The Doctor's Pregnant Bride? / The Texas Billionaire's Baby: The Doctor's Pregnant Bride? / Baby By Surprise

“Thank you for going with me tonight. You saved my hide.” He reached over and pressed her shoulder, his fingertips grazing her neck.

Her breath caught. The air around her crackled. Neither of them moved. She wanted to kiss him, saw his gaze drop to her mouth and linger, his fingers twitching at the same time, then digging in a little. Move, she ordered herself. Get out. Don’t look back.

She didn’t budge. “So. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow,” she said.

He pulled away his hand slowly, cold replacing the heat fast—too fast. She shivered.

“Until tomorrow, then,” he said, smiling.

She climbed out of the car, leaning back in for just a moment. “Good night.”

“I’ll wait until you’re inside.”

She nodded, was aware of his gaze on her as she crossed between two parked cars, walked up the sidewalk, then climbed the front stairs. Should she turn around and wave? Of course. He was being a gentleman. She waved, although she couldn’t see if he waved back.

When she got inside she leaned against the door, her legs wobbly. What had just happened? Was she caught up in Penny and Brant’s story of love at first touch? She wanted the same fairy tale. The same happy ending. She’d wanted that for a long time.

But with Ted? A man who turned her on just looking at him? A man she worked with? A doctor?

She climbed the stairs, went into her dark, quiet apartment, then didn’t bother turning on the lights, moonlight casting just enough illumination. She slipped off her shoes, hung up her coat and sat on her sofa, curling her legs under her. Her body felt alive. Needy. Aroused.

How could she work with someone whose smallest touch left her breathless?

Her phone rang. She picked it up from the coffee table, her hello sounding shaky, even to herself.

“It’s Ted.”

She gripped the receiver with both hands. Her heart began to pound, loud and fast. “Oh, hi.”

“Listen, I—”

What? You felt it, too? You want me, too?

“Sorry. A car just cut me off. Um, I left some papers on your kitchen counter. Would you bring them with you tomorrow?”

She closed her eyes, more disappointed than she should let herself be. “Of course.”

“Thanks. See you.”

“Bye.”

She’d seen him around the building for months and been able to control it. So why this reaction today? And then there was the fact he hadn’t seemed to notice her at all until today. Or had he studiously been avoiding her, as she had been avoiding him?

All she knew for sure was that she needed to be very, very careful from here on. First and foremost, she wanted to get into the vault.

And she couldn’t—wouldn’t—let her attraction to Ted get in her way.

Chapter Four

In the lab early the next morning, Ted made room for Chance Demetrios to study his computer screen. Ted had arrived well before dawn, needing to get started on his light bulb moment of the previous evening.

“You came up with this last night?” Chance asked.

“Yeah. A purely random thought.”

“How did we miss it before?”

“Because it’s been a process. We had to go through the previous steps to get to this point.”

“I think you’re onto something, Ted.” Chance stepped back. “This could be the breakthrough.”

“Maybe.”

They’d worked together for so many years that they didn’t need to say a lot, could interpret each other’s expressions. Chance grinned; Ted just nodded, their reactions as opposite as everything else about them. Although they were about the same height, and had similar dark eyes and hair, Chance was powerfully built and social, and the black sheep of his dominant and wealthy family, whereas Ted rarely made waves. Opposite in many ways, but similar where it counted.

Because what they had in common was a need to find a viable treatment for male infertility, although neither had told the other why. And both were stubborn and independent, which made them a good team, each other’s checks and balances.

“Has Derek Armstrong weighed in on having Sara Beth working with us?” Chance asked.

“He hasn’t stopped by today. Maybe he doesn’t know yet.” Ted figured Derek would have an opinion, since he’d had an opinion on everything else that Ted and Chance were doing as they tried to protect the institute’s name.

“Did you spend the night here again?” Chance asked, booting up his own computer.

“No.” But that reminded Ted that he needed to order a bed frame, his box spring and mattress being too low to the ground for comfort getting in and out of bed. “I went to my parents’ house for dinner. It was their anniversary. How about you? You sounded hopeful about your date on the phone yesterday.”

“Here’s a piece of advice, my friend. Never have a first date on Valentine’s Day.”

With a few keystrokes, Ted forwarded the new hypothesis to Chance’s computer. “Okay. Why not?”

“Expectations are too high.” Chance tapped a couple keys, then his screen matched Ted’s.

“For what? Roses? Candy? Sex?”

“All three.”

“Your expectations or hers?”

Chance laughed. “In this case, hers.”

“And you turned her down?” Ted had observed Chance in action for years. He flirted in the same unconscious way that most people breathed. “Got a fever or something?”

“Or something.”

Ted studied Chance, but didn’t continue the conversation. They worked side by side, their shorthand of familiarity being enough to convey their thoughts. Suddenly, Ted smelled sweet lemons and discovered Sara Beth standing beside him, wearing tie-dyed scrubs in blues and greens.

Technically she’d been his Valentine’s Day date, but without roses, candy or sex. Without any expectations at all. She’d been a good sport about it, too.

“Good morning, Doctors,” she said, unobtrusively setting down an envelope with what he assumed were his papers from the night before.