The Midwife's Christmas Miracle (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 5)

And she shouldn’t be noticing or caring. Didn’t she ever learn?

Determined not to dwell on his attributes, determined to forget that amazing kiss, she pulled herself reluctantly from the warm, soothing bath and wrapped herself in the fluffy, warm towel.

* * *

He heard her come into the room and turned, his eyes lingering on her flushed cheeks and the soft curve of her mouth. Dressed in pyjamas, with her hair secured on top of her head with a clip, she looked impossibly young and vulnerable and he felt something clench deep inside his gut.

Carefully hiding his reaction, he pulled out a chair and waved a hand. ‘Sit down. I didn’t know what you liked on pizza so I ordered everything.’

She peeped into the box and laughed. ‘So I see. As an obstetrician, aren’t you supposed to be preaching the sermon of optimum nutrition?’

‘A little bit of what you want is good for you and I’ve decided that what you need most is calories and comfort.’ He pushed the box towards her. ‘Eat. Do you want a plate?’

Ravenous, she shook her head and reached into the box. ‘No point.’ She chewed and gave a moan of delight. ‘Oh, this is delicious.’

‘Good.’ He watched the way her small pink tongue sneaked out and licked her lips and suddenly found himself in the grip of a vicious attack of lust. ‘So—tell me your life story.’

She stopped chewing. ‘Sorry?’

Cursing himself for having disturbed her meal, Jake decided that, having done so, he may as well push on with his questioning. ‘I want to know what’s happened to the father of your baby. You accused me of jumping to the wrong conclusion and I’m sure that you’re right. So give me the facts. That way, I won’t do it again.’

‘You’re very direct, aren’t you?’

‘I think it’s better that way.’ He trapped her gaze with his. ‘It prevents misunderstandings.’

She gave a slightly cynical laugh. ‘Does it?’

‘I think so. Who is he, Miranda?’

She hesitated. ‘I suppose I owe you an explanation so I’ll tell you, and then I don’t want to talk about it any more.’

‘You don’t owe me anything,’ he said calmly. ‘But I want you to tell me.’

‘Why?’

Good question. ‘Because you look like someone who needs a friend? So that I can track him down and black his eye for leaving you to struggle like this?’

‘I’m not struggling.’ She gave him a fierce glare and he fought back a smile, remembering how independent she’d been on the mountain. She clearly had a thing about looking after herself and yet she looked so young with her dark hair still damp from the bath and a slice of pizza in her hand.

Far too young to be a single mother with no support.

‘Don’t stop eating,’ he said quietly. ‘You need the food. Tell me who he was, Miranda.’

Ignoring the pizza in her hand, she chewed her lip and stared miserably at the kitchen table. ‘Saying it out loud makes it even worse.’

He leaned forward and eased the slice of pizza from between her fingers.

‘Eat.’ He slid the pizza between her teeth and she gave a wan smile before obediently biting off a piece.

‘I met him in a chat room on the internet.’

What was a beautiful woman

like her doing, resorting to chat rooms on the internet? ‘And?’

She shrugged. ‘His name was Peter and he seemed nice. We chatted about all sorts of things. He liked all the same things as me—it was uncanny really.’ She shook herself. ‘Anyway, we spoke on the phone a couple of times and then we arranged to meet. He told me he was thirty-eight, which is a bit old, I suppose, but I wasn’t worried.’

‘So you met?’