Read Online The Doctor's Lost-and-Found Bride by Kate Hardy - Free Book Online Page B

elephants in the room. The thing they’d never been able to talk about. The thing that had widened the gap between them day by day, until she hadn’t been able to bear it any longer. ‘My system went a bit haywire. My GP suggested trying the Pill, and it worked.’ She swallowed. ‘Though, just in case you were wondering, I don’t make a habit of sleeping around. So you won’t end up with any—’
    He pressed his forefinger lightly against her lips. ‘Ialready know that, and I wouldn’t insult you by thinking otherwise. Just for the record,’ he added, ‘it’s the same for me. You’re safe.’
    ‘OK. So we know the score.’
    ‘Do we?’ He shifted onto his side, so they were looking each other in the face, and gave her a level stare. ‘We’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to avoid each other as much as possible—and being ultra-polite and professional when we can’t.’
    She acknowledged the truth of that with a sardonic smile. ‘And just now we ripped each other’s clothes off and ended up in bed together.’
    He gave her a wry smile.
    ‘It’s probably because we both needed comfort after the day we’ve had.’
    ‘Probably,’ he agreed.
    Oh, that hurt: the acknowledgement that what they’d just shared had simply been comfort for him. Even though she’d been the one to say it, she wished he hadn’t agreed with her so quickly.
    And then he gave her the most wicked grin. ‘So. Mission accomplished?’
    ‘Max Fenton, you’re…’
    She really hadn’t expected that.
    How had she possibly forgotten Max’s sense of humour—the way he could say something completely inappropriate or surreal and make her laugh? She couldn’t help smiling back. ‘Yes. Mission accomplished.’ She paused. ‘You?’
    He nodded. ‘I think we both needed that.’ He stroked her face. ‘We always were good together, Marina.’
    True. Until it had gone spectacularly wrong.
    And then he said something that really shocked her. ‘I’ve missed you.’
    She stared at him, not quite believing what she’d just heard. ‘What did you say?’
    ‘I’ve missed you.’ His face was utterly open and candid. ‘Having you back in my arms just now made me realise how much.’
    He’d missed her.
    And what he’d just said…He could have been speaking for her, too. Given how long they’d been apart, it must have cost him a lot to make that admission. The least she could do was match his honesty. ‘I missed you, too,’ she said. Making love with him just now—for a while, the empty spaces in her soul had been filled again. Max had made her feel complete, the first time she’d felt that way since they’d separated.
    ‘So where do we go from here?’ he asked.
    She shook her head. ‘I have no idea.’
    ‘Maybe we could start seeing each other?’ he suggested.
    Was he serious? He really thought that they could pick up where they left off?
    ‘Though we should probably take it slowly,’ he added.
    She raised an eyebrow. ‘Slowly? Considering your bed’s all rumpled and I have no idea where my clothes are—or yours…’
    He gave her a lopsided grin. ‘OK, so we’re not very good at doing “slowly”.’
    She returned the smile. ‘We never were. A week, wasn’t it?’
    ‘Five and a half days.’
    He remembered that precisely—from all those years ago? Marina looked at him, stunned. So was he thinkingabout the very first time they’d made love? She remembered that night, too. How right it had felt. Even that very first time had been like a kind of homecoming, as if she’d found a place she wanted to be for the rest of her life.
    In his arms.
    And for four empty years they’d been apart.
    ‘Max, I’m not so sure this is a good idea. I mean, we know that it works between us in bed. But…’ She shook her head. ‘We crashed and burned last time.’
    ‘I know. But we’re both older and wiser now,’ Max said, his gaze steady. ‘And I think there’s still unfinished business between us. Otherwise we