by Sarah Morgan
'I should never have said what I said.' She blushed. 'I can't even begin to imagine what you must have thought of me.'
His eyes were warm. 'I thought you were gorgeous and I was flattered.'
'But you never visited us again...'
There was a long silence. 'Because I didn't trust myself,' he said finally. 'You were at a very dangerous age. You weren't a child any more and I knew that you needed space to spread your wings. So I kept my distance. I never thought you'd come back into my life.'
'But I did.'
'You did, indeed. And you kept trying to prove to me how grown up you were.'
'I had to. You thought I was a child,' Keely reminded him and he shook his head with a smile.
'Oh, no, I didn't. From the moment I saw you sitting in the lecture theatre, hiding your face behind your hand, I knew that you were all woman. And, believe me, keeping my hands off you nearly drove me crazy.'
He'd wanted her all along?
'So why did you keep saying that you couldn't get involved with me?'
There was a long silence and a muscle worked in his lean jaw. 'I didn't want to get involved with another career-woman.'
She stared at him, taking in what he'd just said.
And suddenly everything fell into place.
Dear Lord, he 'd thought she was like Catherine.
No wonder he'd wanted to keep her at a distance.
Now was the time to confess.
'Zach, about my career—this cardiology job...' She hesitated and he sat down on the bed.
'Don't worry about it. I think it's great that you want to be a cardiologist.' His voice was gruff. 'Career or no career, you're nothing like Catherine and I should have realised that straight away. But I suppose I was carrying too much hurt and bitterness to be able to see things objectively.'
Keely licked her lips. 'Zach, I should have talked to you about my career earlier—'
'Your career isn't what matters,' he said quietly, taking her hand in his and stroking her blonde hair away from her face. 'What really matters is the way I feel about you. And the way I think you feel about me. I love you, Keely. I love you with all my heart. I want you to marry me. I want you to be my wife and Phoebe's mother.'
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Couldn't believe that he meant it.
Tears filled her eyes and spilled out onto her cheeks. 'Oh, Zach...'
'Don't cry!' He gave a low curse and brushed the tears away with his thumb. 'Dammit, sweetheart, I can't bear to see you cry.'
'I'm crying because I'm happy.' She sniffed, rubbing her cheeks with the palm of her hand. 'I can't believe you're really saying this. You'd better pinch me so that I can be sure I'm not dreaming.'
'I think your poor body has suffered enough trauma in the last twenty-four hours without me pinching you,' Zach said dryly, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. 'I'm in suspense here, Keely. Can I take it that the answer is yes?'
She nodded, the tears starting again. 'Of course it's yes. I've loved you since I was sixteen. You know that. I just can't believe that you really love me, too. That night we— you know...' She broke off, embarrassed, and he gave her a sexy grin that made her insides melt.
'I do know.'
'I couldn't believe it when you didn't mention it the next morning. Then you asked me to move out—'
'I know.' His smile faded and his voice was suddenly serious. 'I must have hurt you very badly. But you have to try and understand what I was thinking. After that incredible night I came downstairs and the first person I spoke to was your father, telling me that you'd got an interview and how clever you were. All of a sudden it was Catherine all over again.'
Keely stared at him, horrified. 'You do think I'm like Catherine?'
He gave a lopsided smile. 'No. I know you're nothing like Catherine. You're gentle, warm and kind with wonderful values and a fantastic way with children. But you're also very clever. Cleverer than you realise. You could go far, Keely. You could do whatever you wanted to do.'
Her eyes filled again. 'What I really want is for you to tell me you love me again. You didn't convince me the first time.'
'Then I'd better try harder.' He reached for a tissue. 'Keely Thompson, I love you. Madly. With all my heart and soul. But, please, stop crying or they'll throw me out for upsetting a patient.'
She wanted him to carry on telling her that he loved her...
'But, Zach...' A thought had suddenly struck her and she gasped. 'What about your home? Where will we live?'
Had his house burned to the ground? She hadn't even asked about his lovely house.
He shrugged. 'I love the Lakes, I can't pretend I don't. But I accept that you'll be happier in London, so that's where we'll go. But I'd like to keep the house here, too. For weekends and holidays.'
Her eyes widened and a smile touched her full mouth. 'The house is OK? It didn't burn down?'
He shook his head. 'It'll be fine once the builders have spent some time there.'
'That's great. Because I don't just want to use it for weekends and holidays.' She looked him in the eye. 'I love it here, too. I want to stay here. I want to live in your house.'
He stared at her and his hand tightened on hers. 'I can't ask you to do that—'
'You don't have to,' she said simply. 'I don't want to move to London. And I don't want to be a cardiologist. I had doubts right from the beginning. That was why I came up here. I needed to escape from the pressure of my family. They mean well but they're so forceful that I'd lost sight of what I really wanted to do. I was so swept along with what everyone else wanted that I'd lost track of what makes me happy.'
'But why the hell didn't you say something?' He stared at her, astounded. 'To be honest, I thought it was an odd choice of career for you. Why didn't you tell me how you felt?'
'Lots of reasons.' She gave him a sheepish smile. 'Because I thought you liked career-women. Because I wanted to prove to you that I was an adult and that seemed like a pretty good way, and because—' She broke off and his eyes narrowed.
'Because what?'
She blushed at his gentle prompt. 'Because I knew that I was in love with you right from the start, and I thought that if I kept telling you that I was going to London I'd throw you off the scent.'
'You certainly did that!' He groaned and shook his head. 'What a pair of idiots! I guessed you were in love with me—you're not that great at hiding your feelings, my love—but I assumed that your career was so important you wanted to go to London anyway.'
She shook her head. 'I really, really don't want to go to London. I know exactly what I want to do, and it's not cardiology.'
'Go on.' His voice was hoarse and she smiled, knowing how pleased he'd be by what she had to tell him.
'I want to be a GP, Zach. I decided that night we had dinner with Ally. I loved hearing about what she did and I knew that I wanted to do it, too. You know I'm no good at just dealing with patients for a short time. I'm too interested in them. I want to be involved in their lives and know everything there is to know about them.'
Zach stroked a hand across his face and let out a long breath. 'You're really sure you want to be a GP? You don't want to go to London?'
'No.' She shook her head. 'I don't want to go anywhere. I just want to stay here with you and Phoebe.'
There was a long silence while he digested what she'd just said and his eyes searched hers.
'I don't want you to accuse me of ruining a brilliant career.'
'What's brilliant about it if it's something I don't want to do? I don't want that sort of career,' she assured him. 'I've got everything I want right here.'
A slow smile spread across his handsome face. 'In that case, I'll make some calls and get you on the GP rotation here as soon as possible.'
'Ah.' He hadn't heard all her news yet. 'I'm not sure about that, Zach.'
He frowned. 'But you said—'
'I know what I said.' She looked at him calmly, enjoying teasing him just a little. '
But there are things I have to do first.'
'Like what?'
'Like be a mother to Phoebe,' she said quietly, taking his hand and looking deep into his eyes. 'No more nannies, Zach. Not for a while anyway. I want to be there for her— get to know her.'
'But that would mean giving up work.' He looked at her, clearly stunned and touched by her proposition. 'Are you saying you want to give up work to look after my daughter?'
'Our daughter, Zach. She's our daughter now,' Keely reminded him, searching for the right way to say what she had to say. 'And I want to have some time on my own with her before—well, I'll be giving up work pretty soon anyway, so I thought I may as well do it now, when my time in A and E comes to an end.'
There was a long silence.
'Giving up work?' His voice cracked slightly. 'Why will you be giving up work?'
Keely glanced towards the door to make sure that no one could hear them and then gave him a shy smile. 'Because, Mr Jordan, thanks to the overwhelming chemistry between us, we were a little careless one night...'
Zach stared at her, stunned into silence. 'Are you trying to tell me that you're pregnant?'
She nodded and then her happy smile faltered slightly. 'Is it—? You don't mind—do you?'
'Mind?'
He looked totally shocked.
'Zach, for goodness' sake!' She stared at him anxiously. 'I know we didn't plan this, but...'
Finally he seemed to stir himself, his eyes clouded with worry.
'Are you all right? I mean, the fire—'
'Everything's fine, Zach,' she reassured him quickly. 'I talked to the doctor and he's examined me.'
'Thank God.' Zach let out a long breath and shook his head. 'A baby...'
'You're not angry?'
'Angry? It's the best thing that could have happened,' he said softly, leaning forward and kissing her gently on the mouth. 'I can't believe this. I was so carried away that night I wasn't even thinking straight.'
'Nor me. But I'm thinking straight now, and I don't want to start my GP rotation yet. I want to be at home for now, Zach, if that's all right with you. There's plenty of time to go back to work when they're older. What do you think?'
'What do I think?' He brushed her hair away from Keely's face with gentle fingers, everything he felt for her showing in his eyes. 'I think you are the most wonderful woman in the world. And I'm the luckiest man on the planet. All of a sudden I seem to have acquired another child and a wife. My perfect family.'
'And a mother for Phoebe,' Keely reminded him with a smile.
'Yes.' His mouth tilted into an answering smile and he nodded slowly. 'And a mother for Phoebe.'