properly. With his head bent close, she could see the tiny whirls of dark hair on the back of his neck.
She shouldn’t notice such things about Darcy. It only made it harder that they weren’t together. Dropping her head weakly on the pillow, she turned to the baby in her arms. “Hey, little guy.”
“Here, let me help you sit up.” Darcy stacked another pillow behind her shoulders and brought over a couple of cushions lying on a chair to support the arm that held the baby. “Better?”
“Much, thank you.” She looked into his dark eyes. With his face close to hers, the look that passed between them felt intimate. Mother, father, baby. Man and woman. Familial images were mixed up with sexual feelings—all emotions she wasn’t supposed to be having.
Quickly she gazed at Billy, sucking noisily on the bottle. Her breasts felt heavy and her nipples tightened with a prickling sensation. If Darcy hadn’t been there she would have tried to nurse, but she felt shy in front of him. Not so much about baring her breasts but baring her inadequacy as a mother if Billy refused to latch on. “I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t come by last night.”
“Last night?” Darcy perched on the foot of the bed. “I brought you and Billy here two nights ago.”
She stared, mentally calculating. “I’ve been asleep for nearly thirty-six hours?”
“You weren’t asleep the whole time. Some of it you were awake but delirious.”
“Oh, my God. I don’t remember a thing. It’s no wonder—” She broke off. She’d been about to say, “No wonder I feel so weak.”
As wonderful as it was to be taken care of, she couldn’t stay here. She was under no illusion that just because Darcy had stepped up when she was too sick to care for herself, let alone Billy, that he wanted her and the baby in his life. No doubt he couldn’t wait till she was well enough to go home and he wouldn’t have to be bothered heating up bottles and mopping her fevered brow.
“No wonder I have no idea what day it is.” And that meant she’d lost another precious day when she should have been working on her term paper.
“I called Alana and uh...told her...where you were.” Darcy was looking at her chest. “Do you want a cloth?”
Emma glanced down. Oh, dear. Even with her low milk production, two days without nursing had left her breasts full. Now they’d let down and the leaked milk rendered her white camisole transparent, revealing her swollen nipples. Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment.
She glanced at Darcy and was surprised to catch his gaze flare with heat. Her nipples tingled, releasing more milk. The transparency spread, exposing the whole of her breasts. Darcy didn’t move a muscle but his pupils widened, making his eyes even blacker. She was anchored by the baby, unable to deal with the sexual undercurrent and too weak to even tug the sheet up to her armpits. “A cloth is probably a good idea.”
Darcy strode out of the room. A minute later he pressed a clean white terry cloth in her hand. “It’s a bar towel but you know, kind of appropriate.”
For mopping up spilled drinks. Smiling, she tucked the towel over her wet camisole. “Thanks. Go, tend your bar.”
“When Kirsty gets in I’ll bring you something to eat. You should drink some water in the meantime.” He nodded at the glass on the bedside table he must have put there earlier.
“You don’t have to wait on me.” He cocked an eyebrow and she lowered her gaze. It was patently obvious that she couldn’t help herself.
He pressed the back of his hand against her forehead, his fingers as cool as water. “You’re still hot, and I can hear your chest rasping every time you breathe. Sienna Maxwell’s coming over on her lunch break. She came the first day and prescribed antibiotics. She wants to see how you’re doing now.”
Emma began to protest that she didn’t need a doctor but Darcy shook his head. She knew she had a tendency to ignore minor illnesses on the assumption she was fundamentally healthy and would get better on her own. Clearly that strategy hadn’t worked this time. And Billy should be checked, even though he appeared better than two days ago.
“Okay.” She eyed Darcy curiously. “Did you look after Billy all by yourself for two whole days?”
“My sister helped. In fact, she did most of the caring. She had a couple days off