Read Online Dating the Millionaire Doctor by Marion Lennox - Free Book Online Page A

less anything else. She was tired beyond belief and her mind was playing tricks.
    So get out of the bath, get to dinner, so you can go to bed.
    Right. She wiggled even deeper under the bubbles.
    â€˜Tori?’
    Uh-oh. Jake’s voice brought her bolt upright. ‘Tori, are you okay?’
    â€˜I’m fine,’ she managed, feeling…discombobulated. She was covered in bubbles and she was bright pink. Had she locked the door? She didn’t think so.
    â€˜Dinner’s ready. I’ve fed Rusty, but do you want yours here or in the dining room?’
    In here, she thought, but then maybe he had it with him. Maybe if she said the word the door would open.
    â€˜In the dining room,’ she squeaked.
    â€˜You want a hand out of the bath?’
    â€˜No!’
    She heard him chuckle. ‘Hey, I’m a doctor, remember? I’m used to human bodies.’
    â€˜You’re not my doctor, and you’re not used to this one. Go away.’
    â€˜Yes, ma’am,’ he said and there was silence—and she pulled herself awkwardly out of the bath and thought maybe, just maybe, she should have let him in.
    Maybe she even wanted to.
    Maybe she was losing her mind.
    Â 
    The meal was served on the terrace. Tori left Rusty on her bed, watching the door—of course—and made her way cautiously through the dining room and outside. And paused.
    She could see the whole world.
    The valley meandered downhill, following the ancient river path. Far in the distance she could see the faint, flickering lights of the city at dusk, but the foreground was simple, natural beauty.
    The dusk wasn’t so deep that she couldn’t see vines around the house, lines and lines, reaching into the distance. Gumtrees followed the river—massive eucalypts with wide, spreading branches. For Tori, who’d lived with blackened skeletons for so long, the sight was enough to make her gasp.
    â€˜We thought you might have gone down the drain.’
    It was Jake, rising to greet her. As well as Jake there was Rob and two tiny, wrinkled women, smiling a welcome. One of the women had her arm in a sling. She looked pale and strained, and she held her arm as if it hurt. The other looked a little better but not much. Her forehead was badly scarred, and she was glancing nervously at her companion as if she was deeply worried about her. Fire victims both. Six months raw.
    They were all six months raw.
    â€˜Do you need introductions?’ Rob said easily, rising as well. She’d recognised the women but was given introductions anyway. ‘Tori, you must know Miss Glenda Parling—postmistress to Combadeen until fifteen years ago. And Mrs. Doreen Ryde? Doreen’s Glenda’s sister. You’ve already met Mrs. Matheson, our own personal wizard-chef, and of course you know Jake. Sit down and wrap yourself round some of Mrs. Matheson’s cooking.’
    Jake was holding her chair for her. There was nothing for her to do but sink onto the lovely upholstery—and sink into the night.
    Jake and Rob were chatting, drawing the elderly ladies out between them. They let her be, as if protecting her. The conversation had obviously been going on before she got there. She was free to take in her surroundings and the people around her. The lilt of soft music in the background. The fragrance of…more gardenias?
    And then the food arrived.
    For six months she’d been living on snacks on the run. Whatever Jake and Rob planned for this place, it was obvious snacks on the run were not on the menu.
    For all her life afterwards she remembered that meal.
    First there were tiny garfish with slivers of lemon and curls of melting butter, cooked to perfection and leaving her mouth exploding with flavours of the sea.
    She’d barely finished when fingers of crusty toast arrived, spread thickly with a creamy trout pate, with caviar on the side. Around the plate were tiny tomatoes, shreds of lettuce and curls of