The Midwife's Marriage Proposal (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 3)

It was a mistake. Like an addict who allows himself just one more taste of a dangerous substance, she felt the insidious pull of desire. A need that couldn’t be controlled by common sense. Feeling the traitorous warmth spread through her body, she wondered despairingly how it was that you could know something was bad for you and yet still want it so badly.

Other men, she told herself firmly.

There were other men out there and she was going to meet one of them …

She was so preoccupied by her own internal battle that it wasn’t until Tom approached Bryony’s cottage that she realized that she hadn’t even told him where she lived.

The bike slowed and she pulled herself back from the edge of insanity, sliding off the back of the bike before he’d even brought it to a halt.

She dragged off the helmet and handed it to him, shaking her blonde hair in an automatic gesture.

‘So how did you know where I was living?’

‘A simple matter of deduction,’ he drawled. ‘My little sister seems to have given herself the role of protector and her cottage is empty. It would be a logical decision to offer it to you.’

‘I’m finding myself somewhere of my own soon.’

He shrugged. ‘Why bother? This cottage is great and it’s not that far from the hospital.’

Because after seven years of travelling she was ready to have somewhere that was her own. Even if all she could afford was something tiny.

It would be all hers.

But she had no intention of sharing those thoughts with Tom.

‘Goodnight. Thanks for the lift.’

‘Are you going to invite me in?’ His voice was velvety dark and tempting and she stared at him like a rabbit caught in headlights, the physical pull of his presence as powerful as ever.

‘Why would I?’

‘Because, whatever you might say to the contrary,’ he drawled softly, ‘you know you want to. All evening you felt me next to you in the same way that I felt you. This thing between us hasn’t gone away, Sally.’

Her insides lurched alarmingly and she backed away a few steps. ‘What I know,’ she said coldly, ‘is that you are as arrogant as ever.’

But despite her accusation she could feel the insidious warmth spread through her veins, fuelled by the lazy, confident look in his blue eyes.

When she’d been younger, it had been one of the many things that had attracted her to him. His unshakable self-confidence, his nerve and courage in confronting the world, his total belief in his ability to conquer all. For someone as insecure as her, he’d represented security. She’d always believed that nothing would ever go wrong as long as Tom was there.

But the thing that had gone wrong had been Tom himself.

Like everyone else in her life, eventually he’d pushed her away.

‘So are you inviting me in?’ He sat easily on the bike, watching her, totally relaxed. Or was he? His blue eyes were sharp and alert and fixed on her face, reading her every reaction with lethal accuracy.

‘No, Tom. I’m not. Thanks for the lift.’ She delved in her bag for her keys and turned to walk down the path to the cottage, but his arm snaked out and strong fingers closed over her arm, preventing her escape.

‘You can deny it as much as you like, but it’s still there.’

She stood still, trapped by the strength of his fingers and the truth in his words.

It was still there.

And that made it d

oubly difficult to do what she had to do.

But it didn’t make it impossible.