Doctor's Orders Box Set (Babies in the Bargain, Right Name, Wrong Man, No More Lies)

by Risk, Mona

  Always. He wanted always.

  Forever.

  Doubt slithered in his mind as he inched closer. Twice before she’d said she loved him, but never linked the words with forever. What about now? What was going on in her beautiful head?

  “I would never play games with my feelings or yours.”

  “But you said the same thing when we made love.” He rubbed his knuckles against her jaw. “And then, a few hours later, after you talked to Melissa, you told me to go away and never come back.”

  Hunger and need gnawed at his gut as he smothered his bitterness. He resisted the urge to believe her and crush her to his chest.

  “I was facing the biggest crisis of my life.” Her voice wobbled, begging him to understand.

  “I know, chérie. But are you sure of your feelings?” He tightened his grip on her arm as if he would never let her go and studied her in the dimness.

  “Luc, I’m sure. Absolutely sure.” She nodded with strength.

  He reached for his glass, refilled it and took a long sip, arming himself with patience to resist her tempting offer. He needed her to confront her feelings, to be certain she wouldn’t turn around again and splinter his heart when another crisis hit.

  “You also said you loved me ten years ago. Yet you told me to go away and never come back.” Mon Dieu, those words still slashed his heart as they echoed in his mind.

  “I was young, a single mother terrified for her daughter’s safety.”

  She wriggled her hands in her lap. The nervous gesture almost undid him. A sign of weakness so alien to Olivia, especially now when she wasn’t defending or protecting her daughter. He emptied his glass and rolled it between his hands. He wanted so badly to believe her.

  “Olivia, there are always crises in life. You are facing another one right now. A happy one. Still, it is a crisis.”

  “I don’t understand you, Luc. What more can I say?” She snatched her hands out of her lap and raised them in exasperation.

  “Listen, chérie. McMillan is back. Jeremy in jail. And Melissa happy. I don’t want you to say you love me just because you are grateful that I helped in the last few weeks. This is not love.”

  “Would you stop psychoanalyzing me?” She was back to herself, assertive and combative. “You’re not the only shrink around here. I know exactly what I’m saying. I love you, Luc George. I love you, Dr. Toulon-Chatel. Or whichever name you prefer.

  Are you going to abandon me? Do you want to go back to your social whirlwind?”

  “No.” His gaze fixed on the green flame glittering in her eyes.

  Incensed, she continued her diatribe. “Do you want to take the French beauties out again and sleep with them? Is that what you want, Luc?”

  “Of course not.” As if he could ever hold another woman in his arms. Mesmerized, he swallowed, but his throat clogged with emotion.

  “And am I supposed to do the same?” Crossing her legs, she let her skirt hike to mid-thigh and leaned forward, offering him a bountiful view of her cleavage. “Should I go on the hunt for some decent guy who may still find me attractive? Is that what you want? What you’d suggest?”

  Mon Dieu, she was gorgeous, incredibly beautiful when she fought for what she believed in. And it seemed that now she was fighting for their love. For him?

  He shifted on the seat, his breathing audible. “Don’t try to make me jealous. You are perfectly aware of the way you affect me, but I can’t accept a fling.”

  “Good, because I don’t want a short-term affair either. I’ve been starved for love for sixteen years.” She flattened her hands on his shirt, branding him with her touch.

  But he was already hers. He’d always been hers.

  “And where do we go from here?” His heart hammered inside his chest as he waited for the answer that would change both their lives.

  “Take me, Luc. Love me. Marry me.”

  His hand raised, clenched midway, then opened to cradle her cheek. “Marry? Is that what you really want, Olivia? Marry for better or—”

  “Oh yes,” she whispered as she linked her fingers behind his neck. “Yes, Luc, I want you forever.”

  His self-control snapped. He leaned forward. “Je t’aime, mon amour.”

  “I love you too.”

  He slanted his mouth over hers. His tongue invaded, explored and caressed. His hand still encumbered with his glass, he tried to bring her closer.

  Without breaking the kiss, she snatched it from his hand and hurled the crystal on the grass. He sat her on his lap and crushed her to his chest, deepening their kiss. His fingers danced on her jaw, down her throat and her collarbone. He freed his mouth and pressed his lips on the flesh of her cleavage, pushing the material of her dress as far as he could to expose more satiny skin to his kisses.

  “Luc,” she whispered, her fingers playing in his hair.

  He raised his head and studied her eyes brimming with tears and emotion. “I like traditions. The man proposing to his beloved.” As she dazzled him with a beautiful smile, he cupped her cheeks in his palms. “Will you marry me, Dr. Crane?”

  “Yes, my love, I will.”

  “When? Next year? Next month? Next week?”

  “Next weekend, right after Thanksgiving. We can fly to Las Vegas.”

  He chuckled. “An American wedding for my American woman. I like this idea. After that we will have a formal wedding in France. In the chapel of the château.”

  “Oh my. Melissa will be delirious.”

  “Come inside. They have had enough time to talk. Can we announce it? Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “No more secrets?”

  “Not a single one. I promise. And I hope you won’t try to analyze me all day long. “

  He burst out laughing. “As if you would let me. You are too good a shrink, Dr. Crane. But we will have to organize our lives and careers.”

  “If you hire me for six months every year as a consultant at your Center des Maladies Mentales, I’ll make sure Doc hires you as a visiting physician.”

  He grinned. “Deal. You are also an excellent organizer.” They would make up for the lost time by being twice as happy now, and—

  The lost time? What about his lost son?

  “What’s wrong, Luc? Is there something more to cover?”

  “Olivia, you have a daughter. I already love her as my own, but—” He frowned, hesitating as he studied her, and then averted his gaze to the shadows of the backyard. “I never held my son. I never played with a baby...with my child. Do you think we could... I mean you would... I mean...”

  Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh Luc, I’d love to have more children. I’d love to have your children. Oh my God, it would be wonderful to expect a child with you at my side, to build a normal family.”

  “Thank you, my love.” Sniffling, he buried his head in her hair to hide his emotion. “I love you,” he said after he had recovered.

  “I love you too. Let’s share our good news with the family.” She straightened and smoothed her skirt.

  “Here. Let me do this.” He pulled her fingers away and glided flat palms against the sides of her breasts, down her waist, cupped her hips and continued his erotic ironing on her belly. Then he groaned, kissed her, and immediately released her.

  Olivia sighed. “If you didn’t have the old man to drive home, I would have asked you to stay for a pajama party.”

  “No way. I have a daughter now. You can’t set a bad example.”

  She chuckled as he opened the door of the kitchen for her. Marianna called them from the dining room. “We have a chocolate cake and hot cinnamon punch for our celebration.”

  “Is everything okay, honey?” Olivia asked Melissa.

  “Oh yeah. Grandpa Tom is adorable. He told me about his grandson. I’ll pray for him.”

  Marianna cleared her throat. “Olivia,” she said with the same motherly tone. “Is everything okay?”

  “Oh yeah,
” was all Marianna got from Olivia.

  “Well?”

  “We are more formal in France than in the U.S.” Luc took Olivia’s hand between his. “Marianna, may I have the honor to request the hand of you gorgeous daughter in marriage?”

  “Oh my God. Of course, of course.”

  Olivia laughed. “Mom, you’re supposed to just say yes.”

  “It’s about time.” Melissa sniffed. “Papa Luc told me he’s loved you for ages, but you sure took your own sweet time to say yes.”

  “He told you?” Olivia spun toward him.

  Melissa clinked on her punch glass with a fork. “Kiss. Kiss the bride, Papa Luc. It’s a tradition.”

  Luc grabbed Olivia’s waist with both hands, brought her against him and gladly obliged. “Here is a tradition I like.” His sweet kiss intended to please the audience soon turned into a passionate one. A clapping of hands brought Olivia down from her little cloud.

  Her cheeks flushed, she cleared her throat. “Let’s cut the cake, Mom.”

  “No rush, bambina. We have all the time of the world.” Marianna winked at Luc.

  Tom smiled. “We have a lot to celebrate,” he said with a paternal smile. “I would like to invite you to my house soon.”

  Olivia and Luc exchanged a look.

  “Dr. Crane, please don’t worry. Jeremy cannot harm you. He is paying for his mistakes and hopefully learning from them.”

  Reassured, Olivia nodded. “Thank you, Tom. We’d love to visit with you.”

  Marianna cut the cake and distributed generous portions. “Luc, dear, open the champagne.” She pointed with her chocolate-covered spatula to a bottle in an ice bucket.

  “I also have an invitation to issue.” Luc popped the cork and poured the bubbling wine. “Olivia and I would like to invite you all to a wedding ceremony and reception in my family château. My mother will be delighted to host you.”

  “Oh my God, Mom, you’re getting married in a chateau? Oh my God. Tomorrow, I’m calling my friends first thing in the morning to announce it,” Melissa said, unable to contain her excitement. “Can I be your maid of honor?”

  “Of course, sweetheart.”

  “Will you wear my wedding veil?” Marianna asked, unusual pleading in her voice. “It will bring you good luck.”

  “Yes, Mom. I’d love to wear your veil.”

  Tom raised his hand. “May I ask for a special favor, please? May I walk you down the aisle?” he asked with a trembling voice.

  Tears wet Olivia’s eyes. Her lifelong resentment against the Rutherford men melted as hope and angst shimmered in Tom’s eyes.

  “I’d be honored to walk down the aisle on your arm, Tom.” She came to him and hugged the old man who so badly needed love.

  Tom cleared his throat and raised his flute of champagne. “A toast to the bride and groom. May they be happy for many long years. A toast to my lovely great-granddaughter who’s giving me the biggest joy of my life. And a toast to my new family,” he added with a smile to Marianna.

  “And a toast to my beautiful fiancée and the love of my life,” Luc clinked his glass against Olivia’s.

  As Luc gathered her in his arms, Olivia forgot to drink, forgot the family around her, and forgot her lonely years. Luc lowered his head. “I love you,” he said against her lips.

  She gazed at her French lover. “Je t’aime,” she answered with a smile.

  THE END

  Thank you for reading Doctor’s Order

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  A Word about the author...

  Shifting to Amazon.com in 2011 was the best thing I ever did for my publishing career. In 2012, my three medical romances, Babies in the Bargain, Right Name, Wrong Man and No More Lies landed on the Amazon bestseller list for contemporary romance and medical romance. I was walking on cloud nine when my name was posted in the 100 most Popular Authors in Romance list for several months.

  Filled with energy and enthusiasm, I delved in my writing cave and wrote for days and nights, stopping only to walk on the beach or exercise at the gym. A few more books were born out of this intensive agenda, a romantic suspense novel set in my sunny Florida, Neighbors and More, a sizzling international romance set in Greece, Her Greek Romance, and another set in Russia, To Love A Hero. Since readers seemed to love series, I offered them a series of three books called Holiday Babies, with Christmas Babies, Valentine Babies, and Mother’s Day Babies.

  My books have garnered: Top Picks; Outstanding Read; Sweetheart of the Week; Best Book of the Week at various reviewers, and received two mentions in Publisher’s Weekly, and won several awards, from Best Contemporary Romance of the Year at READERS FAVORITE with two Gold Medals, to EPPIE award finalist and Best Romance Novel of the Year at Preditors & Editors Readers Poll.

  I will continue to write and read while traveling and discovering unchartered territories and fresh inspiration for new stories and different settings.

  Contact Information

  Mona Risk can be found at:

  www.monarisk.com

  www.monarisk.blogspot.com

  On Twitter: @MonaRiskS

  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MonaRisk?ref=tn_tnmn

  Nothing would please me more than to hear from my readers. You can write to me at mona@monarisk.com I ALWAYS answer.