by Amy Andrews
Genevieve nodded. ‘Yeah, I guess you’re a little too like Owen for her taste.’
James wanted to protest. He wasn’t like her father at all. But he supposed, to all intents and purposes, in a lot of ways, he was.
Tom came up and wished him luck, looking more friendly than he ever had. ‘Good luck, James,’ he said. ‘You’re going for good, then?’
James clenched his jaw at the smug quality to the paramedic’s voice. ‘Yes.’ The thought of Helen with Tom was more than he could stand. A surge of jealousy ripped through him.
‘Well, take care, then. Have a safe trip.’
He moved on and James watched him all the way to the other side of the hall. He turned around and found Helen at his elbow, cuddling William while Genevieve replenished their drinks.
‘Promise me you won’t settle,’ he said to her out the corner of his mouth, smiling at a group of CWA ladies, his gaze still tailing Tom.
‘Go to hell, James,’ she said sweetly, also smiling at the ladies, and promptly moved away.
Helen lay in bed the next morning, the mouthwatering aroma of brewing coffee wafting into her bedroom. The man she loved was leaving. She wanted to pull the pillow over her head and lock the door.
When it had happened she wasn’t sure. Maybe she’d known from their first meeting. Maybe before when an eerie sixth sense had made her uneasy about his delayed arrival. Maybe in some strange, mystical way her soul had sensed the coming of her life partner and her intuition had kicked into overdrive when he hadn’t thundered into town on time.
It didn’t really matter anyway. The fact was, she did love him. And he was leaving. Which should have been a relief. Loving him and living in the limbo they’d been in the last few weeks was shredding the very fabric of her being. But she wouldn’t falter. She’d made it this far without asking him to stay, she sure as hell could make it through a farewell.
It was just such a waste. She’d never been in love before. What on earth had possessed her to fall for an Owen clone she’d never know. A gypsy. She’d get over it, she supposed, eventually, but the loss of what could have been weighed heavily on her as she rose and threw on some clothes. They would have made such beautiful babies.
She padded into the kitchen and he was standing at the sink, his back to her. She headed for the percolator and poured herself a mug. He was dressed in his leather pants and a snug-fitting black T-shirt that hugged the contours of his back and triceps. He didn’t turn around.
‘When are you off?’
He turned then. ‘As soon as I’ve finished this.’
Her gaze devoured him. The shirt looked just as snug across his chest and his wavy hair brushed his forehead. Her hand shook and her insides performed a series of somersaults. She nodded and looked away, afraid she’d give in despite her resolve. Afraid her body would betray her.
Her legs were shaking as she entered the lounge room and sank into a chair.
He passed behind her a few minutes later, heading to his bedroom. She stared resolutely into her coffee, ignoring him. I will not ask him to stay. I will not break. I will be fine.
James re-entered the lounge room. ‘I’m off.’
Helen took a mouthful of hot coffee and swallowed it, the heat something to concentrate on other than her breaking heart. She stood. ‘OK.’
He walked to the door and she followed, refusing to acknowledge how hot he looked in his leathers. He opened the door and turned to face her. She’d been quite close behind him so consequently they were now very close indeed.
‘Guess this is goodbye,’ he said softly.
Helen nodded as she watched his mouth form the words. His lips were soft and perfect.
He watched as her ponytail swished from side to side. He was going to miss that ponytail. A silence stretched between them. ‘Thank you…for everything. I’m sorry for—’
Helen cut him off, placing two fingers against his lips. Mainly because she couldn’t bear to hear it. But also because his lips were so damn irresistible and it’d be the last time she touched them. ‘Shh. No,’ she whispered. ‘Let’s not rehash things. Let’s just say goodbye and leave it at that.’
His lips tingled where she’d touched them. He wanted her so much. ‘Helen…’
His voice was rough, halfway between a whisper and a groan. His lips grazed erotically against the pads of her fingers. She felt a pull down low and was helpless to resist the power of his mouth.
She met his lips with a passion that he equalled and then intensified. He stabbed his fingers into her hair as he plundered the softness of her mouth and yanked the band from the ponytail. He stroked his fingers against her scalp and her freed hair fell loosely around her shoulders. His lips stoked the furnace that had been smouldering for weeks and her heart hammered even as it broke.
Helen pulled away, breathing hard, knowing this was madness. Her head fell against his chest, his lips against her hair.
James held her tight. ‘Ask me to stay.’
Tears pricked her eyes as his voice rumbled through his chest and vibrated into her ear. Stay. She looked up at him. ‘No, you have to want to.’
James felt torn. He wanted to. He did. But the chains of his past were too heavy to shake. ‘Helen.’
She heard the plea in his voice but saw the indecision in his turquoise gaze. She shook her head and stepped away from him. ‘Just go, James.’
James opened his mouth to say more. But she was standing there with her arms wrapped around her waist, aloof again. He nodded, picked up his backpack and walked out the door.
Helen stared after him for a moment then slowly shut the door. She leaned her forehead against the wood as the sound of his vintage Harley broke the air.
‘Stay,’ she whispered.
It wasn’t until James pulled into a roadside hotel that evening that he realised he’d been looking back all day. He never looked back. His jumbled thoughts and his heavy heart were yearning for Skye. For Helen.
Hell. He loved her. Even as his heart lifted, the thought depressed the hell out of him. This had not been in his plans. He stared at the telephone beside the bed. His fingers itched to ring her. Hear her voice.
What a stubborn fool he’d been. His heart beat loudly at the thought of a future with her. It scared the hell out of him. But a future without her scared him more. She’d asked him to be her family and he’d turned her down. What an A-grade fool!
It was four a.m. when James made it back to Skye. Suppressing the urge to barge into the house, knowing the door would be unlocked, he knocked.
Helen woke with a start.
‘Open up, Helen. It’s James.’
She stumbled through the house, her hammering heart matching the rapping on the door, beat for beat.
James stared impatiently at the stubbornly shut door. ‘Damn it, Helen!’
She reached for the latch and yanked it open. ‘Are you trying to wake up the whole neighbourhood?’ she hissed.
He opened his mouth to say something else and she grabbed his arm and dragged him inside the house. ‘It’s four in the morning James.’
She was wearing that sleep shirt and her hair was loose and he wanted her so badly he had to shove his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket to stop from reaching for her.
‘I love you,’ he said. ‘I don’t know how I’ll go or if it will work but you asked me earlier what I was looking for and it took leaving you to realise that I’ve been looking for you. Someone to help heal the sadness of my past, someone to make a better future with. Together. I’ve felt more wanted and needed and at home here in Skye than I’ve ever felt anywhere. And that’s because of you, Helen. I knew you were different from the day you pulled me out of the bush. I’ve just been too busy running scared to see what was right in front of my nose.’
Helen felt a jumble of emotions tumble around inside her as James stood before her, laying his soul bare. Was she dreaming? Love, hope and triumph clashed inside her. Still she didn’t dare hope.
‘But what about the gypsy rider? What about the freedom of the open road?’ She needed to be sure.
‘You were right, Helen. I’ve been running away. I didn’t take up the travelling life because it’s in my blood, although I’ve loved it…but because I was afraid of commitment. Afraid of loving someone and not being loved back again. Is it too late to take you up on the offer of being a family? Please, tell me you love me. Please, tell me I haven’t blown it before it even had a chance to begin.’
He looked so forlorn standing in her lounge room in his bikie leathers. And he loved her. But still she held out.
‘What about kids?’
James expelled a heavy breath. Children? The thought was almost as terrifying as loving her and being together for ever. ‘You want kids?’
Helen nodded. ‘Of course. What about you?’ She held her breath—neither of them had had great childhoods. Bringing children into the world was big for both of them.
The amber in her eyes glittered like fiery embers. She was magnificent and he suddenly realised he wanted the whole catastrophe. Even kids, yes. With her…yes. He did. It was daunting but he knew that with them as parents their kids were going to be doted on and loved and the most wanted children on the planet.
He smiled. ‘Yes.’
He hadn’t been prepared for this. For her. For how grounding love could be. How you wanted to stay when you found that one special person. How you wanted everything. The whole box and dice. But he was damn glad he had.
Helen trembled with the urge to put her arms around him but she needed him to be sure. ‘So you think a guy with commitment issues and a girl with abandonment issues can make a go of it? It doesn’t sound like a very auspicious start.’
He shrugged and smiled. ‘We’ll reinvent the wheel.’ He looked at the smile that spread across her face and felt encouraged. ‘Well? Come on, Helen, you’re killing me here. Do you love me too?’
Helen nodded, feeling overwhelmed suddenly by events.
James reached for her and pulled her hard against him. ‘Oh, thank you. Thank you, thank you,’ he whispered, pressing kisses all over her face. ‘I’m never letting you go.’
Helen laughed. She hadn’t felt this light, this giddy in weeks. ‘I love you James.’
He smiled down into her happy face. ‘I’m so sorry—’
‘No,’ Helen said, placing her fingers on his lips. ‘No looking back. We’re reinventing the wheel, remember.’
The curve of her bottom felt good snuggled into his palms and he nodded.
‘Stay,’ she whispered.
James grinned. ‘I thought you’d never ask.’
And he dipped his head, sealing their love with a kiss.
EPILOGUE
IT WAS a beautiful day in Skye when James and Helen wedded three months later. The CWA hall was decorated with yellow wattle flowers, white ribbons and pink balloons. A local band played rock and roll tunes on the stage as the entire population partied with the newlyweds.
Helen sat next to her father and watched her new husband pound the wooden floorboards with an energetic Josh. A bright blue cast covered the five-year-old’s newly broken arm. But it hadn’t stopped him from wearing the cute little white tuxedo or from relinquishing the white satin ring cushion he’d carried proudly down the aisle.
‘He’s a good man, darling.’
She smiled at her father. ‘I know.’ She squeezed his hand.
Owen looked down into his daughter’s flushed face. He’d never seen her looking prettier. ‘I’m so sorry, Helen. I haven’t been a very good father.’ He raised his hand and grazed his knuckles lightly down her cheek. ‘You’re so like your mother. She would have been so proud. Elsie would have been, too.’
Helen covered her father’s hand with her own and gave him a gentle smile. For all his failings, she’d always known he’d done his best. ‘Thanks, Dad.’
‘Come on, dance with your old man.’ He stood and held out his hand.
Helen gathered her voluminous skirt and took her father’s hand. The band played a jive tune and her father spun her round the floor.
‘Excuse me.’ James tapped Owen on the shoulder. ‘I’d like to dance with my wife.’
Helen melted into her husband’s arms as the music slowed to a waltz.
‘Are you happy, my darling?’ James asked.
‘More than I ever imagined possible,’ Helen sighed looking into his amazing turquoise eyes. ‘What about you? Are you glad you came back?’
James kissed her nose. ‘More than you’ll ever know.’ And he pulled her close and waltzed the night away with the woman of his heart.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5620-3
THE OUTBACK DOCTOR’S SURPRISE BRIDE
© Amy Andrews 2008
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
All the 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, and all the incidents are pure invention.
First published in Great Britain 2008
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