LITMIR.BIZ

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until she plopped onto all fours. A second later, she’d be on her feet again, flinging herself into life with joyous abandon.

      Before Gina could finish the daydream, a change in the air told her Mason had come into the nursery. Scarcely daring to trust her composure, she peeked at him from beneath lowered lashes.

      He wore a gray three-piece suit. Sunday best, she thought. It emphasized the tan richness of his skin and the dark penetration of his gaze.

      “Mason…” Her throat caught.

      “For you.” He held out a bouquet of red roses. “I’m not sure if they’re allowed in here, so I sneaked them in.”

      “Oh!” When she held them to her nose, their summery scent invaded her bloodstream. “They’re beautiful.”

      “You should be surrounded by flowers,” he said. “My mother planted a rose garden at the ranch. I’ll make sure you have fresh flowers every day.”

      But she wasn’t going to live on the ranch. If there were flowers, they’d be for someone else.

      “We need to talk.” She hoped he couldn’t hear the quaver in her voice.

      “Sure thing.” His expression warmed as he touched her hair lightly. The brush of his hand warmed Gina’s scalp. Did he have to make it so hard to say no?

      “I don’t think there’s anyone in the parents’ lounge. We could talk there.” She was about to lead the way when, through the glass, she spotted Elly Maitland in the corridor. The administrator pointed at Mason and held up a sheaf of papers. “I wonder why she’s in such a hurry about the paperwork.”

      He shrugged. “I guess she knows I want to hit the road before my sister shows up.”

      “You’re in a hurry?” she asked. “Oh, dear. I have to make some final preparations for the girls.” Remembering her gift, she added, “And I brought a going-away present for them.” From a table, she produced a wrapped package.

      He studied it with a bemused expression. “This wouldn’t be something for the girls to wear home, would it?”

      “As a matter of fact, yes,” she said. “I thought you might forget.”

      His rueful grin made her head whirl. How could the man be so endearing?

      “I did forget,” he acknowledged, and opened the package. “Gina, these are precious.”

      “Thanks. But before you go see Miss Maitland, could we have that talk?”

      Elly tapped on the glass and gestured to Mason more urgently. “What is the big deal?” Gina asked.

      “I did tell her that I needed to get out as soon as possible. It appears she took me at my word. I’ll come back as fast as I can, okay?” Mason caught her hand. The pressure of his blunt fingers against her palm made her even more light-headed. “Would you put the new dresses on the girls? They’ll be knockouts.”

      “Of course.” Gina stood stock-still as he strode from the room. His warmth, his obvious expectation that she would accept, and his gentle caress had made it hard to keep her resolve.

      But he wasn’t offering a real marriage. And she could accept nothing less.

      MASON WONDERED IF HE’D pushed her too far. Gina didn’t seem to mind when he touched her. It wasn’t part of his plan; he simply hadn’t been able to resist.

      As for the flowers, and arranging for Elly Maitland to interrupt, they’d been attempts to forestall Gina from giving him a negative answer. So far, they’d worked.

      From here on, he’d have to wing it. He would play on her devotion to the twins, which shouldn’t be too difficult. Her caring shone in her eyes every time she gazed at those babies.

      A twinge of guilt threw Mason off stride as he accompanied Elly. It was wrong to manipulate a person who meant so much to him.

      But a few months on a ranch wouldn’t harm Gina, and could mean all the difference for Daisy and Lily’s futures. “Any word from my brother-in-law?” he asked.

      “He called about six o’clock last evening.” The administrator had a reputation for working fourteen-hour days, so that probably didn’t seem late to her. “When I told him we were releasing the girls today, he sounded more disappointed than angry. He said he and his wife would be here.”

      “He didn’t specify a time?”

      “No.”

      It was almost nine-thirty, by Mason’s watch. If his sister and Stuart had caught an early morning flight, they might arrive soon.

      No sense in worrying about it. The best he could do was take care of business as quickly as possible and depart, preferably with Gina.

      At the office, an assistant went through a sheaf of papers with him, methodically explaining what each one was for. A hospital survey, and insurance records, and obtaining social security numbers, and on and on.

      His restlessness made it hard to concentrate. Only after a while did Mason put his finger on what was bothering him.

      It wasn’t just Margaret and Stuart’s impending arrival. It was the observation that Gina had been crying.

      She must love those girls almost as much as he did. The situation was tearing her apart.

      It tore at him, too. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Gina. Couldn’t she put up with him, even for a few months? She would gain not only more time with Lily and Daisy, but, as he’d promised, regular visitation afterward.

      Of course, while they were married, he would keep his distance, especially now that he’d seen from her expression that she had no desire to become his wife. He would respect her reticence completely.

      While Mason might be unpolished compared to the doctors at the clinic or to his brother-in-law, Stuart, he possessed an old-fashioned sense of honor. If Gina didn’t already know that, he would simply have to prove it to her.

      He was finishing the last document when Elly Maitland returned from an errand. “As I suspected, some of the press has gathered,” she said. “There are a couple of newspaper reporters, and Chelsea Markum from Tattle Today brought a camera crew.”

      “This could be awkward.” He’d almost forgotten that the media would be on hand. “I’m not used to giving press conferences.”

      “If you like, I’ll ask Dr. Abby to speak to them. With your permission, she could answer questions about the babies’ medical condition.” Abigail Maitland, Elly’s older sister, was chief of obstetrics and gynecology at the clinic and had delivered Lily and Daisy.

      “That would be fine,” Mason said distractedly. He’d intended to spend more time with Gina. How was he going to win her over and cope with reporters at the same time?

      “I’ll get a couple of volunteers to escort the babies when they’re released,” Elly added.

      “Excuse me?”

      “We have a policy of not allowing the babies to be carried outside. Just imagine if a parent tripped and dropped one!” she explained. “We arrange for a volunteer to wheel the bassinet out front and wait until the parents bring the car around. Also, we can lend a car seat if they don’t have one.”

      He didn’t want a volunteer to assist him. He wanted Gina. “Would you mind if Miss Kennedy was the one who escorted them?” Mason asked. “It would mean a lot to me.”

      “What a lovely idea!” the administrator said. “That way, someone’s sure to take her picture with the babies. I know she’s grown fond of them these past few months. I’m sure she’d like to have a souvenir clipping.”

      Mason wished he’d come up with the idea of photographing Gina with his daughters. He’d have to make sure he got a copy of whatever ran in the newspaper.

      But

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