The Doctors' Baby Miracle. Tina Beckett

      Even though there was a small part of him that wanted to do just that.

      And he had no idea why.

      * * *

      Kady had the morning to herself. It was still early and the pool was deserted. Dropping her towel onto a nearby lounger, she went over to the water’s edge and dipped in a toe. A shiver rippled over her at the difference in temperature. All the windows were fogged up, but the heat and humidity of the room were a welcome change from the icy interior of the hotel. She kind of liked the misty atmosphere. It gave her a sense of privacy. As if this was her personal luxury spa.

      She hadn’t seen Tucker at the convention the previous night, but then again they’d been in separate sessions. As soon as her part had ended, she’d gone straight to her room. She’d had a headache, and a dull listlessness had stolen over her, something she hadn’t felt in a while. The result of seeing Tucker again?

      Probably.

      It was a shock, that’s all. Anyone in their right mind would feel a big old jolt of disbelief at seeing their ex after all this time.

      All this time? It wasn’t like it had been ten years since she’d seen him. From her horrified reaction, it might as well have been, though.

      And he hadn’t called to say what time they were supposed to meet the medical students, so she assumed that wasn’t happening until later. Or maybe he’d told Mr. Harold that he preferred she didn’t come. That made her frown. She would have expected him to let her know, either way. Unless he’d tried and couldn’t reach her.

      She probably should have given him her cellphone number, but it hadn’t even crossed her mind until she’d been almost out of the hospital. To run back and breathlessly give it to him smacked of teenaged infatuation. And Kady had long since passed those days of young love.

      Young love. Ha!

      “Cynical, Kady. Cynical.”

      Okay, it might be cynical, but better that than be hurt by another man. Tucker had talked about never having any more children? Well, she was pretty sure she wasn’t getting married again. She hadn’t even wanted to date since they’d broken up.

      She could just take the plunge and put up a profile on one of those date matcher-upper things. Instead, she took a different kind of plunge and jumped into the pool. The chill shocked her system, almost causing her lungs to contract and blow out all her air reserves. She controlled the urge and then kicked her way to the very bottom. She tooled around, following the downward curve until she reached the deep end. Nice. This was the only kind of plunge she wanted to take. Her eyes burned slightly from the chlorine, but she was used to that. She drifted to where the light was, putting her palm over it before she went even deeper, glancing up at the surface above. She couldn’t remember if the pool had an eight- or twelve-foot depth.

      What did it matter? She could just stay down here forever.

      Except she couldn’t.

      As they always did, her lungs sent the first twinges of protest to her brain. Just another few seconds.

      She closed her eyes and let herself “be.” Something she could only seem to do in the water. But her lungs’ distress calls had now been taken up by other parts of her body. Time to go. She pushed off the concrete floor and shot toward the light above, breaking the surface and sucking down one huge gulp of air after another, before reaching toward the edge. Instead of a cold tiled surface, she encountered something firm but warm. Curling around her hand.

      Blinking the water out of her eyes in a hurry, she glanced up.

      “Tucker?” The name rasped across her vocal cords right before shock took control of them and rendered her silent. She wasn’t even sure why she’d asked, other than letting her brain in on what her heart already knew: it was him. It had to be, even if the light behind him cast his face in shadow. That, along with his dark jeans and black shirt, gave him a slightly sinister look. He could be a dark god. Or a fallen angel. She couldn’t quite decide which fit him better.

      Neither.

      Breathe, Kady, breathe.

      She did just that, trying to figure out if she was just imagining it or if Tucker was really crouched by the side of the pool, gripping her hand. His skin was warm. She could just curl into his palm and...

      And nothing.

      “I was just about to go in after you.”

      “You were?”

      “You looked pretty lifeless down there. One minute you were swimming like a fish and the next you went into some kind of suspended animation.” His thumb made a slight movement across the back of her hand. Small enough to make her wonder if she’d imagined it. Imaginary or not, it sent raw sensation skittering down her nerve endings, making them scramble to interpret it.

      There was nothing to interpret.

      She struggled to get her tongue to wrap around the words. “You’ve seen me like that before.” He had. Many times.

      He paused, fingers tightening slightly on hers. “Yes. I have.”

      Were they talking about the same thing? “Okay, so you know that I’m fine.”

      “I do now. You’re a land creature, Kady. You belong up here.”

      Next to him? When he looked like that? When just the touch of his hand on hers was making her picture all kinds of crazy scenarios? Like pulling him into the pool and seeing what it started?

      There was no way in hell she was going to do that. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

      “I lost the slip of paper with your room number on it.” The pad of his thumb shifted again. This time there was no way it was her imagination. Why was he still holding onto her anyway? And why the heck wasn’t she pulling away?

      “How did you expect to find me when you came over, then?”

      “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” He smiled. “Want me to help you out?”

      She took stock of the situation. Her towel was way over there. And she was dressed in a pretty skimpy bikini. He’d seen her stretch marks and the changes in her abdomen from carrying Grace before. But they’d been married back then. When things between them had been easy and comfortable.

      She was no longer comfortable in his presence. She was self-conscious and nervous. And she didn’t like it.

      Better to just face it. “Sure. Thanks.”

      She gave a quick kick of her legs to help him, and Tucker hauled her up and out of the pool. His eyes skated across her torso, then he dropped her hand as if he’d grabbed the wrong end of a scalpel. Then he swore, his gaze moving up and out—landing on anything except her.

      What the...?

      When she glanced down, she shrieked. The side strings on her bikini top had come undone, something she would have noticed had she not been so busy trying to figure out if he was stroking her hand. And getting worked up over it.

      Well, she wasn’t worked up anymore!

      Turning away quickly, thankful now for the fogged-up glass, she yanked the strings behind her back and attempted to tie them. Except she normally turned the top around and tied it in the front before twisting it to the back once more and then knotting the top.

      Why couldn’t she have worn a one-piece?

      Well, she hadn’t expected Tucker to walk in on her, for one thing.

      Why do you care? The man has seen you naked, for heaven’s sake. He’s seen you giving birth. He cut the cord afterward.

      But that noise he’d just made hadn’t been an “Oh, big deal” sound.

      It had been more like, “Did I just see what I think I saw?” In the old days, she would have thrown him a sexy quip and invited him closer. Much closer. They then would have spent