The Army Doc's Baby Secret

‘It’s from carrying that woman’s stuff. It was soaking.’

He felt so on fire right at that moment that it had barely registered.

‘It’s cold.’ Tia sounded concerned, but he couldn’t have cared less.

‘It’s just a T-shirt. You’re stalling. But there’s nothing to be nervous about. It’s just me.’

He dipped his head again.

‘Please.’ Her voice was a fragile whisper. ‘Don’t do this, Zeke.’

A token protestation at best.

‘Tell me you don’t want me to kiss you,’ he murmured, his lips closing the gap to hers.

‘I...’ The sound might as well have been ripped from her throat. And she still didn’t move. ‘I can’t.’

And then, as if suddenly galvanised into action, Tia stumbled backwards. Away from him.

He was an idiot.

He’d frightened her off. Exactly as he’d cautioned himself not to do.

‘You can’t just expect...’ she prattled on. ‘I mean...after five years...things have changed.’

‘But not the way you feel about me,’ he countered smoothly.

She eyed him balefully.

‘You’re wrong. The way I feel about you has changed.’

‘Mmm...’ He wasn’t in the least perturbed. ‘You say that, but your body is telling me something quite different.’

‘My body evidently doesn’t know when to shut up, then,’ she snapped.

But her tone was that little bit more brittle than he might have expected. As though there was something he was missing.

Tia raked her hands through her hair in a gesture he recognised only too easily as an indicator of just how wound up she was.

‘I can’t just fall back into your arms, Zeke. I won’t. You don’t understand. I... There are things I need to tell you.’

‘More apologies for amputating my leg?’ he countered. ‘I don’t need to hear them.’

Moreover, he didn’t want to hear them. Especially after all he’d put her through.

And then, suddenly, she seemed to gather herself together and straighten her shoulders.

‘I’m not apologising for amputating your damn leg,’ she burst out. ‘I didn’t come back here for that. And I didn’t come back here for us. I’ve moved on, Zeke. Just like you told me to do.’

‘If I truly believed that, I would walk away,’ he stated flatly, ignoring the way every fibre of his body ignited in protest. ‘But I can still read you, Tia. I know you want me.’

She bit her lip but she didn’t deny it. He’d known she wouldn’t.

‘Fine. So, what, then? Do you expect me to put your abrupt return to the area down to curiosity? You’ve already admitted you read about me in the papers, and knew I was back in Westlake. And suddenly, you’re back here. A mere ninety minutes up the coast. And don’t tell me it’s because your father is here in Delburn, because he has been here for several years now and you haven’t been back before.’

‘How do you know that?’ retorted Tia, giving away more than she intended to.

‘Because I’ve been back at Westlake for the last three years and you haven’t been anywhere near the place.’