The Surgeon's Surprise Baby. Tina Beckett

a lifetime.

      With her head still tilted, they stared at each other.

      “Is it?” Her words came out breathy, lips still slightly parted.

      Damn. His midsection tightened in warning. A warning he ignored, leaning closer even as she seemed to stretch up toward him.

      Annalisa chose that moment to squirm, and fidget, giving a soft cry. The spell was broken, and he stepped back.

      “Sorry,” she said. “She’s getting hungry.” The breathiness was gone, replaced by a wariness he didn’t like.

      He handed the baby over, watching as Elyse went to the bed and sat, unbuttoning her blouse and helping the baby latch on.

      The fact that she did it right in front of him made the tenseness in his chest release its hold.

      He’d been her lover, for God’s sake. Why should he be surprised?

      What did surprise him was that she’d come to Italy at all. Did she really care about him getting to know his daughter? Or was she simply assuaging any future guilt she might feel if Annalisa asked questions about who her father was?

      Did it matter?

      Yes, it did. Because her motivation behind this trip would set the tone for their future encounters. If she was just looking for the occasional photo op to show that she’d made the effort, she was going to be sorely disappointed. He wanted—no, he intended—to have an actual relationship with Anna. He would not be content with being the type of absentee father who did nothing more than send an occasional gift at birthdays or Christmas.

      Adorable snuffling sounds came from the bed, where the baby still nursed. Suddenly he couldn’t bear to watch anymore, looking on from the outside.

      “I’m going down to get a drink. Do you want anything?”

      Elyse looked up, the slight smile that had been on her lips fading. “A water, if it’s not too much trouble?”

      “No trouble at all.”

      A few steps later, he was opening the door, tossing one last look over his shoulder as he exited. But not before his eyes met hers and he saw the one thing he’d never wanted to see in them: fear. What was she afraid of? That he might try to take Annalisa away from her? He would never do that. But he also wasn’t going to simply step back and pretend his child didn’t exist.

      The elevator ride gave him the little bit of space and time he needed. It unclogged the lump in his throat and eased the ache in his chest. At least for the moment.

      She’d agreed to come to the house. That was something. She hadn’t refused outright.

      There was no sign of Peggy in the empty lobby where he asked for a coffee and Elyse’s water. It made sense. The Peggy he’d known in the States was kind and considerate. She might make it a point to stay away for more than an hour, if she thought they needed the time to work out stuff with the baby.

      Luca had juggled some of his calendar, but he still had appointments this afternoon, so he wouldn’t be able to stay long as it was.

      Dammit. He could just clear his calendar for the rest of the day—or a week, for that matter—but it wasn’t fair to the clinic’s patients. And even shuffling the cases to other neurophysiologists in the area would be a challenge. He was sure everyone else was just as slammed as he was. This was tourist season and a busy one for most of the doctors and clinicians in the city.

      So what did he do?

      All he could do. Make sure he used his time with Elyse and Annalisa wisely and hope that he could find a compromise that would suit all of them. She’d agreed to move into his house. They’d start with that.

      * * *

      Why had she agreed to stay at his home?

      The expression on his face when he’d looked at her, that’s why. The raw emotions that had streamed through her. The way he’d gripped his daughter tightly as if afraid to let her go. None of that fit with the man who’d said with such confidence that he didn’t want children.

      It was one of the million and one excuses she’d told herself every time she’d picked up the phone to call him and then set it back down again. She hadn’t been sure how Luca would react to the news that he’d fathered a daughter, which was why she’d finally decided to come to Italy and look him in the eye. If he’d shown any hint of horror or rejection at the news, Elyse would have been devastated. She would have turned back around and caught the first flight out of Italy to save her daughter the pain of having a father who didn’t want her.

      But he hadn’t rejected her, had insisted he wanted to be a part of her life. The distance between Italy and her homeland was going to make that extremely hard.

      If he were still in Atlanta, it would have been so much easier.

      Would it have been?

      It wasn’t like she’d could have hidden the weight gain from him. He’d have known. Plus the added stress of having him right there might have made an already difficult pregnancy worse.

      And knowing Anna was going to be her only child?

      None of this was easy, and having him stand there as she’d nursed had driven that point home. It was a relief to have him leave. It gave her enough time to finish up, since Annalisa was barely hanging on, her long dark lashes fluttering as she got sleepy.

      Moving the baby to the crook of her arm, she quickly closed herself back up before lifting the baby to her chest and gently rubbing her back until she burped. And a good burp it was too. Elyse chuckled and got up to put the baby in the portable crib she’d brought on the flight with her.

      Anna shifted in her sleep, raising small fists that slowly floated back down until they were at her sides.

      Wow. She could stare at her daughter all day long. There were times she found herself forgetting what she was supposed to be doing because of it. Once she started back at the hospital, that would all change and life would become chaotic once again.

      One month. That’s all she had left.

      She didn’t want to think about how long it would be until Luca could see Anna again. Elyse would be able to follow the minuscule day-to-day developments of their daughter’s personality and physical growth.

      He would miss out on so much.

      But she didn’t know how to make it better.

      Maybe he could move back to the States.

      And do what? Her hospital’s neurology department was still operating on a skeleton crew and they weren’t looking to expand that area. But there were other hospitals and other clinics. Surely he could find a place at one of those, just like she’d thought he would do all those months ago.

      Why would he, though? She’d been awestruck at the little bit of Florence she’d seen as she’d come in. The city was gorgeous, with true old-world charm that couldn’t be matched. The Florence Cathedral and its domed roof was one of the most beautiful buildings she’d seen in her life. She needed to make a point to get a closer look at it. Then there was the Pitti Palace and so many other historic sites that she wanted to explore. Maybe while Luca was at the hospital, working, she, Peg and the baby could do some sightseeing.

      After seeing where he came from, she couldn’t imagine him wanting to move back to Atlanta. But maybe the baby would change that.

      Did she want it to? It was hard seeing him again. The punch to her senses had been just as jolting as the first time she’d laid eyes on him. And when he’d tipped up her face... God. For a second, she had been sure he was going to kiss her. Had wanted him to so badly.

      How much worse would that be if they lived a half-hour apart? Or maybe even closer than that? Or saw each other every day? She was obviously not as over him as she’d thought.

      There was a quiet knock at the door and then Luca came in, holding a