Valentine Babies (Holiday Babies Series) Read Online Free Page A

heard a knock on the bathroom door
and immediately worried. “Is she out again?”
    “No, she’s fine and ready to sleep. Please, call me in an
hour.” Tiffany scribbled her cell phone number on the pad on the night table.
    “I will. Good night, Tiffany.”
    As soon as the door closed, he went to stand beside the bed.
Roxanne’s hair, loose now, spread over the pillow, and framed her heart-shaped
face. The fading makeup couldn’t conceal her pallor. He wanted to hold her and
promise that everything would be all right. And yet he didn’t know what her everything encompassed, what fears she hid behind her closed eyelids.
    “Roxanne.” She opened turquoise eyes that looked huge but so
tired. “I want you to take a test. I’ll help you to the bathroom.” He spoke in
the soft but firm tone he used with his patients.
    Dejection washed over her face. “You think I’m pregnant?”
    “Are you?” He wished she could trust him and let him treat
her.
    “Probably.” Tears filled her eyes. “Although I’ve never
checked. Don’t believe in these home tests. I missed only once. Maybe it’s the
emotion...”
    “We’ll talk about it in a moment.” He supported her to the
bathroom and gave her the tube and the sheet of instructions. “It’ll take three
minutes.”
     He paced the bedroom as he waited. What a weird
evening. A few hours that seemed like months. To meet a gorgeous woman, be
attracted to her and swamped in a heap of problems, before even knowing or
dating her—problems he was just guessing.
    She’d obviously had a man in her life. Had he abandoned her?
What an idiot. How could any man in his right mind dump such a wonderful girl?
But then, he’d heard so many sad stories at his hospital.
    How could Greg help? To begin with, as a doctor, he’d do his
job and make sure she was healthy. As a man? Damn it, he wondered what he could
do. Or wanted to do. He’d seen two sides to Roxanne. The sassy reporter who
couldn’t care less about people’s opinion. And the anxious young woman who’d
tried all night to smother her pain and present a brave front.
    He hadn’t dated much. His medical studies and career had
consumed all his time. And then his mother had claimed the few free hours left.
He’d given up bringing women home. Mom did her best to alienate them with her
erratic behavior.
    Later, alcohol had ravaged her liver, but Rose Hayes never
forgave him for moving her to an assisted living residence. With desperate
words of love and pathetic gifts, she noosed a rope of guilt around his heart.
She’d never allow him to build a future that wouldn’t include her. He’d given
up, and contented himself with a few innocent flirtations at the bars or the
hospital.
    The bathroom door opened.
    He crossed his fingers behind this back. Lack of food and
strong emotions could cause a girl to faint.
    Roxanne held the tube to him. It took him one glance to read
the result.
    Pregnant .

 
     
     
    Chapter Three
    “Pregnant,” Greg repeated the single word. It sounded like a
life sentence. For both of them.
    Roxanne drew a deep breath and raised her head. “At least I
know for sure now,” she said with a steady voice. Leaning on the bathroom door
in a too-short nightgown—more like a long t-shirt—that revealed a gorgeous pair
of thighs, she looked vulnerable, but way too attractive.
    Smashing his lust with an iron will, Greg cupped her elbow
and walked her to the bed. She slipped under the cover and he plumped the
pillows behind her head. He brought her a glass of water and put a pill in her
hand. “Swallow this. A pill of Zofran to quiet the nausea.” She obeyed
the doctor’s order. “Here’s a chocolate and cookies I had in my backpack. From
now on, you need to eat light portions every two hours.”
    The chocolate smell seemed to whet her appetite. She nodded
and munched on a bar. “Delicious. Thank you. For this and for everything.” She
didn’t hiccup, didn’t press a palm on her mouth or rub her