Dr. Grump’s Surprise Baby (Bossy Bachelors #2)

14. Dominic

CHAPTER 14

DOMINIC

D ominic cursed as his alarm went off, jerking him out of a pleasant slumber.

He felt as if he had been aware the whole time he’d slept of Emily’s body wrapped around his — and aware, too, that when he woke up and left lower consciousness, he would also have to leave her. This couldn’t last. Of course it couldn’t.

He looked over at her, lying naked in bed beside him. She was radiant. The morning sun coming through the window made her skin glow, and there was nothing he wanted more than to take her in his arms, pull the covers up over their heads, and stay here all day. His body already ached with the desire to do that, even though he knew it wasn’t an option.

She blinked, looked up at him, and smiled.

That smile. It made him feel like he was going into heart failure.

“Hey,” she murmured. “That was fun.”

He nodded and kissed her forehead. It was a pale shade of what he wanted to do with her, but he knew that once he started he would have a hard time stopping.

So he sat up and cleared his throat. “That alarm was a half-hour warning,” he said. “They’re going to be serving brunch downstairs. I’m guessing you don’t want to miss that.”

She searched his face for a moment, and he got the impression that she was looking for the right answer. It made him feel terrible, because he knew that she would have agreed to stay in bed if he had asked for that. And that was what he wanted.

And that was what he knew he couldn’t ask for.

It was so close to being within his grasp, but he couldn’t have it.

“You’re right,” she said. “We should get down to brunch. And we don’t want to miss out on the rest of the conference, either.”

“About what happened here,” he said. “I mean… do you want to talk about it?”

“We don’t have to,” she said softly. “I think we both know it has to be a one-time thing, right? We’re not going to let it get in the way of doing our jobs.”

“Right,” Dominic said.

He was sure it wasn’t going to be that simple. Staying away from Emily Swinton had never been simple.

But he also knew that she was right. He was glad she didn’t seem to view what had happened between them as a mistake, because he certainly didn’t think of it that way. But he also knew that it couldn’t be repeated. That would be a mistake, and not one that he could permit.

He hunted around on the floor and eventually found the shirt he had been wearing the day before. He pulled it over his head.

Emily had pulled the blanket up and wrapped it around her body. “I can’t go back down to the conference in yesterday’s clothes,” she said.

“I can have a few things brought over,” he told her.

“Who do you know who’s going to bring things over to the hotel?” Emily asked. “Especially things for me?”

“The hotel staff can be discreet,” Dominic said. “Give me your size and I’ll call down and have them run out and pick up appropriate outfits for each of us.”

Emily nodded and scribbled down her measurements on a pad of paper. “You’re going to have to let me pay you back for this, though,” she said.

“You really don’t have to.”

“No, I really do.”

Dominic nodded. He could understand where she was coming from. After spending the night together the way they had, it probably wouldn’t feel very good to her to let him shell out a bunch of money on her behalf. “All right,” he said. “I’ll make sure we get receipts so that we can settle it up later on.”

“Thank you,” Emily said.

Dominic picked up the phone and called the front desk. They were understanding, sounding as if they had handled requests like this one before — which they probably had, he decided. If enough money was involved, hotel receptionists could probably make a lot of things happen.

He hung up the phone and turned to Emily. “That’s not something I’ve done before,” he told her. “I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

“I did wonder for a moment,” she admitted. “But it’s all right. You don’t have to tell me — I know you’re not out having a bunch of one-night stands.”

“You do?”

“Where would you find the time?” she laughed.

A smile cracked his face. “You have a point,” he admitted. “I don’t know if I would have found the time last night if it hadn’t been for the conference.”

“But you don’t regret it?” she asked him.

“No,” he said. “I don’t regret it.” He returned to the bed, even though it had taken him every ounce of willpower in his body to leave it in the first place, and sat down beside Emily. He touched a hand to her cheek briefly. “This was… really special,” he said. “Thank you for pushing me to talk about my past. No one has given me that in a very long time.”

“Of course,” Emily said. “I’m glad you felt like you could talk to me, Dominic. I feel closer to you because of it.” She bit her lip. “Although maybe that’s a problem.”

“I don’t think it has to be,” Dominic said. “I know we need to pay attention to keeping things professional. That’s important.”

“Are we going to get in trouble if people find out about this?” Emily asked.

“You definitely won’t,” Dominic assured her.

“But you might?”

“Probably not. There’s no rule against relationships between members of hospital staff. It might look bad, though, if people found out. There would be people who would say I took advantage of my position.”

“I would tell everyone it wasn’t like that,” Emily said quickly. “I wouldn’t let anyone hold onto that idea, Dominic. Don’t worry about that.”

“I know you’d speak up,” he said. “You always have, when you believe in something. It’s one of the things I like best about you. Still, rumors have legs of their own, and if this became hospital gossip, you and I would likely lose the ability to control it. We don’t want that. It wouldn’t be good for either one of us.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Emily agreed. “That’s the last thing I want. So we’ll keep it to ourselves, and we won’t let it happen again.”

He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “But thank you for a really wonderful night,” he said.

She looked up at him, her eyes full of mirth. “I just can’t get used to you talking like this,” she said.

“Talking like what?”

“Like someone who has feelings! Is this what you’re always like when you let your guard down around people?”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t think I’ve ever truly let my guard down with anyone,” he said. “So I don’t really know what I’m like.”

“That’s kind of sad,” Emily said. “But also, I’m kind of honored that I got to be the person you did let your guard down with.”

“We’ll just have to be careful from now on,” he said. “Last night… I don’t know if I could have managed to turn away from you. I didn’t even have that much to drink, but I felt completely intoxicated.” He shook his head. “You had some kind of power over me.”

“I didn’t do anything,” she said. “I asked you questions and listened to you. You know, you’re the best doctor in the business, and everyone looks up to you, but I wonder how long it’s been since someone tried to get to know you for who you are as a man.”

Dominic could hardly breathe. She was exactly right. Everyone admired him for his medical expertise, but no one ever bothered trying to get to know him as a person. The closest thing he had to a friend was Jonathan, who was more of a professional acquaintance.

Though I think Jonathan would be a friend to me if I let him get close. It’s my own fault I always hold him at arm’s length, just like I do everyone else.

Everyone else apart from Emily.

Somehow, she had gotten through to him. She had gotten him to let his guard down and be vulnerable. There was something almost miraculous about it.

And he was going to have to ignore it. To ignore her . They would have to be colleagues to one another, nothing more.

There was a knock at the door.

“Wait here,” Dominic said.

Emily nodded and pulled the covers up over her head. Dominic found it so adorable that it was an effort to tear himself away from her and go and answer the door.

“You placed an order, Mr. Berger?” the receptionist said, holding out a couple of bags from a nearby department store.

Ordinarily, Dominic would have spoken up, would have corrected her that his actual title was Dr. Berger. He had worked hard for it, and though he didn’t think he was an arrogant man, the title was deeply important to him.

But today, he had too many other things on his mind.

“That was very quick of you,” he said. “We really appreciate it.”

“I hope you find our choices to your liking.”

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” he said. “Please add the fee for this to my bill, as well as the cost of the garments. And you have the receipts?”

“They’re in the bags.”

“Perfect,” he said. “I appreciate that.”

“I hope you have a good day,” the receptionist said with a smile.

She was pretty, Dominic thought. The surprising thing was that it came to him as an afterthought — he’d been talking to her for several minutes without even noticing her looks. He had never had time for dating or relationships, but he wasn’t immune to noticing a pretty woman.

Except that now, apparently, he was.

He took the bags over to the bed and peeled the blankets back to reveal Emily looking up at him. “Let’s see what we’ve got,” he said, handing her one of the bags.

“It’s like Christmas morning,” she laughed, pulling out the clothes inside.

God, it was impossible to feel unhappy with her around. Dominic felt as if he had just had a hit of a wonderful drug. His body was charged with the elation of it, and yet he was already full of fear at the question of how he was going to let it go.

“There’s too much here,” Emily said, frowning. “This is at least three different outfits.”

“Do you see anything you like? I’ll have the rest sent back to the shops.”

“No — actually, I’d like to keep everything,” she said, laying the clothes out on the bed. “I’ll pay for it all. But they made some good choices. And besides…” She trailed off.

“Besides what?”

She blushed. “I won’t have much to remember this night by,” she said softly. “These clothes will be a memento, or sorts.”

She darted a glance up at him as if she was concerned that he might laugh.

He wouldn’t have dreamed of it. Though he had never seen her look so vulnerable, he was glad he hadn’t been the only one to let his walls down.

And besides, he’d already put the coaster from the bar last night into his briefcase. She wasn’t the only one trying to remember the evening.

She picked up an armload of clothes and disappeared into the bathroom. Dominic heard the shower running.

If this had been any other morning, with any other woman, he would have knocked on the door and asked to join her.

He wanted that with Emily even more than he would have with someone else.

But he took a deep breath and turned away instead, knowing that he had to let this go. He had given into temptation, but now it was time to rejoin the real world.

By the time he was dressed and ready for day two of the conference, Emily was stepping out of the bathroom. The only concession in her appearance to the fact that this wasn’t just another day was the fact that she wasn’t wearing any makeup — she’d had a bit on yesterday, although he was used to seeing her without it at the hospital. The pantsuit she was wearing fit her well. Dominic felt as if he could unfocus his eyes and see her as nothing more than his intern.

That was a good sign. Maybe they would be able to move on from this without too much trouble.

“Why don’t you head down?” he suggested. “I don’t think we ought to go together.”

“Probably a good idea,” she agreed.

He thought she might say something else, but apparently she’d decided there was nothing more to say. She disappeared through the door and pulled it closed behind her without looking back, and Dominic found himself on his own in his hotel room, feeling strangely empty inside.