The Doctor's Runaway Bride

by Sarah Morgan

  Tia was stunned. ‘But you never told me that. You never told me that you loved me.’

  ‘Because I didn’t want to put more pressure on you,’ he said. ‘And I suppose because I’d never actually said those words to any woman and I found it difficult to say them.’

  ‘I didn’t know,’ Tia said. ‘I thought that you didn’t love me.’

  He closed his eyes and shook his head. ‘Tia, everyone knows I’m crazy about you, except you. Sharon, Duncan, even Dan because I’d forgotten that he spoke reasonable Italian when I told you exactly how I felt in Theatre the other night.’

  Tia stared at him in wonder. ‘You told me that you loved me?’

  He gave a crooked smile. ‘And a few other soppy things that Dan obviously understood very clearly—I must remember to ask him where he acquired his knowledge of Italian.’ He touched her cheek with gentle fingers. ‘What a pair of fools we have been. When I discovered that you had left, I almost lost my sanity. I assumed that the baby had been the final straw and you had left in a panic.’

  ‘But when you turned up in England, you still didn’t tell me you loved me,’ Tia pointed out. ‘You said that we owed it to the baby to make our relationship work—’

  ‘You seemed so determined to give up on what we had,’ he said quietly. ‘I used the baby to buy myself more time. Time to convince you that what we had was unique.’

  Tia felt suddenly shy. ‘And then you agreed to all my terms and conditions.’

  ‘Of course.’ He gave a wry smile. ‘I would have agreed to anything to keep you by my side.’

  She gave a little smile. ‘You even stopped complaining about me working.’

  He nodded slowly, his expression suddenly serious. ‘I understand now why you feel such a strong need to work. It is understandable after such an awful childhood. You need to feel secure. But, Tia, you can trust me. I don’t mind if you want to work but I need you to know that I will always be here to look after you.’

  ‘I know that. I love you, Luca,’ she whispered softly. ‘I always have.’

  He gave a groan and scooped her into his arms, kissing her gently on the mouth.

  ‘Will you forgive me for rushing you? For doing everything back to front?’ He murmured the words against her mouth, his hands sliding gently over her shoulders. ‘I seduced you that first night without giving you time to get to know me. But I always knew you were the only woman for me.’

  Tia pulled away from him, her eyes teasing. ‘And what about all these other women that drool over you? What are we going to do about them?’

  Luca’s eyes gleamed. ‘I’m not interested, cara, you should know that by now. There is only one other woman who will ever claim my attention.’

  Tia stiffened and then she saw the light dancing in his wicked dark eyes and she smiled.

  ‘Lily.’

  ‘Lily.’ He repeated their daughter’s name softly. ‘Already she is turning my heart and my life upside down, exactly like her mother.’

  The look in his eyes melted Tia’s insides. ‘I love you, Luca.’

  He murmured in Italian and bent his head to kiss her. ‘And I love you, too, cara mia. For ever.’

  EPILOGUE

  ‘IF YOU break the zip on this dress I’ll kill you.’ Sharon stood back and admired her handiwork, her expression softening as she looked at her friend. ‘You look beautiful and you’re a lucky girl, do you know that?’

  ‘Yes.’ Tia walked across the room to the Moses basket where Lily lay fast asleep.

  She was incredibly lucky.

  ‘And this hotel is fabulous,’ Sharon observed, glancing out of the window towards the large ornamental lake. ‘I’ll say this for him, Luca certainly isn’t stingy. All right. We’re due downstairs. The guests are waiting, and this time we’re not giving them a fright.’

  Tia smiled and bent to pick up the basket. ‘She can stay at the back of the room with you until we’ve finished.’

  But Lily had other ideas.

  The minute Tia picked up the basket she started to howl and Tia gave a groan of disbelief.

  ‘No! Not now, Lily. You can’t be hungry yet.’

  ‘Just get downstairs,’ Sharon said quickly. ‘I’ll keep her happy until you’re ready.’

  Tia looked at her daughter and her heart twisted. She was so tiny and helpless and she’d only been out of hospital for three weeks.

  ‘I can’t.’ She shook her head firmly. ‘Not if she needs feeding. I’ll feed her and then I’ll get married.’

  Sharon looked frantically at the clock. ‘Tia, you can’t do this again! Luca will have a nervous breakdown.’

  ‘Except that this time I’m leaving nothing to chance.’ Luca’s deep drawl came from the doorway and he walked over to Tia, his expression faintly mocking. ‘Leaving me waiting at the altar again, cara mia?’

  ‘Luca!’ Sharon’s voice was a horrified squeak. ‘You’re not meant to see the bride before you marry her.’

  Luca smiled. ‘I don’t care what she’s wearing as long as she turns up.’

  Tia looked at him anxiously. ‘Lily’s hungry.’

  ‘Then feed her,’ Luca said softly, removing his jacket and tossing it carelessly onto the bed. ‘Otherwise you will worry and I don’t want you to worry. I want this to be a day you remember.’

  Ignoring Sharon’s anxious mutterings about the time, Tia allowed Luca to unzip her dress and settled herself in the chair to feed the baby.

  ‘I don’t believe this.’ Sharon’s expression was comical as she looked at them. ‘You know that they’re all going to think that you’ve done it again.’

  Tia looked at Luca but he simply shrugged.

  ‘We don’t care what people think,’ he reminded her lightly. ‘They will wait, cara mia. Sharon, if it bothers you so much, go down and tell them that we are feeding Lily and will join them in a moment.’

  Sharon looked from one to the other and gave a sigh. ‘Maybe I’ll do that.’

  She left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

  Luca stroked Tia’s cheek with a gentle finger. ‘I thought you had changed your mind again,’ he admitted gruffly, and Tia shook her head, her eyes soft with love.

  ‘Never. But Lily started to cry.’

  He gave a chuckle. ‘I told you that you would be a good mother.’

  ‘I love her, Luca,’ Tia said in a choked voice, handing him the baby as she rearranged her dress and got unsteadily to her feet.

  ‘I know you do.’ He transferred the baby to his shoulder and bent to kiss Tia gently on the mouth. ‘And she is a lucky girl to have you as a mother.’

  Tia gave him a shy smile. ‘I still can’t believe we’re going to be a proper family.’

  ‘Well, we are.’ Luca held his daughter snugly with one arm and retrieved his jacket with the other. ‘Are you ready to marry me?’

  Tia nodded slowly. Oh, yes, she was ready. She was more than ready.

  He smiled and held out his free hand. ‘So do you think we should get a move on before we give our guests a heart attack for a second time?’

  Tia slipped her hand into his and her eyes twinkled into his. ‘I do…’

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-7740-7

  THE DOCTOR’S RUNAWAY BRIDE

  First North American Publication 2003.

  Copyright © 2002 by Sarah Morgan.

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  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, an
d all incidents are pure invention.

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