Brought Together by Baby (11 page)

She’d changed out of her dark funeral outfit and was dressed in cut-off faded denim shorts that left her legs bare to mid-thigh. Perfect legs…beautifully shaped and silky smooth. Arousal slammed into him. His gaze roved up the teasing swell of her bottom, outlined by the stone-washed fabric of her shorts. As she stretched to reach the furthest hooks on
the curtain rail, the hem of her T-shirt rode up, exposing a tantalising strip of pale gold skin across her lower back.

The lavender-coloured top framed her curves, and as she moved he could see the outline of firm, exquisitely shaped breasts. She wasn’t wearing a bra. He forced his reluctant gaze to continue upwards. Her wavy blonde hair was tied in a haphazard ponytail, a few strands escaping to feather her neck and make-up-free face. As he watched her concentrating on her task, her pink tongue-tip peeped out of the corner of her mouth. She looked ridiculously young and innocent and tempting.

Angry, ashamed and confused by his instinctive attraction, Gus ducked back into the hallway and leaned against the landing wall before Holly saw him, taking a moment to regain control before making his presence known. How could he still feel like this about Holly? It was a warning he’d do well to heed if he was to maintain his guard. He didn’t want to be fooled and hurt again.

Hearing the stepladder being folded, Gus sucked in a steadying breath and returned to the nursery. Holly was humming along with the music on the radio while she cleared away her things, her back to him. He gave a cough to announce his presence, and she swung round with a little
‘Oh!’
of surprise, a faint wash of colour on her cheeks.

‘Hi,’ he greeted her, voice gruff, as she fumbled to turn off the radio.

‘Hello.’ Her smile was tentative and uncertain. ‘I’m finished.’ Her movements jerky, she continued gathering up her paintbrushes. ‘What do you think?’

For the first time he dragged his disobedient gaze away from her and turned his attention to what had once been a square white boxroom, lacking warmth or character. What he saw rendered him speechless. The nursery had been transformed
into something any young child would dream of, with an array of colourful cartoon characters dancing across the walls.

How had Holly achieved this? He turned a slow circle, finally arriving back to face her again, noting her nervousness as she clasped her hands together, her sky-blue eyes wide with uncertainty.

‘You did this?’ he managed, his tone betraying his incredulity.

‘Y-yes.’ She swallowed, her tongue-tip peeping out again to lick her lips. ‘I’m sorry. Once I started I got a bit carried away. If you hate it I can paint over it. I—’

‘Stop.’ She did, nibbling the end of one finger with even white teeth. ‘God, Holly, how did you manage it in so few days? I had no idea you had such a talent for art.’

Once more her cheeks flushed, giving her a becoming rosy glow. ‘I haven’t—not really. But I enjoyed it. I want Max to be happy.’

‘Max will love it.’ Still stunned at what she had done, he surveyed the room again, a lump in his throat. ‘
I
love it. It’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. Thank you.’

‘It’s my pleasure.’

An electric silence hummed between them and it took a tremendous effort of will for him to force himself to look away and not give in to the crazy urge to hug her. Instead, he crossed to the window, ostensibly to inspect the curtains—which, he discovered, she had made herself—but in truth it was a ruse to put distance between them.

‘I didn’t realise the time,’ she murmured, sounding awkward again. ‘I’d better go. If it’s all right, I’ll move my things in after breakfast tomorrow, ready for when Max comes home.’

Tomorrow. Everything was happening so fast. ‘That’s fine.’
Which was a lie. It was far from fine. He needed to reinforce his barriers if he wasn’t going to fall for her again.

As she jogged down the stairs and closed the front door behind her he wondered what he’d agreed to. But whatever the cost to himself, Max needed Holly. He pressed the heel of one hand to his sternum, dismayed by the ache of yearning.

Would he never learn?

Despite everything, he was as vulnerable to Holly as he’d always been. For the sake of his son, and if his own heart wasn’t to be trampled a second time, he had a few short hours to rebuild his defences before Holly moved in and turned his life upside down.

Again.

* * *

‘Are you sure about this, Holly?’

As George parked the car outside Gus’s house, Holly nodded in response to her friend’s anxious query. Just as she had when Gina and Ruth expressed similar concerns, she hid her fears and doubts about the wisdom of her actions. She could see no other viable option: Max’s needs overrode everything else.

Turning her head to hide her misgivings from George’s probing gaze, Holly stared through the passenger window at Gus’s solid semi-detached Victorian villa. Situated along a tree-lined road in a quiet residential area of town, it was built of sandstone with a slate roof—typical of the local architecture—and there were views of the hills from the master bedroom upstairs. A room she didn’t want to think about.

This house would be her home for the foreseeable future. A shiver ran down her spine. She’d worked on the nursery for four consecutive days, but she felt no less nervous at the prospect of actually
living
here. In what had been Julia’s home.
Julia and Gus’s
marital
home. Confined under the same roof as Gus, the man who had chosen her sister instead of her…the man who had broken her heart and who, despite everything, she couldn’t stop loving, foolish and hopeless though that was.

She’d loved him from day one. Her body reacted the same way now as it had then. When Gus looked at her through those incredible smoky green eyes she had to force herself to remember how to breathe, and his husky voice curled her toes. An excellent doctor, he was warm, caring, and gentle with patients. And, despite some of her colleagues finding him reserved and distant at first, she’d seen beyond the surface to the special man inside.

That he guarded his privacy was something she understood and respected. From that first day in August until the night of their ill-fated date-that-never-was they had been as close as it was possible to be without being physically intimate. But Holly’s dream had shattered with Gus and Julia’s betrayal, followed by the news of Julia’s pregnancy, and then, in December, their hasty marriage. She’d been so hurt, so angry, so shocked…so jealous. January’s escape from A&E had removed her from Gus’s presence but had not removed Gus from her mind. Or her heart.

She enjoyed the Children’s Ward, admired Sister Sharpe and welcomed working with George again, but resentment towards Gus and Julia remained. She felt she’d been forced from the dream job she’d loved and worked hard for. She missed Annie, Nathan, Will, Kelly, Gail, Carolyn and the others, who’d not just been colleagues, but friends, too. And she missed the cut and thrust of trauma nursing.

Since transferring, she’d had no contact with Gus until Wednesday’s tragic events. Her emotions were in turmoil,
and despite reassuring her friends otherwise she feared what lay ahead and was riddled with doubts.

‘Holly?’ George gave her a gentle nudge. ‘You can change your mind, you know, and come home with me.’

Suppressing the urge to retreat to the sanctuary of the room she’d rented at George’s, Holly shook her head. ‘No. This is the right thing to do.’

‘For whom?’

‘For baby Max.’ Holly shifted her attention from the imposing façade of the house and looked at George, whose grey eyes regarded her with unconcealed worry. Sighing, she made a further admission. ‘And for Gus.’

What she didn’t say was that it was also for herself. She knew she had fallen as madly in love with Max as she had with his father. She knew what dangerous ground she was on—which was why she’d hidden the true depth of her feelings from Gina, Ruth and George.

George’s expression softened. ‘Gus’s determination to raise Max himself
is
admirable.’

Holly nodded. But then, she knew why this mattered so much to Gus. Abandoned hours after his birth, he knew nothing about his background or who his parents were. The thought of him growing up without any love or affection, passed from place to place like an unwanted parcel, still moved her to tears. His resolve that his son would grow up with the love, care and security he’d been denied was understandable.

‘Time’s a-wasting, George,’ she said, with a light-heartedness she was far from feeling. ‘Let’s do this.’

Unable to delay the moment any longer, they climbed out of the car, and while George opened the hatchback and began unloading things Holly took a suitcase and went to the front door. She was deciding whether to use the key Gus had given her or ring the bell when the door opened and she was staring
into deep green eyes—eyes that had the power to weaken her knees and turn her insides to mush.

As her gaze clashed with his and the familiar tingle of awareness percolated through her, tightening the aching knot deep inside her and setting her pulse racing, she wrestled with the dilemma that nagged more intensely with each day that passed.

How could she still feel so strongly for Gus after everything that had happened?

She didn’t understand her emotions. She wished she felt nothing. Nothing but anger and hurt, still so raw, at what he had done. One look at Julia and Gus had been smitten, transferring his allegiance from her to her beautiful but selfish sister. Their closeness couldn’t have meant anything to him. Not as it had to her.

A fresh wave of guilt assailed her. Julia had bullied her since childhood and done many unforgivable things. But now Julia was dead. Despite her friends claiming to understand her less than charitable feelings towards her sister, Holly felt bad. There was sorrow for the tragic loss of a young life, but her predominant emotions were hurt, anger and jealousy over Julia’s final and worst betrayal…going after Gus. And succeeding. For which she blamed them both.

The betrayal touched her from the grave. Because what she could never forget and what continued to torture her was that, in the unlikely event of Gus ever looking at her again as he had when they first met, she would always know he’d chosen Julia instead. She’d always be second best. And, however much she might love him, she deserved more than that…more than Julia’s leftovers.

* * *

Gus fought the desire that shot through him as he looked into Holly’s sky-blue eyes. He was unable to read the changing emotions in them, but he sensed her reserve and momentarily
panicked that she’d changed her mind about moving in. Because he needed her help with Max, he told himself,
not
because he craved her company.

Disconcerted, he stepped back to allow Holly inside, noticing the heavy suitcase she was carrying. ‘Let me take that for you.’

‘Thanks.’ Her smile was hesitant as she handed him the case. ‘I’ll get another load.’

He watched as she turned and headed back down the path. The abundant hedge fronting the property hid his view of the car, but he had another view. A better view. And his disobedient gaze took full advantage, lingering on Holly’s delicious curves, hugged by faded black jeans that emphasised the captivating wiggle of her bottom.

Cursing himself, he hurried upstairs and set the case on the bed in Holly’s room. He’d offered her the master bedroom that had been Julia’s domain but she’d declined, declaring herself satisfied with the smaller but well-proportioned third bedroom. As he slept in the second bedroom, Holly’s decision meant that they were equally well-placed to attend to Max’s needs as the nursery conveniently sat between them.

Heading back downstairs, he heard voices outside, followed by Holly’s soft laugh. His footsteps slowed as a young woman around Holly’s age stepped into the house. He’d seen her around the hospital wearing a staff-nurse uniform and, remembering his talks with Holly back in the days when they’d shared lunch breaks and confidences, he guessed this was George.

Georgia
.

He smothered a laugh as he recalled how jealous and upset he’d been when he’d thought George was the man in Holly’s life. This George—Holly’s George—was definitely female! A couple of inches taller than Holly and a little less curvy,
George had pretty elfin features, short, spiky chestnut hair and striking grey eyes. Her smile was broad and genuine, and she exuded energy and a natural friendly warmth.

Before either of them had the chance to speak, Holly returned to the porch and balanced the box she was carrying between her hip and the wall. ‘Have you two never met?’ she asked in surprise, looking from Gus to George and back again.

‘No,’ they answered in unison, sharing a smile.

‘Gus, this is George Millar…George, meet Gus. He thought you were a man!’ she added with an infectious giggle.

As Holly set down the box and headed back outside Gus struggled with his embarrassment. ‘I’m sorry. I only thought that because of the name—certainly not seeing you,’ he tried to explain, cursing his clumsiness and feeling foolish.

‘No worries. It happens all the time!’ George grinned, silver sparkles dancing in her eyes. ‘I was christened Georgia, but everyone’s called me George since I was a baby.’ Smiling, she adjusted the bag she was carrying and held out her hand. ‘It’s good to meet you, Gus. I’ve heard so much about you.’

‘That sounds ominous,’ he responded as he shook her hand, her instinctive warmth helping him relax.

‘Not at all. You’re well-respected around the hospital.’

To say George’s words shocked him was a major understatement. Respect had definitely not been in evidence when his colleagues—indeed, the whole hospital—had labelled him the villain for what had happened with Holly. And self-respect had been in even shorter supply with regard to his ill-judged night with Julia. For that he
had
been to blame. But despite shouldering the responsibility without protest, at least outwardly, he’d been annoyed and hurt that Holly’s part in events had gone unquestioned and unacknowledged. In his mind it hadn’t been as black and white as that.