With a Little T.L.C. by Teresa Southwick

pull her to her feet. “What did you have in mind?” she asked, looking up—way up—at him.
    Most guys would go straight to something physical to warm her up. What would he do?
    He linked his fingers with hers and led the way past the pool and toward the brightly lit house. “I need to get you inside before Regional Medical Center’s star baby nurse gets sick.”
    Liz felt a momentary prick of disappointment not to mention frustration. Nine guys out of ten would have opted for combined body heat and probably a kiss leading to whatever he could get away with. Why did she find it so annoying that he’d picked this opportunity to prove yet again that he was a ten?
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    Joe was taking a break from his volunteer shift while the babies were with the mothers. On his way to the cafeteria for a soda, he passed classroom 2 and realized that this was the night Liz held her new mothers’ support group. He poked his head in the back door, just to see what was going on, he told himself. Not because it had been two days since they’d been together at his folks. And not because he’d been keeping his eyes open for her ever since he’d arrived right after work and had been disappointed at not seeing her cute, curvy, cheery little person.
    She was in the front of the room listening intently to one of the moms and didn’t notice when he slipped into the room and took a seat in the back. All the better to watch her.
    Tonight she wore hospital scrubs—teal-colored cotton pants with an elastic waist and a V-neck top covered with cartoon characters cavorting on a white background. Certainly not a femme fatale ensemble, but eminently practical for her job. Oddly enough, shapeless clothes and all, she looked pretty darn good to him.
    He watched her bite her lip as she focused on the woman’s words, something about not being interested in what got her into this in the first place. It was the darnedest thing. Why had he not realized what a kissable mouth Liz had until he hadn’t kissed her?
    Ever since she’d told him her history, he hadn’t been able to concentrate on much of anything but her. Visions of Liz under the stars kept popping into his mind. He’d thought about kissing her. He’d wanted to. The way she’d looked up at him with her big eyesand all, he’d sensed that she wanted him to kiss her, too.
    But he decided it would be best not to live up to her low expectations. Unfortunately, his body didn’t get the logic. The more he watched her now, the worse it got. Maybe absence was the antidote. He decided it was time to leave. When he stood, the chair backed up a notch and the resulting squeak seemed loud as a gunshot. All heads in the room turned. He froze, like a deer caught in headlights.
    â€œHey, Joe.” Barbara held up a hand in a wave. “Got any more words of wisdom?”
    â€œExcuse me?” he said.
    Andie, the mother with breast-feeding questions, chimed in. “You were amazing the last time you dropped by group. I bet you can give us some great advice about this.”
    He’d been concentrating on Liz’s mouth and hadn’t a clue what they were talking about. But it was safe to say whatever it was probably wasn’t for a man’s ears. “I didn’t mean to intrude. Actually, I just came in to sit for a minute until visiting hours are over and the babies go back to the nursery.”
    There was a twinkle in Liz’s eyes as she said, “For our new moms, let me introduce you. This is Joe Marchetti, our most recent addition to the cuddlers program.”
    â€œHi,” he said with a quick wave.
    He recognized Andie and remembered her baby’s name was Val. And Barbara was there with Tommy. There were a couple more mothers he recognized and several who looked what he could only describe as “first-couple-weeks-of-infancy haggard.”
    â€œNo doubt you heard, but let me sum up for