right before him, fresh baked and ready to… Okay that was another poor analogy, but damn it, it was exactly how he felt. He’d take her in a New York minute, ravish her, have her naked and on his bed before she realized what a great lover he was, and before he could stop himself from making a huge mistake. His ironic laugh tossed him quickly out of the fantasy. He scrubbed his face. “Yeah, okay, well, what do we do now?”
    She stood, looking solemn and at least half as perplexed as he felt. “We stick with the plan. We’re colleagues. We work together. And you’ve done an incredibly wonderful favor for me.”
    Jon heard the resolve in her voice, but her body language wasn’t nearly as certain. He watched her fidget withher hair and look everywhere but into his eyes, then came to the only logical conclusion—anything between them was impossible, out of the question, not going to happen.
    So that was how it would be.

CHAPTER SIX
    T HE next morning, Jon steered clear of the clinic lounge. He wasn’t ready to see René again after last night. One kiss had led right to insomnia, tossing and pulling sheets, adjusting and readjusting the pillow and cursing like a horny college kid.
    He thumbed through his latest journal, waiting for his nurse to put his next patient in the exam room. He never wanted to go through the turmoil of a relationship again. Cherie’s surprise departure had left him emotionally drained, and with nothing left to give. Maybe that’s why he’d signed on to a sure thing—make baby, stay out of the picture. Hmm, write that down. Exclamation point!
    So why the hell had he kissed René?
    True, if life made sense it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting, but the crazy logic of needing to stay aloof and disengaged from a woman who was carrying a child he’d helped make nearly made his head explode. He wasn’t able to say “carrying his child.” No. The connotations that went along with that would surely do him in. And besides, he’d been absolved of the duty, and rightfully so, what with his future plans. He had to keep the proper frame of mind about the situation. He’d signed on to the project, and…ithad been a success. On the first shot . He couldn’t help puffing out his chest as a macho, top-of-the-world feeling rustled through him.
    Stop it . He couldn’t allow the prideful thoughts to mix him up any more than he already was. It was a favor. They had a contract. She wanted a baby of her own, and he had plans for a year’s sabbatical. Theirs was a business relationship, nothing more. Write that down!
    Turned out the fallout was a bitch, though, and he had the filled journals to prove it.
    Â 
    René had made her hospital rounds before