Instant Dad

He looked down and confirmed her diagnosis. “That was all water you brought up with you,” he said cheerfully. “I guess I ought to get into some dry clothes, though. Could I borrow something of your husband’s?”

“My husband’s?” She gazed at him blankly.

“Your husband’s. I thought you had one of those.”

“Oh. Of course I do.” She laughed shortly. “Yes, just go down the hall to the bedroom on your right, next to the baby’s room. There’s a closet in there that should be full of stuff.”

He disappeared and she shivered, getting back under the spray, letting the delightful warmth spread throughout her body. And then she choked back a surge of hysteria. Good grief! She’d fallen into the pool and this incredibly handsome man had pulled her out and stripped her naked! Nothing quite this exciting had ever happened to her before and she was acting as though it were routine. And now he was going to be dressing in her husband’s clothes. Her husband. What a laugh. It had been a while since she’d actually had one. But that was something no one else was to know about.

Craig had made a wonderful husband, at least in theory. Tall, handsome, distinguished looking, with credentials from the finest schools and most exclusive business firms, everyone had said they made a perfect couple when they got married.

Everyone, of course, didn’t know what went on behind closed doors, which wasn’t much as it turned out. But they had gotten along just fine for a few years. They were still good friends.

Though they had had their marriage annulled over a year ago, they hadn’t told anyone. No one knew. Craig had agreed to that when Sara had asked for the favor. He knew her well enough to know how hard it would be for her to admit defeat to the world. And it meant nothing to him, really. Sometimes it was convenient to have a wife hanging around in the background.

He was in China on business at the moment, but he’d agreed to come home for the baby shower, to stand around and be her husband one more time, and she was grateful to him for that. This baby shower was going to be her showcase, her way of presenting herself and her life to all her old friends. She wanted everything to be just right, and that meant she really had to have a husband. Otherwise, it just wouldn’t feel right.

Life had been too muddled lately. She needed a return to clarity. Having Craig here when she celebrated adopting the baby would help do that. Things would be back to normal. Almost.

Drey found the room and the closet, but the clothes weren’t his style. He hesitated, then chose a polo shirt that was a size too small. His jeans were damp, but they would have to do. He couldn’t see himself in the plaid slacks he found hanging among Sara’s husband’s things.

Walking out into the hallway, he listened. The water was still running. He turned toward the stairs and made his way down, searching until he found the den. Pulling out drawers in the desk, he uncovered an address book and quickly paged through it, calling the first doctor’s name he could find there.

“Tell the doctor it’s Sara Parker,” he told the nurse who answered. “She’s fallen into icy water and I think a doctor should take a look to make sure she’s okay.”

“Sara Parker?” The nurse sounded concerned. “Is this Mr. Parker?”

Drey caught back a smile. “No, it’s not,” he said, leaving the rest to the woman’s imagination.

“I’m sure Dr. Bracken will want to stop by on his way home. Mrs. Parker is a close friend. He’s leaving shortly and since he lives just a block away from Mrs. Parker…”

So that was settled. Drey hung up the telephone and sat for a moment, staring at the glass-enclosed bookshelves. Nice work. Everything in this house was firstclass.

Even, he thought with a sudden grin, the woman.

She’d looked good in the pink cashmere suit and she’d looked even better without it. For a split second he allowed himself to think of her chilled skin, her long, molded legs, her round breasts, their nipples pulled into tight, dark buttons that made him…

No, he wasn’t going to think that way. Quickly and resolutely, he shoved the picture of Sara’s lovely naked body out of his mind. It wasn’t fair to her to think about it and he wasn’t going to do it.

Rising, he paced the room for a moment. What now? Every instinct in him told him to get out while the getting was good, to get as far away from this house and this woman as he could. But he hadn’t completed the task he’d come for yet. His whole purpose in being here was to find out more about Sara Parker, to see what made her tick, to see what kind of a mother she was going to make for Jenny’s baby. He was a long way from being able to make that sort of judgment. He couldn’t leave for good until that determination was made.

Sara came down the stairs with a firm step. Her hair clung damply to her neck and there was still some part of her, deep inside, that was shaken by the accident. But she wasn’t going to let that stop her. She had to find her helpful carpenter and face him right away, before the memory of what had just occurred, what he’d just done for her, started to eat into her self-confidence.

It took her breath away when she thought about it. There she’d been, stark naked in front of a strange and rather attractive man. What if he’d…?

Well, it didn’t help to think about what might have happened if he hadn’t turned out to be a decent guy. Which he seemed to be. She was just lucky he’d been around to pull her out of the pool. Her nakedness was inconsequential compared to that.

But if she didn’t find him, didn’t talk about what had happened, laugh about it, she knew it would stay there inside her, like a worm in an apple and she couldn’t let that happen.

She found him pacing the floor of her den and favored him with a bright smile meant to wipe away any nagging memories he might have of her unprotected body parts. “I want to thank you for what you did,” she said, reaching out to take his hand in hers and gazing up at him earnestly.

He looked uncomfortable. “There’s nothing to thank me for,” he said gruffly.

There. She could see it in his eyes, in the set of his mouth. He was thinking about her naked. This was impossible, and if she didn’t stop thinking about it herself, she was going to blush. She never blushed. She refused to blush. She had to get his mind on other things.

She hoped her laugh didn’t sound as forced to his ears as it did to her own. “Are you kidding?” she said gaily. “You may have saved my life.”

He looked startled to have her say such a thing. “I didn’t save your life. You would have jumped out on your own in a few seconds.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” she told him. “Feel this.”

She tossed her hair back and leaned her head to the side, guiding his hand to the area of her scalp where a huge goose egg was throbbing. It was strange to be inviting a perfect stranger to feel her head, but this was a strange situation, and be had probably saved her. That in itself was a fairly intimate act, wasn’t it? And intimate acts tended to form bonds. Consider one formed, she told herself soothingly. This man is now a close personal friend.

“Ouch,” he said, wincing for her as his fingers found the injury. “You hit your head, all right. You don’t remember doing it?”

She shrugged. “I guess I missed it. There was a lot going on at the time.” She shook her hair back and a slight frown formed between her brows. “I did feel like I was passing out at one point, though,” she reflected.

He nodded, watching the way her hair fell into place in crisp waves. Damp like this, it still looked blond. Interesting. He supposed that meant it wasn’t dyed but naturally light. The color of her eyebrows confirmed it. They were silky and light as the down on a peach.

She’d put on another sweater, this one a fuzzy soft baby blue. He glanced down. Sure enough, she’d put on baby blue socks to match. Concussion or not, she wasn’t going to get sloppy. Maybe he was getting to know all about her after all.

“That’s a nasty bump you’ve got,” he told her with a direct look. “It’s a good thing the doctor is on his way.”

Her eyes widened. She hadn’t wanted that. “What? You called the doctor?”

“Yes, I did.”

She stared at him, resentful of his high-handed attitude. This carpenter she’d hired didn’t seem to remember who the boss was. “I told you not to,” she reminded him.

“Sorry about that.” His dark eyes were coolly unrepentant and he went on, telling her the truth. “I very seldom do what I’m told.”

She wasn’t sure if she was angry or just amused. “What are you,” she asked him bluntly. “Some sort of control freak?”

His mouth twisted into something that could almost be called a smile. “I like to call it being forceful and farsighted.”

She was about to tell him what she called it when the doorbell chimed and she turned instead. “Oh drat, that will be the doctor.”

“I’ll get it,” he said, starting for the door. “You sit down on the couch.”

Outrage stiffened her back. It was pretty obvious this man was ready to take over everything if she let him. Cutting him off at the pass with an end run around the counter, she stood in his way, eyes narrowed.

“Excuse me,” she said icily. “I believe this is my house. I’ll get the door, thank you just the same.”

He shrugged, unconcerned, looking down at her without rancor. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.

What was he trying to say, that he’d only been looking out for her welfare? She threw him a skeptical look and didn’t bother to answer, striding quickly into the foyer with Drey right behind her.

She opened the door to find Dr. Bracken looking in anxiously, his huge gray eyes doleful as usual.