Her Motherhood Wish

Mumsy? Had he just called her mumsy?

‘I won’t be a moment,’ she said, and hopped out of the car. When she returned with Bouncer, who looked dismayed to find someone in his seat, David was, once more, out for the count.

Bouncer barked at Olivia apologetically before jumping onto David’s lap.

‘What the hell …?’ David’s eyes snapped open again and he pushed at Bouncer, who was clearly not intending to move.

‘David, meet Bouncer. Bouncer, meet David.’ She grabbed Bouncer’s collar and tried to pull him off David’s lap, but the dog was having none of it. A bemused-looking David took hold of Bouncer, climbed out of his seat and deposited him in the back. ‘Stay there,’ he commanded.

To Olivia’s amazement, her dog, who would never do what she wanted unless bribed and coaxed, looked at David, blinked and lay down obediently.

‘How did you manage to do that?’

‘Dogs just need a firm hand, just like …’

Please, God, don’t let him say just like women and children.

‘Just like …’ He hesitated. ‘Just like horses,’ he finished, his eyes glinting. He yawned. ‘Think I might close my eyes again, if that’s okay?’

‘Sure.’ Olivia pointed the car in the direction of home and by the time she’d turned into her street David was asleep again.

When she pulled up outside her house, Bouncer leapt from the car. David opened his eyes and looked around sleepily.

‘Where would you like me to drop you?’ she asked.

‘Here’s just fine.’

‘Are you sure you don’t want me to take you all the way? You seem in urgent need of a good night’s sleep.’

David hid a yawn behind a fist. ‘I am. The truth is that the people I’m staying with—my friend and his wife—have a newborn baby. God! I never knew such a small thing could make so much noise. It’s just until I move into my own place. Trouble is that won’t be for another three weeks.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘Do babies stop crying when they’re older? I sure hope so.’

‘Not actually having had a baby, or any nieces and nephews, I can’t tell you that.’ She was clearly in the mother category, as far as David was concerned. Why that should bother her as much as it did, she had no idea.

David stretched languorously. ‘Just as well I stayed in the hospital last night, though. Meant I was on the spot to deal with a brain injury from an RTA.’ He opened the door. ‘Thanks for the lift but I’ll run the rest of the way from here. At least being on the move will keep me awake and hopefully by the time I get home the little critter will have gone to sleep. But I sure could do with something to eat first. I don’t suppose you know of a place between here and my street?’

Olivia hesitated. She really didn’t want to spend any more time in this man’s company than she had to. But she recognised a starving, exhausted doctor when she saw one. Whatever and however he made her feel, he was a colleague. He needed food—just as she did—and then bed.

‘Look, I was planning to grab some dinner at a place I know just along the road a bit.’ She pointed towards the bay. ‘How about joining me? I’ll give you a lift home after we’ve eaten.’

‘No one waiting for you?’ David replied, looking puzzled.

Olivia faltered. She hated having to explain about Richard’s death and how she had come to be pregnant with his child, so she’d become adept at sidestepping people’s curiosity. ‘No, not any more.’

David looked at her searchingly and for a moment she thought he was going probe further. She returned his gaze steadily, willing him not to ask her any more questions. Almost imperceptibly, his intelligent eyes flickered, as if he’d read her mind. And then his by now familiar, lazy grin was back.

He turned his gaze in the direction she had pointed. ‘Does this place do steaks? I could murder a T-bone.’

Of course he was a steak man. Could he really be anything else?

‘No steaks, but they do a mean chicken pie.’

CHAPTER THREE

OVER dinner, chicken pie for him and a salad for her, and with Bouncer snoozing at their feet, they chatted about Mark. David was optimistic that he would make a full recovery.

Finally, he leaned back in his chair. ‘Coffee?’

‘Not for me. I’ll have a herbal tea.’

‘Herbal tea! Does no one in this state eat normal food? The Californians don’t know what they’re missing.’ However, he called over the waitress who had been smiling and dancing attendance since they’d walked in the door—the very same waitress, Olivia noted sourly, who normally had to be summoned at least three times before she deigned to attend to her. Unsurprisingly, their drinks arrived only moments after David had ordered them.

‘Anything else?’ the waitress asked, placing her hand on her hip and smiling directly into David’s eyes.

‘Thank you, but no.’

Olivia hid a smile at the waitress’s obvious disappointment. No doubt she’d been hoping to be asked for her number. The look she gave Olivia was less than friendly.

‘So,’ Olivia asked, ‘what made you move from New York, seeing as you like your steaks so much?’

‘The job here. I’d have to wait a year for an attending post to come up in New York.’

‘This is your first attending position?’ She was surprised. He seemed so self-assured when dealing with his patients.

‘Yep. Thought I may as well work in sunny Frisco for a year.’ As he took a satisfied gulp of his coffee, Olivia couldn’t help but notice his long, slim fingers. For a split second she imagined those same hands skilfully dancing along her skin and was instantly horrified. What in God’s name was she thinking? She forced herself to concentrate on what David was saying.

‘You’re not from these parts either, are you? English, I’m guessing. So what brought you to the US?’

She shifted in her seat, still feeling slightly unbalanced by her thoughts of a few moments ago. ‘I still have the accent, huh? Even though I’ve been here for years. My folks came over from London when I was a little girl and settled in Boston. That’s where I went to med school.’

‘Good choice.’ He tipped his head to the side. ‘They’ve got some of the best teaching hospitals. And then you moved out West?’

‘That’s about it.’ Olivia made a show of looking at her wristwatch. ‘It’s getting late. I’d better get home and Bouncer fed.’

David leaned forward. ‘I’m sure Bouncer won’t mind waiting another five minutes. What happened after med school?’ His eyes held hers, all signs of his earlier fatigue completely gone.

‘It’s a long story.’

‘I have time, and I’d like to hear it.’

Olivia raised her eyebrows. ‘Sure you’re not stalling just so that you don’t have to go back to your friend’s apartment with the crying baby?’

‘Well, that’s part of it, sure.’ His lips twitched when she pretended to look shocked. ‘Look, if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine by me.’

Olivia studied the man sitting opposite to her. Could he really be interested?

Yet the need to talk about Richard and their life together was strong. Maybe it was the intense way David was looking at her, as if she was the most fascinating woman he’d ever come across. It was dark outside and they were the only people left in the deli. The waitress had dimmed the lights and was huffily tidying up, making it clear that she thought it was time for them to go.

‘My husband—Richard—and I got together when we were both at college. We dated and then got married. I was doing my residency and, as you will know from your own experience, working all hours. As was he. He joined a large company and was put on the fast track. It meant we spent little time together, but we were happy. Richard, as expected, shot up the corporate ladder. I got a job at the hospital and I guess we continued as before. We moved to San Francisco when Richard was promoted to CEO of his company.