THE TEXAS TATTLER

All the news that’s barely fit to print!

Fortunes Discover New Heirs

Scandal was the last thing Miranda Fortune wanted to bring her family when she returned to Red Rock with her son, Kane. But now it appears that the town won’t be talking about the latest party this society matron has given—but the two infants she gave up for adoption!

According to Crazy Hearts Motel manager Hal Davies, an old rodeo cowboy pulled up to his establishment, looking for a room. “He was drunk as a skunk, but he claimed to be Kane and Gabrielle’s daddy…and said he’d just tracked down their illegitimate siblings.” P.I. Flynn Sinclair confirmed the rumor.

Local tongues are also wagging about Kane’s quick engagement to nurse Allison Preston.

Sources at the hospital where both parties work said the couple had always acted more like friends than lovers. “But one day, we practically caught them doing the horizontal mambo in the staff lunchroom!” reports one surprised, unnamed staffer.

Don’t know if there’s any connection between these two events…but the Tattler can only wonder if any more shake-ups are in store for the powerful Fortune family!

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the world of Silhouette Desire, where you can indulge yourself every month with romances that can only be described as passionate, powerful and provocative!

Fabulous BJ James brings you June’s MAN OF THE MONTH with A Lady for Lincoln Cade. In promising to take care of an ex-flame—and the widow of his estranged friend— Lincoln Cade discovers she has a child. Bestselling author Leanne Banks offers another title in her MILLION DOLLAR MEN miniseries with The Millionaire’s Secret Wish. When a former childhood sweetheart gets amnesia, a wealthy executive sees his chance to woo her back.

Desire is thrilled to present another exciting miniseries about the scandalous Fortune family with FORTUNES OF TEXAS: THE LOST HEIRS. Anne Marie Winston launches the series with A Most Desirable M.D., in which a doctor and nurse share a night of passion that leads to marriage! Dixie Browning offers a compelling story about a sophisticated businessman who falls in love with a plain, plump woman while stranded on a small island in More to Love. Cathleen Galitz’s Wyoming Cinderella features a young woman whose life is transformed when she becomes nanny to the children of her brooding, rich neighbor. And Kathie DeNosky offers her hero a surprise when he discovers a one-night stand leads to pregnancy and true love in His Baby Surprise.

Indulge yourself with all six Desire titles—and see details inside about our exciting new contest, “Silhouette Makes You a Star.”

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

A Most Desirable M.D.
Anne Marie Winston

ANNE MARIE WINSTON

Pennsylvania native Anne Marie Winston loves babies she can give back when they cry, animals in all shapes and just about anything that blooms. When she’s not writing, she’s chauffeuring children to various activities, trying not to eat chocolate or reading anything she can find. She will dance at the slightest provocation, occasionally gets suckered into amateur theater performances and weeds her gardens when she can’t see the sun for the weeds anymore. You can learn more about Anne Marie on the Harlequin/Silhouette Web site at www.eHarlequin.com.

Meet the Fortunes of Texas

Meet the Fortunes of Texas’s Lost Heirs. Membership in this Texas family has its privileges and its price. As the family gathers to welcome their newest members, they discover a murderer in their midst…and passionate new romances that only a true-bred Texas love can bring!

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Dr. Kane Fortune: While Kane’s verdict was still out on his new relatives, this doctor knew that no Fortune walked away from his responsibilities. And he was an honorable man.

Allison Preston: Fate had just made plain-Jane Allison Preston’s secret wish come true. But her dream was about to become a nightmare unless she could make Kane Fortune see that he belonged with her forever….

Miranda Fortune: This Fortune heiress had been estranged from her family for over twenty-five years, but now the secret that drove her out of Red Rock, Texas, is about to be revealed!

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

One

Dr. Kane Fortune slammed through the doors of County General Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, frustration and fury eating at his gut like a living thing. Damn, but he hated to lose a patient. Hated it, hated it, hated it.

He supposed every doctor did, but somehow the babies always seemed the worst to him. This one had been particularly tough. The young father had broken down and cried until they’d had to call his family physician in to offer comfort and medication. That guy had wanted his child so much…too bad every father in the world didn’t care that deeply. The anger that bubbled up from far down inside him was old and bitter. If he ever had children, he’d be there for them every step of the way. He took a sharp left across the parking lot, striding toward the rugged Ford Explorer he’d bought while he still lived in California, his head down, hands jammed in his trouser pockets.

He almost ran the woman down before he realized she was standing in his path.

“Whoa—I’m sorry.” He reached out automatically to steady her, cupping her elbow, and only then did he realize who it was.

“Allison.” He stopped, still holding her elbow, thunderstruck.

Allison Preston was a pediatric nurse with whom he worked on a near-daily basis in the neonatal unit. She was steady, sensible, reliable, and without question his favorite person in the hospital. They’d gotten into the habit of having coffee together once or twice a week if they happened to be in the cafeteria or the staff lounge at the same time. He still wasn’t sure how it had happened, but Allison had become the one person in whom he could confide the pressures of the life-altering decisions he was often forced to make. He’d actually begun to anticipate when she would take her breaks and time himself so that his would coincide. She was the best listener he’d ever met, and her quiet understanding had soothed him on more than one occasion.

But the Allison standing before him wasn’t the pale, buttoned-down nurse with her blond hair scraped back in a severe bun to whom he was accustomed. This Allison had yards and yards of thick, bouncy, curling sunlit tresses that she’d been in the process of unpinning when he’d nearly run her down. The curls cascaded around her shoulders and down her back, glowing in the early morning light with an almost unnatural sheen as they slithered free of the bun. The jolt he’d given her had sent one wayward lock flying across her face and he watched, mesmerized, as she hooked a finger through the curl and tugged it aside.

“Dr. Fortune. Kane,” she said belatedly, when he pointed a finger at her, silently reminding her that he’d told her to call him Kane when they weren’t working. “I’m sorry, too. I should have been paying more attention.”

“I, uh, I was distracted.” The words were a lame effort. He still couldn’t believe it was the same woman he thought he knew. “I’ve never seen you with your hair down,” he said slowly. “You have…a lot of hair.”

A faint hint of pink color crept into her cheeks and she ducked her head in a self-conscious manner he recognized. “A mess, you mean,” she corrected. “I’ve thought about getting it cut, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.”

He didn’t say anything. He wanted to beg her not to cut it, to tell her that hair like that was every man’s fantasy, that he could imagine wrapping himself in that gorgeous mane, could see it streaming around him while—

What the hell was he thinking? This was Allison, for God’s sake. His co-worker. His friend, if he could call her that. His confidante.

“Kane?” She was eyeing him curiously, the emerald eyes that were one of her most striking features wide with concern. “Are you okay?” She put her hand on his arm and patted gently, comfortingly. “The Simonds’ baby didn’t make it, did she?”

Her hand was warm on his arm, drawing him back to the present and he shook his head silently as the reasons for his lack of concentration returned.

“You did everything you could, you know.” She continued touching his arm now, a light, soothing stroke. “I knew if she survived the week it would be a miracle.” She sighed. “And let’s face it, with the number of premature infants we see with serious problems, miracles don’t come along often enough.”

“It still tears me apart,” he admitted quietly, the regret he still felt at losing the baby welling within him again.

She tilted her head and smiled sympathetically at him. “That’s not a bad thing, you know. It’s one of the reasons you’re the best doctor on this staff. You care.”

He shook his head. “Too much, sometimes.” He lifted a hand and scrubbed it over his face, massaging his temple. “I’m whipped. I was up almost all night with that case, and I’ve got rounds in a few hours. I’m going to try to grab some sleep.”

She nodded. “My shift just ended at seven. I’m headed home, too.” She stepped back, hesitated, then lifted her hand again and briefly squeezed his shoulder. “Get some rest. And try not to feel so badly. She was lucky to have had you for a doctor.”

And with one last smile, she climbed into a little red Mazda and backed out of the parking space, giving him a long study of her classical profile before she drove away.

Kane stood there, watching until she was out of sight. A red sports car. If he’d ever considered what kind of car she drove, he’d have guessed a sensible compact or a small sedan in a dark color that wouldn’t attract a lot of notice. It was a shock, although he didn’t quite know why. Just like the hair. Maybe Allison wasn’t as sensible and passionless as the image she projected.

When he realized he was massaging the shoulder she’d touched, he dropped his hand and grimaced. God, he must be tired. He’d never been an indiscriminate skirt-chaser and he didn’t usually get the hots for quiet little nurses, but here he stood, wondering what Allison Preston would look like lying beneath him with all that glorious hair spread across the pillow.

Probably damned good. He was a male, after all. He’d noticed the trim little butt beneath her uniform pants and he’d eyed her breasts from time to time, wondering if they looked so full because her waist was so small or her uniform top was loose…or because they were full and round and delicious. But he’d always stopped himself from finding out with the reminder that a good friend was a hard commodity to come by. Allison was one of the few women he knew who didn’t seem to want anything from him. Most women, even if they didn’t know about his family connections, wanted either sex or marriage or both. The rest simply added money and prestige to that list.

But Allison wasn’t like the women who sought him out on a near-daily basis, and he found his interest level rising. She was gentle and soft and if he were honest, he’d admit that he’d wondered if she’d be that gentle and soft in bed, or if he could get her to turn into a demanding wildcat beneath his hands.

Stop it, he told himself. Allison would be mortified if she knew what you were thinking.

Banishing the images teasing his mind, he walked on across the lot to his car and drove out to his mother’s villa in Kingston Estates, not far from the hospital. It was one of the newest communities in San Antonio, an enclave of indecent wealth, and his mother’s home was no exception. The sight of her sprawling Mediterranean-style villa always took him aback for an instant no matter how many times he came by.

He’d grown up in modest circumstances—modest, ha! That was an understatement. His mother had barely been able to keep a roof over her children’s heads for most of his life. He’d worked his butt off in school to keep his grades high, knowing that his only chance at med school was on scholarships and loans. Then, six years ago, his sister had discovered that their mother hadn’t been entirely truthful with her children.

He and Gabrielle always had assumed she had no family…which was laughable now that they knew the truth. Miranda had family in spades, though she’d been estranged from them after a fight with her father years before Kane’s birth.

Although Kane’s mother had resisted the idea of reconciliation at first, his sister Gabrielle had badgered her until finally Miranda had softened. The father with whom she’d always clashed had passed away, and Miranda’s brother Ryan had welcomed her back into the family fold—the family that had turned out to be one of the wealthiest clans in Texas, the Fortunes.

When his mother had decided to reclaim the Fortune name, everything had changed. They’d gone from being a threesome to being part of a…a tribe. True, the tribe had been uniformly warm and welcoming, but it was still overwhelming to have a hundred relatives instead of two.

To Kane’s shock and surprise, that welcome had included sharing his grandfather’s extremely large estate with Miranda. His mother, a woman who had elevated scrimping and saving to an art form, now was one of the most well-to-do heiresses in the country.

Kane still wasn’t sure how he felt about the Fortune money. He didn’t begrudge his mother her welcome back to the life into which she’d been born. She deserved to take it easy after all the rough years.

One thing he was sure of, though—he didn’t want it. He’d gotten used to forging his own path and he didn’t intend to let anyone tell him what to do. Accepting money, even family money that his mother insisted was due him, felt too much like charity. He was used to working for what he wanted and he preferred to keep it that way. And there was another reason he shied away from his inheritance, his heritage. That money was an obligation. It didn’t come free, but with many, many strings to the people who made up his mother’s family. He’d learned early that people who gave you something usually wanted something in return, and he suspected the Fortunes were no different, though none of them had proven his theory. Yet.

So far the only thing he’d allowed the Fortunes to give him was their name. And that was only because he liked bearing the name of the slimeball who’d abandoned his mother even less.

As he pulled the Explorer to a halt in the circular drive fronting the red-roofed stucco house, the deep melancholy that had plagued him returned. He dragged himself from the car and used the house key his mother had given him for situations just like this, letting himself into the cool house and heading for the kitchen.

“Kane!” As he passed the dining room, his mother glanced up and saw him, and her blue eyes crinkled into a warm smile as she rose. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

He stopped in the doorway. “I wasn’t expecting me, either. But I only have a few hours until rounds, and home was too far away.”

Even this early in the morning, with no makeup and her blond hair caught back in a loose, low knot, Miranda Fortune was still a beautiful woman. Though she’d worked like a dog during his childhood to eke out a decent life for him and Gabrielle, she’d retained the striking good looks possessed by so many of the Fortune clan.

His clan. His family. The same characteristics that looked at him in the mirror every morning. Or evening. Or whenever the hell he had time to shave.

The thought reminded him of how wiped out he was. “Do you mind if I crash here for a while?”

“Of course not.” She came toward him, stretching up to kiss him on the cheek. “Go. Find a bed. You look exhausted.”

He did, stopping only to snag a plateful of leftover chicken and cucumber salad from the cook, which he inhaled standing up while the small Mexican woman chattered a stream of Spanish at him warning him of the dire consequences of gobbling his meal. Five minutes later, he was pulling off his boots and sinking into the firm king mattress in the bedroom he customarily took when he visited his mother.

He was in a deep, dreamless sleep when the ringing of the telephone near his bed jerked him from slumber. Startled, too sleepy to be coherent, he shot out a hand and grabbed the receiver, holding it to his ear to marshal his thoughts before speaking. It was probably a page from the hospital.

But before he could speak, the sound of a man’s voice caught his attention.

“…thought you’d be glad to hear from me, honey. After all, I am the father of your children. Some of ’em, at least.”

“It’s only eight-thirty in the morning. What do you want?” His mother’s voice was thin and quavering, totally unlike her normal tones.

“Figured I’d catch you before you started your daily socialite routine.” There was a wheedling note in the man’s tone. “I only want a little teeny-tiny somethin’ that you have enough of not to miss.”

“Money.” Miranda’s tone was stronger, flat with disgust. “I should have known it would take money to bring you out of the woodwork, Lloyd.”

Lloyd…! It was his father. Lloyd Wayne Carter. The man whose surname he’d had the misfortune to bear most of his life even though the man himself had taken off without a backward glance before his second child was even born.

“I got a letter from our little daughter Gabrielle, y’know. Looked me up and wanted to let me know I was a grand-daddy. Surprised the heck out of me to find out that my little Randi’s rollin’ in money, I can tell you. How come you never shared any of that money with me when we were married?”

“That’s not your business.” Miranda tried to inject assurance into her tone. “You took yourself out of my life almost thirty years ago. I don’t want you back in it now.”

“Well, that’s a real shame, ’cause our little girl wants me. Invited me to come and visit, see my grandbaby. Wasn’t that sweet?” Carter spoke in a sugary tone that made Kane grit his teeth. Then a sound in the background caught his attention. It sounded like a woman, furiously whispering. But he couldn’t make out the words.

“Don’t you dare come here! You stay away from me and my children! You didn’t have a thing to do with raising them, you—you—”

“Now, Randi, calm down—”

“I will not calm down—”

“Or this conversation ends and I go straight to—”

“No. No! Please don’t tell him.”

“Then ante up, sweetheart. He lives right there in San Antonio, y’ know.” Kane definitely heard a woman’s voice this time, but the sound was drowned out as his mother sucked in an anguished breath.

“I’ve kept your little secret for a long time, and I deserve something for it, don’t you think?”

“How much?” Kane had never heard his mother’s voice sound so dull and lifeless. “How much do you want, Lloyd, to get out of my family’s life again for good?”

“Hmm. I’m not a greedy man, Randi honey. How about twenty-five thousand for each twin? That should get me out of my present unfortunate circumstances and leave me a little to get by on.”

“Fifty thousand?” Miranda sounded genuinely stunned. “You can’t be serious!”

“As a heart attack, honey.” Carter guffawed at his own wit. “With all the money you got when you rejoined your loving family after ol’ Kingston kicked off, you’ll never even miss it.”

“Don’t you speak my father’s name, you pig.” Miranda’s voice was shaking. “My father was—”

“I guess this is a little bit of a shock,” Carter broke in. “Tell ya what. I’ll give you some time to think it over. I’ll be coming to San Antonio to see my little daughter and granddaughter, maybe look up my fine son in a few weeks. I’ll see you then, honey, and we can square this deal.”

“You don’t have a deal.” But there was no force behind Miranda’s words.

“Oh, I’ll have a deal,” he promised. “Or I’ll be lookin’ up a certain oil man and askin’ him how his twins are.”

Miranda made an incoherent sound.

“See ya soon, Randi. We’ll have ourselves a real fine family reunion.” And he ended the connection.

“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.”

Kane realized his mother hadn’t replaced the receiver. He took the stairs to the first floor two at a time, his chest heaving and his hands shaking with tension. Bursting into the dining room where his mother still sat, the phone in one hand and a shocked, blank expression on her face, he demanded, “I was listening in. What the hell did that bastard want? What did he mean about ‘the twins’?”

“Don’t curse, dear,” his mother said. Then her breath hitched, and to his horror, she burst into tears.

Allison Preston entered the staff lounge at seven-thirty that evening and went straight to her locker. Thank God her four-day week ended after tomorrow’s day shift. Twelve-hour shifts were bad enough, but she’d no sooner gotten home in the morning than she’d gotten a frantic call from her supervisor. One of the other nurses had come down with the flu.

Since Allison lived close to the hospital she was often the first one called in a crisis. And she usually didn’t mind. After all, it wasn’t as if her life was so busy she couldn’t rearrange her social calendar.

So, when the phone call came, she’d turned right around and come back to the hospital and worked another twelve-hour shift. Twenty-fours always played havoc with her system. She just wanted to go home and fall into bed.

Then she realized she wasn’t alone in the room. Kane Fortune sat in a chair with his large, competent hands dangling between his knees. He appeared to be staring into space and his handsome features were drawn and wan. She wasn’t even sure he knew she was there.

Quietly, she approached him and sat down next to him. “Are you all right?”

He blinked, and she could almost see him dragging himself back to the present. He seemed to weigh his words for a moment, and then he shrugged. “Frankly, no.”

“Still brooding about the Simonds’ baby?”

“It’s more than that,” he said.

“Oh? Do you want to talk about it?”

Kane turned his head and looked at her, and the punch of hot desire she felt every time he turned those green-hazel eyes on her hit her hard in the stomach and quickly sank to a much more intimate location. Sweet heavens, he was beautiful. And she’d swear he didn’t know it.

Or if he did, he didn’t particularly care.

The first time she’d ever seen him had been four years ago, on her very first day on the job at County. He’d come into the neonatal unit for rounds, and the supervisor had introduced them. He’d turned those eyes on her and smiled and taken her hand—and she’d been lucky to be able to stammer out a garbled greeting.

That was just how strongly he affected her. Always had. And, she thought ruefully, always would. For the first year she’d told herself it was just a crush. Young, inexperienced-in-more-ways-than-one nurse; handsome, wealthy doctor. Normal. Natural. By the end of the second year, when she realized she still loved him no matter how tired he looked or how cranky he got with incompetent staff members, she started to worry about herself. By the end of the third year, when she realized he could be penniless and jobless and she’d still care, she’d accepted it.

Kane Fortune was the only man she ever wanted to own her heart. And the chances of that were about as likely as her chances of…of winning an Oscar.

Not going to happen. Not now, not ever. Men like Kane didn’t go for mousy blondes who weren’t comfortable in deep-cut blouses and makeup. They went for glamor. Just as her father had. And there was no way anyone could ever accuse plain little Allison Jane Preston of being glamorous. Plain Allison Jane.

“It would take half the night,” he said. “More time than you have, I’m sure.”

For a moment she thought he’d been reading her mind and was making a dig at the thought of her getting gussied up. Then she realized he meant time to talk. Tired as she was, all thoughts of bed and sleep went straight out the window. It sounded as though Kane needed a friend, and she didn’t intend to let him down.

“I’m off for the next twelve hours, and I’m a good listener,” she said. Not pushing, but letting him know she was there if he needed her.

He was smiling faintly at her, one hand coming up to scrub at the dark shadow of stubble along his jaw. “Yes, you are.” Then he appeared to come to a decision. “Want to go get a bite to eat?”

“Sure.” She tried to keep the giddy elation from her voice. They’d gotten coffee and chatted dozens of times over the past few years. Kane had seemed to single her out as someone with whom he felt comfortable, and loving him as she did, Allison was always grateful when she could give him a listening ear, ease the burdens that came with healing newborn bodies and occasionally losing the battle for life. But dinner after work, not on a hasty break in the hospital when one or the other of them was wolfing down a quick bite…this was different.

“Let’s go down to the diner,” he said.

“All right.” The diner was an all-night restaurant near County that was frequented by hospital personnel and the occasional repeat visitor who had gotten wise to hospital cafeteria food.

She stood and started to shoulder the large bag in which she carried extra clothes, but Kane reached for it, taking it from her and slinging it over his shoulder with his own duffel. “Thank you,” she said, mildly startled. How many men were that courteous anymore?

“My pleasure.” He smiled down at her as he opened the door for her, and her legs turned to jelly. “My mama raised a gentleman.”

“Your mama did a fine job.”

“She did,” he said reflectively as they waited for the elevator. “She was a single mother, but she worked darn hard to make sure my sister and I grew up with good manners and good sense.”

“Your father…wasn’t in the picture?” It was a personal question, the first time they’d ever crossed the line into such territory, and she wondered if he was as aware of that as she.

“No. Never.” There was such venom in his tone that it unnerved her. “He abandoned us when my mother was pregnant with my sister. I was about a year old.”

“That’s sad,” she said softly. “He missed so much. It’s a good thing your mother had money, or things could have been really tough for you all.”

A smile touched his lean face as she glanced up at him, but it wasn’t amused. “We didn’t have money then,” he said. “I didn’t even find out she was a Fortune until about six years ago.”

Now she was confused. “But your name—”

“I took the name Fortune by choice, and at my uncle’s request, not long after I found out. I had no desire to share the name of a man who could walk away from his family the way he did.”

She wondered if he realized how much unhappiness was revealed in that simple statement. “My father left my mother, too,” she said softly, wanting him to know she could identify in some way with his pain. “But I remember him. I was twelve when he left.”

“At least you knew your father.”

“Yes.” Though she wasn’t sure that knowing him had made any difference, since she apparently hadn’t known him at all. A too-familiar pain and regret stung her. He was dead now and she’d never have the chance to talk with him again, and the estrangement that had lain between them for years could never be bridged. She’d missed the opportunity, or more accurately, she’d refused the opportunity. And now, to her lasting regret, it was too late.

Still, she didn’t tell any of that to Kane. In the mood he was in, she doubted there was anything she could say that might ease his hurt. For a while they walked along the sidewalk in silence.

When they got to the diner, Kane paused, and Allison stopped with him. He was looking through the plate-glass window. “There’s a crowd tonight,” he said, frowning.

“Birthday party,” she said. “One of the techs from radiology turned forty.”

A slim, dark-haired nurse from the oncology unit caught sight of them from the edge of the dance floor where there were a number of people gyrating to the music. She waved, her gaze on Kane, a slow smile lighting her big dark eyes as her hips swiveled in time to the beat. She beckoned for them to enter, but Allison was aware of Kane shaking his head.

She looked in at the rowdy, raucous crowd, whose jovial spirit could clearly be heard on the street. The girl was vivacious, confident in her own sex appeal—exactly the kind of woman she’d expect Kane to be attracted to—and her heart contracted. But when she glanced up at him, Kane seemed reluctant to enter despite the blatant invitation the girl was giving him.

She was fiercely glad that he didn’t seem in the mood for a party. She didn’t want to share him with anyone. “If you’re not thrilled about the crowd,” she said slowly, wondering if she was crazy even to be making the offer, “we can go to my house. It’s not far. We could stop and get some Chinese takeout.”

Kane’s eyes were still on the crowd inside.

“But maybe that’s not something that interests you,” she said hastily, feeling the heat of embarrassment coloring her cheeks. Of course Kane Fortune wasn’t interested in spending a quiet evening alone with plain Allison Jane.

Then Kane turned to her, and there was warm approval in his eyes. “It sounds great,” he said, and there was genuine pleasure in his tone. “And I appreciate the offer very much. How about I follow you in my car?”

She still couldn’t believe he was here. Kane Fortune. Sitting on her sofa beside her, empty cartons from the Chinese food on the small glass table in her dining area mute proof that he really had been here and eaten a meal with her. Right now he was toying with the end of a lock of her hair, which he’d teased her into taking down the minute they’d gotten into her house. “I like it down,” he’d said. And that had been enough for her.

He picked up the wine bottle they were sharing, indicating her glass, but she put a cautious hand over the rim of her glass. “Better not. I don’t do alcohol real well.”

He grinned, a pirate’s rakish smile. “Oh, good. Here, have some more.”

She laughed, tucking one foot beneath her and angling her body to face him more fully. “I think not.” It was an incredible, heady feeling, teasing and flirting with him. But it was time to help him now. She hadn’t forgotten the initial reason for this whole visit. It wasn’t as if it were a date, after all. “At the risk of wrecking the mood, I’d really like to hear what’s bothering you, if you’d still like to talk it out.”

He sobered immediately, the gold glints in his eyes dimming and his smile fading. “I don’t think I’d better get started. It’s a long and ugly story, as I said.”

“I’m a good listener, remember? And a good friend. And that’s what friends are for, to share burdens.” She put her hand on his arm, right on his bare skin, and rubbed her thumb lightly over the hair-roughened, sinewy flesh.

Kane put his hand over hers, squeezing lightly. “You’re a treasure, Allison. I value our friendship.”

The words were a balm to her hungry heart, the sweetest sounds she’d ever heard and the last ones she’d ever have expected. She hadn’t expected anything. She could never hope to have Kane’s love, but she was grateful at least to hold his friendship.

He sighed, removing his hand from atop hers and dropping his head back against the cushions of her sofa, slouching so his long body stretched bonelessly and his hip grazed the knee she’d drawn up beneath her. “You asked me about the Simonds’ baby this morning. And you were right. I was upset. Angry, too. I’ve spent years in school learning how to save pre-term infants, and it really gets to me when I fail.” He tried to smile, but the effort died before it really got going. “I guess I want to be God.”

She didn’t comment, but she kept her hand on his arm, lightly stroking as she sensed the tension within him.

“Anyway,” he went on, “I decided to sleep at my mother’s for the few hours before rounds, since her home is much closer to the hospital than mine. But I was awakened by a phone call.” His voice grew taut and angry and he stopped abruptly.

“Someone who made you mad,” she ventured.

“Someone who made me furious,” he corrected. “Only he didn’t know I was on the phone. He was talking to my mother.” His lips thinned and his nostrils flared in disgust. “It was my father. All of a sudden this creep who’s been gone for three decades just can’t wait to see us again.”

“But…why?”

“My sister.” He rolled his head toward Allison and their eyes met. His softened fondly and his tone was wry. “Gabrielle’s always been a soft touch. She has a little girl of her own now and she recently thought it only decent to let dear old Dad know. I have no idea how she found him but she invited him to come down here and visit.” His tone grew hard again. “I’d strangle her barehanded if I thought she had any idea what she started. But I know she was just following her heart.”

“So, your father’s coming to San Antonio?” She could see why he would be upset, but the fury that seemed to be so tightly coiled beneath the surface was almost too much. It wasn’t like Kane to overreact. And she should know, since she’d worked with him in situations where grieving people did all kinds of bizarre things, occasionally aimed at the hapless physician whose skill hadn’t been enough to save their loved one.

“Yeah, but that’s not the worst of it.” Kane sprang to his feet so quickly she jumped back, startled, and he began to pace the length of her small living area like a great tiger confined within a small cage. “He threatened my mother. Blackmailed her, actually.”

“Blackmailed?” It was so weird she just blurted it out. “What kind of secret could your mother have that would invite blackmail?”

He wheeled and looked across the room at her, and his eyes were wild. “My mother,” he said slowly, enunciating each syllable, “ran away from home when she was seventeen. She told us she just couldn’t get along with her father, but it turns out she was pregnant. She was headed for California but she got hung up in Nevada where she had her babies—twins, a boy and a girl—and gave them up for adoption. Actually,” he said, “she left them on the steps of the sheriff’s office with notes pinned to their blankets.”

“Your poor mother.” Allison’s heart was soft; she could imagine the young, pregnant woman’s desperation.

“Yeah. She was young, not even twenty, and I suppose she was about at rock bottom financially and too proud to go home—”

“And her self-esteem was probably rock bottom as well,” she interjected softly.

“Probably,” he agreed. “Soon afterward, she met my father. Lloyd Carter was a rodeo cowboy. They got married and I was born nine months later. By the time I was a year old, she was pregnant again. Very shortly after he found out, my prize of a father took off for greener pastures.”

The thought of a young woman, barely twenty years old and pregnant for the third time, probably grieving over her lost children and her poor choices, brought tears to Allison’s eyes. Instinctively, she reached out a hand to Kane, and he took it briefly, dropping back onto the couch beside her with his head in his hands.

“Carter’s threatened to tell the biological father about the twins,” he said. “If my mother doesn’t pay him fifty thousand.”

She sucked in a sharp, horrified breath. “Where in the world—” Then she remembered to whom she was speaking. “She has the money?”

Kane nodded. “But neither of us thinks that’ll be the end of the matter.” His voice shook with contained rage and he slammed one fist into the other. “I hate not being able to fix this! All my life I’ve tried to help, to make things easier for my mother.” His tone lowered and filled with such hopelessness that it tore at Allison’s heart. “And this time there’s not a thing I can do.”

“Oh, Kane, just being there for your mother is doing something.” Allison looped her arms around his shoulders and leaned her forehead against him, hugging him tightly. If only there was something she could do to relieve the anguish he was living!

“I can’t explain to you how strange it feels to know I have a brother and a sister out there somewhere whom I’ve never met. We’ll never share childhood memories,” he said slowly. “For my mother, it’s like it all happened yesterday. I had to sedate her. God, it was hellish.”

Allison urged him to her, cradling him and rocking instinctively as he reached for her, burying his head in her neck and clutching her so tightly she could barely breathe. For the longest time, she simply held him, loving the whisper of his warm breath over her neck and the hard clasp of his arms around her. If this was the closest she would ever get to Heaven, she was going to memorize every second of it to relive later when the real world and loneliness returned.

Kane moved then, and she started to withdraw her arms from around him, aware that this was probably more comfort than he’d needed or wanted. But before she could move away, he turned to her, lifting one large hand to cradle her cheek. “Thank you,” he whispered. “For listening.”

“You’re welcome.” But her voice died away to nothing. He was looking at her lips. She held herself perfectly, utterly still as he smoothed his thumb along her bottom lip, and then, as his head came down, she realized that Kane was going to kiss her.

Two

Allison was pliant and as still as a frightened doe beside him. Her mouth trembled beneath his, her lips stayed chastely closed. Kane wanted to devour every inch of her delectable body, and he had to force himself not to give in to the wild surge of unbridled lust that urged him to grab her and drag her down beneath him.

He knew this was wrong, that he was taking advantage of her friendship, and he knew he’d be sorry forever if he drove her away. But he couldn’t have stopped himself from kissing her if the world was ending. She was warm and sweet and soft and he needed her warmth to fill the cold ache inside him, needed her sweetness to counter the bitter surge of anger, needed her soft body to sheathe him and give him succor. He slid his tongue along the seam of her lips, using a little pressure, and to his delight, she slowly opened her mouth to admit him.

She was hesitant and shy, her tongue gently touching his at first, and it struck him that she’d never denied him anything. He still wasn’t sure what had possessed him to spill his family closet’s skeletons tonight, but it had felt so right to confide his fears and worries and furies, to give all those emotions into her care and let her wrap him in her own unique brand of comfort, that he didn’t question the impulse. Just as he didn’t question the direction in which he was moving now. It felt right. She felt right.

“Allison,” he muttered. “I need you.” He slid both arms around her and pulled her into his embrace, never ceasing his gentle tactical assault on her mouth. Please, please, his body begged, and he shivered with pleasure when her arms came around him more fully and her fingers speared into his hair, pressing his mouth harder on hers. He unleashed a bit more of the hungry beast prowling inside him then, thoroughly exploring her mouth with his tongue, dipping and licking and plunging repeatedly into her sweetness.

Her breath was coming faster; she twisted in his arms. He pressed her backward against the couch until she lay prone against the cushions and he lay half over her. Her body was lush and giving and he rubbed restlessly against her thigh as one hand came around to her blouse and tugged it free of her pants, slipping his palm over silky belly and the slight ridges of ribs until he reached the lower swell of a breast. He halted momentarily, afraid to startle her by moving too suddenly. But she didn’t appear to be skittish, and he slipped his fingers beneath the edge of her bra. Slowly, he filled his palm with soft, heavy woman flesh, almost groaning aloud as her tender nipple became a taut little nub beneath his stroking hand.

Carefully he eased his other hand from beneath her, all of his senses centered on the ultimate prize now. He unbuttoned his shirt one-handed and shrugged it back off his shoulders. When her small hands stroked over his bared flesh and explored his chest, he did groan beneath his breath, encouraging her without breaking the moment with words. Words were beyond him anyway; all he could do was feel. Her hands grew busier, yanking at his shirt until it was tossed aside on the floor.

And then it was his turn. He opened her shirt with the same dexterous touch he’d used on his own, still kissing and petting her, until he could shove the fabric away from her torso. She arched up, allowing him access to the clasp of her bra, and he thanked God for an old high school trick he’d perfected, of flicking open a bra fastening with one hand. The bra loosened. He tugged her toward him so she could shrug out of both garments and when she did, he drew away from her mouth for the first time, his hungry gaze devouring the bounty before him.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered hoarsely. He’d been right about her breasts, and yet he’d been wrong. His imagination couldn’t begin to compare to the ripe, soft flesh that greeted him. He looked up from the full, perfect globes of her breasts tipped in the palest of pink crests, into her eyes, smiling at the look of stunned, hope-filled pleasure he saw there. “So beautiful,” he repeated. And then he lowered his head and took one of those tempting tips into his mouth. He suckled gently at first. She sucked in a sharp breath and cried out, and then her hand came up to hold his head to her as he increased the pull on her tender flesh, drawing her deep into his mouth and swirling his tongue around her. The gesture of acceptance inflamed him beyond restraint and finally he had to have more. He quickly unfastened her pants, opening them and shoving both her slacks and panties down and off in one motion.

For the first time, she appeared to withdraw a little, shrinking into herself the tiniest bit. Some men might not have noticed, might not have cared, but he wanted, needed Allison to be his in every way there was, to give him every ounce of her generous warmth and the passion he sensed unfurling within her. He spread one big hand on her belly, gentling her, raising his head and returning to persuade her with his lips on hers. His hand gradually inched down the soft plane of her abdomen until he was brushing the soft cloud of curls at her thighs.

His whole body tensed at the tantalizing touch. He wanted to slide down her slim length, to place his mouth on every inch of her fragrant, scented sweetness, but he knew she wasn’t ready for that. Instead, he simply extended one finger along the plump folds of flesh that protected her feminine secrets, gently increasing the pressure until her body gave way and admitted him to a hot, slick well of womanly Eden. He couldn’t prevent himself from groaning aloud this time.

He withdrew his hand from her to tear at the fastenings of his pants, struggling to free himself from the restricting fabric. When he fell heavily against her naked hip, the heat and silky texture of her skin was almost more than his aroused body could take. He levered himself over her, settling his weight on her and using his knees to press her legs apart.

When he reached down between them, she allowed him to position her for his entry, her arms still about his neck, her hair a wild halo around her. He tore his mouth from hers as he pressed forward, watching her eyes widen at the same time he felt her body’s moist, sweet welcome. He made several shallow forays in and out, his breathing coming in great gasping bellows. Then all control shattered and he pressed himself hard forward, sheathing himself in her until their bodies were pressed together and he was snugly caught.

She jerked involuntarily and a shattered “Oh!” burst from her lips.

He froze. Was she…had she been a virgin? He’d never even considered the possibility. And in truth, he couldn’t consider it now. He needed to move, and he needed her with him, but he didn’t think he was going to be able to wait. “Did I hurt you?” he ground out.

Stupid question. Of course he’d hurt her. He’d just taken her maidenhead with all the finesse of a charging bull.

But then she moved beneath him. Her arms, which had been resting on his biceps, slipped up to his shoulders, gently caressing the taut muscles there. “It’s all right. I want you to—go ahead.” The words were a mere whisper and he noticed she hadn’t answered his question. But his body was screaming for his attention and her permission was a powerful aphrodisiac heightening his urgent arousal. His control, usually an easy part of his sexual experiences, was shredded and fading; he could feel himself already on the edge, each small motion of her tight warm body a sensual torment to his ultra-sensitive flesh. With a muttered apology, he took her hips in his hands and set his mouth on hers, swallowing the sounds she made with his frantic kisses as he plunged in and drew back repeatedly. Her legs came up to clasp his hips and he shuddered as the movement pulled him deeper. And then the storm broke over his head and his back arched in the rhythms of release as his seed jetted deep, deep within her body, until he lay winded and still in the wake of the passing fury.

“Allison.” Kane sounded dazed. He lay heavily over her and she kept her arms linked tightly around him, her eyes closed, pressing herself into the amazing heat of his hard body, savoring the moments in which they were physically joined. But then he pulled away from her and all her strength couldn’t hold him. She winced at the drag of his flesh against her torn, tender opening, and he made a sound of frustration as he levered himself upright and left her. He stood, looking down at her, hands on hips and all she could do was lie in exhausted silence and take in the magnificence of his sculpted body for the first time.

“Why in hell didn’t you tell me you were a virgin?” His voice was a low growl. Her eyes shot to his and she shrank from the dark look in those golden depths.

“I didn’t think about it,” she said in a small voice, shifting a little to ease the discomfort between her thighs. “I was just…feeling.”

He snorted, but the ferocious scowl altered into a less forbidding expression. “Yeah,” he said. “I know what you mean.” His face softened even more, and he reached down and stroked the back of his knuckle down her cheek. “If I’d known, I would have been more gentle.”

“You were perfect,” she said fiercely. “Quit worrying about it, all right?”

“Not all right.” To her astonishment, he bent and slipped his arms beneath her, lifting her up against his bare chest and letting her hair cascade down over his shoulder and arm. He was hot and sweaty and rough with hair, and so exciting that she could feel her toes curl and her abdomen contract, despite the exhaustion that was fast returning.

He held her there a moment, inspecting her face, and then he dropped his head and nuzzled her lips again. “Next time we do this I’ll show you how it should have been done.”

She couldn’t have prevented the smile that broke free as she slipped her arms up around his neck to deepen the light kiss. And when he finally let her breathe again, she said, “Now?”

Kane gave a bark of laughter as he began to walk back toward the hallway. “For somebody who never let a man—”

“Stop!” She put a palm over his lips. “I was a virgin until a few minutes ago, remember?”

And his smile slipped a notch. His voice held a grim note when he answered her. “I’ll never forget.”

Kane took her to the bedroom she indicated, surprised somehow by how soft and feminine it was. He didn’t know why it surprised him and, remembering earlier when he’d seen her hair down for the first time, he felt vaguely ashamed that he’d misunderstood her so completely. In the workplace she was calm, quiet yet always efficient. He’d thought of her as someone, well, bland, and if he’d ever thought at all about her personal preferences, which he hadn’t, he’d have assumed they were quiet and bland as well. In the limited personal moments they’d shared in the past, he realized that she rarely turned the conversation to herself. She’d always encouraged him to talk about himself, and he’d taken full advantage of her generosity.

Now he looked around him with interest, absorbing the ambience, gleaning clues about who the woman in his arms really was. She lay in docile surrender against his chest, her head against his shoulder. As he looked down at her slender body, all he could think was that he never wanted this night to end. Never wanted to have to think of anything but the incredible pleasure her sweet body gave him.

But he did have to think of something else. She’d been a virgin. So he knew she wasn’t prepared for birth control. And he hadn’t given it a damn thought until he’d been so deep inside her there was no chance in hell he could stop. He and Allison could have created a new life.

A child. He wasn’t sure how he felt. He’d always known he wanted children, children to whom he could give the kind of childhood he’d never had. But how he felt wasn’t really the issue. The issue was that he was an honorable man. His mother had raised him that way, and since he’d met the other members of the Fortune family, he knew where the strong streak of responsibility came from. Rarely did a Fortune walk away from his responsibilities.

He thought of his mother, a teenager with twin infants, totally overwhelmed and alone in a strange city. She’d been sure her father would never accept her back again, pregnant and unmarried. Maybe some people would see it as a shirking of responsibilities, but he thought it was the ultimate act of honor to give up children for whom she knew she couldn’t provide, to hope that they’d be adopted by loving families with adequate resources that she hadn’t had.

Well, he had the resources. And no child of his would ever be given away. The woman in his arms could very well be carrying his child after this night so he’d marry her. He’d marry her. The solution was so simple! They’d get married as soon as he could arrange it.

He wasn’t going to have people counting backward on their fingers and coming up with the wrong conclusions. He’d been the butt of gossip much of his life, one way or another. No child of his was going to have to suffer the cruel talk he had.

You don’t really have a dad, do you? I bet your mom was never married at all. He forced his mind away from the remembered taunts. No, his child would never have to endure anything like that.

It was a good solution in more ways than one, he realized as he looked down at the woman in his arms. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the reasons that she might still have been a virgin at her age. But it couldn’t have been a casual choice. No, if Allison had given herself to him after so many years of chastity, then he had an obligation to treat her gift as the special treasure it had been.

Besides, he was thirty years old. Nothing would please his mother more than to have him settled and giving her grandchildren to spoil.

And she’d like Allison. No, she’d probably love Allison. She’d take one look and see the gentle, selfless spirit, the honesty and integrity, the bone-deep kindness that radiated from Allison, and she’d see what he saw: the perfect woman with whom to spend his life. Satisfaction filled him. He could already imagine her soothing presence in his home and he liked the image. He liked it a lot.

And Allison would be a wonderful mother for his children. He already knew she would be great with infants since he’d seen the careful tenderness with which she handled babies in the neonatal unit. She was soft and sweet, easygoing yet competent. He couldn’t find a better-suited woman to mother his children if he tried.

She shifted in his arms and as he pulled his thoughts back to the present, he saw apprehension fill her gaze before she looked away. She swallowed. “Thank you,” she said, raising a hand and gently cupping his cheek. “I won’t…won’t make this more than it was. I don’t want to make you feel obligated or uncomfortable.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

“No.” She rushed on. “It’s not as if—”

“Allison.”

She stopped, and her gaze came back to his.

“It’s too bad if you don’t want me to feel obligated because that’s exactly how I want you to feel.”

She hesitated, and he thought she might be holding her breath. “Meaning?”

“Meaning I want you to marry me.”

“What?” Her expression was so shocked he almost laughed.

“Marry me.”

She began to struggle in his arms and he pivoted, sitting on the edge of the bed and cradling her in his lap, controlling her until she stopped moving and lay against him again, her head on his shoulder, face turned up to his with a bewildered expression.

“Tonight…” he said. “Sex isn’t a casual thing for you. And we didn’t use birth control. I could have gotten you pregnant.”

“But…you don’t have to—you can’t marry me!” She looked completely panicked, her body stiff and uncomfortable against his.

“I know I don’t have to. I want to.” He dropped his head and sought her mouth, kissing her with deep intent until she was limp and pliant in his embrace and her arms came up to clutch at his neck as she returned his kisses. Then he lifted his head. “Say yes.”

She gazed at him for a long time, then closed her eyes. “You’re crazy. You’d hate being married to me.”

The flat certainty in her tone took him aback, but he noticed she hadn’t said she’d hate being married to him. “I’ve thought about it,” he told her, his hand slipping down to cover a breast, “and I wouldn’t hate it at all. I think we’re well suited. We’re great in bed and we get along well outside it, too.”

She blushed. “Those aren’t solid reasons to get married.” But she didn’t push his hand away.

“They’re better than some. Think about it,” he urged, a sense of urgency rushing through him, “and you’ll see I’m right. How many other men do you talk to the way we’ve talked?”

She was silent.

A new thought occurred to him. Were there other men whom she’d treated as sweetly and gently as she’d treated him in the course of their friendship? The idea didn’t set well. “How many other men—?” he began, but she cut him off.

“None,” she said. “But, Kane, I just don’t think you’ve really thought this through. You’re a Fortune.”

“Who cares what my last name is?” Dammit, what was wrong with her? She had to marry him. “Say yes,” he prompted, his fingers shaping her nipple, tugging and rolling the taut flesh, teasing himself as much as he was teasing her. “We’ll be good together. And if you’re pregnant, I’ll be delighted.”

Her eyes drooped, closed. She hesitated, then took a deep breath. “Yes.”

He thought she sounded more like she was agreeing to an execution than a wedding, but the relief that swamped him was so intense and unexpected that he couldn’t comment. What was going on here? It was only that she was so perfect for the role, he decided. He’d have to look a long time to find another woman who fit so well into his life. And he had neither the time nor the inclination to go wife-hunting.

He lifted her again, turned to the pretty spindle bed and laid her down, taking the time to spread her hair out over the pillow. Then he went to the bathroom he’d passed and found a washcloth, running it beneath warm water before he returned to the bedroom.

He was amused to see that she’d pulled a sheet over herself and even more amused that she protested when he tugged it away and began to clean her. “I’m going to be looking at you every day soon,” he said, “So you might as well put the modesty in the past.”

“I can’t,” she said, covering her face with her hands, and he chuckled, setting the washcloth aside.

“This hair,” he murmured, moving onto the mattress beside her and pulling her into his arms as he buried his face in the fragrant mass. “I can’t believe you hid this hair from me for four years.”

Allison didn’t speak, though he felt her smile against his throat. She’d said very little since they’d risen from the couch, and he had a moment’s sudden panic that he’d hurt her badly, even though she’d just agreed to marry him. He leaned over her, cupping the sweet weight of one breast in his hand again and absently brushing his thumb across the tip. “Are you sure you’re all right? I was too rough.”

“I’m okay,” she said, and once again that light wash of color stole up her cheeks.

He grinned. “How can you still blush?”

Now there were bright flags of color painting her complexion. “I don’t know,” she said helplessly, looking everywhere but at him.

“You know,” he said, his voice deepening in anticipation, “There are a lot more things we could do if you really want something to blush about.”

He’d expected her to hide her face in his shoulder and laugh, but instead, her green eyes fastened on his, filled with interest and rising desire. “Show me.”

His whole body leaped to attention. Relief rushed through him as he realized he really hadn’t hurt her, hadn’t frightened her, despite the lack of care he’d taken and the way he’d left her behind in his pursuit of fulfillment. This time, he thought, he’d make sure she was with him all the way. And he’d do it all for her.

So he did, pressing her back against the pillows and kissing his way over her from earlobe to tiny pink toe, sucking and nipping, running his tongue along the backs of her sensitive knees and then moving up to stroke and suckle her beautiful breasts. He smoothed his hands from her shoulders down to her wrists, then twined his fingers with hers and lifted them above her head, anchoring them there with one hand while he continued to explore her with the other. After a long while, he knelt near her feet and spread her legs, holding them apart with strong hands when she murmured a protest. And then the protests turned to moans as he kissed a path up the inside of one leg, slipping steadily up and up, lingering over the satiny flesh of her inner thighs, until finally, finally he put his mouth over her. He tasted her gently, inhaling her fragrant female scent. His tongue sought out the tiny pouting bump hidden within the damp blond curls, laving it gently until she was writhing beneath his mouth. Suddenly, he increased both the pressure and the rhythm and she arched and cried out as her body convulsed and she shook with her own release.

When she was calm again, he slipped up to gather her into his arms, nestling her head beneath his chin. “That,” he said, “was how it should have been for your first time.” He couldn’t change that, much to his regret. But the thought stole into his mind that after they married, this sweet, responsive, incredibly passionate woman would be in his bed every night, and the idea filled him with pleasure.

“That was…wonderful,” she breathed. Then her small hand drifted over his chest and down his belly, hovering a breath away from his taut, swollen flesh. “But you haven’t—you need to—” She stopped, and he figured if he looked, he’d see pink cheeks again.

“Any man who tells you he needs to is a damn liar.”

She laughed, as he’d intended. But then her eyes grew serious and her fingers traced small circles around his navel. “It’s your turn now.”

He inhaled sharply, drawing her hand away. “I can’t,” he said. “I’m not the kind of guy who carries protection around in his wallet. We already took one chance…”

“I don’t think it’s the right time for conception,” she said. “Besides, if we did…um, make a baby, it would be all right.”

His body leaped at her words, but still he hesitated. “I don’t have to.” He was reluctant to overwhelm her, even though his throbbing loins were calling his bluff in a most obvious way.

“What if I want you to?” Her voice was shy and so was the gentle hand that settled on him, but he jumped like a scalded cat and then groaned, relaxing into her.

“My mother raised a gentleman,” he reminded her. “I guess I can’t refuse a lady’s request.”

She stifled a giggle. “Gee, that was hard.”

“No,” he corrected her, rolling to his back and pulling her against his side, “this is hard.” He taught her how to stroke him, wrapping his hand around hers and showing her the speed and pressure that he liked. After her first few moments of tentative exploration, she got so good at what she was doing that he finally had to grab her hand and stop her before he lost it completely. Again.

“Wait,” he said in a strangled tone.

“Why?” Her voice was apprehensive and her hand stopped moving.

“Because I’m going to finish this right here, right now if you don’t.”

She took her hand away and he almost whimpered at the cessation of the hot, sweet pleasure coursing through him. “I liked the way you finished it before,” she told his throat.

He angled himself enough to peer down at her face, his body leaping at the mere suggestion. “The first time?”

She nodded, her eyes still on his throat. She was so shy, he thought with a touch of tender amusement.

He traced her jawbone and dropped his head to press a gentle kiss on her lips. This time she didn’t need to be coaxed to open her legs. This time, he held her gaze with his, looking intimately into her eyes as he slid his hard, hungry length into her receptive body and began to move, holding the eye contact as he felt the tremors of release scampering up his spine. He reached down between them and found her, gently rubbing and rolling her between his thumb and forefinger and her eyes widened in shock. Her mouth opened and she cried out, and as they both began to shudder in the final moments of the dance of completion, he sealed his mouth over hers and drank the sweet cries from her lips.

Allison’s alarm clock chirped a wake-up call at dawn. She’d slept in his arms through the night, and he’d woken several times to the novel sensation of sleeping with someone. It was surprisingly enjoyable even though it wasn’t something he was accustomed to. A doctor in training didn’t have time to sleep, much less think about sex.

But he was thinking about it now. Oh, was he ever!

Allison stirred when the alarm went off, reaching out a hand to turn it off. Still half asleep, he put a hand on her bare shoulder and she turned to him easily, letting him pull her down beneath him and slide into her, the soft wet depths of her body welcoming and already familiar. Hips pumping steadily, he rode her in a relaxed, easy rhythm that nonetheless stoked the fires that slumbered inside him. He took her legs and wrapped them around his waist, angling her hips up so that he was arousing her with each stroke, and when she started to whimper and buck beneath him, he let himself come to her, long slow streamers of release melting his bones and leaving him slumped on her equally limp body.

“Good morning,” he said into her ear when he’d gotten his breath back.

“Good morning.” There was a lilt in her voice.

“Today,” he said, his voice grim as he came awake enough to remember what he’d forgotten, “I’m going to start using birth control.”

She smiled up at him, her eyes sparkling as her hands massaged the muscles at the back of his neck. “Nothing like closing the barn door after the horse is out.” Then she turned her head and looked at the clock again, and immediately her small hands began shoving at his shoulders. “Get up! I’ve got to get moving or I’ll be late! I’m on dayshift today.”

He complied, rolling off her to lie on his back until she was out of the shower. He took a quick shower after her, and by the time he walked back into the bedroom, she was dressed and was brushing her hair with quick, hard strokes. As she pulled it tightly back and began to wind it into its usual confined style, he walked over to stand behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes in the mirror.

“Are you about ready to go?”

She nodded, turning to the mirror and pushing a few more pins into her hair. “Almost.”

He was distracted by the small, feminine ritual as he watched her tuck up her hair. “I’m glad you wear it up at work,” he said. “I don’t like the thought of anyone else seeing all that hair and getting ideas.”

Her hands stilled in her hair and she turned to stare at him, clearly dumbfounded. Hell, he knew how she felt. Someone he didn’t know had just stepped into his head and uttered words he hadn’t expected to come out of his own mouth.

He cleared his throat. “Let’s go.”

Allison floated through her shift on autopilot, doing all her usual tasks with her usual efficiency, but her mind was back in her bedroom.

I want you to marry me.

When she went into the supply closet for something, she actually pinched herself. This couldn’t be real.

Yesterday, she’d been a plain single nurse with both her virginity and a hopeless crush on the hottest doctor in the whole hospital. Today…in whomever’s dream this was, she was marrying him. And she wasn’t a virgin anymore.

For years, celibacy had been a conscious choice. She’d expected to marry and give her husband the gift of her body. But the years had drifted by and love had never found her. Until Kane. And though she hadn’t known he would marry her, when he’d begun to caress her she’d realized immediately that this man and this moment were what she’d wanted for so many years. Kane had made love to her. To her. He’d marked every inch of her with his stamp—she had brush burns from his beard in some pretty darned intimate places!—and he hadn’t just done it once, either. He’d lingered over her, made sure that she was as satisfied as he was. He’d done wonderful things to her that she’d remember for the rest of her life.

The world was a very crazy place. And she was equally insane, to be standing here dreaming about a wedding and a life with a man like Kane Fortune. One of the Fortunes.

Kane wasn’t really going to marry her, no matter how hard her heart beat at the thought. He’d gotten brusque and abrupt as they’d met in the parking lot after the brief drive and walked toward the hospital doors together. He was probably regretting his offer already.

Well, she would be gracious. Treat it as if he’d been joking. That way she wouldn’t lose him as a friend. She didn’t think she could bear it if he avoided her, didn’t want her friendship and left her with nothing. Not after they’d been so close.

She was in the lounge later, checking through the refrigerator to see if there was any creamer that didn’t have things growing in or on it, when Kane came through the door. He looked tired and harried, and the circles that had been beneath his eyes last night were even worse than before. He hadn’t gotten enough sleep, and it was her fault—

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