The Army Doctor's New Year's Baby by Helen Scott Taylor Page A

slender
fingers into his palm.
    ***
    Megan let
Daniel draw her into his arms, hanging on to her good sense by a thread. She
would not let the pleasure of his embrace turn her into a senseless ninny like
it had at the New Year's ball. Flirting obviously came to him as naturally as
breathing, but he'd made it absolutely clear the first night they met that he
didn't want a romantic relationship with her.
    He was just
passing the time and having a bit of fun. She was the only woman here, so if he
wanted to flirt, it was with her or not at all.
    He drew her
closer, his hand sliding up to cradle the back of her head and ease it against
his shoulder.
    "Relax,"
he whispered.
    She wanted
to. Her heart had gone all warm and fuzzy, her muscles soft with desire, but
her common sense retained a corner of her brain. Even as his hand stroked warm
circles of sensation on her back, his words from New Year's Eve played through
her mind.
    He didn't
want a relationship with her.
    Yet he confused
her. She was halfway in love with the charming man whose company she enjoyed,
the kind man who'd taken Kieran Smyth under his wing. But the Daniel she knew
didn't connect with what she'd found out about him on Google or what Olivia had
said.
    The spicy
fragrance of Daniel's aftershave filled her nose, his stubble rough against her
temple. Dreamy sensation whispered through her, wiping her mind of worries.
Being in Daniel's arms was her fantasy. Why was she resisting? His embrace
tightened and his lips pressed against her hair.
    Daniel
Fabian had stormed his way into her heart. Despite her best defenses, she could
not resist him.
    "I
can't stop thinking about you," Daniel whispered.
    Even though
Megan knew he was just sweet-talking her, she melted inside.
    "I love
being with you, sweetheart." As he continued, her legs went all wobbly at
the knees.
    He stopped
in front of the fire and put a finger beneath her chin, tilting her face up.
Firelight danced over his golden hair, turned his beautiful face into a sculpture
of light and shadow. Any resistance Megan had dissolved at the flash of desire
in his blue eyes.
    "Daniel."
Her befuddled brain could manage nothing but his name, whispered in the
reverential tone of a prayer. Her heart ached; she loved him so much. She had
never felt like this before, never known it was possible to yearn so hard for a
man to care for her.
    Lowering his
head, he brushed his lips across hers. Her breath caught, her heart stumbled,
and she fell into the blissful sensation as he deepened the kiss.
    After long
moments, he pulled back and stroked a finger across her cheek, a smile on his
face. "You're adorable."
    Daniel
Fabian was a master of sweet words that probably meant nothing. Even as she
drowned in the pleasure, pain pulsed through her heart.
    She hoped
the old saying, "It's better to have loved and lost than never to have
loved at all," was true. She had a nasty feeling she would soon find out.

Chapter Six
    A young army
nurse knocked on Daniel's consulting-room door and popped her head around.
"Kieran Smyth is here to see you, sir. Shall I show him in?"
    "No.
I'll come out."
    Daniel rose,
relieved to leave the report he was writing. He couldn't concentrate with
thoughts of Megan constantly bugging him. He had barely seen her since their
kiss two weeks ago. Most evenings she'd worked late and last weekend she'd
disappeared off to a wedding with Lyall.
    After the
kiss, he'd expected them to grow closer and things to heat up. Instead she'd
backed off, or that's the way it seemed.
    He'd been
certain she liked him. What had he done wrong?
    He blew out
a frustrated breath and pulled open his door. A short walk down a corridor took
him to the waiting room. The clinic was small scale. Being so specialized, only
a few civilian outpatients visited. Most of the cases he'd dealt with since he
started three weeks ago had been joint forces personnel who were admitted
directly onto the ward from active service.
    The moment
Mrs. Smyth's