June’s menu BARONESSA GELATERIA in Boston’s North End

In addition to our regular flavors of Italian gelato, this month we are featuring:

• Puffy clouds of fresh-whipped meringue

Nothing excited Alex Barone more than flying the skies for his country in his supercharged navy jet with the Blue Angels. Close second? A beautiful woman waiting for him on land. After all, he didn’t get the nickname “Babe Magnet Barone” for nothing….

• Red, white and blue torte

A Barone heir and a waitress? Daisy knew it was an insane combination. Sooner or later the red-blooded Boston blue blood Alex Barone would come to his senses. Until then, she’d simply savor their white-hot attraction….

• An array of decadent desserts

After being so long denied, Alex and Daisy, friends by day, became lovers in the night. Their hands, their mouths, took them on a sensual journey of discovery. Then Alex took command—and brought Daisy to new heights of passion….

Buon appetito!

Beauty & The Blue Angel
Maureen Child

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MAUREEN CHILD

is a California native who loves to travel. Every chance they get, she and her husband are taking off on another research trip. The author of more than sixty books, Maureen loves a happy ending and still swears that she has the best job in the world. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two children and a golden retriever with delusions of grandeur.

Visit her Web site at www.maureenchild.com.

Meet the Barones of Boston—an elite clan caught in a web of danger, deceit…and desire!

Alex Barone—The one time he let his heart take the pilot seat, it got broken. His fiancée jilted him on Valentine’s Day—shade of the Barone curse. Alex prefers the fast life in the Blue Angels, flying all around the world. He’s not looking for a white picket fence to hold him in….

Daisy Cusak—The minute she told her ex-boyfriend she was pregnant, he left her in a cloud of dust. Daisy’s prepared to be both mother and father to her baby now; she’ll do whatever it takes. She’s not looking for a love-’em-and-leave-’em flyboy….

Rita Barone—Alex’s sister, a nurse, delivers Daisy’s healthy, perfect little girl. Now she’s interested in delivering another Barone to the altar.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

One

Daisy Cusak ignored the ribbon of pain snaking through her. “Just a twinge,” she whispered, then ran the palm of her hand across her swollen belly. “Come on, sweetie, don’t do this to Mommy, okay?”

The pains had been intermittent all day, but she’d brushed them off. All of the books said there was nothing to worry about until the contractions were steady and just a few minutes apart. Well, heck. One every hour and a half or so wasn’t anything to worry about, right?

Besides, on a busy Friday night, she could make a lot of tips serving dinner at Antonio’s Italian restaurant. And right now, that money would mean a lot.

All around her, noises of the busy kitchen echoed—pans clashing, chefs cursing, expensive china plates clinking. It was music of a sort. And the waiters and waitresses were the dancers.

She’d been doing this for four years and she was darn good at it. Though people wouldn’t exactly consider being a waitress a career, Daisy didn’t have a problem with it. She loved her job. She met new people every night, had a few regulars who would wait an extra half hour just to get seated in her station, and her bosses, the Contis, were just so darn nice to work for.

Rather than fire her for being pregnant, members of the Conti family were continually urging her to sit down, get off her feet. Someone was always near to help her with the heavier trays, and she’d already been assured that her job would be waiting for her after she took some time off with the baby.

“You’ll see,” she said, smiling down at her unborn child. “It’s going to be great. We’re going to be great.”

“Everything all right, Daisy?”

She turned abruptly and grinned at Joan, one of the other waitresses. “Sure. I’m good.”

The other woman looked as though she didn’t believe her, and Daisy silently wished she was just a little bit better at lying.

“Why don’t you take a break?” Joan said. “I’ll cover your tables for you.”

“It’s okay,” Daisy answered firmly, willing not only Joan, but herself, to believe it. “I’m fine. Honest.”

Her friend gave her a worried frown, then stacked two plates of veal parmigiana on her serving tray. “Okay, but I’ve got my eye on you.”

Along with everyone else at Antonio’s, Daisy thought. She picked up a pot of coffee, pushed through the Out door and walked into the main dining room. Casual elegance flavored the room. Snowy-white linens draped the tables, candles flickered wildly within the crystal hurricane globes and soft strains of weeping violin music drifted from the overhead speakers.

Above the music came the comfortable murmur of voices, punctuated every once in a while by someone’s laughter. Wineglasses clinked, forks and knives clattered against china, and men and women dressed in starched white shirts and creased black trousers moved through the crowd with choreographed precision.

Daisy smiled at her customers as she offered more coffee and took orders. She bent to grin at a toddler who was strapped into his high chair and laughing over the spaghetti he’d rubbed into his hair. Most of the wait staff hated having kids in their sections. It usually meant lost time when the customers left, because the mess had to be cleaned before anyone else could be seated. And lost time meant lost money.

But Daisy had always loved kids. Even the messy, cranky ones. Which, Joan had told her too many times to count, made Daisy nuts.

A group of men in their thirties followed the hostess and began to thread their way through the maze of tables to the huge, dark maroon leather booth at the back of Daisy’s station. As they passed, she caught a look of apology from the hostess seating them. Four men would be big eaters and probably end up running Daisy’s legs off. On the bright side, though, they might turn out to be good tippers, too. And she was always trying to beef up the nest egg building ever so slowly in the bank.

Another pain gripped her, this time sharply, briefly, in the middle of her back, and Daisy stiffened in reaction. Oh no, honey. Not now.

As if her baby heard that silent plea, the pain drifted away into nothing more than a slow, nagging ache. That Daisy could handle.

All she had to do was get through the next couple of hours and she’d be home free.

All he had to do was get through the next couple of hours and he’d be home free. That was what Alex Barone kept telling himself.

He was the last to be seated, and caught himself damn near perched on the edge of the leather banquette, as if ready to hit the floor running. When that thought flashed through his mind, he gritted his teeth and eased back on the bench seat. Damned if he’d feel guilty for coming into this restaurant.

Damned if he’d worry about the ramifications.

Although, if he’d known his friends were going to choose Antonio’s, he might have bowed out. There was no point in going out of his way to antagonize an old family enemy.

He glanced around at the place and smiled to himself. As a Barone, he’d been raised with stories that made the Conti family sound like demons. But if this was their hell, they’d made a nice place of it. Dim lighting, soft music…the scents coming out of the kitchen nearly made him groan in appreciation.

Nearly every table was full, and the wait staff looked busy as ground troops settling in for a big campaign. That thought brought a smile. He’d been in the military too long.

While his friends laughed and talked, Alex let his gaze drift around the room again, keeping a watchful eye out for any loose Contis. But since none of them knew Alex personally, what were the chances he’d be recognized as a Barone? Slim to none.

So he was just going to relax, have dinner, then leave with no one the wiser.

In the next instant, all thoughts of leaving raced from his brain.

“Hello, my name is Daisy and I’ll be your server tonight.”

A gorgeous woman seemed to appear out of nowhere, standing right beside Alex as she gave the whole table a smile wide and bright enough to light up all the shadowy corners in the room.

A purely male instinct had Alex straightening up in his seat for a closer, more thorough look. Her long, curly chestnut hair was caught at the nape of her neck with a slightly tarnished silver barrette. Her eyes weren’t quite blue or green, but a tantalizing combination of both. Her pale skin looked satin smooth and soft. Her voice held just a hint of humor. Alex’s interest was piqued…until her enormous belly nearly bumped him as she shifted position on what had to be tired feet.

Pregnant.

Taken.

Well, damn. Disappointment shot through him. His gaze dropped automatically to her ring finger. Nothing. Not even a white mark to indicate there might have been one there at some point.

He frowned to himself. Not married? What kind of moron would walk away from a woman like this? Especially if she was carrying his child?

“Hello, Daisy,” one of the guys—Mike Hannigan—said with a slow whistle of approval.

Alex shot him a disgusted look, but apparently it didn’t bother the woman at all.

“Can I start you out with some drinks? Appetizers?” she asked as she handed around several long menus.

“Beers all around,” Nick Santee ordered, and she nodded as she made a note on her order pad.

“Your phone number?” Tim Hawkins ventured.

She grinned, and the full, megawatt force of that smile hit Alex like a fist to the gut. Damn, this was one potent female, even in her condition.

“Sure,” she said, rubbing one hand along her belly. “It’s one eight hundred way too pregnant.”

Then she turned and walked off to get their drinks. While the guys laughed and kidded Tim about his lousy pickup skills, Alex half turned in his seat to follow her progress through the restaurant. She had a bounce in her step that he liked. The smile on her face had wavered only once, when she’d grimaced and dropped a hand to her belly, as if comforting the child within.

And who, he wondered, comforted her?

As the evening wore on, his interest in her only sharpened. When she brought the pitcher of beer and four glasses, he slid out of the booth to take the heavy tray from her.

“Oh. I’m okay, really.”

“Never said you weren’t, ma’am.”

She looked up at him, and he decided that her eyes were more blue than green.

“It’s Daisy. Just Daisy.”

He nodded, standing there, holding a trayful of drinks and looking down into fathomless eyes that seemed to draw him deeper with every passing second. “I’m Alex.”

She licked her lips, pulled in a shuddering breath and let it out again. “Well, thanks for the help…Alex.”

“No problem.”

He unloaded the beers, handed her back the empty tray and then stood in the aisle watching her walk away.

“Hey, Barone,” Nick called, and Alex flinched, hoping no one else had heard his last name.

“What?”

One of the guys laughed.

Nick said, “You gonna sit down and have a beer, or do you want to go on back to the kitchen and help her out there, too?”

Embarrassed to be caught fantasizing about a pregnant woman, Alex grinned and took his seat. Reaching for his beer, he took a long drink, hoping the icy brew would help stamp out the fires within.

But still he couldn’t help watching her. She should be tired. Yet her energy never seemed to flag. And she was stronger than her fragile build seemed to indicate. She lifted heavy trays with ease and kept up such a fast pace he was pretty sure if she’d been walking in a straight line, she’d have made it to Cleveland by now.

“Geez, Barone,” Nick muttered, leaning closer. “Get a grip. There’s lots of pretty women in Boston. Do you have to home in on one who’s obviously taken?”

“Who’s homing in?” Alex countered. Silently, though, he reminded himself that she wasn’t taken. At least not by a man who appreciated her enough to marry her. “I’m just—”

“Window shopping?” Tim asked.

“Close your hole,” Mike told him.

Alex glanced around at the men gathered at the table. Men he’d known for years. Like him, they were navy pilots, guys he’d trained with, studied with and flown with. There was a bond between them that even family couldn’t match.

And yet…right now, he wished them all to the Antarctic.

Stupid, but he wanted their waitress to himself.

When she set their check on the edge of the table, Alex picked it up quickly, his fingertips brushing hers. She drew back fast, almost as if she’d felt the same snap of electricity he had. Which was kind of weird. She was pregnant, for Pete’s sake. Very pregnant. It should have put her off-limits.

“So, are you guys shipping out now?” Daisy asked, trying to keep her gaze from drifting toward the man sitting so close to her.

His friends were easier to deal with. They were friendly, charming, casually flirtatious, like most of the navy men she’d waited on at Antonio’s. And she’d treated them as she did all of her customers—with polite friendliness and nothing more.

Since the day Jeff had called her a mantrap and walked out the door, leaving behind not only her but his unborn child, Daisy hadn’t given any man a second look. Until tonight. This one—Alex, with the ebony hair and dark brown eyes and sharp-as-a-razor cheekbones—was different. She’d known it the minute he looked at her. And the feeling had only grown over the last hour and a half.

She’d felt his gaze on her most of the night, and didn’t even want to think about the feelings that dark, steady stare engendered.

Hormones.

That had to be the reason.

Her hormones were out of whack because of the baby.

“No,” Alex said, and she steeled herself to meet that gaze head-on. “We’re on leave, actually.”

“Are you from Boston?” she asked and told herself she was only being friendly, just as she would with any other customer. But even she didn’t believe it.

There was just something about this man…

“I was raised here,” he was saying.

One of the other men spoke up, but his voice was like a buzz in her ears. All she heard, all she could see was this man watching her through the darkest, warmest eyes she’d ever seen.

“You have family here?”

A slow, wicked smile curved one side of his mouth, and her stomach jittered. “Yeah, I come from a big family. I’m the fifth of eight kids.”

She dropped one hand to the mound of her belly. “Eight. That must be nice.”

“Not when I was a kid,” he admitted. “Too many people fighting over the TV and cookies.”

Daisy smiled at the mental image of a houseful of children, laughing, happy. Then, sadly, she let it go. It was something she’d never known, and now her baby, too, would grow up alone.

No. Not alone. Her baby would always have her.

Alex’s friends eased out of the booth and headed for the front of the restaurant. He watched them go, nodded, then reached into his wallet for a few bills. He handed her the money and the check and said, “Keep the change.”

“Thanks. I mean—” He was leaving. Probably just as well, she told herself. And yet she felt oddly reluctant to let him walk away.

“What are you doing in my restaurant?”

Daisy spun around to watch in amazement as Salvatore Conti, her boss, came rushing out of the kitchen, flapping a pristine white dish towel like some crazed matador looking for a bull.

Two

“Damn it.” Alex stiffened and braced for a confrontation. He’d hoped to make it out of Antonio’s without incident. But it looked as if Sal had other plans.

The older man hurried toward him, still shouting, mindless of the other customers or his employees’ fascinated attention. Sal Conti was sixty-two, but he was still pretty spry. About five feet eleven inches tall, he was a little shorter than Alex, and slender. His brown eyes were flashing and his cheeks were filled with furious color.

“What are you doing here?” Sal demanded. “Spying? This is what the Barones have come to now?”

Okay, fine. Alex hadn’t wanted a scene, but he’d be damned if he’d stand here and let his family be insulted.

“Spying?” he retorted, standing his ground. “Are all of you Contis paranoid? Or is it just you?”

“Paranoid?” Sal waved that towel furiously, shaking his other fist in the air. “You can talk of paranoid? After what your family’s done to mine?”

“What we’ve done? You know damn well it was the Contis behind that gelato fiasco.”

“Ridiculous,” Sal snapped.

“And as long as we’re at it,” Alex added, meeting the older man’s narrowed gaze with a glare of his own, “I still think your family was behind the arson.”

Sal huffed in a breath until his narrow chest swelled. “Slander.” He shot a quick look around at his customers and waved that towel again. “You all heard him. That’s slander. The Contis were cleared by the police. That’s a vicious lie the Barones toss around to make us look bad.”

Alex snorted in laughter. “Believe it or not, we don’t sit around thinking about the Contis. Besides, you do a great job of looking bad all on your own.”

“The Contis have done nothing. We don’t need to bring bad fortune onto the Barones.” He waved a hand toward the ceiling and the night sky beyond. “It’s in the stars. You’re all ill-fated.”

Ill-fated. Bad fortune. This whole Italian curse thing had been rattling around between their two families for years, and Alex, for one, was tired of it.

“No such thing as fate,” he said.

“Sal…” Daisy moved toward her boss. Taking his arm, she gave it a tug, as if she was used to dealing with the older man’s flash temper. Which, Alex thought, she probably was.

But Sal shook her off, and Daisy sighed.

“Stay out of this, Daisy,” Alex muttered, and took her arm to pull her back beside him.

Sal noticed the move and his features darkened with fury. “You leave her alone. She’s a nice girl and she doesn’t need a Barone in her life.”

“You’re nuts, you know that?” Alex retorted. Hell, for that matter, so was he. He was standing here having a shouting match with a man more than twice his age. Swiping one hand across his face, he got a grip and swallowed back the rest of the anger churning inside him.

Damn it, this was one of the reasons he’d joined the military. No one in the navy cared who his family was. No one was impressed that he came from wealth. He’d joined the service right out of college, with one thought in mind: to get away from Boston and the never-ending feud between the Barones and the Contis. It had been going on for years and showed no sign of ending. If anything, the troubles between the families had picked up recently. What with the fire and the disaster involving the new flavor gelato, the Barones were on red alert at all times and looking for Contis under every rock.

Alex was tired of the potshots and anger. But he was also a Barone and he owed the family his loyalty, even though he thought the adults on both sides were idiots.

Now what he had to do was find a way out of here, fast. He shot a quick glance around the restaurant. Curious stares pinned him in place, but his friends were nowhere to be seen. They’d already gone outside by the time Sal Conti had lost his mind. Alex glanced at Daisy, saw her confusion and wished he could explain all of this to her. But who’d believe him?

In this day and age, who would expect two completely respectable, intelligent families to be so involved in a vendetta?

“You get out of my place,” Sal told him hotly.

“Hey, I was just going.”

“And you don’t pay for your meal. We don’t need Barone money.”

Disgusted, Alex said, “I’m not taking anything from the Contis.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Daisy muttered, stepping between the two men, only to be pushed gently aside by Sal. You couldn’t work at Antonio’s without learning about Sal Conti’s quick, volcanic temper. But Daisy was also well aware that the man didn’t have a violent bone in his body and that his temper disappeared as swiftly as it erupted.

But in this case she was pretty sure both men were nuts. Standing in the middle of a nice restaurant yelling at each other about ill fortune and curses was just crazy, no matter how you looked at it.

“You go sit down, Daisy,” the older man said absently. “Get off your feet for a while.”

She groaned, winced a bit and whispered, “I think it’s too late for that.”

A heartbeat or two passed before both men turned as one to look at her. At any other moment, she would have thought their twin expressions of sheer terror were funny. However, at the moment she had other things on her mind.

Daisy felt the contraction grab hold of the middle of her back and twist her spine into a pretzel. Every square inch of her suddenly erupted with a deep, throbbing pain that seemed to blossom and grow with every passing second. This was nothing like the annoying little twinges she’d been experiencing.

This was the kind of labor pain they wrote books about.

“I think I need to go home. Call the midwife,” she whispered.

“Oh boy,” Sal muttered, reaching for her left arm just as Alex grabbed her right. “You’re okay, honey,” her boss continued. Then he shouted, “Tony!”

Someone in the kitchen yelled back, “Yeah?”

“Call an ambulance. Call a hospital. Call somebody!”

Daisy managed a chuckle at the panic in Sal’s voice, but when the contraction ended and was quickly chased by another, stronger one, that laughter faded into a low, deep moan of misery.

“I’ll take her to the hospital,” Alex said, and she shifted a glance at him. Navy pilot and a hero.

“No you won’t,” Sal countered, pulling Daisy closer to him. “We don’t need help from a Barone.”

“I’m not helping you,” Alex pointed out. He gave her arm a little tug, pulling her to his side. “I’m helping her.”

“What is this,” Daisy asked, yanking free of both of them, “a tug-of-war?”

“Hey, boss,” Tony yelled from the kitchen. “Ambulance’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”

“Cancel it,” Alex shouted, then looked down at Daisy. “I’ll get you to the hospital. Let me help. Trust me.”

She stared up into those chocolate-brown eyes of his and read determination there, along with an eagerness to help. And right then Daisy wanted all the help she could get. Besides, waiting fifteen minutes for an ambulance seemed like a lifetime.

“Okay,” she whispered, dropping one hand to her belly. “Okay, good. Let’s go.”

“Daisy, I think—”

“It’s all right, Sal.” She looked at the older man who’d been so kind to her and forced a smile for his benefit. “I don’t want to wait for the ambulance and— Ohhh…” She bent over, cradling her unborn child and biting her bottom lip to stifle the moan clogging her throat.

“That’s it,” Alex muttered, scooping her up into his arms. “We’re outta here.”

Waiters, customers and kitchen staff called out good wishes as Alex headed for the front door. The hostess rushed ahead and held the door open for him, reaching out to give Daisy’s arm a pat as they passed.

Out on the street, Alex paused, Daisy in his arms, and looked to where the guys should have been waiting in their rental car.

Only one problem.

It wasn’t there.

And neither were the guys.

“Oh, man…”

“What?” Daisy lifted her head from his shoulder.

“I think the guys took off.”

“They left you behind?”

Alex grimaced and hitched her slight form a little higher in his arms. Amazing. Even pregnant, she was so slight, so fragile that she seemed to weigh almost nothing. But even as tiny as she was, it would be a long run to the closest hospital. Damn you, guys.

“Yeah,” he said tightly, finally answering her question. “We do that sometimes. Go somewhere, then abandon one of the guys to make his own way back to the base.”

“Why?”

He glanced at those blue-green eyes and lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “A joke. One I used to think was pretty funny.”

“Swell.”

Then she inhaled sharply and Alex felt her body tense. Terror rippled along his spine. He had to get her to help. Fast. “Cab. We need a cab.”

And since he needed one, naturally there wasn’t a single taxi to be seen. Ordinarily, a man could cross any Boston street by walking across the hoods of the cabs waiting in traffic. But not tonight. On this warm summer night, the air was still and so were the streets.

As horrible thoughts of running back into the restaurant to ask Sal for help raced through his brain, Alex realized exactly where they were. If he’d had a free hand, he’d have slapped himself in the forehead.

“No problem,” he said, “we’re good.” He started walking at a long-legged, hurried pace.

“Where are you going?” Daisy demanded, already seeing the lights of Antonio’s slip into the distance. The hospital was uptown and he was headed in the wrong direction.

“My sister’s place,” he muttered.

“Your sister?”

“Just a couple blocks away. She’s a registered nurse. She’ll know what to do.”

“Are you kidding?” Daisy dug her fingers into his shoulder and talked through a pain that seemed strong enough to tear her in half. “I know what to do. Get to the hospital and deliver this baby.”

“I know. I know. But there aren’t any cabs—”

“The ambulance—”

“Look,” he said as he kept moving, “we could go back to the restaurant and wait for the ambulance. Or we could go about a block and wait for an ambulance. My way, we’ll have a registered nurse there to help. Which beats having a busboy or Sal deliver your baby.”

“Okay, that makes sense.”

He gave her a squeeze and moved even faster. “Trust me, okay? It’ll be good. I’ll take care of you.”

“Why are you doing this? You don’t even know me.”

He looked at her. “Does it matter right now?”

She met those dark, deep eyes and heard herself say, “No. No, it doesn’t matter.”

As the next contraction rippled through her body, Daisy surrendered. She was in no position to hop out of his arms and race down the street, trying to find a cab on her own. Even if she’d wanted to. Which she didn’t. For some reason, it felt good having him near. Being held as if she were something precious. Someone to be cherished. It had been so long….

No, that wasn’t right. She’d never felt like this before. No one had ever cherished her. No one had ever truly cared. Not even the man she’d thought would love her forever. The man who’d given her a baby, then run off and gotten himself killed the moment he’d found out about the pregnancy.

She pushed thoughts of Jeff out of her mind. It wouldn’t do any good to go back down that road. That time was over and done, and a whole new world was about to open up to her.

If she could just make it through labor.

Alex moved quickly. Streetlamps haloed the sidewalk with a soft, ivory light and a cool evening breeze slid in off the ocean, lightening the humidity like a gift from God. Up and down the street, people went about their business, completely ignoring the tall man with a pregnant woman in his arms. A group of kids skateboarded around them like a wave cresting around a buoy, but Daisy hardly noticed. She was much too involved with what was happening to her own body to care about anything else.

“Hang on, okay?” Alex whispered. “It’s not far now.”

“Boy, I hope not.” Her fingers tightened on his shoulder again, then slowly, fractionally, relaxed. “I’m not an expert or anything, but I think this is it.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

“No, I mean now.” Daisy felt as though everything inside her was struggling to push its way out of her body. And in the classes she’d taken, that was pretty much D hour. D as in delivery.

“Oh man, don’t say that.” He glanced down at her and held her more tightly to him. “Please don’t say that.”

“This isn’t exactly how I’d planned to do this, you know.”

“I know. But it’s really close. I swear. Just hold on, okay?”

“The pains are coming so fast. Really strong, too.” She tipped her head to look at him. In the glow of the streetlamp, his face seemed to pale a little, but Daisy told herself it was probably a trick of the lighting. At least, she hoped so. She didn’t want to think that he was as scared as she was.

Heck, somebody should be in charge here.

“Don’t push.”

“What?”

“Breathe, breathe. Pant. You know.” Then he demonstrated, and Daisy had to laugh despite the pain lancing through her middle.

“And where’d you learn that, fly boy?”

“Hey, I have a TV. I’ve seen movies.” He grinned, but didn’t look down at her. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, as if he could see his destination and wasn’t about to be distracted from reaching his goal. “I know all of that stuff. Boil water. Pant. Don’t push. Push.”

“Well gee,” she said, with a laugh that drifted into a moan, “I feel much better now. I had no idea you were an expert.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t like to brag.”

“An unusual man.”

“Funny,” he said, sparing her a quick glance as he rounded a corner and quickened his pace. “Just don’t push anything out yet, whatever you do.” He glanced both ways at the sporadic traffic, before sprinting across the street toward an old brownstone. “We’re almost there. See? That’s it.”

Daisy held on to his broad shoulders and listened to the steady beat of his heart beneath her cheek. How strange. Two hours ago, she hadn’t known this man existed. Now, on the biggest night of her life, he was all that stood between her and delivering her baby on the street, alone.

And though she should have been worried—after all, he was a complete stranger—she wasn’t. There was almost a sense of peace in being held in his arms. As if it was where she belonged.

Okay, hysteria is probably not a good sign.

Where she belonged?

What was she thinking? Obviously, imminent birth put a strain on one’s faculties.

He stopped in front of the well-kept old brownstone, and Daisy smiled in spite of the pain. She loved these old buildings. There was so much character, so much history in every single brick. It was one of her dreams to one day buy a run-down place and bring it back to life, help it to regain some of its past glory. Just as someone had done here.

In the glow of the porch light, Daisy looked at the dark red front door and the petunia-filled window boxes lining the front windows. A tiny garden, bursting with colorful blooms, filled the postage stamp-size plot between the brownstone and the sidewalk. The combined scents of summer flowers swept into the air, and Daisy inhaled them with her next deep breath.

Alex climbed the short steps, reached out and punched a buzzer, holding the button down with a steady, insistent pressure.

“If you don’t let up on that button,” Daisy reminded him tightly, “they can’t answer, you know.”

“Right. Right.” He let it go and waited, tapping one foot on the concrete steps with a staccato rhythm that danced along his body and filtered into hers.

“Hey!” A disembodied voice floated out of the intercom. “Take it easy on the buzzer, huh?”

“Rita?” Alex’s voice finally sounded strained, and Daisy couldn’t help but be impressed that he’d managed to stay calm up until now. “It’s me. Open the damn door, will you?”

“Alex?” The unseen woman’s voice sharpened with concern. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?”

“Do I sound all right?” He shook his head, muttered, “Sisters,” then more loudly, he ordered, “Open the door, damn it.”

A buzz sounded and the door snicked open. Alex pushed it wider with his foot. Stepping into the foyer, he kicked it shut behind him, then looked straight up.

Daisy matched his gaze, staring up the stairwell, following the line of the polished wood banisters that swept up and up the center of the four-story building. At the third floor, a woman’s head suddenly appeared over the railing.

“Alex? What on earth is—” She broke off and gasped, so loudly that Daisy heard her sharp intake of breath.

“Rita,” he called, “help.”

“Oh my goodness.” She took in the scene in an instant and just as quickly began issuing orders. “Take the elevator, Alex. Go up to Gina’s apartment. It’s empty. I’ll alert Maria and we’ll meet you there.”

“Right.”

“Who’s that?” Daisy asked, shifting her gaze to his face again.

“My sister the nurse. We’ll call an ambulance and Rita can help till it gets here.”

“Okay, good.” Daisy glanced at the well-appointed reception area as he raced with her across the room. Overstuffed beige furniture was lined up against ivory walls. An ice-blue area rug lay in the center of the space, under a huge glass-and-oak table. Pale blue pillows were tossed here and there, giving the room a warm, inviting feel and the scent of fresh cut flowers filled the air. It was cozy, comfortable and peaceful.

But before she could notice much more, Alex was at the old-fashioned elevator, pushing back the iron gate and stepping inside.

“How old is this thing?” she asked warily as he stabbed the fourth-floor button and the elevator lurched into motion.

“Don’t worry. My dad made sure the elevator was brand-new and up to specs. He wouldn’t trust his girls to some ancient elevator. He just liked the antique look.”

“Glad to hear it.” Truthfully, though, Daisy was just glad there was an elevator. With the pain now a constant companion, there was no way she would have been able to climb four flights of stairs.

When the elevator stopped and Alex threw the iron gate open, the first thing Daisy saw was his sister’s sympathetic smile. “You poor thing. Don’t you worry about anything, all right? You’re safe.”

Strange, Daisy thought. But she’d felt safe since the moment she’d first seen Alex back at Antonio’s.

Three

Daisy barely had time to say hello before Alex’s two sisters had swept her off and planted her in bed. Which was just as well, since she wasn’t entirely sure she could speak without releasing the screams gathering at the back of her throat.

So she gritted her teeth and kept quiet as Alex left her in his sisters’ care. In just a couple of minutes, the two women helped Daisy into a nightgown and tucked her into what was apparently yet a third sister’s bed. The wide, brass bed creaked comfortably as she shifted higher onto the pillows and looked around the room. A large, cherry armoire stood against one wall and luxurious Turkish rugs dotted the shining wooden floors. It was a big, beautiful room. Nothing at all like her own small efficiency apartment.

“I don’t feel right about this,” she managed to say, and looked from one to the other of the women standing on either side of the bed.

The older of the two—Rita, that was her name—said, “Don’t you worry, Daisy. This was our sister Gina’s apartment, but she got married and moved out. For tonight, just consider it yours.”

“I don’t know…” But then the child within made another attempt at escape, and Daisy forgot all about feeling oddly out of place. Nothing was more important than the coming birth. Nothing.

“Do you want me to call anyone?”

Again Daisy looked at Rita. Her long, dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her chocolate-brown eyes were warm with concern. She smiled, and Daisy saw the resemblance between her and Alex.

“Sarah,” Daisy said. “My midwife. Number’s in my purse.”

“Got it,” the woman said. “Husband? Boyfriend?”

“No,” Daisy said. “There’s no one.”

Rita shot her sister a quick look, then said, “Okay then, I’ll call the midwife.”

“Try not to worry, okay? I mean, just concentrate on your baby,” the other sister, Maria, said, plumping the pillow beneath Daisy’s head as Rita hurried out of the room. “I know this must be hard, but honest to God, we’re gonna take care of you. And remember, Rita’s a nurse.”

“Thanks,” Daisy muttered as the last of a contraction faded into the soft haze that signaled not the end, but the beginnings of yet another, stronger pain to come.

Maria, a shorter, younger version of her sister, bustled around for a few more minutes. She tucked and untucked blankets, smoothed sheets and patted Daisy’s hand in a distracted, nervous sort of way. Finally, when she’d run out of things to straighten, she announced, “I’m going to go make you some tea,” and left the room.

This just wasn’t working out at all the way she’d planned it, Daisy thought. And she’d spent plenty of time planning for the birth of her child. She’d been to a clinic for regular checkups and had even arranged for a midwife to come to her apartment to deliver the baby. Sure, some of her friends had been aghast at the idea of her delivering at home. But a trained midwife was every bit as good as an obstetrician—especially when the mother was young and healthy, and no problems were expected. Sarah Lovell was an excellent midwife, warm and caring and far less expensive than an unnecessary hospital stay. Which was an important consideration for a single woman with limited health benefits.

Besides, Daisy had wanted to go through labor and delivery surrounded by familiar things. After all, she’d assumed that she’d be alone when giving birth, and at least in her own home, she’d feel safe…comfortable.

Instead, though, she was lying on a stranger’s bed, with even more strangers hovering over her, asking if she was all right. All right? She was so far from all right she wasn’t even in the same universe. Then Alex entered the room, pausing briefly in the open doorway. Her gaze met his and she felt a little bit better as she watched him cross the room in a few long strides. Funny how just a couple of hours ago she hadn’t known he existed. Now his was the only familiar face in a world gone suddenly very weird.

“How you doin’?” he asked, leaning over her and brushing her hair back from her face.

“I’ve been better.”

He smiled, and she thought, That’s easy for you to do. Then the next pain hit and she bit down hard on her bottom lip to keep a screech from erupting.

He took her hand, enfolding it in his. Just having him hold on to her helped, and she drew on his strength when her own started to ebb.

“Squeeze my hand,” she whispered through gritted teeth. The midwife had told her that during delivery she should try to keep her muscles as relaxed as possible, so she couldn’t hold on to him.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, but tightened his grip nonetheless.

“You won’t. Tighter.” His fingers clenched harder and it actually helped to distract her from the real spasms twisting her middle. Closing her eyes, she arched with the pain, trying not to fight it. Trying to remember that when this was all over, she would have her baby. She’d never be alone again. She would have someone to love. Someone who would love her back.

“Rita?” Alex turned to look at his sister as she hurried back into the bedroom.

“The midwife was out on another delivery. I left a message,” she said, forcing a smile for Daisy before looking at her brother. “Alex, go away.”

“What?”

“I want to check her progress. Leave.”

“No,” Daisy said, and could hardly believe she was saying it. But she simply didn’t want to go through this alone. His warm strength reached down into the cold, dark corners inside her, and Daisy couldn’t imagine letting go of that feeling. Not now. “Stay. Just don’t let go of my hand.”

Alex looked down into those pain-filled blue-green eyes and knew he wasn’t going anywhere. She seemed so small, so alone. And yet she faced each pain as bravely as any military man he’d ever seen. She didn’t back down. She didn’t scream or complain. She simply braced herself and rolled with each progressively stronger contraction.

He looked down at her small hand as his fingers tightened around her fragile bones and a part of him wondered at the strength in her. Alone. No one to help her. No one to help raise this baby. She faced it all bravely—even though she was going through the biggest moment in her life surrounded by strangers.

“I’m not goin’ anywhere, Rita.”

Rita scowled at her brother, then smiled at Daisy. “It’s okay. The midwife will get here eventually. But until she does, we’ll do fine. I’ve helped to deliver lots of babies and even done a couple on my own in the ER. Mothers and babies are doing nicely.”

Good to know. Very good, Daisy thought as another pain crested and she arched her back, riding it as though it were some invisible bucking bronco in a rodeo.

Her world became nothing more than the pain and Alex’s grip on her hand. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else registered. Not Rita’s tender hands or whispered words of encouragement. Nine long months had come down to this one moment in time.

Daisy’s brain raced, trying to stay one step ahead of the pain, trying to remember that every contraction brought her one step closer to being a family. That any minute now she’d be holding her baby in her arms and the pain would be only a memory. Oh, she wished it was just a memory.

But that sense of peace hadn’t hit her yet. What she needed at the moment was a distraction. Any distraction.

“Talk to me.” She looked up at Alex and forced the words through gritted teeth.

He grabbed a nearby chair and drew it close to the bed. Sitting down, he kept a firm grip on her hand and said, “Sure. What should I talk about?”

“Anything. Everything.” She sucked in a greedy gulp of air. “Just talk to me.”

“Right.” Alex shot a glance to the foot of the bed, where Rita was stacking clean towels and arranging a lamp for the best possible light. Maria was in the other room, probably pacing a trench in Gina’s carpet. He shifted his gaze back to Daisy, smiled and started talking.

His words flowed over her, creating wonderful pictures that took her out of the lovely bedroom, away from the body-twisting agony of labor and into worlds and places she’d never seen before. She could almost see Alex at the commands of a navy jet. She nearly felt the G forces of takeoff and the meteoric rise as the jet climbed toward heaven. She sensed the freedom that flying gave him and she heard the joy in his voice as he described being a member of the navy’s elite flight team, the Blue Angels.

He painted word pictures for her and she saw the incredible stunts he and his team performed miles above the earth. She could hear the oohs and aahs of the crowd as they stared, transfixed, at the intricately choreographed maneuvers the pilots made. And she sensed his regret that his time on the team was over. But the stories he told, the magic in his voice, were enough to take her mind off the torment in her own body, and for that, she’d always be grateful.

“I’ll be reassigned when my leave’s up,” he continued, leaning in close to her, making her concentrate on his words rather than the pain. “Don’t know yet where I’ll end up, but—”

Daisy nearly flew off the bed. A sudden, desperate urge to push grabbed her and she clutched at Alex’s forearm with a frantic grip. “Oh…oh God. Something…something’s changed. It’s different now. And…I think it’s coming and—”

“Rita…”

Already in position, Rita lifted the edge of the thin blanket covering Daisy’s legs, and when she straightened up again, she had a determined glint in her eyes. “Okay, honey. This is it. The baby’s crowning.”

“Oh, God.” Finally. Her child. So close. Daisy’s arms ached to hold it.

“Whatever it is,” Rita added with a quick smile, “it’s got a lot of hair.”

Daisy’s breath hitched and tears stung the backs of her eyes. Her baby. A tiny person. Almost ready to enter the world.

And she had to help.

“Have to push,” she said. “Have to push now.”

“You can’t. Not yet. Just breathe, Daisy,” Rita told her. “Let the baby ease down. It’ll do most of the work now, if you just try to relax and let it.”

“Relax?”

“I know,” Rita said with a short laugh. “Easy for me to say. But you have to try. Pant. Short, sharp breaths. You can do it, Daisy.”

“You can,” Alex said, standing up to lean over her, drawing her gaze to his face. “You’re plenty amazing, Daisy. You can do this.”

She didn’t want to. She wanted to push. She wanted the miracle over already. She wanted the pain to stop and her baby to be born. Oh God, she wanted to get up out of her body and run away.

Daisy twisted and writhed on the bed, planting her feet and rolling from side to side with the pain.

“Just a little longer, Daisy,” Rita said. “You’re doing great. Everything’s terrific. Just a little longer. Be tough, okay?”

“Push,” she whispered between pants as the driving, instinctive urge grabbed hold of her and demanded to be obeyed.

“Soon.”

“Now.”

“Look at me, Daisy.” It was Alex’s voice again, and she turned her head to look at him. Staring into his dark brown eyes, she concentrated on the way the light seemed to fill them, how warmth pooled in their centers and radiated toward her. “Concentrate on me, Daisy. You can do it. It’s almost time. You’ve been great and now it’s almost over. Just stay strong.”

“Alex…” She said his name with an exhaled breath and it felt almost like a prayer.

Seconds ticked past into eternity and Daisy fought her body’s instincts, trying to hold in the life fighting to get out. It made no sense, she thought wildly. It’s time. “Have to—have to—”

“Okay, here it comes,” Rita said, then added the most beautiful words Daisy had ever heard. “Push, Daisy. Push hard.”

She did and felt her body tighten, grow stronger, as if a closely reined-in Thoroughbred had suddenly been turned loose and allowed to run. Pressure built to an unbelievable level until she heard Rita say, “Okay, now wait. The baby’s turning. Pant, Daisy. Don’t push. Hold on, hold on.”

Alex stayed in her line of vision, forcing her to meet his gaze. She stared up at him and wondered how he’d come to be such an important part of her life in a few short hours. He was here. Sharing this moment with her. Making it his own as well as hers. And though she knew that it was only because they’d all been caught up in an emergency and that this sense of closeness wouldn’t last, a part of her wished it could. Wished that somehow Alex and she were connected by more than a chance meeting at a restaurant.

“You’re doing great,” he said, and smiled in admiration. “Just hang on a few more minutes.”

“I can’t,” she said, knowing it was true, feeling it down to her bones. She just couldn’t do this for another minute. It was too hard. Too much. She wanted to stop now. She wanted to close her eyes and sleep. She wanted this to be over.

“Oh, yes you can.” He leaned down closer until his face was just a kiss away from hers. “Daisy, I think you can do anything.”

“One thing you can do,” Rita said loudly from the foot of the bed, “is push. A couple more big ones will deliver your baby, Daisy.”

“I’m tired….”

“I know.” Rita glanced at her brother. “Sit behind her and prop her up. It’ll help.”

He took orders without question. A military thing, he guessed. Easing down onto the bed, he held Daisy against his chest and looked down, beyond the edge of the blankets just covering her modesty. And as he held her, he felt her body tense, felt her strength gather.

“Here it comes, Daisy,” Rita called out, sounding like the cheering section at Fenway Park. “Keep going, keep going.”

Stunned, Alex watched in silent awe as a squirming, furious baby slipped from Daisy’s body, took a deep breath and released an impressively loud screech of outrage. Laughing, Rita held the baby up for Daisy to see, and announced, “It’s a girl and she’s a beauty!”

“Oh, look at her,” Daisy said, and collapsed against him.

Alex wrapped his arms around her and laughed along with his sister as the tiny, squalling piece of humanity let everyone know she thought the world was too bright and too loud and too cold. Rita worked quickly, taking care of the little things that had to be done, then wrapping the baby snugly in a soft towel. Laying the child in the crook of her mother’s arm, Rita went about cleaning up the room while Daisy lay stunned, holding her family in the circle of her arms.

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