Page 7 of Doctor I Do

Swallowing, I reply flatly, trying to seem unaffected. “Nothing.”

“Are you sure? He keeps looking over at you.”

He does?

I can’t help but peek over from the corner of my eye, and she’s right. He stands in the back of the room with Mike, his hands inside his pockets and those blue eyes set straight on me.

He’s not interested. They’re probably just talking about the baby or my cupcake incident downstairs, not about me, specifically.

“I dropped the cupcakes for you downstairs and wore half of them. He’s probably retelling Mike how much of a clumsy mess I am.”

“No, you didn’t,” she says with a chuckle that causes the baby to cry.

“I did.”

She cuddles him closer, cooing to soothe him, and I use the opportunity to get off the topic of Alex fast.

“How long was labor?” I ask, but instantly regret it. I don't really want to know how long my best friend was in pain.

“Twelve hours.”

Yeah, that sounds awful.

“That's a really long time,” I say with a wince.

She shrugs, and then asks me, “Did you want to hold Ethan?”

My mouth opens with a wide smile. “Do I? Of course, and by the way, I love his name.”

“It’s sweet, just like him,” she says as she looks at Mike longingly, and I wonder what that would feel like. To be utterly consumed with a man who you can trust and love wholeheartedly.

She gently places Ethan into my arms and giggles.

I look up at her and frown. “What?” I ask in a rush, thinking I’m doing something wrong and hurting him somehow. I haven’t got experience with babies.

“You won’t hurt him, relax. You’re so uptight.”

It does feel uncomfortable to be sitting so straight, so I take a big breath and ease back into the chair, staring down at Ethan. Smiling, I think of what Alex said to me earlier, and I look over at him. I’m taken aback, as his tight expression is firmly focused on me. It’s so intimate and unexpected, it causes my throat to tighten. I swallow so I can speak. “You’re right, he looks like Mike.”

Alex doesn’t move or say anything, he just stands all hot and broody across the room, watching me. I feel like I’m on fire again.

“Told you,” Mike says, and I tear my eyes to Mike and his bemused face looks directly at Alice.

I drag my eyes back to Ethan, but I still have Alex’s gaze burning a hole through the side of my face.

Chapter 3

Alex

I’ve gone from wanting to know what color panties and bra set she’s wearing to watching her hold a baby. I’ve never been a family man, but there is something holding me tightly by the throat at watching her with Ethan. There is this new glow on her face, and when she locked eyes with me, there was a wave of peace shining in her eyes. Ethan stayed asleep, and once she eased back in the chair, I thought straight away she was a natural at this.

“How’s the dad mobile?” I ask, but I’m unable to tear my gaze from Tahlia.

He grumbles and mutters, “It’s okay, I guess…”

“You still sour because you had to give up Marty?” This time, I turn to him with a shit-eating grin. Alice nicknamed his Aston Martin “Marty,” and he will never live it down. It’s the fun side of Alice. She is so innocently sweet, ignoring anyone who laughed at her habit of naming cars. It’s her thing and I kind of love it about her.

My gaze wanders back to the woman in the chair. After today, I probably won’t see her again until Ethan’s first birthday, and what a damn shame that is. I run my gaze over her and memorize every dip and curve in her delectable body.

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