Meant for Each Other

by Ginna Gray

  Though she strove for indifference, Mike heard the hurt in her voice. He decided on the spot that Lyle What’s-his-name was a idiot. However, if the man had been there at that moment Mike would have been hard-pressed to know whether to slug him or kiss him. He hated him for hurting Leah, but he would be forever grateful to him for setting her free.

  “The man was a fool. You’re better off without him.” Mike grimaced. “Sorry. I know that sounds clichéd, but it’s the truth.”

  “I know. Marrying Lyle, under any circumstance, would have been a huge mistake. But an experience like that does tend to make one a bit leery.”

  Mike put his hand over hers. “Sweetheart, at the risk of repeating myself, not all men are alike. I’ll always be there for you, Leah. You can count on that.”

  She didn’t look convinced, but Mike didn’t push it.

  “After your mother died what happened?”

  “I went to live with my father. It was awful at first. I barely knew him. I’d seen him only once a year or so for most of my life. To make it worse, he and Julia had been married only a short time. She wasn’t exactly thrilled to be saddled with a teenager.”

  Leah sighed. “In all fairness, looking back, I really can’t blame her. I wasn’t exactly what she bargained for when she married my father.”

  “Your stepmother’s name is Julia? What a coincidence, that’s my mother’s name, too.”

  “Really?” Leah replied, giving him a weak smile. “Anyway, there I was in a strange house, with people I didn’t know, one of whom was a father I thought I hated. I felt abandoned and lost and unwanted, and so grief stricken I wanted to die. Luckily, Cleo took me under her wing.”

  “Cleo?”

  “Dad’s housekeeper. Actually, she’s my housekeeper now. Cleo moved from Dallas with Quinton and me when 1 joined the staff at St. Francis. If it hadn’t been for her, I’m not sure I would have survived those first few months after my mother died.

  “Then the most wonderful thing happened. My stepmother became pregnant, and everything changed.”

  Wry amusement touched Leah’s mouth. “Well, it was wonderful for me, at any rate. To tell you the truth, I don’t think she was exactly thrilled to be having a baby at age thirty-six, but I was over the moon at the prospect of a brother or sister. Quinton filled a void in my life at a time when I desperately needed someone to love, someone who would love me back unconditionally. He gave my life a sense of purpose. For me, his birth was like a gift from heaven.”

  Leah flashed Mike a chagrined look. “I have to admit, I practically stole Quinton from my stepmother. From the day they brought him home from the hospital, I’ve looked after him.

  “When he was about two months old, Dad and Julia hired a nanny. Boy, did I resent that woman. I used to rush home from school, head straight for the nursery and shoo her out. Looking back, 1 realize what a possessive little tyrant I was. I was only sixteen then, but I think Miss Grimes was afraid of me. Even though my father paid her salary, she quickly realized who was in charge of Quinton.”

  Mike laughed. “You were a real little mother hen, weren’t you? No wonder you went into obstetrics.”

  “I suppose you’re right.” Leah accepted his teasing with a smile. What she hadn’t bothered to tell him was how relieved and pleased Julia had been to have someone take over her baby’s care. She had loved playing with her infant son when he was clean and fed and in a sunny mood, but the instant he turned cranky or needed changing, she’d given him back to Leah to tend. Nor did she explain that the nanny had been hired so that her father and stepmother could resume their vagabond lifestyle.

  “On the plus side, though, my devotion to Quinton pleased Dad and Julia and helped to cement our relationship.” Mainly because it freed them of the responsibility.

  “Now I understand how you and Quinton got to be so close. And I gotta tell you, your parents were fortunate to have you to look after Quinton while they traveled,” he added shrewdly, letting her know that he wasn’t fooled by her carefully edited story.

  If he found anything odd about parents leaving their infant son in the care of a teenager and a nanny for months on end, he said nothing.

  At that moment, both Leah and Mike realized that they were the only diners left in the restaurant, and that all around them the waiters were setting up the tables for the next morning.

  Taking the hint, Mike paid the bill and escorted Leah out.

  In the car she laid her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. It had felt good, almost cathartic, to finally talk about the past, but she wondered if she had revealed too much. It was so difficult to remember that Mike was Julia’s son, and she must be constantly on guard not to let anything slip.

  The restaurant was only a few blocks from St. Francis, and neither Leah nor Mike spoke until he brought his car to a halt beside hers in the hospital parking lot. Switching off the engine, he turned toward her and rested his right arm along the top of the seat. The interior of the car was lit only by the amber glow of the halogen lights of the parking lot. Though the dimness, their gazes met and held.

  One of the lights buzzed, and a june bug hit the windshield with a thump. Mike’s fingers toyed with the ends of her hair, then trailed down the side of her neck. Leah shivered, and he smiled.

  “Tomorrow is Sunday,” he whispered seductively. “Spend the day with me.”

  “I...I ca—”

  He placed two fingers over her mouth. “I checked with Sandy. She told me you don’t have a patient near her due date right now. John Houseman is covering for me, so we’re both free. Spend the day with me, Leah.”

  “I’d like to Mike. Truly, I would. But I can’t. Julia and my dad have invited some old friends over tomorrow, and they expect me to be there.”

  She prayed that he could not see her guilty flush in the dim light. The excuse was a bald-faced lie, as had been all the others she had given him in the past few weeks.

  When their romance had begun she had not anticipated how complicated it would be to keep him and his mother apart. It had been so long since she’d dated anyone on a regular basis it had not occurred to her that Mike would want them to spend most of their free weekends together, or that he would expect to pick her up at her home when they went out on those nights.

  So far she had managed to come up with excuses to meet him elsewhere, usually at the hospital, but moments like this one were becoming more and more awkward, and she was running out of excuses. She knew that Mike was beginning to wonder why, after dating her for months, he had never been inside her home, and why he’d never met her parents.

  Most evenings her father and Julia had an engagement and they rarely returned before two in the morning, so it was probably safe to allow Mike to pick her up at her house, but Leah wasn’t taking any chances.

  She would like nothing better than to spend all her spare time with him, but with Julia and her father staying at her place, it was just too risky. Her stepmother was a cunning and curious woman. She was sure to get suspicious if Leah were gone every weekend. And with Julia’s volatile temper, there was no way of knowing how she would react if she ever discovered the truth.

  “I see.”

  Mike studied her, his expression unreadable. Hooking his hand around the back of her neck, he pulled her to him. His kiss was hard and rough. His lips rocked over hers as though he would devour her, while his tongue stabbed into her mouth, dominating, possessive.

  With a sigh, Leah melted against him, understanding the angry passion simmering inside him. Within moments, though, the kiss gentled, softened into quivering awareness. The caress of his lips on hers turned into something just as hungry, just as heated as his anger, something so irresistibly sensual it brought tears to Leah’s eyes and made her heart squeeze painfully.

  She slid her hands under his suit jacket and clutched Mike’s shirt. Her toes curled inside her shoes. She pressed closer and kissed him back with unabashed hunger and yearning. Oh, Mike. Oh, my darling, she thought
sadly, as a tear seeped from the corner of her eye. If only...

  They were both trembling when Mike broke off the kiss. Breathing hard, he cupped her face with one hand and looked deep into her eyes. “I want to be with you, Leah.”

  “I want to be with you, too,” she replied, trembling under his intense stare.

  “Do you? Do you really?”

  “Yes. More than anything.”

  “Then why do I get the feeling that you’re trying to shut me out of parts of your life?”

  “No! It’s not that at all.”

  For an excruciatingly long time he studied her, his pale eyes probing for the truth. Leah had to fight the urge to squirm.

  “Good,” he said at last. “Because I want to be included in your life. In all of it.” He rubbed his thumb over the slight cleft in her chin, over her lower lip, and his pupils expanded as he watched it tremble. His gaze lifted to meet hers once again. “I love you, Leah.”

  He caught her completely off guard. She sucked in her breath and her eyes widened. Her heart pounded against her ribs. At one and the same time, the words filled her with incredible joy and broke her heart. Above all else, she wanted Mike’s love, but it could never truly be hers. For love demanded honesty and trust. Openness.

  “I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love anyone,” he continued before she could speak.

  “Oh, Mike,” Leah murmured in a small, aching voice. “You can’t be sure of that. It’s too soon. There are things about me that you don’t know.”

  Mike chuckled and gave her an adoring look. “Trust me, sweetheart, I’m sure. Maybe on your part it is too soon. I can handle that. We’ve been seeing each other only a few months, after all. But the truth is, I’ve loved you almost from the moment I met you.”

  She stared at him, as pain twisted her heart. “Oh, Mike.”

  Feeling wretched and undeserving, Leah lowered her head. Her hair swung forward in a shiny curtain on either side of her face. It slid over the back of his hand like warm silk. Mike smiled as a tendril caught in the short, dark hairs there. He loved the silkiness of her hair, its texture, its sweet fragrance. For years he had dreamed of touching it like this, running his fingers through the slippery mass.

  “I learned about love from watching my dad and Tess,” he went on in a soft voice. “What they have is so beautiful words can’t describe it. It’s...hell, it’s nothing short of magic. Growing up in that house, watching them together, I knew I could never settle for anything less. Throughout my twenties I kept expecting to meet that one someone who would bowl me over, but it didn’t happen. I was beginning to think it never would happen for me.” Tipping her face up, he smoothed the thick curtain of hair back and whispered, “Then my first day at St. Francis I met you.”

  Emotion tightened Leah’s chest. The declaration thrilled her, even while she sought the words to refute it. “Oh, Mike. That’s sweet, but you can’t expect me to believe you fell in love with me on sight. You have to know someone before you can love her.”

  “True. But the moment we were introduced and you gave me that cool look, I started to tumble. As the months and years passed, I fell headlong in love.”

  Tears filled Leah’s eyes and her chin quivered. His words were so touching, so wonderful, exactly the sort of things she had dreamed of hearing from the right man. That Mike was that man was one of life’s cruel ironies. To have to deny him was tearing her heart to shreds. “Mike, you don’t know—”

  “Shh. I do know. I’ve never felt this way about any other woman, never felt this excitement, this urgency, this sweet pain that swells my heart.” He cupped her face with both hands and looked deep into her eyes. “I love you, Leah. Everything about you. I love your intelligence, your compassion, your dedication to your brother and your patients, that genteel stubbornness that drives you and makes you strive for perfection. I love your beauty, your classiness.” A hint of a grin twitched the corners of his mouth. “The elegant tilt of your chin, the sexy way your hips sway when you walk and those gorgeous legs. I even love that cool look you use to dismiss someone. Lord knows, you turned it on me often enough.” He ran his fingertips over the curve of her cheek, and his voice grew deeper, more intense. “Most of all, I love your goodness. Your loyalty. Your integrity.”

  Leah almost cried out. His gentle words flayed her, each one flicking her conscience like a whip. “No, Mike, please,” she protested in a forlorn voice. “Don’t confer virtues on me that I don’t possess. I’m not what you think. I mean, there is something you don’t know about me. Something I’ve done that—”

  “Hush.” He placed four fingers over her lips, halting her confession. Tenderness and love marked his expression and glowed from his eyes as he gazed down at her. “There is nothing you could possibly have done that would make me stop loving you. Nothing. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “No buts. All I want to hear from you now is if you think it’s possible that, given time, you could love me as I love you,” he said softly. “If the answer is no, then tell me now, and we’ll end it here. Tonight.”

  The storm of emotion that raged inside Leah’s chest nearly suffocated her. She stared at him with wide, teary eyes, joy and sorrow, longing and despair, tearing her apart. Could she ever love him? Of course she could. She already did. Mike was all and more that she had ever wanted in a man. How could she not love him? Still, for a moment she considered lying. Wouldn’t that be more sensible? Safer? And in the long run kinder, even for Mike?

  The debate ended there. Sensible or not, when Mike’s eyes clouded with pain at her hesitation, she abandoned any thought of lying.

  “Oh, my darling, of course I can. I already love you. Don’t you know that?” she managed, her voice quivering with emotion. Turning her head, she pressed a soft kiss into his palm. “I love you so much. So very much.”

  “Leah.” He breathed her name on a heartfelt sigh as he lowered his head and his lips captured hers once again. The kiss was long and deep, rife with feelings too profound for words.

  When it was over, Leah laid her cheek against his chest. Her arms went around his waist and held him tightly. Beneath her ear she heard the thunder of his heart, felt the heavy rise and fall of his chest.

  Mike nuzzled his cheek against the top of her head.

  Hugging him more tightly, she bit down hard on her lower lip. Tears moistened her lashes, and one squeezed out of the corner of her eye to trickle down her cheek. Dear God. How could anything be so right and so wrong at the same time? Loving Mike, having him love her back, was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to her. But Leah knew with painful certainty that she was going to pay dearly for this glimpse of happiness.

  But not now. Not just yet. Please, God, she begged silently as she snuggled closer against Mike’s chest. She breathed deeply, savoring his virile-man scent, his reassuring strength, his warmth. I’ll tell him the truth soon. I swear I will. But please, let me have his love for just a little while longer.

  Chapter Eight

  “May I help you, Dr. Albright?” the nurse behind the station asked, eyeing Leah with speculation and not a little envy.

  Pretending not to notice, Leah kept her expression professional.

  The young woman’s reaction was typical. Leah would have preferred to keep her relationship with Mike private, but, as he had predicted, Hazel had spread the tale of that embarrassing scene in the supply room quicker than the speed of light. After that, secrecy, at least where the hospital staff was concerned, had been impossible.

  For almost three months, Leah and Mike had been the hot topic on the hospital grapevine.

  Fortunately, so far, she’d managed to keep her father and Julia in the dark.

  “I’m looking for Dr. McCall,” Leah informed the young nurse. “I was told he was here in the pediatrics ward.”

  “Yes, he is. I believe he’s in room 412, checking on the Harrison child. Shall I page him for you, Doctor?”

&nbs
p; “Thank you, no. I’m sure I can find him.”

  As Leah walked away down the hall she heard a sigh and felt the young woman’s gaze on her back. She rolled her eyes. Another in the legion of women smitten with the handsome Dr. McCall. She had been encountering a lot of them lately.

  The door to room 412 stood open. Leah started to knock, but when she caught sight of Mike and his patient she halted in the doorway.

  A little girl of about two, dressed in a tiny hospital gown, sat on top of the covers with her legs tucked under her and angled out to each side in that limber way that children have. Her big blue eyes were wide and her cherub face rapt as she listened to Mike. A young blond woman, whom Leah assumed was the child’s mother, occupied a chair beside the bed and watched Mike with something close to adoration.

  Dressed in a dark suit, Mike sat with one leg hitched up on the side of the mattress as he kept up a string of nonsensical patter that made a game of the examination he was performing.

  “Yep, you’re definitely better. I can see all the way through and out your other ear, and there’s not a bad germ in sight,” he said, peering into her ear through an otoscope.

  “Really?” the little girl whispered.

  “Nary a one. I told you that superduper magic medicine would whup up on ’em. But germs are tricky little devils. Just to be safe, I’d better listen to your lungs and heart and make sure none of the nasty little critters are hiding in there, trying to fool us into thinking that they’re all zapped.”

  He untied the neck of her gown and slipped his stethoscope down under the front. “Now then, Bethany, can you take a deep breath and hold it?”

  “Uh-huh,” she replied, nodding solemnly.

  “Good. If those pesky germs are hiding I’ll hear them breathing, but you have to help by holding your breath and staying very still and very quiet. Okay?”

  “Okay, Dr. Mac, I will. I promith,” the child lisped as though taking a sacred vow.