‘I’m not returning to London, Tori.’
‘What about your job?’ Concentrate. Benji’s telling me something important.
‘You offered me one today, remember?’
‘Don’t play games with me, please. I would love you to work with me. I meant that offer. But you work in London.’
He swung her up into his arms and strode through to the bedroom to place her ever so gently on the bed. ‘I’ve given notice. I was offered a partnership and I’ve turned it down.’
That woke her up. Jerking upright, she stared at him. ‘But you’ve worked hard for that partnership, wanted it more than anything.’
‘Have you ever striven so hard for something that you’ve lost sight of everything else that’s important?’ Blazing eyes fixed on her.
‘Yes.’ The clinic. But that had been the intention. The clinic had been her drug of choice to blot out her other dreams—the failed ones all to do with Ben and having a family with him.
Then the tiredness was back, dragging her under even as she fought to stay fully alert.
When Tori woke she couldn’t move for the arm draped over her waist and the warm body pushed hard against her back. ‘Ben?’
Then she felt the aches throbbing in every muscle in her body, the pounding in her head. ‘I shouldn’t have laughed yesterday about not catching the flu.’
‘I’ll get you some water and drugs,’ murmured the only voice she wanted to hear right now.
Ben was back in no time, helping her to sit up, handing her tablets and a glass. ‘Now go back to sleep.’
Bossy. But the next thing she knew was waking up again, and Ben was bringing her a warm cloth to wipe her face before presenting her with toast and honey.
‘You have to eat.’
‘I have to get up. I’ve got patients to see.’
‘All sorted. I’m going in shortly to help Conrad with the appointment list. You’ll be all right here?’
Her eyelids were drooping already. ‘I’m coming with you,’ she muttered, as she slid down beneath the duvet and snuggled into the pillow.
Everything was a blur, days and nights rolling into each other. The only thing Tori knew for certain was that Ben was there a lot, bringing her meals, helping her shower, kissing her cheek, holding her in bed at night. Ben. Her heart. Her love. He’d come back, but why? Something about giving up a partnership. She needed to get to the bottom of that.
Finally she woke with a clear head and no aches anywhere in her body. It had been three days since she’d first crashed. Staggering out of bed, she headed for a shower before getting dressed in something more scintillating than pyjamas.
* * *
When Ben got home from the clinic that night he was greeted with the mouth-watering smell of lasagne and the wonderful, heart-stopping sight of Tori looking a hundred percent better than she had since he’d arrived. ‘Hey, you’re looking almost normal again.’
‘I feel better.’ There was hesitancy in those green eyes as she handed him a glass of wine. ‘Thanks for taking care of me and the clinic.’
‘No problem. I enjoyed it. Even looking after the world’s grumpiest patient.’ Ben placed the glass on the bench before engulfing her in a big hug, quickly following up with a kiss. A proper, lips-on-lips kiss now that the flu had gone. She tasted sweet and exciting, and it would take very little to ignite the flare of desire burning in his groin. But he wasn’t following through until they’d talked.
Tori pulled away. ‘Why did you leave me that note in Paris? Why didn’t you say goodbye properly? That hurt, Ben.’ If the past had taught her anything, it was to be honest about how she felt.
Ben winced, hating the thought he’d upset her. ‘I was scared, Tori. We’d bared our souls to each other in Paris, but I was too busy dwelling on the past to believe we had a future. I made a mistake.’
‘So what’s changed? Why did you turn that partnership down?’
‘Because I came to my senses. When the excitement didn’t kick in after I was offered it I did some soul-searching and it finally dawned on me that, yes, I had been hurt about the baby, but to throw away another chance with you because of that would be right up there with the worst things I’ve ever done.’
Tori’s eyes widened but she didn’t say a word. Was that good or bad? He felt a band tighten around his gut. What if she didn’t want to give him another chance?
He laid his heart on the line. All or nothing was the way to go. Then if she kicked him out he couldn’t say he hadn’t tried hard enough. ‘I love you more than anything in the world so why wasn’t I here with you? That’s what I asked myself.’ Not a peep came out of those tempting lips. He continued, ‘I do love you, Tori. So much that I want to start over, with you, with my career, with a family if you still want one, with a home I can share with you. This time, I’ll keep my priorities straight.’
Now shut up. He did, but his gut was roiling and sweat trickled down between his shoulderblades. Everything rode on what Tori said next.
Tori folded her arms across her chest and eyeballed him. ‘You’re absolutely certain about that?’
‘Tori.’ His mouth dried up. Taking a chance, he cupped her beloved face between his hands. ‘I’m here for you. Because of you. I can’t stay away any longer. Those days in Nice and Paris showed me the truth of my heart. I love you. I have never stopped loving you.’
‘Benji.’ Tears spilled down her face, over his hands. ‘I tried to get over you, thought I’d succeeded, only to learn I’d been telling myself a load of porkies all the time. I’m done with hiding my feelings. When I gave you my heart on our wedding day it was for ever, no matter what happened. I’ve never reclaimed it. It’s still yours.’
Relief was sharp and welcome. He had to kiss her again. As his mouth covered hers the woman of his dreams finally leaned in against him and lifted her arms up around his neck.
She pulled her mouth away briefly. ‘Welcome home, Benji.’
When she said ‘Benji’ with so much love he knew they’d be okay. He was so lucky. She’d given him another chance. He swore this time he’d be a lot more careful with her love. It was far too precious to treat any other way. Sure, there would be problems along the way. But this time they’d face them together.
‘I love you with everything I’ve got, Tori.’ His lips brushed her forehead, her mouth, down her throat and onto her breast. ‘This is me, for real. Let me prove how real.’
Silently she took his hand and led him to her bedroom, where she undressed first him and then herself. On the bed he covered her body with his, then pushed gently inside her. ‘That real enough for you?’ he whispered by her ear.
‘Oh, yes.’ She tightened around him, drawing him in deeper so that he filled her completely. ‘Oh, yes.’
He hadn’t known it was possible to make love so slowly, so intensely and tenderly. His body melted as desire tightened and tightened and sent them both soari
ng into oblivion.
Six months later...
Ben leaned close to Tori and whispered in her ear something that made her blush scarlet.
She elbowed him lightly in the ribs. ‘No one ever gets their wedding present until after the wedding.’
Ben groaned. ‘You mean I have to wait until this crowd have listened to our vows, eaten five courses at Porcini’s Restaurant and danced half the night away?’
‘I’m worth it, I promise.’
‘That’s my line.’ He winked.
Happiness welled up inside her, blocked her throat as she gazed into the eyes of the man she was about to marry for the second time. This time it would be for ever. She knew they’d finally got it right, and that they’d grown, changed and yet were still the same couple with the same kind of loving going on between them.
A very trim-looking John, holding Rita’s hand, approached them, with their two girls bouncing along beside them. He asked with a grin, ‘So it’s to be a small wedding, eh?’
Ben shook his head. ‘Tori has no idea what small means. Apart from the usual family and friends, I reckon she’s invited all the clinic staff and every patient she’s ever treated.’
Tori nudged him again. ‘You do exaggerate.’ But not by much. She looked around and her smile grew. Everyone important to her was here. With one exception—Ben’s father couldn’t bring himself to accept her back into the family. His attitude had hurt them both, but Ben had refused to beg, so his mother had come without him. That had to be one of the few times she’d ever stood up to him. Bet Jeffery didn’t know about the coffee dates and shopping for baby clothes that his wife and Tori had once a week.
Her hand automatically rubbed a light circle over her slightly swollen stomach. How you doing in there, little one?
‘Pregnancy is making you glow.’ Rita was smiling and crying and reaching for her hand.
Tori’s eyes moistened. ‘Stop it. I can’t cry and wreck my make-up.’
‘Why not? It’s your wedding.’
‘I am so glad you came over for this.’ They’d kept in regular contact since Nice.