Modern Romance Collection: December Books 5 - 8. Julia James
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excuse me, miss, but we’d better get you to hospital for a check-up. If the gentleman wants to come too—’
‘He doesn’t want to come,’ Callie said with a glance his way. ‘You obviously know where I live,’ she added, narrowing her eyes, ‘so we’ll speak later.’
Shepherding her to one of the two waiting ambulances, the paramedic steadied her as she climbed inside. ‘What are you doing?’ Callie demanded when he swung in behind her.
‘Collecting my jacket?’ Luca suggested dryly.
The paramedic gave him a broad wink, but had the good sense to appear busy with paperwork when the doors closed and the ambulance set off. Callie disapproved of him accompanying her to the hospital. Too bad. As she had been a member of his staff, he had a duty of care towards her, and with a baby on the horizon that duty had doubled.
‘You saved her, mate,’ the paramedic put in as he settled down.
This wasn’t how he’d pictured his reunion with Callie. He just wanted her to be safe.
‘Have you been spying on me?’ Callie asked, careful not to let their companion hear her conversation.
He shrugged. He wasn’t going to lie. It was a fine line between his security team’s protection service and overstepping the mark. ‘Your welfare and that of our child is my only concern.’
She blenched. He didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone so pale. ‘Are you all right? Pain? You’re not—’
‘No. At least, I don’t think so.’ Her eyes were wide with fear as she stared at him. She reached for his hand. For the first time, she looked vulnerable. This was a very different woman from the Callie he’d met in Italy. This was a woman afraid for her unborn child, and discovering she cared for that child far more than she cared for herself. ‘Don’t,’ she said. ‘Don’t look at me like that.’
‘Like what?’
‘As if I’m special and you’re glad you’re here.’
‘You are special. You’re about to become a mother, the mother of my child. And if I am looking at you, it’s only because you’re covered in grit and filth and need a good wash.’
‘Charming, mate,’ the paramedic piped up, proving that he wasn’t lost in his work after all. ‘Which charm school did you attend?’
‘I didn’t go to school until I was ten,’ Luca admitted wryly. ‘And then it was the school of hard knocks.’
‘Hey, wait a minute,’ the paramedic exclaimed, turning to stare at Luca intently. ‘Aren’t you that billionaire bloke who started life in the gutters of Rome and became a prince?’ And when Luca didn’t reply, he added, ‘What are you doing in Blackpool?’
He winked at Callie. ‘I’ve been checking out a new set of gutters, mate.’
‘Don’t you worry,’ the paramedic told Callie. ‘I won’t tell a soul. And you’re going to be okay, love, we’ll make sure of that.’
The atmosphere lightened a little, and Callie didn’t resist when Luca put his arm around her and drew her close.
LUCA WAS BACK. Callie’s mind was in turmoil, and as for her heart... What a time for him to choose to come back! The best time, she conceded gratefully as the ambulance raced towards the hospital. She knew shock was playing a part in her mixed-up feelings, but on top of the accident and Luca returning to find her, and above all the fear that her recent fall had harmed the baby, her thoughts were spinning around and around.
‘Okay?’
Had she really believed that putting distance between them would lessen her feelings for him? This wasn’t the Amalfi coast where she could make the excuse of her senses being heightened by sunlight and laughter, but a grey northern coastal town in winter, and yet Luca was as compelling as ever.
‘Hey,’ he whispered. ‘You’re safe now.’
His arms seemed designed to protect. They had certainly protected Callie when she’d needed him. And now Luca’s embrace was sending a very different kind of shiver spinning down her spine.
‘Look at me,’ he whispered. ‘I said, you’re safe.’
Even with his hair tousled and grazes down one side of his face, Luca looked what he was: a hero, her hero. When they’d first met it had been lust at first sight for Callie, but now it was something much more.
‘Callie?’
Instinctively nursing her still-flat stomach, as if to protect the child inside, she stared into Luca’s eyes.
‘We’re here,’ he explained gently. ‘We’ve arrived at the hospital.’
‘Oh...’
The paramedic stood aside as Luca helped her down from the ambulance. She clutched the foil blanket tighter as the wind whipped around her shoulders. The only part of her that felt warm was her hand in Luca’s. His grip was warm and strong, and it was with reluctance that she broke free from him in the screened-off cubicle when a doctor came to check her over.
‘I want an exhaustive examination. Whatever it costs,’ Luca emphasised.
‘She’ll have the best of care,’ the doctor assured him. ‘We’ll be careful that nothing escapes our notice.’
‘She’s pregnant.’
Luca knew everything. He probably had a drone positioned over the house. But when he thanked the doctor and turned around, she could only feel warm and thankful that he was back.
* * *
He was unharmed and impatient to leave, but first he had to make absolutely sure that Callie was okay. He’d wait as long as it took. Mud spattered his clothes. His jeans were ripped. Every bit of exposed skin had taken a battering. The nurses wanted to treat his wounds, but all he cared about was Callie. He sat outside the exam room while she was put through various tests. They were both ecstatic at the outcome. Babies in the womb were surprisingly well protected against trauma, the doctor told them both, and Callie had got off lightly with a sprained ankle and a colourful selection of scrapes and bruises. Apart from the shock, she was fine and could go home. The medical staff had been superb at every stage. He showed his gratitude with a generous donation, which was very well received.
‘And now for your bath,’ he told Callie as he escorted her off the hospital premises.
‘My bath?’ she queried, looking at him in bemusement.
‘Yes.’ They’d cleaned up her minor injuries in the emergency room, but like him she was still covered in dirt from the road, and he had plans. A short drive to the airport would be followed by a flight to his superyacht where Callie could enjoy a rest at sea. Heading south to the sun would be the perfect remedy, allowing her to chill out in privacy while they discussed the future.
‘I can have a bath at home,’ she said. ‘Leave me here. I’ll take a cab. Thanks for all you’ve done—’
‘You will not take a cab,’ he assured her. ‘You can play tough all you like, Callie Smith, but the rules changed when you got pregnant.’
‘It took two for me to get pregnant,’ she reminded him.
‘Which is why I’m prescribing rest for you.’
She gave him a look and then pulled out her phone.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Calling my landlady to check she’s okay, and calling a cab. And guess what,’ she added after a few moments of conversation with someone on the other end of the line. ‘Turns out an unknown fairy godmother has waved a magic wand, so builders and window fitters are