One Week to Win His Heart

She found her phone and switched it on, waiting impatiently for the message light to blink so she could look at it. When she opened the text message from George it was to find one single emoji—a red heart.

Melody stared at the emoji, then looked at George, hope filling her heart. ‘Really?’

He nodded, then as though the admission had given them both wings they were in each other’s arms, their mouths meeting and melding with perfect synchronicity. She kissed him with all the love in her heart, wanting him to feel just how wonderful he made her feel. In return, she felt his own need, his desire and his acceptance of their mutual love.

When one of her neighbours came out into the corridor, seeing the two of them kissing, Melody belatedly realised where they were. She’d been so caught up in everything about him that she hadn’t even opened the door to her apartment. She quickly unlocked her door and beckoned him inside. It was then she realised that he, too, had a bag beside him—a large bag.

‘You’re staying in Sydney?’

‘I’m staying wherever you are,’ he told her as he gathered her close again, kicking the door shut to the apartment to ensure they had all the privacy they needed.

‘I was going to do the same thing. I told Ethan I wanted to be wherever you were and that if you didn’t love me I would give you all the time you needed to come to the sane and rational conclusion that we belong together.’

‘You were going to leave Sydney?’

‘I got a call from the CEO—they’ve found a new head of department so I’m free, George. I’m free to move to Melbourne or to Timbuktu—I don’t care, so long as I’m with you.’ She pressed a kiss to his lips then shook her head. ‘I know we only had one week together but these past ten weeks apart have been absolute torture.’ She kissed him again. ‘I missed being able to talk to you, to share things with you, to just sit and spend time with you.’

‘You could have called me,’ he ventured, but she shook her head.

‘I knew I had to be patient and to trust you, two things I needed to have more practice with.’ She broke free from him for a moment and took his hand, leading him over to the lounge, where they sat down together. ‘You needed to sort things out in your own way, in your own time.’

‘When I returned to Melbourne—’ George stopped and shook his head. ‘It was as though I was having an out-of-body experience. I could walk around my house, the place I’d lived with Veronique, and it was as though I was intruding on someone else’s life. It wasn’t mine. It wasn’t where I belonged any more. I felt the same way at the hospital. I did a few shifts over Christmas and New Year, and although everything was familiar it was…out of balance with the man I’d become.’

George shook his head and held her hands in his. ‘I’m not the same man I used to be and that’s all because of you, Melody.’ He held her gaze as he spoke, his tone intense and filled with repressed desire. ‘Our week together helped me realise that I’d merely been existing, going through my days one at a time but not really taking anything in. In the beginning the travelling had been good for my grief but it wasn’t until I arrived back in Melbourne that I realised I was done.’

‘Done with grieving?’

He shook his head. ‘Done with the guilt from wanting to move forward.’

‘Good, because I don’t think you’re ever done with grieving. It just…changes.’

‘It does, and Veronique’s mother told me herself that Veronique wouldn’t be happy if I was always looking backwards. My wife would want me to be happy and you…’ He lifted her hands to his lips and pressed soft kisses to her knuckles. ‘You make me happy, Melody. Being with you, laughing with you, working with you.’

‘Working with me?’

George gave her a lopsided smile and shrugged one shoulder. ‘Didn’t you mention St Aloysius had found a new head of the department? That you were now free to do whatever you wanted?’

Melody frowned at him for a moment before dawning realisation crossed her face. ‘You’re the new head of department?’

‘There was nothing for me in Melbourne any more and everything here in Sydney because Sydney is where you are.’

‘You took the head of department position?’ She laughed with rising incredulity.

‘Is that OK?’

‘Uh…yeah.’ She nodded her head for emphasis. ‘Of course it is, but are you sure you’ll be happy here?’

‘Yes. I like the hospital. I like Rick, who I’ve insisted remain as my PA, and I like the resident orthopaedic surgeon…very much.’ He leaned forward as he said the last few words then captured her lips with his. ‘Very much,’ he reiterated a few moments later after delighting in the way Melody kissed him back with such uninhibited abandon.