Texas Bride. Kate Thomas

Josh was beside her in the car. “Another pain?”

      She nodded, her face pinched and tight, those sensual lips pressed into a thin line.

      Which left nothing to do but—“Shh,” he murmured, pulling her onto his lap. “I’m here, Dani. I won’t leave you.” He wrapped his arms around her, held her tightly against his chest. It feels right. As right as that spine-tingling kiss a minute ago.

      All of which was completely wrong. Dammit, he didn’t respond like this to a woman, any woman—especially one having another man’s baby!

      “Thank you for not giving me away,” Dani whispered as the sheriff eased the patrol car onto the road. “I owe you.”

      Josh just snorted at that nonsense. Of their own accord, his arms tightened around her.

      “I don’t mean to tell you your business, Lopez,” he snarled, “but floor it, will you? The woman’s having a baby!”

      “I ain’t licensed to fly, son. We’ll get there. Don’t worry.” The damned fool slowed down then, just to go through a blind curve.

      At last, they reached a town. The sheriff spun the steering wheel, then stood on the brakes and screeched to a halt in front of a metal prefab building.

      “Here y’are,” he announced. “No Lake Medical Clinic. Told ya we’d get here in time.”

      “Thanks, Sheriff.” Josh jerked open the car door. “I, uh, I—”

      Even Lopez’s laugh had a Texas twang. “’Pology accepted, son. Best get yore wife inside now. The doc’ll take it from here. And good luck to ya.”

      Josh kept his hands steady and gentle as he eased Dani out of the car, and carried her carefully up the clinic steps.

      The place was deserted—except for one small, mahogany-skinned, too-damned-young man wearing a white knit shirt, nylon shorts and striped kneesocks. “Good Sunday morning to you,” he said as he directed Josh to an examining room and helped him settle Dani on the table there. “I am Dr. Ravjani, playing soccer only moments ago.”

      “Josh Walker. This is Dani.” Josh watched her anxiously. Her eyes were closed again as she rode out another contraction, breathing deeply.

      “Very happy to be meeting you.” Ravjani grinned as he began taking Dani’s blood pressure. “I am guessing first baby. Right?”

      “Yes,” she exhorted. “But my due date isn’t for two more weeks.”

      “Oh, first babies are notorious for not heeding the calendar,” the doctor said cheerfully.

      When Dani offered a tentative smile in response, Josh turned to leave.

      “Good idea!” Ravjani crowed, grabbing Josh’s arm. “I will help Mrs. Dani into a sterile gown while you are washing up to your elbows.” For a small man, Ravjani had a tenacious grip. Josh found himself being hustled from the room and down a hallway. “Then I will examine your wife while you are comforting her.”

      Josh shook his head. Tried to free his arm. The little man’s grip tightened.

      “This was not a question, Josh Walker. My nurse is barbecuing her boyfriend today, so I am needing your help.” The doctor shoved him into a tiny bathroom. “Mrs. Dani is already afraid of what she isn’t knowing. Now I am an excellent doctor, you understand, but my English—I may not be saying the comforting clichés correctly to keep her focus off the pain. I tell you—thinking about it will only make this delivery harder.” The little man shook a finger under Josh’s nose. “For the baby’s sake, you must be helping me.”

      With that, Ravjani disappeared.

      Well, hell. Josh reached for the soap. He’d spent six years mourning his lost baby. As he scrubbed his hands and forearms nearly raw, some scorekeeper in his head observed, Helping Dani deliver her baby will give you part of what Carrie denied you.

      Besides, he owed Dani Caldwell his life. And even if he didn’t, no man worth the name turned away from a woman in need.

      Josh grabbed a wad of paper towels and dried his hands as he hurried back to the examining room.

      Dani gave him a smile, but—Yes, some fear lurked in those luminous green eyes. So Josh wrapped his fingers around hers. Squeezed gently. Tried to act reassuring. Probably failed. Complications worthy of a soap opera kept flashing through his head.

      After Ravjani examined Dani—while Josh examined his impressive medical credentials on the wall—he assured them everything was proceeding normally. “Rest between contractions,” he advised, patting Dani’s hand. “This will be taking some time. Do not become anxious,” he added, spearing Josh with a significant look. Then he wandered off to catch up on paperwork.

      A tear slid down Dani’s cheek and lingered on the edge of her full lower lip. He remembered how soft her mouth felt under his, how sweet she tasted....

      “Dammit. Please, Dani—don’t cry!”

      Thank heavens. A distraction. Through her own anxiety, Dani recognized the discomfort beneath Josh’s gruffness. She knew men weren’t very good with the messy parts of life; Jimmy had especially hated her tears.

      And what good were they, after all? They didn’t change reality.

      “You don’t need to stay,” she said, feigning nonchalance. “My husband would have been long gone by now.”

      “No man would miss his kid’s birth,” Josh declared in a voice like hammered steel.

      “Do you and your wife—” She gasped as a contraction hit.

      “I’m not married.”

      Did he think biting off the words could hide the raw anguish and grief echoing through them? Despite herself, Dani wondered at their cause.

      “Quit wasting your energy,” he commanded. “I’m not leaving you.”

      His deep, quiet voice offered support, like a strong pair of hands. Okay, she’d admit it: she didn’t want to face this alone. But did she dare accept this stranger’s help?

      As the contraction eased, Dani gazed up into Josh’s beautiful azure eyes. She saw apprehension in their depths, but determination was there, too. This was a man, not a boy. He carried scars—that still hurt, apparently—but maybe they’d made him strong. The way disappointment had weaned her from dreams and toughened her.

      Another wave of pain pulled at her. “Then make yourself useful,” she gasped. “Talk. About anything. Just—talk.”

      And so, through long, draining hours and slowly escalating waves of pain, she clung to Josh’s strong, hard hand and his deep, smooth voice as he talked of his boyhood in Montana and asked about life in Lufkin.

      Late in the afternoon, the contractions changed. Dani groaned, fighting the urge to push.

      Josh leaped to his feet. “I’ll get Ravjani!”

      “No need,” the doctor proclaimed as he bustled into the room to stand between Dani’s legs. “Ravjani is here and, ah, just in time.”

      His bubbly confidence was reassuring, Dani thought hazily, even if his English was slightly fractured.

      “Look, Mr. Walker,” Dr. Ravjani ordered. “Your child is arriving.”

      As Dani lay panting for the few seconds she sensed were all she’d have, she watched Josh reluctantly peek over the doctor’s shoulder.

      Beneath his tan, Josh’s color faded; his expression wavered between dismay and disgust. Alarmed, Dani cried, “Josh! What’s wrong?”

      “Your baby is crowning, that’s all,” said Ravjani. He smirked at Dani. “Perhaps your husband is one of those large, macho men who faints at the sight of one of nature’s miracles.”

      The greenish undertones to Josh’s