Jennifer Mikels - The Fertility Factor

“I know you did.” He slid a hand into his slacks pocket. “Why the career change? Actress to nurse?”

“I had a calling.” She assumed only another person in medicine would understand. “How far do you run?” She could probably manage a block or two.

“Three miles.”

Lara mentally groaned at the thought of so much exercise. “Every morning?”

“Every morning.”

He was disgustingly disciplined.

Looking down again, he gestured at the knitting needles sticking out of her shoulder bag. “What are you making?”

Feverishly she’d knit during every minute of her spare time. “It’s an afghan. For a cousin’s baby. Due in another month.”

“A boy?” he asked, gesturing toward the blue yarn.

“Yes, he—” The elevator dropped. Two, maybe three inches. No more. Suddenly they stood in darkness. “Oh my God, Derek.” She reached out, groped for him.

“I’m here.” His hand caught hers and tugged her to him.

The back beneath her palms was solid, broad, muscular. Pulse pounding, she leaned away to see his face.

“Come on.” He drew her even closer. “Sit on the floor with me. That would be smarter than standing.”

He meant in case the elevator dropped, didn’t he?

Despite his words, he wasn’t moving, wasn’t letting her go. She knew why. They stood breast to chest, thigh to thigh. Warmth radiated between them.

“It’s nice,” he said suddenly.

She thought the moment was wonderful. But possibly they weren’t thinking about the same thing. “What is?”

“Your perfume. I never smelled it before.”

He’d never been this close before. Every morning she dabbed a touch of perfume behind her ears to make her feel feminine while wearing scrubs. With the turn of his head, his breath heated her face. Even in the dark, she knew his mouth was closer to hers. Or was she imagining everything?

Lightly his lips brushed hers like a subtle caress.

Oh, Lord. She wasn’t imagining anything. Her eyes fluttered, her lips parted for his. Slowly, almost savoringly he deepened the pressure. Gently his lips moved over hers. Wanting to feel more, she leaned closer, pressed her breasts into him to absorb the heat, the solidness of his body.

His kiss was everything she’d imagined. No. It was more. A long, pleasurable shiver swept through her. Eyes closed, she savored the sweet firmness of his mouth, the beat of his heart, the warmth of his body. With a kiss, he was making her feel more than she’d expected. In that instant, she knew this wouldn’t be enough. She’d want more with him. Much more.

As she clung, he seemed to loosen his embrace. A touch dazed, she took a moment before she realized that he was pulling back. Why was he? Don’t stop. Keep kissing me.

“Damn,” he murmured in a voice that sounded huskier than usual.

Lara forced herself to open her eyes, heard his pager then. Kiss me again, she wanted to yell.

D erek groped for the pager hooked on his belt and swore silently for a lot of reasons, including a need unfulfilled. One second more, and he’d have forgotten where they were.

Beneath the mantle of darkness, he peered at her face, at the hooded eyes, the soft mouth slightly parted. Her breath fluttered on his face and made him yearn for the sweetness of her mouth. Her scent stirred his senses. A heaviness still filled his loins.

In the dark he squinted to read the number on his pager. His emergency number meant Lindsey Collier was ready to deliver. She’d been admitted to the hospital yesterday for her safety and that of her quadruplets.

“The hospital?” Lara asked.

“I’ve got to get out of here.” Now. Urgency controlled him. He hated feeling so helpless about their situation. People claimed he was a control freak. He took no offense. In the operating room, he wanted to be in command. Lives depended on his leadership, skill and discipline.

“It’s Lindsey Collier, isn’t it?” Lara asked in the dark.

“Yes.” It took effort to think clearly. Even now he touched her arm and visualized the creamy softness of her breasts.

“Dr. Cross!” Frank’s voice sounded loud. Derek assumed he was crouched close to the elevator door. “Maintenance is here, working on the problem. Can you hear me?”

“I hear you. We need to get out now.” He still felt the tug-of-war inside him. Emotional overload, he assured himself. “I have an emergency.”

“A few minutes, Dr. Cross. We’ll—” Frank stopped. No more words were needed. The light flashed on in the elevator. They heard a creak, a groan, then the elevator jerked and moved. Within seconds the doors swooshed open.

“Thanks, Frank.” With a nod to the security man, he cupped a hand under Lara’s elbow to urge her out of the elevator. A test of sorts to see if he could touch her casually.

“The storm knocked out power. We got everything running but the elevators. Sorry, Dr. Cross. We didn’t know anyone was still in the building.”

“No problem,” Derek assured both men. Except he almost made a move on his nurse, except she made him hungry. He knew about her crush. He’d have had to be dumb not to have noticed her unusual nervousness whenever they were alone. Only a jerk pursued a woman who wanted everything that he could never offer. “Lara, I have to get over to Lennox Hill.”

“I’m going with you to the hospital,” she said, falling in step with him toward the stairs.

Another nurse would have gone home. He liked her caring way that went beyond what was expected. “Lindsey Collier will like seeing you,” he said honestly because her bright disposition would help. If he only lusted for her, he knew that he could deal with it, but he liked her. Just thinking about her made him smile. How did he ignore that feeling?

Lennox Hill Hospital occupied a prominent place on the Upper East Side. Lara stood outside one of the labor rooms at the nurses’ station. One by one the newborns were wheeled out of the room and down to the nursery. In blue scrubs, his mask hanging at his throat, Derek wandered down to the nursery.

Donning a mask, Lara followed him. “RDS?” she asked when Derek was listening to one of the baby’s lungs with his stethoscope. The respiratory distress syndrome was sometimes a common complication for a baby born preterm.

“No, he sounds good. He’ll need an oxygen hood for a while.”

She released a big sigh.

“Who’s the pediatrician on record, Lara?”

She made herself meet his gaze. Trapped by it, she felt her pulse quicken. “Dr. Bryman.”

“He’s good.” He straightened, looked so tired but smiled at her. With a look, he skittered sensation through her. “When is he supposed to show up?”

“His service said he was on his way,” she answered, striving for an all-business tone.

“How are the Halverson triplets doing?” He ambled toward one of the cribs containing a newborn who was wearing a pink cap.

“Wonderful.” Lara knew what he was doing. He was stalling, checking on the others while he waited for Dennis Bryman to arrive. “I’ll say good-night, then.” They’d been too busy for either of them to mention the near kiss. But she knew she wouldn’t.

At the elevator she looked back. His deep-set eyes locked on her again. Her heart beat harder. Was he remembering the kiss? She hoped so.

Derek figured fate had taken control, thrown him and Lara together last night. If they hadn’t been stuck in the elevator, he wouldn’t have kissed her.

“It’s not too hot to go, is it, Daddy?” Joey asked, grabbing his attention.

It was miserable outside. New York was caught in an unbearable heat wave. High temperatures had hung around for days. Humidity burdened the air. “To go where?” he asked, trying not to think about Lara. He poured cereal, then milk into a bowl for his son.