Page 30 of Accidental Doctor Daddy

I had no idea what Zofran was, but by the context, I guessed it was for an upset stomach. Now, all I needed was something for my pain and a doctor who didn’t make my hormones surge, and I’d be all set.

At least with him out of the room, I could breathe again. Weirdly, though, it felt like he took all the oxygen out of the room when he left.

Chapter 10

Dom

I’d met Ella at her most vibrant—bathed in golden firelight, teasing me over a spilled drink, challenging me with every kiss, her body tangled in mine. She was young and full of life, experimental and adventurous. The woman I met on the island had captivated me with her body as much as her personality.

And now, I was seeing her at her most vulnerable, recovering in a hospital bed after bringing two lives into the world. She was exhausted, pale, bruised from the ordeal of labor, and yet—God help me—she was still the most fascinating woman I had laid eyes on in a long time.

That should have been a problem. Because the last thing I should have been thinking about was how much I wanted her when she had just given birth to another man’s children.

I didn’t have some birthing fetish or anything like that. My attraction to her was purely due to her. That fiery personality. Her clever mind. As I walked to the nurse’s station to find the Zofran, I kept telling myself to give her the pills and walk away.

Her situation was too messy and convoluted for me to stick my nose into her business. I had no right. I had to walk away.

But the attraction was there, deep and insistent, crawling under my skin like an itch I couldn’t scratch. A base, gut-deepcraving that had never fully gone away. If anything, seeing her now—alive, strong, still so inherentlyher—reignited something inside me I had tried to bury.

There was no cure for this. No treatment short of a lobotomy. Attraction was a hell of an unkillable beast, and I was merely a mortal.

I had a dozen reasons to walk away. I had already stayed too long. I was her doctor, or at least, Ihadbeen in the emergency phase. There was no medical reason for me to be here. I’d done my job.

I walked back to her room, knocking gently before entering. She beckoned me inside, and just hearing her voice did something to me. Once inside, I just stood there. I didn’t move. I couldn’t.

She shifted slightly against the pillows, wincing as she adjusted. Her every wince made my gut tighten up. I wanted to take her pain away. My hands twitched at my sides, wanting to reach for her, help steady her—but I kept still, watching her instead.

There was no cure for what I had. But I had one for her.

I passed her the Zofran. “Here, let this dissolve under your tongue. It’ll help with the queasiness.”

“Thanks.” She took the tiny pill and sighed.

I wasn’t sure where to begin again. I’d stuck my foot in my mouth earlier. I had to do better this time. “You look good.”

She gave me a wry, tired smile. “Bet you say that to all the girls.”

“I’m not lying.” I leaned forward, resting my forearms on my knees, letting my gaze travel over her. “You should see some of the guys they wheel out of here after surgery. You look better than all of them. And they didn’t have to push out two tiny humans first.”

That earned me a quiet chuckle, soft and genuine. The sound did something to me, a low heat curling in my spine. Her brow arched as she weakly smirked. “Flirting with a woman fresh out of surgery? Really, Dom?”

I shrugged and teased, “Forgive me—I failed out of my medical ethics course twice.”

She exhaled a small laugh, shaking her head. “What about your common decency course? Did you bomb that, too?”

“Well, in my defense, I lost most of that the first time I kissed you.”

She stilled at that, her fingers twitching against the hospital blanket. For a split second, I thought I had pushed too hard, but then she surprised me.

“That’s funny,” she murmured, a subtle vulnerability slipping into her tone. “I lost mine the moment I met you.”

Something tightened in my chest. I was in trouble.

I shifted slightly in my chair, watching her closely. “So…you’ve been doing this on your own?”

She nodded slowly. “Yeah. Nothing new about that.”

There was something in the way she said it—dry, but edged with truth.I’m alone. I’ve always been alone.A pull of emotion tugged in my chest. I didn’t want a lonely life for Ella. Or anyone, for that matter.

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