LITMIR.BIZ

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made the playlist.”

      “I did,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.

      “Thank you, paipiirak.” The fact they called each other pet names from their native language was so sweet. Aiyana was his heart while Ned was her baby. Then another contraction hit and Aiyana’s face crumpled, her voice shaking. “Here comes another one.”

      They returned to the room and settled in to wait.

      Another hour passed, and Wendy found herself flagging, in desperate need of coffee. She glanced at the clock and found it was nearly four in the morning now. The last time Carmen had checked, Aiyana had been dilated to about six centimeters, but her water still hadn’t broken. Without that step, this could take quite a bit longer.

      She shook Ned’s shoulder as he slept curled in the room’s recliner. He mumbled, “Push?”

      Wendy snorted. “I’m getting coffee. Want some?”

      He shook his head and closed his eyes again, shoving his head against a pillow.

      The ride to the basement was eerie this late at night with the place all but deserted. She walked to the cafeteria and grabbed a cup of horrible coffee that would at least buy her a little alert time.

      “Hey,” a voice said behind her at the register.

      She turned to find Tom, his blue eyes twinkling.

      “You got some too.” He raised the cup in his hands. “Liquid energy.”

      From what he’d said earlier, he still had a handful of hours left of his shift. He looked as exhausted as she felt. His name tag was askew, hanging from the pocket of his scrubs, and his hair tousled, as if he’d just gotten out of bed. Which made her think of other places he might look so disheveled, say, naked and sleepy between her sheets. And, oh, boy...

      Thank goodness he couldn’t read minds or they’d both be in trouble.

      Then again, Wendy had a feeling being around Tom too much would mean trouble for her no matter what, seeing as how she was drawn to him for no good reason. They barely knew each other and the last thing she wanted was a distraction from what Aiyana was going through.

      And Tom Farber was most assuredly distracting.

      “Want to sit a minute?” he asked.

      She considered turning him down, but the thought of returning to the room upstairs to stare at the same four walls was not appealing. A few more minutes wouldn’t hurt anything. “I suppose I can, since Aiyana’s sleeping right now.”

      “Good.”

      They strolled toward a spot near the back wall of the room.

      Tom took the chair across from her at their table for two and Wendy clasped her cup between her hands like a mini-shield between them.

      He exhaled slowly and rubbed his eyes. “Maternity must be a nice change from the ER.”

      “Yep.” Wendy watched him closely, noting there was no ring on his finger. No tan line either. Not that she cared. She wasn’t interested in his marital status. “What about you? Anything exciting happening in L&D tonight? Besides the impending arrival of the newest members of the Smith clan?”

      Tom flashed her a crooked, endearing smile then shook his head. “Nah, not really. I handled a VBAC that got a bit tricky toward the end, but it’s all good.”

      “Cool.” Wendy gulped some more coffee, searching for something to say. “Are you from Anchorage originally?”

      “I am. Left to go to med school in Boston, but I’m back now. With my daughter, of course.”

      “Oh, Sam’s a great kid.” Wendy smiled.

      “I think so too. Even if she doesn’t think the same about me.” He looked at her, his expression a mix of warmth and wariness. “How about you?”

      “What? Kids?” Wendy sat back. “Nope. No kids for me.”

      He chuckled. “No kids now or no kids ever?”

      “Ever.”

      “Okay, then.” His smile grew into a grin and the results were dazzling. Warm, friendly, inviting. “I’m sensing some history there. That sounds pretty adamant.”

      “It is.” And that was about as close as he was going to get to her truth. Pulse thumping loud, Wendy stood and hiked her thumb toward the exit, needing to get away from this guy before she did something stupid like tell him all about her Huntington’s. She never did that. Ever. Yet there was something about him that made her want to open up. Which was exactly why she had to go. “I, uh, should get back upstairs. Make sure Ned and Aiyana are doing okay.”

      “Right. Sure.” He watched her for a long second, his expression unreadable, then pushed to his feet as well, his movements lithe and graceful. “I’ll ride with you. I’ve got other patients I need to check on.”

      They walked out into the hallway side by side.

      She’d no more than pushed the Up button when the doors opened. He gestured for her to get on first. She did, then fumbled for the right button, feeling awkward and out of sorts. To ease the silence between them, she cracked a joke. “If this was some TV medical drama, we’d be making out between floors.”

      Wendy cringed, regretting the words the moment they’d left her mouth. God, what was it about this man that made her want to act like a such an idiot? Sure, he was nice and gorgeous and incredibly intriguing. That was no reason to go all gaga over the guy.

      Must be the stress of the night. Yep. That’s what she was going with anyway.

      “Is that an offer?” Tom asked, giving her some serious side-eye.

      Okay. The wise thing would’ve been to ignore that comment and keep her mouth shut until the elevator ride ended. Too bad Wendy wasn’t feeling all that smart at the moment, her better judgment apparently having drained away in the wee hours of the morning. Plus, she’d been raised in a houseful of competitive guys and wasn’t about to let Dr. McHottiepants get the last word. She arched a brow in his direction, lobbing the ball right back into his court. “Do you want it to be?”

      The elevator jolted to a stop, knocking him into her personal space, making heat spark through her nerve endings. His gaze bored into hers, the seconds feeling like minutes.

      He took a step back as the doors opened onto the L&D floor again and he held up his hands in defeat, still clutching his coffee. “You win. I’m no good at flirting.”

      Her reply came out breathier than she’d intended. “Could’ve fooled me.”

      She followed him out into the hallway. They stood there dumbly, in the quiet hush of sleeping patients and beeping monitors. Even Aiyana seemed to still be dozing, the door to her room down the corridor closed, no sounds coming from inside.

      Tom walked over to the nurses’ station and Wendy trailed a step or two behind, her gaze inadvertently dropping down to his rear. Taut and firm, he deserved a trophy for Best Butt Ever.

      Ugh. Her rational brain said this would be the perfect time to set him straight in no uncertain terms, to tell him this—whatever this was—was nothing.

      She was happy with her solitary life, happy without love or commitment or devotion.

      Happy not knowing her test results.

       Wasn’t she?

      A loud shriek filled the air, the sound of a mother in the final stages of labor.

      Tom’s blue eyes widened as he looked back at her over his shoulder.

      “Aiyana,” they said in unison.

      Adrenaline, like a bucket of cold water, splashed over Wendy. She bolted after Tom, running toward her sister-in-law’s room, her heart racing as they entered.

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