Harlequin Special Edition November 2014 - Box Set 2 of 2: The Maverick's Thanksgiving BabyA Celebration ChristmasDr. Daddy's Perfect Christmas

by Brenda Harlen

  While he didn’t want to shower here, he did want the sticky, runny egg off his head and to take this breather to focus on rebuilding that wall of defense where Nora was concerned. He couldn’t get wrapped up in her again. He knew his heart couldn’t take another beating and walking away this time might be even worse than the last. He had a major promotion he’d been champing at the bit to get and Nora was expecting a baby. There was no way they could overcome all of that and attempt to rebuild anything stable.

  After he grabbed the shampoo from the downstairs bathroom, washed his head in the sink and then toweled off, he went to work in the kitchen.

  He found a broom and dustpan in the utility room off the kitchen. The sugar-flour mess on the floor was quickly cleaned up, as was the disaster on the countertop.

  He’d just wet a rag to go over the stickiness on the counter when he heard Nora step into the kitchen.

  “Wow, you made quick work of tidying up,” she told him, glancing around the room.

  But he didn’t see anything but her, standing in a short, pale-blue fleece robe. The ties pulled together just above her rounded belly, showcasing the baby bump.

  Even the little blue slippers on her feet were cute.

  But it was the damp hair that hung in long, golden rope-like strands over one shoulder that drew him in. Her face was scrubbed clean and glowed with a soft pink tint.

  She was everything he wasn’t—everything he’d lived without for years. Soft, delicate, almost innocent in her own sweet way. He hadn’t been lying the other day when he’d told her images, memories, of her is what got him through the hard times when he’d been overseas.

  When her eyes landed on him, she froze. He couldn’t do this. The ache he felt for her was too strong, too much to bear while trying to hold on to some type of sanity.

  Eli crossed the room to her, watching her eyes widen. She tipped her head up to keep her eyes on his. As his body brushed against hers, Eli brought his hands up to frame her face.

  “I can’t lie to you, to myself,” he whispered. “I need to touch you, Nora.”

  He didn’t give her a chance to stop him. Another second without her would’ve destroyed him. Eli captured her lips with his, relieved when she opened, letting him in.

  Delicate hands slid up his arms, then clutched at his shoulders. The familiar taste, the familiar touch, of Nora sent sensations shooting through his body that he hadn’t felt since the last time he’d truly kissed her...and that peck the other day didn’t count.

  A slight moan escaped her as he changed directions of the kiss. His hands moved to the tie at the robe and quickly had it falling open. Sliding his hands up her sides, encountering silky material, only made her moan again. When he reached her breasts, she arched into him.

  This is what he’d missed. Nora’s instant response to his touch. Nora’s vibrant passion.

  Nora. All of her.

  When he started to slide the straps of her nightgown aside, her hands came up to grip his wrists.

  “Eli,” she panted against his mouth. “We did this once. It didn’t work and...I can’t do heartache again.”

  Resting his forehead against hers, Eli closed his eyes and nodded. She was right. How could he be so selfish and try to take something she was probably willing to give, all the while knowing he’d walk away?

  Hadn’t her husband done the same thing? Sleep with her and then leave, whether for deployment or another woman’s bed? Not that Eli would ever cheat on her.

  Either way, Eli was no better because he was looking at the here and now instead of the future. A future for him and Nora simply didn’t exist.

  As he eased back, he pulled her robe closed and tied it back above her belly. Once he met her eyes, his heart clenched.

  Sadness, regret, passion—they all stared back at him.

  “This is hard for me,” he admitted. “Being back here with you, discovering the woman you’ve become, makes me want more. This is so much different than before.”

  He cursed under his breath and scolded himself for opening up too much. Letting that vulnerability seep out was a sure way to end up hurt.

  Nora reached up, stroking his face with her delicate hand. “We each made choices of where we wanted to be, Eli.”

  “I hated being torn in two. When I left here...”

  He shook his head, knowing he couldn’t bare his heart too much more or he’d make an utter fool of himself.

  “I’m selfish,” he told her, cupping her hand beneath his. “But I can’t think around you.”

  “I know,” she whispered. “I feel it, too. I wish I didn’t, but I do. This is a complication neither of us need right now.”

  He touched his lips slightly to hers once more because his willpower was pretty much nil around her. “I promise to be on my best behavior from now on.”

  Nora looked up at him and smiled, nearly melting him on the spot. “I’ve seen your best behavior, Eli. You’ll have to try harder.”

  Smoothing her damp tendrils from her forehead, Eli kissed her there. “For you, anything.”

  Stepping back, he released her, hating the chill that enveloped him at the loss of her body’s heat. “I’ll be here Thursday to cook as promised. Saturday, if you don’t have plans, I have a surprise for you.”

  “A surprise?” she asked, quirking a brow.

  “A friend surprise,” he corrected. “You in?”

  “I’m a little scared of your surprises,” she told him, crossing her arms over her chest. “I still remember that time you surprised me with a day at the lake, and when you talked me into skinny-dipping, your brothers had been hiding and they took my clothes. I still say you knew all about that.”

  Eli had honestly forgotten that time, but as the memory flooded to the surface, he burst out laughing. “I can admit now that I knew they were up to something, but I didn’t think they’d take your clothes.”

  “Why didn’t they take yours?” she asked, still smiling.

  “They were teenage boys. They’d much rather see you naked than me.”

  Biting her lip to suppress her grin, Nora nodded. “Well, as long as my Saturday surprise is nothing like that, then I’d be happy to free up my day for you.”

  Warmth spread through him and he seriously felt like the nerd in school getting asked to the prom by the head cheerleader. Only this was Nora, and she was so much more than anything he’d ever been rewarded with.

  “Great. I’ll be here tomorrow and dinner will be ready when you get home.”

  She moved across the room and pulled out a drawer. “Here,” she said, holding a key out to him. “This is a spare. If you’re going to cook, you might as well keep it.”

  A key to the kingdom...for a princess he didn’t deserve.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Grabbing his coat and leaving out the back door, Eli hurried home. The blast of cold air didn’t do a thing to help the heat spiraling through him after having his mouth, his hands, on Nora.

  No more. He couldn’t do that to either of them again. He was only teasing himself into thinking he could have anything with her now. And she certainly had enough on her plate without worrying about him pawing at her again.

  Tomorrow when he cooked for her, he’d be just her friend. Even if it killed him.

  Chapter Nine

  Saturday morning came with beautiful sunshine, melting some of the accumulated snow. Of course, when the temps dropped again tonight all that melting would be in vain as the watery mixture turned to ice. Strange weather for this small town, but she was actually enjoying the extra layer of wintery ambience for the Christmas season.

  Nora couldn’t wait to see what Eli had in store for her today. And, as promised, he’d been the perfect gentleman the other night when he’d prepared dinner for her. So what did he have
planned that was such a surprise?

  She slid her feet into her knee boots and grabbed her purse. She assumed casual was the way to go since he was picking her up at ten in the morning.

  What on earth could he have planned? Hopefully not too much alone time because the other night in her kitchen nearly caused her to cross every boundary she’d put up for herself. The way his hands had slid inside her robe as his mouth assaulted hers—the image they made kept rolling through her mind, arousing her even more.

  Nora knew with certainty that the emotions she felt toward Eli had nothing to do with old memories jumbling up her mind. She was starting to have very strong feelings for the man he was now, the man who dropped everything to take over his father’s practice for a few months, the man who made sure to check in on her. He’d done so much with his life, just like he’d wanted, yet here he was putting that life on hold to care for those he loved.

  And she knew he loved her, even if just on a friendship level. Eli loved her just as she did him. But they couldn’t cross over into the intimate territory. Never again.

  As she came down the steps, her doorbell rang. Through the sidelight she could see more than one person.

  Had he planned a party?

  Crap. A party. She still hadn’t talked to him about an anniversary party for his parents. She seriously had to do that soon. Days were slipping away so fast lately.

  When she opened the door and saw Bev standing beside him, Nora couldn’t help but smile. “Okay, now you’ve got me intrigued.”

  “What would you say to going shopping for baby furniture?” he asked with a wide grin. “My treat. No arguing. It’s my gift to you and the baby, but I figured you’d want a woman’s perspective so I brought Mom along. Drake is babysitting dad for a few hours before his shift.”

  Joy filled her and Nora had no clue how to even respond to such a generous gift. “I don’t know what to say,” she told him.

  Bev reached out, patted Nora’s arm. “You say thank you and hop in the truck.”

  Laughing, Nora met Eli’s dark eyes. “Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

  As much as she wanted to refuse such an overwhelming offer, Nora knew she’d be a fool to turn him down. Besides, Eli had gone to the trouble of getting someone to sit with his father and asking his mother to come. He obviously wanted to do this.

  But was the gesture out of guilt or pity? Part of her wondered, but the other part of her prayed Eli’s kindness came out of their years of friendship. Actually, if his actions stemmed from anything akin to what they shared in her kitchen the other night, that was definitely not pity.

  When they arrived at the store, Bev walked on ahead and Eli waited on Nora. Wet snow had started earlier in the morning and Nora’s foot slid on the pavement as she started to get out of the car.

  “Easy,” he said, grabbing her elbow to assist. “Let me hold on to you until you get inside.”

  “You’re not holding on to your mother.”

  Eli laughed. “My mother isn’t pregnant.”

  Nora laid a hand on his arm and stopped just inside the entrance to the store. “I meant what I said earlier, Eli. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

  The tenderness in his eyes melted her heart. “I know what this means to you, Nora. I also know you’d never ask for help or let anyone know what you need. I don’t want you to worry about cost. Go get whatever you want for your baby girl.”

  Unable to resist the moment, she reached out, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you in my life,” she whispered, trying to hold back the tears that seemed to accompany breathing lately. One day she’d break. An emotional meltdown was inevitable at this point.

  “I’m the lucky one, Nora.”

  His soft voice murmured against her ear, sending shivers down her spine. Another time, another place, flashed in her mind of him holding her, whispering promises of forever. But that was a lifetime and plenty of heartache ago.

  Eli pulled back, smiled and tugged on her hand. “Come on. I’m sure Mom already has a buggy full of frilly things by now. We’d better get in there and control her.”

  * * *

  Eli stood back and examined all the pieces scattered across the hardwood floor. There was a reason he wasn’t an architect or engineer. He was used to fixing people, not inanimate objects.

  He refused to be intimidated by something as simple as a baby crib. He had a PhD, for crying out loud. How could he not understand these directions written in plain English?

  “What are you doing?”

  He turned toward the door where Nora stood, arms crossed over her rounded belly.

  “I’m putting the crib together.”

  “Eli, you bought everything I’d ever need. I didn’t expect you to put the crib together.”

  With her scrubs on and her hair pulled back in a low bun, she looked adorable...as usual. Lately everything about her set off some level of hormones with him.

  “Not that I’m not grateful, but isn’t this your night to cook?” she asked, a smile flirting over her unpainted lips.

  “It’s in the Crock-Pot. I put it on at Mom’s this morning and brought it over after work so I could concentrate on this crib.”

  “Why don’t you leave it and let’s go eat.”

  He glanced at the neatly separated piles of various sizes of screws, slats and bolts. The directions—printed in what he was sure was three-point font—crinkled in his hands and he tossed it down.

  “You’re right. This could be a while and I need sustenance.”

  Before he could walk out, Nora laid a hand on his arm and looked up at him. That gentle touch never failed to send a high dose of sensations through him. Nora may be delicate, but she held all the power where he was concerned.

  He’d still not gotten that very heated kiss and make-out session out of his head. How could he go on like he hadn’t tasted her, felt her? Nora was a very passionate woman and he wanted to rediscover that passion more than anything.

  But this was not his place. Another man later down the road would steal her heart and Eli would have to stand back and watch.

  “Please don’t feel like you need to do everything, Eli.” Her big blue eyes studied him. “I know Todd was your friend, but that doesn’t mean you have to take over where he left off.”

  Eli gripped Nora’s shoulders, easing his face closer to hers. “You think I’m doing this for Todd? I’m doing this for you, because I care about you.”

  Nora shook her head. “Eli—”

  “No, Nora.” He made sure to keep his touch light, even though he wanted to shake some sense in her. “Everything I do for you is because I can’t stand back and not do it. I can’t help the feelings I have for you. I’ve tried to ignore them, but...damn it, Nora, I can’t.”

  Her mouth parted as she gasped. “You can’t have feelings for me, Eli. If you do, they’re just old ones.”

  Taking his hands and framing her face, Eli stroked her jawline. “These aren’t old feelings.”

  Her lids dipped down for a moment before she met his gaze again. “There’s too much I want, Eli. Too much that you can’t give, and right now I have to concentrate on this baby and the very real possibility of moving. I can’t face these emotions I have for you.”

  The selfish side of him was thrilled she’d admitted she actually had feelings for him. But the other side of him cursed himself for making her feel torn.

  Eli placed a gentle kiss on her lips and rested his forehead against hers.

  “Nora, I’m here. Whether you need a friend, or anything else, I don’t want you to be afraid to come to me.”

  She nodded, gripping his wrists. “I’ve missed you, Eli.”

  That soft statement packed a punch right to his gut. Damn, he’d m
issed her, too. Missed her so much he’d been ready to forget reenlisting in the army, especially since he’d finished his degree. He’d been ready to come home and see if they still had a chance.

  But then she and Todd had gotten married.

  After the wedding, he’d been afraid to visit too often when he was actually in the States, been afraid he’d see all that he’d let go in order to travel the world and enjoy his freedom.

  “Let’s go get some dinner,” he suggested, pulling away. “I’m going to need a supervisor, putting this crib together.”

  He linked his hand in hers and led her toward the kitchen. The seed had been planted. Nora was very well aware of where he stood right now, and if she wanted to do anything about it, the proverbial ball was in her court.

  Eli didn’t know what scared him more—if Nora didn’t act on her feelings...or if she did.

  Chapter Ten

  Friday morning meant another week closer to getting back to Atlanta and another week closer to leaving Nora and her baby. In some weird, twisted way he’d come to think of himself as the expectant daddy. He’d felt the little life move beneath his palm, had put together the nursery furniture and had even helped Nora research diapers and formula.

  And he’d found himself Christmas shopping for Nora after he’d gone home last night. A Christmas present, for pity’s sake. He needed to chill out and stop letting his hormones override common sense.

  Eli picked up the chart from the door holder and glanced at the name. With a sigh he pushed the door open, ready to get this day behind him because he had a terrible feeling he was coming down with something. The headache and sore throat were one thing, but he was worried he was running a low-grade fever.

  “Maddie, how are you feeling today?” he asked as he entered the exam room.

  The elderly woman, who’d now donned some type of velour zebra-striped sweat suit, merely shrugged her shoulders. “Not much different than when I was in here a couple weeks ago.”

  Eli set the file down on the edge of the counter and leaned back against the edge, crossing his arms over his chest. “So you’re really just checking up on me?”