“You don’t know that.”
He wanted badly to reassure her but knew that would be a dangerous move at this point. She was vulnerable. Hell, maybe he was, too. Instead, he held his ground and watched her break.
Turning away from him, she lowered her head and put her face in her hands. She didn’t make a sound, but Robert could see that her shoulders were shaking. Lily had never been an overly emotional woman. She was calm and rational and not prone to outbursts. He supposed that was why watching her break was so damn hard.
Damn it, he hadn’t wanted this to happen. He didn’t want to be in this position. So he stood there, feeling helpless and lousy because he couldn’t reassure her, because he didn’t trust himself to touch her, because he wanted her and knew it was wrong.
“Lily…”
She cut him off by holding up a trembling hand. “Just give me a minute.” But she didn’t stop crying. She didn’t raise her head. And she didn’t look at him. She just stood there and silently cried. A silence that was as loud as any keening.
When he couldn’t stand it anymore, Robert reached for her. “Come here,” he said.
“I’m okay.”
“Yeah, I can tell by the way you’re shaking.” Putting his arm gently around her shoulders, he pulled her against him.
She stiffened, then raised shimmering hazel eyes to his. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do,” he said and put his arms around her.
She felt incredibly small cocooned within his arms. The sensation of her against him shocked him with pleasure, and he couldn’t help but marvel at how perfect the fit was. He could feel the tremors rising inside her, but she didn’t make a sound. He held her and tried not to think about how it was affecting him. But her scent rose to titillate him. The essence of clean hair and mountain air and woman. He rested his head against hers and breathed in deeply, felt an uncomfortable stir deep in his gut that didn’t have a damn thing to do with physical sensation.
Robert knew he was playing with fire. He knew he should let her go and take a long, cold shower. But the feel of her against him overpowered logic.
“Tell me he’s going to be all right,” she whispered.
Closing his eyes, Robert caressed the back of her head. “We’re going to do everything we can, okay?”
A sigh shuddered out of her. A sound so filled with soul-wrenching emotion that he tightened his arms around her and wished fervently that he could take away her worry. He ran his hands over her shoulders and down her back, telling himself it was a gesture of comfort. But he was all too aware of her body pressed against his. Her scent filling his lungs. The knowledge of the physical ecstasy they’d once shared. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and he could feel the soft brush of her breasts against his chest. His body stirred in response, the hot rush of blood to his groin making his sex heavy and uncomfortable. He started to shift away, but for the first time he realized her arms were around him, too.
“Just…hold me for a moment,” she said.
He didn’t move away, but he didn’t get any closer, either. The short span from his hips to hers was hellish for him, but he couldn’t close the distance without making his state of arousal evident. She was upset and had a sick child to deal with, for God’s sake. As far as he knew she had someone else in her life. What kind of man was he—what kind of doctor—wanting her when she was at her most vulnerable?
“You’re going to be all right,” he said after a moment.
Pulling away slightly, she looked at him with ravaged eyes. “Tell me Jack’s going to be all right,” she said fiercely.
Robert knew better than to make false promises. But there was no way he could look into her luminous eyes and let her hurt. “He’s going to be all right.”
Her face was only a few short inches from his. So close he could see the wet streaks of tears on her cheeks. The thrum of her pulse at her throat. The uncertainty in her eyes. She looked frightened and vulnerable and incredibly beautiful at once. He was keenly aware of her arms around him. She moved against him, and every nerve in his body zinged with pleasure. If she could feel his arousal against her, she made no indication, made no move to pull away. Robert wasn’t sure if that was good or bad, just very, very dangerous.
A cry from the rear bedroom jolted him. As if suddenly realizing the precariousness of the situation, Lily blinked at him and loosened her arms. “I…need to check on Jack.”
Robert released her and stepped back, but he felt her departure like a piece of his own flesh being ripped away. For an interminable moment, neither of them moved. Electricity snapped in the small space between them. He felt the tingle with a thousand nerve endings, felt the pull of her, like the undertow of a powerful river threatening to pull him into murky depths and drown him.