The Surgeon's Surprise Baby by Tina Beckett

Author:Tina Beckett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-03-15T13:38:50+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

LUCA’S ARMS CRADLED the baby’s body in an effort to keep from reaching out to Elyse. He’d dreamed of bringing her to his home country one day, of showing her the sights, and here they were. But it wasn’t quite the way he’d envisioned it. Because in his fantasies they’d had a huge Italian wedding first, with all his family in attendance. And all hers.

Only life and egos and what he’d seen as deception on Elyse’s part had changed everything.

But it hadn’t been.

She’d said she hadn’t been a part of the decision-making process regarding the layoffs. So this whole time he’d been operating under a faulty assumption. He suddenly looked at her through eyes that weren’t quite so cynical—weren’t quite so unforgiving.

But did it change anything, really? The events leading up to the firing hadn’t changed. And at the time they hadn’t been able to see their way through them.

And now?

“Scusami. Una foto?”

He jerked back to reality, realizing someone was trying to take a picture and he and Elyse were in the way. Staring at each other like star-crossed lovers.

“Mi dispiace.”

They moved out of the line of fire and headed toward the cathedral itself. He could try to say he’d been looking at something in the distance and not at her, but it would be a lie. And he couldn’t bring himself to force out the words. So he just kept walking.

Annalisa chose that moment to wake up, blinking eyes coming up to meet his.

Elyse was there immediately, leaning over to look at her. “I’m here, sweetheart.”

His chest contracted. For the last four months, Elyse’s face had been the first and last thing his daughter had seen each day. It was as if he hadn’t existed.

And whose fault was that? If he hadn’t stormed off after they’d had sex that last time—if he’d swallowed his damned Latin pride and come back and demanded she answer his questions about the layoffs and why she was pushing him away—he might have been able to experience his daughter’s birth. Her first smile. And she might see him as a parent figure instead of just some random face in the crowd.

Elyse unbuckled their daughter and swung her up into her arms.

She glanced at him, as if realizing something was wrong. “I’m sorry. Why don’t you hold her without the sling? She needs to get to know you.”

It was as if she’d read his mind. And if the baby started crying?

Well, it was something they would have to work through if he wanted to be a part of her life. And he did. Objectively, it might be easier just to turn away and pretend none of this had ever happened, but he couldn’t. Not only because he wanted to do the right thing but also because he already loved her.

In only four days.

It was unreal, but it was true.

He held his arms out and Elyse placed the baby in them for the umpteenth time. And it was magic. All over again. This was his child.

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