Her Return to King's Bed(43)

                Sean blew out a breath. “When did you get so damn smart?”

                Rico laughed at the idea. Smart. If he was smart, he wouldn’t have wedged himself into his current situation with Teresa. “It’s not being smart,” he said. “It is knowing my family. And you will be a good father, Sean.”

                “Hope you’re right.” He grinned. “No backing out now. Hey, did I tell you Melinda and I are taking the baby to California for Christmas? Get a chance to let everyone meet our new son and I can show her around Long Beach…”

                Rico was only half listening now. His focus was Teresa. She was wearing a short-sleeved green silk blouse and a pair of white slacks and she looked…edible. His insides twisted anew as fresh desire pulsed in his bloodstream. She smiled and tossed her hair back from her face. The line of her throat was elegant. The shine in her eyes was magnetic. Her lush body was everything a man dreamed of.

                “Oh, yeah,” Sean said on a laugh, catching Rico’s attention. “Your plan’s working real well. Damn, dude. You can help me, but you can’t dig yourself out of your own mess.”

                Rico straightened up. He ignored Sean’s teasing and snapped out, “Melinda.”

                Behind the glass, Sean’s wife had doubled over, one arm wrapped around her belly. Teresa was hovering over her and throwing a frantic look to Rico.

                “Holy—” Sean broke off and ran. “It’s time. Get the car.”





                                      Seven

                In fifteen minutes, the four of them were at the hospital and Melinda and Sean were taken away to the mysteries of the maternity ward.

                Then time started ticking past so slowly that Teresa almost thought they’d stepped into some vortex where time had actually stopped.

                The waiting room was long and narrow. It had mint-green paint, beige linoleum floors and the most uncomfortable chairs she had ever experienced. And why, she asked herself, did all hospitals smell the same? In America, Italy, even here on this beautiful tropical island, hospitals stank of antibacterial cleansers and fear. She wrapped her arms around herself, stood up and walked out to the light-filled hallway. Across from her was a nurses’ station, manned by one very tired-looking woman. Teresa didn’t bother to ask any questions, mainly because Rico had been plaguing the poor woman for hours now and Teresa just didn’t have the heart to bother her more.

                During the long night, anxious husbands and excited grandparents had come and gone from this waiting room, and still she and Rico waited. Teresa took a seat in the narrow, nearly empty lobby, ignored the small television on the wall playing an old movie she had no interest in and stared instead at Rico, who hadn’t stopped pacing since they arrived. She could understand that.

                She’d realized from the moment she met him that as a King, he didn’t accept inactivity easily. He was a man who took charge. Who stepped in to do what needed doing. It was part of his nature. His heritage. And now he was in the position of being able to do nothing.

                Helplessness was not something he was even remotely familiar with.

                “You might as well sit down,” she finally said. “This could take a long time.”

                “It has already been hours.” Frowning, he glanced at her, then fired a hard look at a passing nurse. “How much longer? And how can we know if no one will tell us anything?”

                Teresa took a chance and threaded her arm through his. When he didn’t shrug her off, she called it a win and smiled to herself. “Let’s take a walk.”