The Doctor's Baby. Cindy Kirk

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СКАЧАТЬ groaned. She’d hoped to be gone before David’s shift ended. No such luck. She snapped the compact closed, dropped it into her bag and shifted to face him. “I thought you’d be working.”

      Or home with your wife. Bitterness rose inside her at his duplicity. What made her the angriest was that she’d asked about his marital status shortly after he’d began flirting with her in the hotel bar. Only after she found out she was pregnant with his baby and tried to track him down did she discover that he’d lied. According to a former colleague, the handsome young doctor who’d swept her off her feet wasn’t single. Apparently Dr. David Wahl had a “gorgeous” wife at home.

      “I don’t go in today until three.” He pulled the door closed. Instead of a white jacket he wore khakis and a royal blue polo that made his eyes look bluer than the sky outside her window. “I came to see if you’d like to have lunch with me in the hospital cafeteria. The food is edible and it’ll give us a chance to catch up.”

      Catch up? What was there to catch up on? Unless he meant to confess he had a wife he’d forgotten to mention, which she highly doubted. “With that ringing endorsement, it’d be hard to say no.”

      “You’ll join me?”

      His delighted smile was almost her undoing. The same electricity that had been there eight months ago sizzled in the room. But this time she ignored it. She didn’t want anything to do with a cheater.

      “I’m being dismissed.” She glanced at her watch. “Once Dr. Fisher stops by, I’ll be on my way.”

      “What about your boyfriend, er, I mean your friend?” he asked, his gaze watchful. “Did you ever reach him?”

      “I did. He’d been out celebrating. He landed a role in a Broadway touring company.” July kept her tone even. “He’d just gotten off the phone with his agent finalizing the details when we connected.”

      “Was he excited about the baby?”

      “Very excited.” July forced some enthusiasm into her voice. A.J. had actually been more jazzed about his new role than her new son. But that was understandable. The theater was his life now. And he’d been around too many kids growing up to be excited about one more, even if that one was hers.

      “When is he coming?”

      “He’s not.” July brushed a piece of lint from her jeans. “The tour starts in two weeks. A.J. was a lastminute replacement, so he’s got lots of catching up to do.”

      July understood how important this was to him, truly she did. This was his big break. Still she couldn’t help but wish he’d been a little more excited for her.

      The look on David’s face said he didn’t understand, either. But instead of consoling her, it made July wish she’d kept her mouth shut or made something up. The less David knew about her personal life, the better.

      “How long will you be staying in Jackson?” David asked in a tone so casual it sent red flags popping up.

      “I’m not sure,” she hedged.

      July couldn’t figure out why he kept coming around. If she were him, she’d be keeping her distance. This wasn’t a big impersonal town like Chicago. Jackson was small and everyone knew people in small towns loved to gossip. If David wasn’t careful, someone was going to mention his intense interest in her and her baby to his wife.

      “Before Adam leaves the hospital, I’d like to have a test done on him. But I need your permission.”

      July pulled her brows together. “If you’re talking about the testing for PKU and the others they recommend for newborns, the nurse already spoke to me and I had no problem with them.”

      “I’m not talking about those tests.”

      “What then?”

      “A paternity test.” His blue eyes locked on hers. “I need to know if Adam is mine.”

       Chapter Four

      When July was five her mother had shoved her against a wall so hard it pushed all the air from her lungs. She remembered that horrible, scary feeling. She felt the same way now.

      But July was no stranger to having her life take an ugly turn. She forced herself to breathe normally. “I already told you he isn’t yours. Most men would be jumping for joy at that news.”

      “I’m not most men.” His gaze never left her face. “If Adam is my son, I want to be a part of his life. I want him to know me. I want to be his dad.”

      The sincerity in his tone touched the part of July’s heart that had once yearned for a father’s love. The part that had hoped her dad—whoever he was—would one day show up and rescue her from the misery that was her childhood.

      But they weren’t talking about her. They were talking about Adam. And she wasn’t her mother. Her child would always have her love and support.

      “July.” David’s voice, soft but insistent, broke through her reverie. “Will you consent to the test?”

      She curbed her irritation at his persistence. Obviously he hadn’t thought this through. “First I’d like to ask you a question.”

      “Sure.” He dropped into the chair next to the bed. “Ask me anything.”

      “Why are you determined to go ahead with this? I’ve already told you—assured you—that Adam isn’t your son.” July kept her tone even, though she was shaking clear down to her bare toes. “If it’s done—for really no good reason—your wife will likely find out. Is that what you really want?”

      She’d simply presented facts in a calm manner. Still, she waited for the explosion. Growing up, she’d learned what can happen when you questioned someone’s decision. But this time, all she got was a puzzled look.

      “What are you talking about? I’m not married.”

      July let out the breath she’d been holding. Oh, he was good. If she didn’t know the truth, she’d find his protest completely believable. While he may have fooled her once, it wasn’t going to happen again.

      “There’s no need to continue with the game.” Again, July kept her anger at being deceived under tight wraps and spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. “Remember the doctor who stopped by the table the night we first met? The one my reporter friend knew?”

      David’s gaze turned thoughtful. He nodded. “Kevin Countryman.”

      “That’s the one. Well, my friend ran into him a couple months later.” When July discovered she was pregnant, she’d called hospitals in Minneapolis and in Chicago looking for Dr. David Wall. Of course, because of spelling his name wrong, she’d never found him. Then she’d remembered Dr. Countryman. She’d asked her friend to contact him in the hopes he’d know where to find David.

      “And—” David prompted.

      “During the course of their conversation he mentioned you were married.” July had been overwhelmed with a deep sense of betrayal. That same day she’d abandoned her search.

      “Wait СКАЧАТЬ