The London Doctor
Page 15
‘That’s what I love about you,’ Hannah said, a smile in her voice. ‘You’re always there for me. You make everything right. I’m sure she would love to come and stay. I’ll ask her.’
They talked for a little while longer, and then Adam appeared with the food, and Hannah said goodbye and promised to come home soon.
‘She’s invited my mother and her husband to stay over for a few days,’ she told him. ‘Isn’t that thoughtful of her?’
‘You always knew she had a good heart,’Adam said. He placed a tray of food on the table in front of them and sat beside her. ‘Tuck in. You must be starving by now.’
‘I am.’ She tasted the pizza, letting the cheese dissolve slowly on her tongue. ‘This is delicious,’ she told him. ‘It’s the best food I’ve ever tasted.’
‘Hmm…that’s what finding your mother does for you.’ He watched her eat, his expression absorbed, and she looked at him curiously.
‘What are you thinking?’
‘That I’m glad that you’re happy. I’ve wanted you to feel this way for a long time, but it makes me wary of asking what I want to ask.’
She finished her pizza and licked her fingers clean, looking at him in bewilderment. ‘You can ask me anything you want. Why would you hold back? I owe you so much.’
‘You don’t owe me anything at all.’ He was quiet for a moment, and then said, ‘Are you really set on going back home when this stint in A and E comes to an end? Have you thought about working as a general practitioner in London?’
‘I’m not sure that I could do that,’ she said cautiously. ‘I think I would miss my family back home. I’ve always planned on working in a rural community.’ She looked at him, her gaze searching his face. ‘Why are you suggesting it?’ A faint glow of hope was sparking to life inside her. Did he want her to stay? Wouldn’t she be able to find it in herself to do that for him?
‘I was hoping that we could find a way to be together,’ he said. ‘I know it’s a lot to ask, but I always knew that you would never be able to settle until you found your real mother, and I know that this is the wrong time to talk about it when you’re still getting used to the idea that she’s close by. I’m just afraid that time’s running out, and we’ll soon be going our separate ways, and I really don’t want that to happen.’
‘You don’t?’ She looked into his eyes and tried to see what he was keeping from her. ‘You never said anything before about wanting me to stay on.’
His mouth made a rueful shape. ‘I thought there was something going on between you and Ryan. I kept trying to get close to you and always something came between us. I could understand that you were taken up with wanting to find your mother, but at the back of my mind I thought perhaps you were in love with Ryan. I wanted to tell you that I’m the one who loves you, and that I can make you happy if only you’ll let me, but I could see how close you were to him and I was afraid that you might care for him more than you did for me.’
She pulled in a sharp breath. Was he really saying that he loved her? ‘How could you think that way?’ she said. ‘Ryan is like a brother to me. We’ve always been like brother and sister.’
‘I didn’t see it that way. You aren’t related by blood, and there’s such a strong bond between the two of you that I felt like an intruder. I love you, but I didn’t want to make you choose between us.’
She reached out and touched him, her fingers cupping his cheek. ‘You had it all wrong,’ she said. ‘I’ve come to realise over these last few months just how much I care for you. I love you, Adam. I think I’ve always loved you, but things got in the way, and we seemed to lead such different lives. I didn’t believe it would ever be possible for us to be together.’
His arms closed around her. ‘I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. I couldn’t make a move because I knew that you weren’t ready. You were young and insecure, and even though I wanted to bring you with me when I left my father’s estate, it didn’t feel right to drag you away from your safe haven. I was glad when you turned up here in London. I knew that you had made the move of your own accord and I thought there might at least be some hope for us.’
He leaned towards her and kissed her then, his mouth pressuring hers, tasting the fullness of her lips, his arms circling her as though he would never let her go. ‘I want you so much,’ he murmured against her cheek. ‘I need you, Hannah. I want you to stay with me and be mine.’
She kissed him in return, her hands reaching up and curving around his neck, bringing his head closer to hers and leaving a trail of kisses along his cheekbone, his jaw line, his mouth. ‘I thought you would never ask,’ she whispered.
His hands moved over her, shaping her curves, exploring the soft silk of her skin. ‘You’re all I’ve ever wanted,’ he said in a roughened voice. ‘I didn’t know how I was going to live without you.’
She curled up against him. ‘What are we going to do? I don’t know if I can cope with living in the city. I never had it in mind to stay.’
‘Then I’ll have to find work near to where you want to be. Don’t worry about it. We’ll work something out.’
‘Will we?’ She looked up at him. ‘What about the job at the hospital? I thought it was yours already?’
‘It’s mine if I want it, but I’ve been looking into other options, nearer home, just in case you should decide to go back there.’
‘You wouldn’t mind doing that? You always seemed to love being here in London. What about this fabulous apartment, the excitement and opportunity of working in London? Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?’
‘I thought that was what I wanted, but one city is much like another, and I’ll find a consultant post close to where you want to be. I already have a place in mind.’ His gaze moved over her. ‘Home is wherever you are, Hannah. I want you to be happy—that’s more important to me than anything else.’
He kissed her gently, savouring the moment. ‘Will you marry me, Hannah? Will you be my wife?’
Her breath caught in her throat. ‘Oh, yes, Adam. Yes…’
He smiled into her eyes. ‘You’ve just made me the happiest man in the world.’ His fingers slid over her face, and along the column of her throat, his lips following in their wake, trailing kisses along the creamy expanse of her shoulder, nudging aside the flimsy cotton top she was wearing.
She moved closer to him, or maybe he urged her to him, she wasn’t sure how it came about, but the softness of her breasts was crushed against his hard male frame, and his hands explored her, his palm cupping the swell of her breast. Desire surged inside her, causing her mind to dissolve into cotton-wool cloudiness, and her body began to tremble with need.
‘I want you,’ she whispered. ‘I want to be with you, to know that you’re always going to be here with me.’
‘Then that’s how it will be,’ he said raggedly against her mouth. ‘We’ll find a fabulous house in the country, and make it ours.’
Her eyes widened. ‘A place like this, with a roof terrace and a terrific view over the surrounding countryside?’
‘Whatever you want. You only have to say and it’s yours.’
She smiled up at him. ‘I was just kidding,’ she said softly. ‘I just want to be wherever you are.’
‘Me, too.’ He kissed her again, with infinite tenderness that swiftly yielded to burning passion. ‘I love you, Hannah.’
‘I love you,’ she whispered, and kissed him again, settling into his heated embrace, her head resting in the crook of his shoulder.
He looked into her eyes, and now she could at last read what he was thinking. His gaze told her all that she wanted to know. It said that they would be as one, like this, for all time. Then he lowered his head and claimed her mouth, and she forgot everything for a long, long while as she gave herself up to the promise of that kiss.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5874-0
THE LONDON DOCTOR
First North American Publication 2006
Copyright © 2006 by Joanna Neil
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