The Doctor's Baby (10 page)

“I
t’s not easy being a parent,” July said with a sigh.

“For some maybe.” David covered her hand with his and gave it a squeeze. “You’re a natural.”

Unexpected tears flooded July’s eyes. “I love him so much.” Her voice broke despite her best efforts to control it. “I only want what’s best for him.”

“Hey, I may be hassling M.K., but at least I don’t make her cry.” Travis’s tone might be light but there was a distinct undercurrent of concern to his words.

Mary Karen leaned close. “Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine.” July pulled her hand from David’s and swiped the tears from her face with a quick brush of her fingers. She forced a bright smile and pushed back her chair. “I’m going to get some air.”

“I’ll come with you.” Mary Karen began to rise but July put a hand on her shoulder.

“Stay.” July met her friend’s worried gaze. “I won’t be long.”

Several people looked up as she wove her way through the tables. Somehow July managed to keep the smile on her lips.

She pushed open the front door and headed down the winding drive. A couple of tears slipped down her cheeks. By the time she reached the golf course, several more had fallen. July leaned against a large shed, feeling as if she was teetering on a precipice ready to fall. She could blame the tears on postpartum hormones. But July knew it was stress.

She wanted so much to tell David the truth but saying she was sorry to two-year-old Logan this morning had been incredibly difficult. Thankfully he’d just looked at her with those big blue eyes and said “I sorry” back to her. Then, he’d smiled.

Yes, she was making progress but not as quickly as she’d like. Still, crying never changed anything, even if it did make her feel better. July straightened her shoulders and took a few deep breaths of crisp mountain air. The tightness gripping her chest slowly eased.

“I know you said you wanted to be alone, but I was worried.”

July’s heart fluttered and she turned. David stood silhouetted in the overhead light. His shoulders were broad and there was a strength to his face that said this
was a man who could handle whatever life threw at him. A man that a woman—and a child—could count on.

“Say the word and I’ll leave.” His gaze searched her eyes.

“Stay.” Impulsively she took his hand. Although a familiar heat traveled up her arm, it was his strength and comfort that she needed now. “I’m sorry I got teary. Honestly, before I came to Jackson, I never cried. Lately it seems it’s all I do.”

“No worries.” David’s fingers curled around hers. “It’s a new mother thing. And, yes, that’s a professional assessment.”

He said it with such authority she couldn’t help but believe him. “That’s good to know.”

“Mary Karen called and checked on the boys. They’re all doing fine, including Adam,” he said, his eyes never leaving hers.

A feeling of relief washed over July. “I hated leaving him with someone I didn’t know.”

“If it makes you feel better, I’ve known Esther for most of my life. I guarantee Adam is in good hands.”

“That’s reassuring. I—” The sound of applause drifted from the clubhouse.

David grinned. “Who knew fashion could be so entertaining?”

July released his hand. “You should go.”

David shoved his hands into his pockets, but made no move to leave. “Sick of me already?”

“Not at all.” July smiled. “I just don’t want you to miss any more of the fashion show because of me.”

“Your exit gave me a great excuse to leave.” He shot her a wink. “You realize if we’re not careful people may think our departure was staged.”

“You mean they’ll think you…and me…”

“Exactly.”

To July’s surprise the thought didn’t bother her like it would have only a few days earlier.

“If we go back now, it’ll be right in the middle of the show.” David rocked back on his heels. “People will really have something to talk about then.”

July kept a straight face. “Can’t have that.”

“I’ve got an idea.”

She had to smile at his excitement. “Tell me.”

“We don’t go back until just before it’s over.”

“What about Rachel?”

“Rachel is one of the stars. She’ll be modeling throughout the entire program.”

David glanced at his watch. “If the show stays on schedule, we have a little over thirty minutes. More than enough time for a ride.”

“A ride?” July glanced in the direction of the parking lot.

“Not in a car.” David gestured to rows of carts lined up inside the open shed. “I’m proposing a moonlight tour of the golf course. Interested?”

July hesitated. “Are you serious?”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Within a minute he’d rolled one of the carts onto the wide cement walkway. He held out a hand to her. “Madame, your chariot awaits.”

A shiver of excitement traveled up her spine. She
took his hand and stepped into the cart, carefully tucking the skirt of her dress beneath her, her earlier tears forgotten. She’d always loved adventures and this night was turning into one.

July curved her fingers around the metal frame. While this was a far cry from a car, the cart was spacious and the padded vinyl seat surprisingly comfortable.

David slipped behind the steering wheel then hit the gas. The vehicle lurched forward.

He kept the cart on a concrete path for a considerable distance before taking off across the grass. The breeze picked up, ruffling her hair. July wrapped her arms around herself. She hadn’t noticed the chill when she was standing by the shed but she felt it now. Though the night was mild by Jackson standards, fifty degrees in a sleeveless dress was still cold.

The cart slowed to a stop. David pulled off his jacket and handed it to her. “We can turn back—”

“Not on your life.” July slid her arms into the jacket still warm with the heat of his body. “I love it out here.”

Stars filled the clear sky and light from a full moon bathed the course in a golden light.

“I’d heard how big the sky was in this part of the country but I never believed it.” She widened her eyes as David hit the accelerator and the cart made its way up an incline. It felt as if they were headed straight up into the heavens. “It…it surrounds you.”

The cart eased to a stop at the top of the hill. Above—the sky. Below—perfectly manicured
grounds. Light shimmered off the waters of a small pond.

“This is one of the best laid out courses in the area.” David sat back in his seat. “When I was in high school I used to work here.”

“You worked?”

“Absolutely.” David’s tone turned teasing. “Don’t tell me you had me pegged as one of those guys who grew up with a silver spoon in my mouth?”

July felt her cheeks warm and she was grateful for the dim light. “Maybe.”

He laughed. “My father was a property administrator at Teton Village and my mother taught school. Hardly careers to craft a silver spoon.”

A fondness for his parents was evident in his tone.

“I guess I got the idea they had money because of the cruise,” July said. “I don’t know anyone who goes on a monthlong vacation.”

“This is a first for them, as well,” David said. “The seventeen-day cruise was their anniversary present to each other. On the way back they decided to stop off in the D.C. area to do some sightseeing and visit old friends. Once they leave there they’ll stop in Omaha on the way back to visit my aunt. By next Saturday they should be back in town.”

“Sounds like a wonderful time,” July said, fighting a stab of envy. “But I’m surprised a teacher could take so much time off during the school year.”

“She couldn’t have done it if she was still teaching full time,” David said. “When Mary Karen’s husband
left, she took an early retirement to help with the kids. Nothing is more important to her than her kids and grandchildren.”

“That’s wonderful.” July wondered what it would be like to have such a mother.

“Enough about me and my family.” David rested his arm on the back of her seat. “Tell me about yourself. Did
you
work during high school?”

“I’ve been working since I was fifteen to help out at home.”

A look of concern crossed his face. “I take it your parents were struggling?”

“My dad wasn’t in the picture. My mother is—was—a drug addict. I’m not sure where she is.” While his mother sounded wonderful, hers could have been the poster child for the need for sterilization. “I was in and out of the house more times than I could count, but they always gave me back to her.”

“They?”

“The courts. Judges willing to give her one more chance. Social workers who believed a child belonged with its biological mother.” July couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice.

“Still, she must have loved you.”

“She loved the money she got from the state,” July said, with a humorless laugh. “Otherwise I was an inconvenience, something that got in the way of her fun.”

“Her loss.” His arm dropped to her shoulder and he pulled her close. “Is that why you left Chicago? To get away from the memories?”

“The city is more than big enough for both of us. Like I said, I haven’t seen her in years.” July spoke matter-of-factly. For most people not seeing their mother, not knowing whether she was alive or dead, would have been distressing. July knew it was for the best. “I left Chicago because I lost my job and needed work.”

“What happened?”

“I was ‘reduced in force.’” July shrugged. “It wasn’t anything personal.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t,” David said. “I’ve seen what you can do with a camera. You’ve got a discerning eye, a talent for seeing what most people miss.”

July pulled the compliment close and wrapped it around her. “Thank you.”

“You’re doing a fabulous job with Adam. Seeing the two of you together, it’s apparent that you’re going to be a great mom.”

“You’re certainly free and easy with the compliments this evening.” She turned to face him, bringing her lips only inches from his mouth. “I like it.”

“I like
you,
” he said in a deep sexy voice that made her bones melt. “And I want to kiss you again. If that’s okay.”

July slipped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his, letting that be her answer.

A surge of heat shot through David at the taste of her sweet lips. He’d told himself since that day in the Elk Refuge to take it slow. But under the star-filled Wyo
ming sky with the scent of her perfume teasing his nostrils,
slow
was no longer in his vocabulary.

He tightened his arms around her, pulling her close, reveling in the feel of her soft curves against him. Just like that night in Chicago he wanted to kiss and touch and make love to her. And then he wanted to do it all over again.

She opened her mouth to his tongue and he plunged inside, his need for her surging to a fever pitch. With his mouth still mated with hers, he slipped his hand beneath the jacket he’d given her, searching for the zipper at the back of her dress. At last he found it and he eased it down with fingers shaking with need. She squirmed in his arms, but instead of protesting she moaned, a low sound filled with want and need.

When the zipper was all the way down, the dress fell forward exposing her full breasts to the crisp night air. Her nipples immediately puckered, the areolas darker than he remembered, the breasts larger.

Moonlight reflected off their creamy whiteness. He sat back and held her at arm’s length. “You are so beautiful.”

Her eyes glittered like emeralds in the dim light. “I bet you say that to all the half-naked women you see on the golf course.”

David cupped her face with his hands and softly kissed her lips. “Only you.”

Then with as much gentleness as he could manage with fire scorching his veins, he pushed her back against the seat, planting open-mouthed kisses down
her neck while his hands caressed the soft curves. He rolled a nipple between his fingers and she jerked up.

David let his hands drop, remembering too late the need to be extra gentle. “Did I hurt you?”

“Only in a good way.” July grabbed his hands and placed them back on her chest. “My nipples are just hypersensitive. But your touch feels good.”

“I aim to please.” He kissed her quickly before his mouth resumed its downward descent. July continued to squirm and moan out encouragements, her hand behind his head, holding him to her.

He slid his hand under her dress…

She gasped and pushed him back.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Someone is coming.”

He curved his fingers around her breast. “There’s no one around for miles.”

She twisted in the seat and pointed with one hand. “Then what’s that?”

He glanced in the direction and stifled a curse. Less than a thousand yards away—and fast approaching—was a golf cart with its lights on.

“Who do you think it is?” July hissed, straightening in her seat and jerking the dress up over her breasts.

“Course security would be my guess.” David kept his voice calm and steady, which wasn’t easy with his body on high alert and his desire screaming for release.

The words had barely left his mouth when the cart pulled up alongside them. David recognized the man immediately. Ron Evans had worked at the course since
it was first built. He was also a good friend of David’s parents.
Great. Just great.

David forced a welcoming smile. “Good evening, Ron. What brings you out on the course at this time of night?”

“I was just about to ask you the same question.” The burly man’s gaze shifted from David to July.

“July is staying with my sister Mary Karen while she’s in town.” David performed a quick introduction. “Neither of us were interested in watching the fashion show so I offered to give her a quick tour of the course.”

“Well, welcome to Jackson.” Ron smiled at July then fixed his gaze on David. “Next time let someone know you’re taking a cart out.”

“Will do,” David said.

They talked for several minutes about the fundraiser before Ron glanced at his watch. “I better get back. I’ll leave you two to go back to…admiring the stars.”

The small smile hovering at the edges of the man’s lips told David he hadn’t fooled Ron at all. The man knew exactly what they’d been doing before he arrived. Or, if not exactly, then close enough.