The Army Doctor's New Year's Baby (3 page)

Then he
released her and turned away, kissing Olivia and Alice, shaking hands with
Radley and Cameron. Her mind fuzzy, her breath short as if she were standing on
a high mountain peak where the air was thin, Megan shared good wishes with the
others, kissing Radley and Cameron, hugging Alice and Olivia, all chatting with
excitement.

Even as she
laughed with her friends, her attention was really on Daniel, her ears attuned
to the pleasant timbre of his voice, her fingers aching to sink into the warm
grip of his hand.

When he
turned back to her, his arm slipping around her waist, sensation zinged along
her nerves. Daniel's touch made her feel more alive than she'd ever felt
before.

She didn't
want this night to end. She didn't want to say good-bye to him.

"Are
you staying in the hotel?" he asked.

"Yes.
Duncan and Blair are too."

He'd already
told her he lived in London, so he'd be returning home tonight for his last
week of leave before his new posting. When she inquired where he was being
sent, he'd been a little mysterious and hadn't answered.

"Shall
we go outside to catch the end of the firework display over the River Thames?
We should be able to see some of them from here."

"Oh,
yes. Good idea." Anything to extend the evening.

Megan's
cheeks were warm, her head light from the champagne. Daniel took her hand and
led her into the reception area. He slipped off his jacket, draping it over her
shoulders. "It'll be chilly outside. I don't want you to get cold."

"What
about you?"

"Real
men don't feel the cold. Didn't you know?"

She laughed
as he led her out the main door. "Real men feel the cold in Scotland, Daniel. Believe me."

They crossed
the road to Hyde Park and stared into the sky, catching the last few minutes of
the massive pyrotechnic display over London to celebrate the New Year.

When the
fireworks finished, Daniel took her hand. They wandered beneath the lit-up
trees, frost forming spiderwebs of ice on the grass and plants. Megan shivered,
more from excitement than cold. Had he brought her out here to kiss her again?

"There's
something I need to tell you." The serious tone of Daniel's voice sent a
frisson of unease through her.

"My
next posting is in Scotland." Daniel cast Megan a sideways glance.

He was going
to be posted near her home? Why did he sound so glum about it?

"I'll
be working with Duncan at the Army Institute of Survival and Thermal
Medicine."

For a
moment, she couldn't breathe. She'd imagined she wouldn't see Daniel again for
months, but he would be stationed six miles from where she lived.

Turning to
face him, she gripped his hand in both of hers. "Daniel, that's wonderful.
We can see each other again." His frown dampened her excitement. "Is
something wrong?"

"Duncan asked me if I'd like to stay with him."

Megan's
already pounding heart nearly burst out of her chest. Daniel was coming to stay
at Kindrogan Castle? She would have been over the moon if not for the lines of
tension on his face.

"Before
I accept his offer, I want to check that it's okay with you."

Was the man
crazy? Didn't he realize how much she liked him?

"It'll
be lovely to have you to stay." Megan nearly bit her tongue, she spit her
words out so fast.

"The
thing is, I don't want to give you the wrong impression. It's only fair to make
it clear up front that I'm not looking for a romantic relationship."

Her heart
crashed, the avalanche of disappointment sending a shockwave along her nerves.
Did he mean he didn't want a romantic relationship at all, or was he just not
interested in her?

Megan turned
away and stared at a red double-decker bus trundling along the road. Why was
she surprised? Men were never attracted to her. Not men like Daniel, anyway.
She had been a fool to imagine, even for a nanosecond, that he might be.

Blinking
away tears, she summoned a stoic expression. Rejections too numerous to recall
had taught her how to put on a brave face. She swallowed hard and cleared her
throat, then turned back towards him. "That's not a problem. You're still
welcome to stay with Duncan. We can be friends, can't we?"

"Of
course. I'd like that. I've really enjoyed our evening together. It's nothing
to do with you, Meg. It's me."

Stop, please
stop, she mentally entreated him. After the lovely evening they'd shared, he
was ruining it.

"I
promised myself I'd concentrate on the army for twelve months with no
distractions." He gave a wry laugh. "I've been far too easily
distracted by women in the past."

Meg looked
down and fiddled with her purse. Tears pricked the back of her eyes and clogged
her throat. She had to get away from Daniel before she cried all over him.
She'd never be able to face him when he came to stay if that happened.

Shivering,
she hugged her arms around herself. "I'm chilly. I'm going inside."

"Of
course. Sorry to drag you out here, but I wanted to talk in private."

She nodded,
not trusting her voice.

Daniel
offered his arm, but Megan pretended not to notice and hurried back along the
frosty path towards the road. The link she thought she'd formed with Daniel
must have been all in her mind. Now she felt alone again, separate. Lonely.

Suddenly,
she wanted nothing more than to be at home in the world she knew, away from the
bustle of London and these people.

"I'm
sorry, Megan," Daniel said as they reached the hotel doors. She shrugged
out of his jacket and tossed it at him.

"There's
nothing to be sorry about. I appreciate your company tonight."

"Megan."

Daniel's
soft entreaty halted her rush through the door and she turned.

He raked
back his hair with his fingers, a pained look in his eyes. They stared at each
other for long moments, then she tore her gaze away and rushed into the warm
hotel.

He was out
of her league. How could she ever have thought he would be interested in her?

Daniel
dumped his bags and snowboard case beside a bench outside the tiny Scottish
train station and sat down. The cold stung his face and nipped at his fingers
while he waited for Duncan to pick him up. The place was silent, hardly a soul
about. A bird of prey soared overhead and the wind whistled through a stand of
pines nearby.

He'd felt
terrible all week, and he didn't feel much better now. The last thing he'd
wanted to do on New Year's Eve was hurt Megan, yet he had. But surely it was
best to quash any romantic notions she had, rather than let her hope there
could be something between them?

Even if he
hadn't decided to give the army his undivided attention for another six months,
it would be career suicide to mess with his commanding officer's sister. He should
not screw up his chance at a new life for a romantic relationship that might be
over in a few months. This time he would put his long-term future before
short-term pleasure.

A noisy
diesel engine snagged his attention. He stared at the narrow road, waiting for
the vehicle to appear. A muddy Land Rover pickup full of dents crested the
ridge and lurched down the hill. He smiled to himself. One wouldn't see
anything like that in London. The vehicle was probably older than him.

The vehicle
came to a halt and Duncan climbed out, wearing army uniform. Daniel gaped for a
moment before he remembered to hide his astonishment.

Duncan held out his hand. Daniel jumped to his feet and shook it. "Hello, sir."

"Call
me Duncan. We don't stand on ceremony here." He grabbed one of Daniel's
bags and dumped it on the bed of the old pickup. Daniel dropped the other
beside it and laid his snowboard over the top.

"Good
journey?" Duncan inquired.

"A long
journey. I could fly to New York in the time it took me to reach here."

Daniel
climbed in beside Duncan, trying to get comfortable on the cracked vinyl bench
seat. He reached for the seat belt, but there wasn't one. Duncan noticed.

"Most
of the journeys this old girl makes are on private estate roads. She's probably
not legal on normal roads."

Duncan pressed his foot on the clutch and slammed the gearshift into place with an
eye-watering crunch, then the vehicle lurched forward.

"Clutch
is a bit sticky," Duncan said as Daniel grabbed the door and what passed
for a dashboard.

"How
far is it to your place?"

"Only a
few miles. We'll take the scenic route."

"Sounds
great," Daniel said, wanting nothing more than to arrive at the
destination so he could get out of this death trap.

At the
bottom of a hill, Duncan swerved onto a rustic road and they bumped along the
stones. For the umpteenth time, Daniel held on to the door to stay in his seat.

Mist hung
beneath the close-packed trees on either side, an eerie half light turning the
countryside mysterious as dusk fell.

"Sorry
about the road surface," Duncan said, slamming the Land Rover down into a
lower gear with a nasty grating sound. Daniel was starting to understand why
the Scotsman used an old vehicle. Anything modern would be ruined in no time.
If Daniel tried to bring his sports car this way, he'd probably have a broken
axle by now.

They crested
a steep hill, the engine whining. Duncan brought the vehicle to a stop and
leaned on the steering wheel, staring out the windshield. "There you are,
that's home. Kindrogan Castle."

A valley lay
before them, a river meandering along the middle, white-water rapids visible in
places. At the head of the valley, a gray stone castle sat by a loch, lawns
running down to the water. Snowy mountain peaks framed the scene.

Daniel
sucked in a breath and blew it out. He'd stayed in some amazing places over the
years, but nothing this spectacular. He tried to imagine Megan standing in that
scene, on the lawn by the lake, and found he could. Megan belonged here among
this natural grandeur in a way no other woman of his acquaintance would.

This last
week he'd thought of her often, remembered the soft sound of her melodic
accent, the way she angled her head as she listened, how she lowered her lashes
to hide her eyes when he caught her staring at him.

There was
something old-fashioned and noble about her, as if she had stepped out of an
historical novel. She didn't belong in the same world he lived in. Sure, he had
mixed with the rich and famous in fashionable hot spots around the world, but
that existence seemed so superficial and fleeting compared to this place.

"Spectacular,
isn't it?" Duncan prompted.

"Amazing.
How old is the castle?"

"There's
been Mackenzies living here since the fourteenth century. They were declared
rebels in 1584. Then in the 1700s, they were ardent Jacobites. The family has a
turbulent history."

Daniel's
gaze strayed past the castle to the snowy peaks. The clear, crisp air brought
back memories of racing over fresh powder, his heart pounding. He couldn't wait
to get out on his snowboard.

"Do you
ski?" he asked Duncan.

"As
soon as I learned to walk. We all can. Meg's the best. She had a shot at being
on the Olympic team a few years ago."

"No
kidding." There was a lot more to Megan than Daniel had thought.
"Does she snowboard?"

"No.
Perhaps you can teach her." Duncan glanced at him, his eyebrows raised.

"Maybe."
He'd have to be careful not to spend too much time alone with her. That woman
would get under his skin if he didn't watch out. In fact, she already had.
Perhaps staying with the Mackenzies had been a bad idea. "Are you sure you
don't mind putting me up?"

"Heck,
no. Megan and I rattle around in that huge place on our own. Blair's usually
posted overseas and our younger brother, Hew, lives in one of the estate
cottages."

"What
about Brigadier Mackenzie, or does he prefer to be called Sir Robert?"

"Dad
spends most of his time in London these days and my mother lives in Barbados. She and Dad are only still married because they never see each other."

"Yeah,
my parents have just split up. Marriages don't seem to last."

"Tell
me about it." Duncan slammed the vehicle into gear with feeling and it
bumped and jolted down the hill. They followed the track along the river and
rounded the loch, halting outside the front of the castle.

Daniel wiped
his damp palms on his thighs. His gaze went to the door, but there was no sign
of Megan. His pulse raced at the thought of meeting her again. Crazy, he didn't
get nervous about seeing women, or he never had before.

He climbed
out and stretched the kinks in his neck and back, eyeing the turrets and old
stone walls coated in lichen. Staying here was going to be an interesting
experience.

Duncan passed across his bags and grabbed his laptop from the vehicle.

A cold wind
whistled down the valley, rippling the water on the loch. Daniel drew in a deep
breath of air that smelled of pine trees and heather. It was so quiet here, the
silence almost a living presence.

Two West
Highland white terriers scampered around the side of the castle and dashed
towards Duncan, their tails wagging like mad.

"Have
you been good boys?" Duncan crouched to pat them and they wiggled around
him, nuzzling his hands.

"You
like animals?" he asked Daniel.

"I grew
up with dogs."

"That's
good. Meet Bruce and Torrie."

Daniel bent
and petted the excited Westies, smiling at their antics as they vied for his
attention.

"Better
go and tell Meg we've arrived." Duncan headed for the castle, held open
the heavy oak door, and stood aside for Daniel to pass into the high-ceilinged,
wood-paneled entrance hall.

Daniel
cocked his head and took in the ancient tapestries, shields, and weapons
hanging on the walls. This really was like stepping back into the past.

A child's
laughter caught his attention. A small boy scampered through a door, naked from
the waist down.

With a
gurgling laugh he headed for Duncan, who put down his bag and scooped the child
into his arms. "How are you, Gus, laddie?"

"Fergus
Mackenzie, you come back here and sit on your potty." Megan's voice came
from close by, then she hurried through the door after the boy with a packet of
wet wipes in her hand.

At the sight
of them she halted, eyes wide, like a deer caught in headlights.

All week,
Daniel had told himself he was imagining how he felt about Megan. It had been
the glamour of the occasion and the fact it was his first time at the RAMC ball
that made him see her through rose-colored spectacles.

But even
though she looked less than elegant, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, with her
hair in a messy ponytail, his heart gave that same strange bump.

How
inconvenient that just when he'd given up women, he found one he really liked.

***

Pleasure
burned through Megan at the sight of Daniel's warm smile and blue eyes. During
the last week, she'd tried to kid herself she didn't care about him. Now she
had to admit the truth—he lit a fire inside her like no man she'd ever met.

"You're
early," Megan blurted. What a fright she must look. She tugged to
straighten her ponytail, pulled askew by small, sticky fingers, and resisted
the temptation to glance at her front, certain those same sticky fingers had
left their mark on her sweatshirt.

She'd
thought she had an hour to tidy up, fix her hair and makeup, and change clothes
before they arrived.

Pasting on a
grin she stepped forward, hand extended, trying to recover her composure.
"Welcome to Kindrogan Castle, Daniel. It's lovely to see you again."

"Hello,
Megan. You have an amazing home here." He gripped her fingers and drew her
close, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

Time slowed
as she touched her lips to the roughness of his jaw and inhaled the smell of
his skin. The days collapsed back a week to the New Year's Ball—to the heaven
of dancing in his arms. With a conscious effort she retreated, putting some
distance between them, stowing away this new precious experience of him to
enjoy in private.

"Come
through to the kitchen. I'll make you both a cup of tea." She gave Daniel
a glance she hoped appeared casual. "I'm sure you could do with one after
your journey. I know the plane and train up from London can be rather
tiresome."

As she
walked through the gloomy hall to the kitchen, her back tingled, hyperaware of
Daniel behind her.

"Sit
down and make yourself at home."

She put the
kettle on the range and set the biscuit tin in front of him. "There's
home-baked Scottish shortbread if you'd like some."

He lifted
the lid and his lips quirked in a smile as he took a piece. Her heart danced
with pleasure as he bit into the crumbly shortbread with a groan of
appreciation. She had made them especially for him, but she would never tell.

Megan lifted
her mischievous nephew from Duncan's arms. "Now, you wee rascal, back to
the cloakroom with you."

After carrying
Fergus to the small room off the hall, she sat him on his blue potty and stood
over him while he finished. Then she pulled on his trainer pants and washed her
hands before taking him back to the kitchen.

The kettle
whistled and she passed Fergus to Duncan, then poured hot water into the teapot
and covered it with a tartan tea cozy that had belonged to her grandmother. She
set the pot on the table with the cups, milk jug, and sugar bowl.

When she sat
down, Fergus reached for her. She took him back into her arms, cuddling the
darling little boy close while he squirmed, reaching to tangle his fingers in
her hair.

"Meg,
Meg, Meg," he chanted, pulling her ponytail off-center again. She stopped
resisting the inevitable and let him stroke her hair. Touching hair was his
comforter when he was tired.

"I hope
Daddy picks you up soon, precious, or you'll be asleep." Her younger
brother, Hew, enjoyed spending time with his son and she hated for him to miss
out. She rubbed noses with her nephew, then settled him in her arms while he
sucked his thumb.

A glance up
from beneath her lashes found Daniel watching her. Part of her would love to
know what he was thinking, but if she did it would probably hurt her feelings.
If he hadn't been attracted to her when she was all primped for the ball, he
certainly wasn't going to be interested in her when she looked like this.

After she
arrived home from London, she'd googled his name. Hundreds of images filled the
computer screen of him with beautiful women at fashionable social events.
Romantic relationships were obviously
not
a problem for him per se, so
she had to assume the problem was her.

When he'd
claimed her company at the ball, he was being pragmatic. After all, Duncan had asked him to escort her. Daniel had to bid on a woman or eat dinner with a
vacant seat beside him. He'd simply tried to impress his new commanding officer
by keeping the wallflower sister happy.

During the
next six weeks while he stayed, she would have to keep her feelings hidden, but
she'd rather spend time with him as friends than not at all.

Her youngest
brother, Hew, arrived and took his sleepy son home. Much as Megan loved
babysitting Fergus, she was not sorry when Hew collected him. Their
housekeeper, Mrs. Stewart, was away caring for her sick sister, leaving Megan
to hold the fort. She was so busy keeping house, babysitting Fergus, and
working, she hardly had time to sleep at the moment.

Megan
checked the venison casserole in the oven and sipped her tea between peeling
potatoes, letting the pleasant timbre of Daniel's voice wash over her as he and
Duncan discussed work at the army institute. Once the potatoes were in the pot
to boil, she turned back to the men.