“Perfect. We’re about done here.” Kerry wiped her forehead with her arm, and then spoke in soothing terms. “One more push, hon. Give me one more push. Now.”
Damian swallowed and glanced away when Kerry reached beneath the woman’s dress and shifted her knees further apart.
“Good, you’re doing fine. It won’t be much longer.”
Bev tensed, let out with a scream, and bore down again.
The baby boy slid out of its
mother’s body just as two medics pushed a gurney up to the truck. Kerry quickly used her index finger to clear the infant’s mouth. The baby sucked in a breath, and let out with a wail.
Damian released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Hopefully, he wouldn’t embarrass himself by having anyone notice the tears standing in his eyes. His trembling fingers ran through his hair, tugging at his scalp. Never in his life had he witnessed anything so incredible. He took in a deep gulp of air and grinned.
Kerry’s face lit up, and her gaze connected with his. In the flashing light from the bar, their eyes locked. Her face shone with sweat, curls plastered to her head, almost as if she had given birth.
Damian’s gut clenched, and a powerful, totally unfamiliar feeling raced through him.
He fought the urge to grab this woman and kiss her senseless. His previous sense of finally having found the right one for him hit him like a fist to the gut.
Dude, you’re in big trouble.
Chapter Three
Damian followed the ambulance transporting Kerry with an exhausted mother and new son to the hospital. Still unsettled by feelings for this woman he barely knew, he smiled in admiration for how Kerry conducted the delivery of a baby in probably the worst circumstances she’d ever had to deal with.
She’d been focused, professional, and compassionate. Observing how she handled herself turned him on as much as the dance they’d shared. If he accomplished nothing else tonight, figuring out a way to keep Ms. Mackenzie from rushing right off to Albuquerque would make for a successful evening.
He swung the truck into the hospital parking lot as the paramedics unloaded Bev and the baby. Kerry hopped out of the back of the ambulance and hurried into the hospital behind the gurney. Damian parked the truck, then followed them into the emergency entrance.
The room held the usual late night sufferers. Small children cried in their parents’ laps. Two men glared at each other, one holding a wad of blood-soaked paper towels to his forehead, the other with an ice pack on his eye. A teenager, who obviously had too much to drink, lay snoring next to three friends who played cards. Late night misery in Amarillo.
Damian headed to the vending machine area, plunked in coins for a cup of coffee and a package of peanut butter and cheese crackers. He then slumped into a vinyl covered chair that had seen better days and finished off the snack.
After two hours of rifling through old magazines and watching a stream of the walking wounded enter the doors of the emergency room, he was relieved to see Kerry stride up to him, a huge smile on her face.
“Both mother and son are settled in and doing fine.” She collapsed alongside him, and rotated her neck. “It was really nice of you to stay, but you didn’t have to do that. I could’ve caught a taxi to a motel.” She yawned. “What time is it?”
“Close to two-fifteen. And it was no problem to wait. I’m glad everything went well with the delivery.”
She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Hmm. I could fall asleep right here.”
Damian stood and drew her up. “Come on. I know a motel not too far from here. I brought your things with me. They’re in my truck.”
Kerry groaned, and followed him out the door. “Why are you doing all this?”
Maybe because I’ve been hit with something I can’t explain? “I told you. My mama raised me to be a gentleman.”
She glanced at him sideways and smirked.
Once settled into the truck, Damian pulled onto the highway and flipped on a radio station. A mellow number filled the air. Kerry settled herself against the door and closed her eyes. A few miles down the road, he entered the parking lot of The Primrose Motel—with a bright red “No Vacancies” sign flashing in the dark night. He glanced at his passenger...who was fast asleep.
Damian returned to the highway and hit two more motels before he headed north toward his home. The clock on the dashboard read five after three when he entered the long driveway leading to his large ranch house. The rambling structure sat in shadows, outlined by the dim glow of the partial moon.
“Kerry?” He shook her shoulder gently.
“Um.”
“Darlin’, you have to wake up.”