Daddy Woke Up Married

“Emily?”

She didn’t meet his gaze. “Yes?”

“We’ okay, aren’t we? I mean, we get along okay, right?”

She smiled a little. “We’ve always been great friends. We kind of grew up together.”

Friends? That didn’t tell him very much. He bypassed the tempting curve of her breasts and rested his palm over the swell of her tummy. “When is the baby due?”

Emily swallowed hard. He could even see the muscles working in her throat. “In December,” she murmured.

“A Christmas baby. That’s nice.” With a small shrug to himself, he decided action was better than wondering and worrying. With a smooth, unhurried motion he drew her across his body.

Emily gasped, but didn’t fight him.

Grinning, he twisted until she rested on the pillow and he could arch over her, his back to the door to give them some privacy. It felt great, even though his abused muscles protested. Rebellion simmered in her blue eyes and a healthy flush of annoyance brightened her skin. Good. He didn’t want her to hide her emotions—he’d never remember a thing about their life if she didn’t act like herself around him.

“Mad at me, Angel?”

“Whatever gave you that idea?” Emily’s bottom lip pouted out, and he raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not sure, but it might be that not-so-angelic glare on your face.”

“I told you, I don’t have any nicknames. I’ve never been called an angel in my life.”

“I still like it…Angel.” Ignoring her muffled shriek of protest, he eased his fingers into the shiny thickness of her hair, concentrating on the texture of the cool silken strands. It occurred to him that he ought to be a little less confident—at least for someone whose memory resembled Swiss cheese—but he was enjoying himself too much.

“Let go of me.”

“Uh-uh. I want to kiss my wife.”

Emily gulped as he kissed her forehead. It wasn’t the first time Nick had touched her, she reminded herself. She would just pretend this was like any other platonic hug they’d shared. With this decision in mind, she closed her eyes and waited for the “kiss.”

His laugh was little more than a tremor of movement in his chest. “Going to take your medicine like a good girl?”

Her eyes flew open, flashing blue sparks. That was the old Nick. That was Nick Carleton playing one of his friendly I’m-almost-like-family jokes. Most of the time it wasn’t too bad, but this time he’d gone too far!

Chapter Two (#ulink_0cc03d77-49c8-582c-93db-ac58b5ab6c49)

Emily glowered. Some joke.

Amnesia? She’d give Nick worse than amnesia, she’d put him in traction!

“Why you arrogant wretch! I knew you were—”

Her furious diatribe was smothered by Nick’s mouth, hot and open over her own, possessive, his tongue invading her inner softness. On second thought, this wasn’t at all like the Nicholas Carleton she knew. Surely he wouldn’t go to this length for a gag…kissing her so passionately?

If he was fooling, it was an incredible acting job. Emily moaned, the assault on her senses threatening logical deduction.

No, he had to be fooling.

With that thought in mind, Emily drew up her knee to teach Mr. I’m Almost Like Family a lesson he wouldn’t quickly forget. It was then she realized she had proof of something Nick couldn’t fake, and certainly wouldn’t feel if he was just joking. He was leaning over her, pressing his weight along the side of her body. A sheet and blanket covered his hips, but they couldn’t disguise the bold, hard power of his arousal. Her heart skipped into triple time.

“Nick…?”

“Shhh.” His thumb traced her collarbone. “God, Emily. You smell so good…feel so good. I can’t wait until I get out of here. I must be the luckiest man in town. Why can’t I remember?”

Emily gulped, torn by the pain and frustration in his voice. Their friendship was too special to lose—he’d be horribly embarrassed when his memory came back. Imagine, passionately kissing the woman you’d always treated like a kid sister. And what about when she had to take him home from the hospital?

Home…as in a normal marriage with a shared bed.

The breath caught in her throat as Nick’s hand slid lower, carefully cupping her breast. Surprised response spun outward, clenching her abdomen.

“N…no!” She stuttered, pushing his fingers away and fumbling at the hospital bed railing. This was crazy. It was just shock and uncertainty making her respond to his touch. She couldn’t want to sleep with him, could she? Her best friend?

She had to get away, to think.

“Angel…Emily, stop it,” Nick protested, trying to halt her frantic motions as she hung over the side, searching for something to grab on to. “What’s wrong? What did I do?”

At that moment the railing dropped, and Emily slipped, falling toward the floor. Fear swamped all her other emotions.

No! The baby.

With a desperate lunge Nick caught her, the alarm in his face mirroring her own. He dragged her back onto the mattress, swearing a blue streak.

For several seconds Emily lay quietly, breathlessly listening to her heart thud and her husband curse. But when he reached the fifth “dammit all to hell” she’d had enough.

“Quiet!” She wiggled into a semiupright position. “Don’t you dare use that kind of language in front of my baby.”

“It’s my kid, too!”

The sound of laughter startled them both. They turned toward the door and saw a grinning Dr. Wescott. “Good catch, Nick. I see you’ getting back to normal.”

“I’m fine.” He crossed his arms and glared at Emily. “But it’s no wonder I can’t remember my name, my wife probably scared it out of me.”

“I did nothing of the sort. You fell off the roof.”

The doctor laughed again. “You both seem accident prone. I guess it’s a match made in heaven.”

“Thanks a lot,” Emily muttered.

At the moment she could cheerfully strangle Paige Wescott. She should have known better than to choose an old school chum for a doctor. Of course, no one could have predicted Nick would fall off the roof and develop a highly inconvenient case of memory loss.

She carefully brushed her hair from her face, ignoring Nick, who seemed to be handling amnesia a lot better than he deserved. The wretch.

“Are you all right, Angel?” he asked.

“Lord,” she muttered. “You must ask me that a dozen times a day.”