by Coleen Kwan
She blinked at him. “But all that time you spent, all that effort to restore the original fittings.”
“Yeah.” To her puzzlement he seemed totally unperturbed. “But you could also think of it as having a blank canvas, ready for any kind of look. Maybe it’d be a good selling point.”
“Selling point?” She gaped at him. “Surely you’re not thinking of selling Blackstone Hall?”
“Maybe I am. Maybe I don’t want to be anchored by the past. Maybe I want to cut loose and move somewhere else.”
The emotion in his eyes squeezed the air from her lungs. “But you can’t move somewhere else! You belong here in Wilmot, like you always have.”
“Do I?” His eyes never wavered from her. “Then we have a problem, don’t we?”
“We do?”
“Yup. Big problem.” He reached out and twirled a piece of her hair around his finger. “Because I was planning on moving down to Sydney.”
The hospital room seemed to whirl around her. When her head stopped spinning she found him still gazing at her with an unnerving intensity.
She moistened her lips. “Why?”
He slid his fingers through the length of her hair, and started twirling again. “Well, if the mountain won’t come to Mohammed…”
She sucked in a breath. “And I’m the mountain…?”
“Metaphorically speaking.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
He too drew in a sharp breath. “Why not?”
Fresh tears sprang to her eyes. “I just told you. You belong here in Wilmot, not some big, sprawling city. You’d hate it in Sydney.”
“No, I wouldn’t. I’d be close to you. That’s all that matters.”
Why were her eyes so blurry? Her stomach so queasy? He slid his hands around the sides of her face and drew her closer.
“Harriet, I love you.” He tweaked her earlobes softly. “I love your gutsiness and your vulnerability. The way you’ve reinvented yourself yet still kept all the best things about you. I love the way you walk, the way you kiss, the way my body goes haywire every time I catch sight of you.”
He drew in a deep breath. “I’m crazy for you, Harriet Brown, and that’s the truth, even though it’s probably not what you need to hear right now.”
Her ears were tingling. Her heart skittered around like a crazy puppy. “No, it’s exactly what I need to hear right now.” Her arms shot out to circle him round the waist. “And you need to hear that I love you too.”
“Really?” His eyes glimmered.
She nodded, incredulous happiness shooting through her. It wasn’t a dream—Adam loved her! She stretched up on tiptoe and met his kiss midway. For a long while there was nothing in the universe except his mouth, his hands and the sweet nothings he murmured in her hair. When they paused for breath, her skin was rosy and tingling, and she felt as if she’d been doused in fairy dust.
The hospital room came wavering back into focus and reality intruded. There were matters she couldn’t leave unresolved.
“I love you so much, Adam.” Still tremulous, she linked her hands with his. “But I won’t let you uproot yourself from this place. Everyone here likes and respects you. Just look at all these flowers and cards around you. You belong here. Don’t tell me you’d find it easy to sell Blackstone Hall after everything you’ve gone through.”
“It wouldn’t be easy, no.” He stroked her cheek tenderly. “But neither would I find it easy to be apart from you for most of the week. How often would I get to see you?”
“More often than you probably like.” She gripped his waist, thrilled by the play of his muscles against her palms. “I’m moving back to Wilmot.”
He wrinkled his brows at her, caution seeping into his eyes. “You said you never liked living in Wilmot. What’s made you change your mind?”
“You.” She slid her hands up the length of his chest. “When we were caught in that fire, I never thought once of leaving your side. I realised something fundamental. I’d never be happy without you. That’s the truth, and nothing else matters. So I’m going to move back to Wilmot and help my dad at The Tuckerbox.”
“But what about your catering business and all your plans?”
“I’ll have to honour my commitments, of course, but I’ve already spoken with my dad, and he’s over the moon about it. And once we get The Tuckerbox on its feet again, I’ll look at doing catering as well. Who knows, I might even get Cindy to help me.”
“You made such a huge decision even before you came to see me?” Adam looked both incredulous and impressed.
She nodded. “I wasn’t sure what you felt about me. I wasn’t sure if you just wanted to be friends, but I knew I wanted to be here. I wanted to take a chance on us.” She fumbled in her bag and shyly drew out a long, red sock. “Do you remember this?”
Adam gave a shaky laugh. “My football sock. You had this all the time?”
“Yup. It’s like the glass slipper, waiting for its rightful owner.” She smiled at him through her tears. “And now at last I’ve found him.”
He bent his head again and pressed a kiss against her lips so full of tenderness and promise that she felt ready to burst. The kiss burned out of control, and soon they were both heaving for breath and groping each other.
Adam nudged her backward until the backs of her legs pressed up against the bed. “Let’s really give those nurses out there something to talk about,” he said with a wicked smile as his lips brushed against her mouth.
She laughed and let herself fall onto the bed, pulling him with her. Who cared about the nurses? Adam loved her, and she wanted to shout out the news to the whole world.
It was a miracle. She had found the place where she wanted to be forever.
Finally, she had come home.
About the Author
Coleen Kwan has been a bookworm all her life. English was her favorite school subject, but for some reason she decided on a career in IT. After many years of programming, she wondered what else there was in life—and discovered writing. She loves writing contemporary romance whether it’s sweet or sensual.
Coleen lives in Sydney, Australia, with her partner and two children. When she isn’t writing she enjoys avoiding housework, eating chocolate and watching The Office.
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ISBN: 978-1-4268-9247-9
Copyright © 2011 by Coleen Kwan
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