Diagnosis: Daddy (Doctors in Training 1)

“Mia!”

Connor placed a hand on Mia’s shoulder when she started to get up in response to the call. “Go to sleep, Alexis,” he called out.

They could just hear the muttered response. “Okay.”

They waited a moment, but when no further sound came from the direction of her room, Connor smiled. “See?”

Aware that his hand was still on her shoulder, she eyed his rather smug expression. “You’re right. You are getting pretty good at this.”

“Thanks.”

Oddly enough, his increasing confidence gave her a funny little pang deep inside. Wasn’t this what she’d wanted? For Connor to start taking more responsibility, gradually replacing her as Alexis’s primary caretaker? So why was she suddenly feeling a little excluded?

“I think I’ve figured out what was causing the nightmares.” Connor glanced toward the doorway and then back at Mia with a somber expression. “So many people have left her. She just needs occasional reassurance that someone’s still here for her. That she can count on someone being there when she cries out. Someone to check under the bed for monsters,” he added with a slight smile.

That was pretty much what she had surmised as well. “I always knew you could do this. Take care of Alexis and finish school, I mean. You see—you can handle much more than you thought you could.”

He looked down at his hand on her shoulder and moved his thumb in a lazy circle that made a shiver run down her back. “I guess you were right,” he murmured.

“I guess I was.”

His eyes met hers again. “I missed you, Mia. Sure, I got by, but it wasn’t the same without you here.”

Her breath caught. “I know it’s easier for you when I’m here to help.”

“Easier?” He gave what might have been a short, skeptical laugh. “I’m not sure I would say that.”

That made her frown. “I meant that I help you with Alexis. Help around the house.”

“You do all those things and it’s great. Gives me more time to focus on my studies. But as for easier—” He shook his head. “When you’re here, it’s all I can do to think about anything but you. The way I feel about you. The things I want to say to you.”

She felt her breath catch.

He started to drop his hand. “I’m sorry. It’s a bad time for me to—”

“No.” She grabbed his hand, gripped it in hers as she stared fiercely into his eyes. “What is it you want to say?”

“You’re tired. We can do this later.”

She shook her head. “The one thing I’ve learned during the last week is that you never know if there will even be a later. We’ve been tiptoeing around each other for months and it’s making us both miserable. We’ve always been honest with each other. The best of friends. I want that back.”

His eyes darkened. She could almost feel him draw away from her, emotionally if not physically. “You want to just be friends. I’m not sure that’s possible now, but we can try. I’ll try to—”

“That isn’t what I said,” she interrupted impatiently. “We’ve always been more than ‘just’ friends. You are my best friend. The person who means more to me than anyone else in the world.”

His head lifted, his eyes narrowing on her face. “What are you telling me, Mia?”

She drew a deep breath for courage, then spoke in a rush. “I’ve always been a giver. I enjoy taking care of my family and friends, doing everything I can to make sure they’re happy. It gives me joy to see people I care about get what they want, achieve their goals and dreams. Sometimes I get so caught up in making other people happy that I forget to take care of my own needs. And there have been a few who have taken advantage of my generosity. Who have used me.”

“Dale,” he muttered with a scowl, referring to her brief relationship with a man Connor had disliked at first sight.

She kept her gaze steady on his. “Among others.”

His hand jerked in hers. “Surely you aren’t accusing me of being one of them.”

Keeping her fingers tightly around his, she didn’t look away. “No. You aren’t anything like Dale. His only concern was what I had to offer him. He never really cared what I wanted or needed in return.”

“I care,” Connor said, his voice rough. “But you have to tell me what you need from me. I can’t read your mind.”