“Then maybe...” Gabe said gruffly, striding toward her until there was nothing between them at all but heat. He took her all the way in his arms, lowering his face slowly and evocatively to hers. His lips touched hers, and his low, implacable tone set her heart to pounding. “...it’s high time someone did.”
* * *
Gabe hadn’t come here to put the moves on Susannah. For God’s sake, he was supposed to be honoring his promise to Brett and Belinda by watching over her! Had she not confessed the real reason why she was about to make the biggest mistake of her life...he would have remained honorable to the core and kept his distance.
But knowing it was the misconception that she wasn’t desirable that was forcing her to act as she was left him little choice but to show her otherwise, in the most potent way he knew how.
He brushed his lips over hers. Lightly. Seductively. His body hardened as he felt her shudder, and welcome him, in response. Another jolt of awareness arced between them.
“You’re wrong about that,” he murmured, lifting his mouth from hers. Gazing deeply into her eyes, he waited for permission to proceed. She curved her hands around the swell of his biceps, holding him in place. Uttered a soft, breathy sigh. “Because you’re sexy as hell.” He threaded his hands through her hair, releasing the ponytail from its band, then stroked his hands through the silky blond locks falling down around her shoulders once again. “You have to know that.”
She laughed in disbelief, her hands clutching him even closer, the softness of her breasts trembling against his chest. “Oh Doc.” She shook her head in wry disagreement, looking as if she wanted to hold that moment in her heart forever. “I wish...”
The desire to protect her increased tenfold. Sentiment swept through him, followed swiftly by a physical longing that was just as intense, and he tilted his head over hers again. Let his lips hover suggestively. And lower still, where their bodies touched, his hardness grew. “I know...” he said, his mind made up.
And still, she didn’t believe that this was anything out of the ordinary, for her or for him. Whereas he knew they were on to something. Something wild...and wonderful...or at least it could be, if she’d finally give them half a chance.
“Oh yeah?” She threw down the gauntlet softly, her tone both taunting and deadpan. “Then prove it, Doc.”
Clearly, Gabe noted, she didn’t think he could. And that, as it turned out, was all the challenge he needed. He grinned down at her devilishly. “If you insist...”
* * *
Susannah caught her breath as Gabe’s lips found hers for the second time. And just that quickly, all reasonable ideas of resistance left her brain. So many emotions poured through her all at once. Shock, that he had dared put the moves on her when she had been so sure he would not follow through on his softly spoken gibe. Amazement that she was letting him. She had never been wanted like this, never gotten so caught up in a single kiss, never melted in anyone’s arms this way. But as the liquid stroking of his tongue, the unhurried pressure of his lips, worked together with a mixture of temptation and pleasure unlike anything she had ever felt before, the depth of her response to him shook her to her very soul.
She’d heard about embraces like this. Read about them. Seen them on TV and in the movies. But she had never experienced anything like the tumultuous whirlwind of pleasure and pure sensation that the taste of his lips and mouth and tongue were evoking.
And even though she knew he was only doing this to prove his point, that she was capable of getting a whole lot more out of life, without fast-forwarding to parenthood via IVF, the fun-and pleasure-starved part of her never wanted his embrace to end.
Had it not been for the sudden, sharp sound of her puppy’s bark, who knew what would have happened?
But the fact was, Daisy was awake. Alone in the house. Probably wondering when she was coming back. And it was time for this foolishness with Gabe to end.
Susannah removed her hands from his biceps, planted them both on his chest, and pushed. As she had expected, he let her go immediately. “I’ve got to go.” Tingling all over, she rushed past him.
Caught up short, he fell into step, all protective male. “I’ll help.”
She whirled and put up both hands, blocking his path. Angry now as well as hurt that he’d put the moves on her so shamelessly. When he had to know, as did she, that this could go nowhere...good. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough for one day?”
“Obviously, I’ve overstepped.”
For reasons she couldn’t understand, the fact he could regret what had just happened, too, hurt even more. She shook her head, embarrassed and ashamed by her own romantic foolishness. No way was she going to be another notch on this doc’s belt. “No kidding.”
Daisy barked louder. Short, excited yelps. The kind that signaled she really needed to go out.
He walked down the truck ramp beside her, his shoulder nudging hers in the process. “I still think we should talk.”
Bitterness welled inside her, even as her chagrin grew. It wasn’t like her to lose sight of her independence. She knew better than most not to depend on anyone. “Now that you’ve proven me beddable, you mean?” she retorted.
“That’s not why I kissed you, Susannah.”
She studied the firm set of his sculpted lips and tried, without success, not to want to taste them all over again. Her heart pounded like a wild thing in her chest. “Then what was the point?”
“To show you that you have more of a future than you’re giving yourself credit for,” he said huskily.
Clearly, he meant without IVF.
Temper rising, Susannah stepped forward and poked her index finger in the center of his warm, solidly muscled chest. “Well, here’s what I think you should know, Doc.”
The beginnings of a satisfied smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “I’m listening.”
“I want you to stop trying to meddle in my affairs and give me advice or...most of all...have anything at all to do with those frozen embryos.”
His amusement faded. “So you haven’t changed your mind?” He seemed disappointed his ploy to prove her desirable hadn’t worked to dissuade her.
The arrogance, Susannah fumed. But then, what should she have expected from a guy who cherished his career above all else? “Not one bit,” she reiterated.
He released an irritated breath, warning, “You’d be a fool to try and do this alone.”
She imagined he wasn’t the only one who would think that. Not that it mattered. “Yeah, well, we’ll see.” And on that note, she turned on her heel and went inside the house to rescue her new puppy.
Chapter Three
June 1, five years later
Cade Lockhart swung open the front door of his Laramie, Texas, retreat and glared at Gabe. “I don’t care what the folks told you to get you to come back from Africa,” he said in a gravelly voice. “You don’t have to babysit me.”
Gabe looked over at his pro baseball–playing brother. Still recovering from arthroscopic surgery, his pitching arm in a sling, Cade had seen better days. His parents had been right to call him home to help out his younger sibling.
“Save your griping.” Gabe shouldered past and set his duffel bag and backpack down. “After three bus transfers, a twenty-two-hour flight and a two-and-a-half-hour drive from DFW, I need a shower. A nice cold beer and food would be nice, too.”
Cade clapped him on the back with his left arm. “You’re really planning to bunk with me?”
Gabe strode through the luxurious digs and headed straight for the fridge, where he found plenty of beer and a plate of cold cuts. Aware Cade wasn’t the only one who didn’t want parental interference, he helped himself to both. “I’m not spending the next three months in my old room at the ranch.” He grimaced. “Mom will be on my case constantly to get a job stateside and get married and have a family of my own. And
Dad will have me up at sunrise chasing cattle every morning unless I’ve got something medical to do. So...my excuse is going to be that you need me to help rehab your rotator cuff, make sure you’re not overdoing it or pushing too hard, too fast.”
Cade rolled his eyes and continued watching Gabe’s face. “You’re really taking a three-month break?”
Although he would have preferred to keep the truth private, Gabe confessed, “It was not so delicately suggested to me by my boss at Physicians Without Borders that five years without a single trip back home to Texas was not good for the psyche. So, I’m on leave until fall, when I will get my next assignment.”
And now it was his turn to ask, “How is your shoulder?”
“Hard to tell, since the only thing they’ve let me do since I had surgery last month is gentle stretching exercises. But they’ve promised I can start working out more soon. Hopefully, I’ll be back on the pitching mound by August.”
Gabe took in the bottles of over-the-counter vitamins and herbal cures. Some of which, he knew, should not be combined with the prescription meds Cade was taking. “That quickly?” From what he knew, it could take a rotator-cuff injury up to a year to heal. Six months would be pushing it. Three months...could be career suicide.
“Well—” Cade flashed an unrepentant grin “—there’s what they tell me I can do and what I’m gonna do.”
Exactly what the family was worried about, Gabe thought.
“Meanwhile, as you can see, I’m not suffering too badly.” Cade waved his good arm expansively, indicating the baskets of flowers, gourmet goodies and home-baked treats on every counter. Some of which bore his team’s logo.
Gabe helped himself to a tray of cookies. “This from the Texas Wranglers?”
“Some. The rest are from the ladies back in Dallas—” Cade flashed a sly grin “—who are constantly visiting me and bringing me care packages.”
The problem was, Gabe thought, Cade wasn’t interested in any of them, outside of the arm candy they provided him. His one true love was baseball.
Knowing how hard his brother had worked to accrue his fame and fortune, Gabe nodded admiringly. “Not too shabby.”
Cade bypassed the beer in his fridge and poured himself a glass of milk. “I could set you up,” he offered generously.
“Nah.” There was only one woman he was interested in, and she wouldn’t give him the time of day.
Cade’s lips twitched. “Still carrying a torch for Susannah Alexander, hmm?”
Gabe forced the image of the hot-as-hell woman from his mind. “What are you talking about?” he asked, as if he didn’t know.
Cade chuckled with the inveterate ease of a true ladies’ man. “I’m not deaf, blind and dumb. She’s still single, you know.”
Gabe took another slow sip of beer and tried not to think of this as another golden opportunity. That probably wouldn’t end in an ill-gotten kiss. “Actually, I wouldn’t,” he said dryly. Since she hadn’t returned any of the texts, calls or emails he’d sent her after he’d left. After six months he’d gotten the message. Loud and clear. So much for watching out for her. Sorry, Brett and Belinda. He sent a glance heavenward. I tried. But Susannah wasn’t interested in having me in her life in any way. So...
Aware Cade was still watching him curiously, Gabe slid the cold cuts back in the fridge and shrugged. “Although I’m not surprised she’s not married.”
Cade nodded, in complete agreement this time. “Well, duh. I mean, five kids...”
Five! Whole body tensing, Gabe turned back to him. “What are you talking about?”
Cade scoffed. “She had quintuplets via her late sister and brother-in-law’s frozen embryos, three and a half years ago. Don’t tell me you didn’t know that!”
He definitely had not.
* * *
“Mommy, doorbell!”
Daisy, their five-year-old golden retriever, yawned and rose from her place in the foyer.
Susannah stepped out from behind the easel she’d set up in her formal dining room. “Okay, I’ll get it. You all keep working on your pictures,” she told the quints.
“And then when we’re done with our art, we get to go outside and play?”
Susannah wiped her hands on her cloth. “When it cools off after dinner, yes.” She made her way to the door and swung it open. Stared at the handsome interloper on the other side of her portal, hardly believing that Gabe Lockhart was here after all this time. Looking tan and buff and sexy as sin. The crinkles around his eyes and mouth were a little more pronounced, but in her opinion, that just added to his rugged masculinity.
He was dressed, much as he had been the last time she had seen him, in a clean tan cargo shirt, worn snug-fitting jeans and boots. He filled out his clothes a little more, with the kind of brawn generated by a physically demanding profession. As she imagined medicine would be, out in the wilds.
As if understanding that the handsome do-gooder should be a family friend, Daisy left Gabe’s side. Her expression alert but relaxed, she ambled over to stand next to Susannah. Her ears slightly forward, her head cocked curiously to one side.
“I hear congratulations are in order,” he drawled, the grooves on either side of his sensual mouth deepening.
His husky tone intensified the sparks arcing between them. Trying not to recall how thrilling it had been to kiss him, she held on to her nonchalant stance. “For you or me?” She copied his deadpan quip, as Daisy eased between them, tail wagging.
Traitor, Susannah thought.
Grinning down affectionately, Gabe petted her dog’s silky head before returning his attention once again to her. “You, obviously.” His gaze traveled toward all five of her children, who were still busy working on their pictures at the dining room table, then back over to her. His gaze softened unexpectedly, and he continued to study her intently. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She folded her arms in front of her and lifted her chin. “Why would I, given how you felt about my plans to have a family on my own?”
He shrugged, whiskey-colored eyes darkening inscrutably. “Had I known, I could have helped.”
Out of some misguided sense of duty to Belinda and Brett? That was the last thing she’d want. Because help like that usually came with strings. Which she would never want. Nor would she want to be the beneficiary of Gabe’s unrelenting need to play hero everywhere he went. “Last I heard, you were practicing medicine in poverty-stricken areas of Asia and Africa.”
“So?” he said, with another curious look behind her, as the noise level of the quints began to escalate.
Trying not to worry about what her children might be getting into, Susannah kept her attention firmly on their uninvited guest. And just how handsome and sexy he looked in the late-afternoon sunlight. If only he had been interested in her, not as the sort of obligation that had been thrust upon him by the deaths of Brett and Belinda that everyone else in the community also felt, but for all the right reasons. But he wasn’t, so... “That’s a little far to travel to come and change a diaper, isn’t it?” Although those days were long past, thank heaven!
His lips curved into a laconic smile. “I get time off, when needed, for personal reasons.”
Except the situation between them wasn’t personal, Susannah thought. Even if the hopelessly romantic part of her still wished it might someday be. She blew out an exasperated breath. “Still not getting your point, Doc.”
He leaned in and spoke so the children would not hear. “Had I known you were expecting multiples, I would have returned to Texas to see you through the labor and delivery.”
And seen her sans clothing? At least from the waist down? Physician or no... She fought back a wave of heat at just the thought. “I don’t think so,” Susannah retorted coolly, firmly and quickly nixing his desire to play the hero to what he obviously perceived as her damsel in distress. “Besides,
I have plenty of friends here who helped out.” Social worker Mitzy Martin McCabe, who was herself the mother of quadruplets, also conceived from in vitro, among them.
Mitzy, who’d embarked on single motherhood, too, before finding the love of her life, had understood Susannah’s desire to have a family on her own better than anyone. Although, unlike Susannah, Mitzy had defied the odds and ended up having a wild romance with her new husband, Chase McCabe.
Gabe’s gaze narrowed, and he eyed the living room behind her. “Maybe you should invite me in.”
“Again,” Susannah said in an exasperated tone, “I really have to ask why?”
Gabe gestured behind her.
She turned, almost afraid to look.
When the doorbell rang, her children had been seated at the dining room table, working on that day’s post-nap art project, so she could get a little extra work in herself before starting dinner. Now, all five were engulfed in a soundless misbehavior. Abigail was leaning across the table, in her usual take-charge manner, bossily trying to correct Rebecca’s drawing, to her shyest child’s dismay. Connor was squirting glue out of a bottle at his brother, Levi. Who reacted by letting out a loud rebel yell and lobbing crayons and paper at his brother. Gretchen had climbed onto the center of the table and was hoarding the glitter, to her sisters’ dismay.
Nearby, her own easel and paints were clearly in jeopardy, as an entire uncapped bottle of school glue took flight.
Aghast, Susannah moaned. “Oh no, no, no...”
His Plan for the Quintuplets Page 3