Never Too Late by RaeAnne Thayne Page B

turned back to find Hunter standing in the connecting doorway, his midnight eyes glittering.
    “Wow. You sure know how to show a guy a good time.”
    She laughed even as exhaustion seeped through her, so overwhelming she suddenly felt as if her bones had dissolved.
    He moved toward her. “Seriously, you were incredible, Kate. Watching you in there was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life. That baby would have died if you hadn’t been here, wouldn’t it?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know if I’d go that far.”
    “I would. I saw how blue he was and how worried you were. Then you were working on him and suddenly he was this crying little creature, flailing his arms around and looking normal.”
    “No matter how many babies I deliver, it still hits me hard every time. Knowing I’m the very first one to welcome this new little person to the world is an indescribable feeling.”
    “Wasn’t it Carl Sandburg who said a baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on?”
    Her insides quivered at hearing such a tender sentiment from a man who had been forced to walk a hard, ugly road. She thought of the child he had thought was his, the tiny boy who had been murdered with Dru Ferrin, and grieved for him.
    She gave him a watery smile. “I’ll have to remember that one.”
    “You never ate your soup,” he said. “I could probably find a microwave somewhere in the hotel and heat it for you.”
    She tried to assess her appetite and decided exhaustion trumped her hunger. “Thanks anyway, but I just want to sleep.”
    She looked at the room where she had delivered the baby. The desk clerk had sent housekeeping in as soon as the paramedics had left for the hospital and there was no trace now of the miraculous event.
    “I guess since Mariah and her kids won’t be using this room, we don’t need to double up after all. I’ll just use this one.”
    Some unfathomable expression flickered in his eyes, something she feared might be relief, but he quickly veiled his expression. “Right.”
    “I’ll just grab my things then and move them over here.”
    “I’ll get it. Sit down for a moment.”
    She ignored his order. If she sat down, she would probably fall instantly asleep.
    Fatigue was a heavy weight around her shoulders. Little wonder at it, she thought. They had survived a tumultuous day, emotionally as well as physically. Nine hours on the road, a blizzard, and a frank-breech delivery. She had to hope the rest of their trip would proceed a little more smoothly or they might never make it to Florida.
    He returned a moment later with her suitcase. “Here you go.” He set it on the folding chrome luggage rack in the small closet, then turned to go back to the adjoining room. She roused herself enough to stop him with a hand on his arm.
    “Thank you, Hunter. Not just for the suitcase. For everything. I was scared tonight.” She could admit it now. “I’ve never had to deliver a baby under these kind of conditions and it was a complicated delivery. I was doubting every decision I made. But then I looked at you and you were watching me with complete faith. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me.”
    His eyes darkened suddenly, the black of his pupil nearly consuming the blue as he met her gaze. “You’re welcome,” he said gruffly.
    The atmosphere between them seemed to pop and sizzle and she couldn’t look away from the intensity of those glittering eyes. Against her will, her gaze shifted downward slightly and she found herself staring at his hard, unsmiling mouth.
    She was still holding his arm, she realized. His skin was hot beneath her fingers and the muscle of his biceps was tight, hard as granite.
    She swallowed, trying to summon the will to release his arm. Just as she started to move her fingers, her gaze met his again and she froze at the raw heat in his eyes.
    She thought she made some kind of sound but it was swallowed when his mouth captured hers.
    In an instant her exhaustion