The Doctor's Runaway Bride

‘A car,’ he interrupted her, his gaze steely, ‘or you don’t work.’

She could see that he wasn’t going to give an inch and she gave a sigh. ‘All right. Thank you. A car. But a small car.’

‘A small car?’ The tension seemed to leave him and his eyes shimmered with amusement. ‘You are the first woman I have ever met who would choose to have a small car. The rest of your sex would be handing me brochures of glamorous sports cars at this point.’

His smile made her heart flip over. ‘I don’t want a glamorous sports car,’ she told him. ‘It’s a waste of money.’

‘Indeed.’ His tone was dry and a smile flickered across his handsome face. ‘Now, onto your second condition. No touching.’

The car suddenly seemed a very confined space and he suddenly seemed very, very male.

‘It’s true that the physical attraction between us is unusually strong.’ His eyes dropped to her mouth and then lifted again to her wide green eyes. ‘I can see how it has possibly overwhelmed other aspects of our relationship, so I agree to your second condition. No touching.’ The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. ‘Although I have a feeling it may not be easy.’

Tia gave a weak smile. She had a feeling that it wouldn’t be easy either. Heavens, even now she was dying for the man to kiss her. It wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t already know just what he could make her feel. But she did…

Luca touched her cheek

gently and pulled the key out of the ignition. ‘But any time you want to change that rule, let me know.’

He opened his door and she watched him unfold his six-foot-plus frame, her heart beating a steady tattoo against her chest.

Change the rule?

His straightforward admission that he still wanted her made her limbs tremble.

Not that wanting her physically meant anything, of course. Luca had already proved that he didn’t need to be in love with her to enjoy an intense physical relationship.

But that wasn’t enough for her.

She was going to get to know him, and then decide what the future held for them.

The following morning Luca took her to work without comment, although she could see from the stiff line of his jaw that he wasn’t pleased with the idea.

‘I’ll be OK, Luca,’ she said quietly as she undid her seat belt and fumbled for her bag. ‘I wasn’t sick this morning.’

He turned to her, his eyes serious. ‘Tia, I’m not happy about you working, you know that. There is no financial reason for you to work and I don’t really understand why you feel the need, but I gave you my word and I won’t try and stop you. But if you are unwell, I want you to call me. Do you understand?’

She hesitated and then gave a nod. ‘All right, but I think you’re overreacting.’

‘I’m Italian and an expectant father,’ he pointed out, a smile touching his firm mouth. ‘I’m allowed to overreact.’

Unable to resist the lazy warmth in his eyes she returned the smile, remembering that it had been his sense of humour that had first attracted her to him. That and his aura of strength.

‘We still haven’t really talked about this baby, Tia,’ he pointed out softly as he parked and switched off the engine. ‘Tonight I’ll make us some dinner and we can discuss it properly. You wanted us to get to know each other better, so our feelings about the baby are a good place to start.’

Her heart gave a lurch. She wasn’t at all sure that she was ready to discuss how she felt about the baby.

She had little chance to think about it, however, because Sharon grabbed her the minute she arrived on the unit.

‘I need you on Antenatal. We’ve had an emergency admission from A and E.’ She matched her pace to Tia’s as they walked quickly along the corridor, talking as they went. ‘They thought she had some sort of viral illness to start with, but now they think it’s severe pre-eclampsia.’

Luca was at the desk, together with Dr Ford and Dan Sutherland, the consultant.

‘She complained of severe headache and visual disturbances,’ Luca was telling the team, ‘and she’s also had epigastric pain and vomiting. The casualty officer thought it was a virus to start with but was smart enough to do a pregnancy test.’

‘She didn’t know she was pregnant?’ Dr Ford looked slightly disdainful and Luca flashed her a slightly impatient look.

‘It would seem not.’