The Doctor's Society Sweetheart

by Lucy Clark

  ‘Em. Oh, my Emmy.’ Dart gathered her into his arms, ignoring the way she half-heartedly tried to push him away. ‘You’re mad at me. I get it and I’m sorry I haven’t been able to return any of your phone calls.’

  ‘Oh, so you got them,’ she retorted, her words slightly muffled against his chest. She sniffed and tried to push him away but Dart refused to let her go.

  ‘I did, but I also left word with your TV network to let them know I was called back to Brisbane. I asked them to pass the information on to you because I didn’t have your cellphone number or even have a clue where you lived, apart from the fact that you have a great view of Sydney Harbour.’

  ‘You told me you were leaving?’

  ‘I left you a message, yes.’

  ‘Why did you leave?’ She’d at least managed to stop crying now and breathed him in, unable to believe just how much she’d missed him during the past few long and lonely days.

  ‘I was called back to Brisbane to consult on an urgent case.

  The patient, a young girl of six, presented with a tropical disease that is quite common in certain parts of Tarparnii. I had it years ago so I was the perfect person to care for her. I only came out of isolation earlier this morning. The girl’s fever finally broke and now she’s on the mend but it’s been touch and go for the past forty-eight hours.’ Emmy was staring at him as though he’d hung the moon, her eyes shining brightly although slightly red from where she’d been crying.

  ‘You left because of a medical case?’

  ‘Yes. Why else would I leave?’

  ‘Well…because of the photograph in the paper the other morning.’ She felt his arms tighten imperceptibly about her.

  ‘The one about Emmy’s love triangle?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You thought I was mad and that I left because you were photographed looking longingly into another man’s eyes, probably a few hours after you’d dropped me at my hotel?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Would you mind telling me who he is?’

  ‘My accountant.’

  ‘And you usually do business in a flashy club?’ Dart tried to keep his questions fair but even he heard the slight accusatory note in his tone.

  ‘He’s part-owner in the wine bar and I wanted to see him straight away. Felix is my accountant, Dart. Has been for years. Nothing more.’ Her words were urgent.

  Dart absorbed this, needing more than anything to believe her. Her hands were resting on his chest, her face tipped up to look at him, and as he looked down, he knew she spoke the truth. ‘Your business was that urgent that you needed to see him at the club? It couldn’t wait until morning?’

  ‘No. It couldn’t, and if you must know, I was organising a present for you.’ Emmy eased out of his arms, confused and annoyed and generally exhausted.

  ‘A present?’ He relaxed his hold and let her go. ‘You don’t need to get me a present, Emerson. I don’t care about your money. I don’t want any of it.’

  ‘It’s not that sort of present, Dart. Give me a little more credit for knowing the man I’m in love with.’

  His breath caught at her words. ‘You still love me?’

  ‘Of course I do, you dolt. I’ve told you a thousand times before, the love I have for you is going to last for ever. There is only one man for me—you.’ She jabbed a finger in his direction. ‘I’m not so frivolous that I fall in and out of love that easily, Dartagnan Free—’

  In a split second Dart had stepped close to her again and hauled her into his arms, effectively silencing her rant by pressing his mouth to hers. She tasted so good, so right, so perfect. As his mouth moved hungrily over hers, as he unleashed the pain and impatience and frustration he’d been living with for the past few days, wondering whether there was any truth to the newspaper headline, Dart was overcome by pure possessiveness.

  ‘You taste so sweet, so good, so lovely, my Emmy,’ he breathed as he pressed hot kisses to her mouth, her nose, her forehead and her eyes, before returning to plunder her mouth once more. His heart was full to bursting with the love he’d kept locked away for so long but now he could share it, he could show her, he could become whole again.

  ‘You’re my saving grace, Emmy. I never thought I could ever love again, that I would ever be able to open my heart, to let someone into my life, to trust them so completely, but I did—I have.’ Dart eased back, her hands loosening at his neck to slide down his chest, her fingers splayed as though she simply couldn’t get enough of him either.

  ‘I love you, Emmy. So very much.’

  Emmy couldn’t help but giggle. ‘It’s about time you said those three little words.’

  ‘You’ve been very patient.’

  ‘I knew it couldn’t be easy for you. The past can be a tricky thing to let go of, to take that chance and move forward into the future.’

  ‘I couldn’t have moved forward without you. There will always be a place for Marta in my heart but you, my elegant Emerson-Rose, are my world.’

  ‘I am?’

  ‘Yes. If you want me to move to Sydney, I will.’

  ‘Really?’ Emmy eased back a little to look at him more carefully to ensure he really did mean what he said.

  ‘You don’t seem to understand, Em. The past few days, being back in Australia, being without you…’ He shook his head. ‘Being stuck in isolation at the hospital with no means of contacting you almost killed me. Where I thought I’d been lonely before, I was almost panicking at the thought that I’d lost you. I was determined to come here, to tell you my true feelings, to let you know I was willing to put up with the paparazzi, to make sacrifices, so long as I could be with you for the rest of my life.’

  Emmy was stunned by the power of his words. ‘For the rest of your life?’ she whispered.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But that means…’

  ‘Yes.’ Without letting her go, needing to keep her close, Dart slipped his hand into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a small, old-fashioned ring box.

  ‘Oh,’ Emmy gasped, and covered her mouth with one hand.

  ‘Open it,’ he instructed softly, and bent to place a quick kiss on her lips. She tried to take it but her hands were shaking so much that Dart had to reluctantly release her in order to help her. ‘It was my grandmother’s. She and my grandfather were married for sixty-three years.’

  ‘Wow.’ Emmy’s vision was blurred with tears of happiness.

  ‘I think that’s a good start for us.’ He carefully removed the old-fashioned ring with a white-gold band, filigree work on the sides and one solitaire diamond in the centre of a white-gold rose. ‘I hope you like it. I can get you something different if you—’

  ‘Don’t you dare,’ she said quickly. ‘It’s perfect. It’s family history. It’s personal.’

  ‘It is.’ Dart slid the ring onto her finger and looked lovingly into her eyes. ‘I love you, Em. Please marry me? Be with me for ever because without you, the void in my life is impossible to fill. I need you.’

  ‘Dart. Oh, my glorious man.’ She pressed her mouth to his. ‘Yes,’ she murmured against his lips. ‘I’ll marry you. I love you so completely. No one else makes me feel the way you do. No one.’

  Dart couldn’t believe how incredibly happy he felt. An enormous weight had been lifted off his shoulders and his heart felt light after being closed for so long. And it was all thanks to his gorgeous Emmy, his gorgeous Emmy with the most delectable mouth…

  ‘There are still a few things we need to discuss,’ he said a while later as he continued to hold her close against him. ‘I’m happy to move to Sydney.’

  ‘It’s a nice place to live,’ she agreed. ‘But I have no qualms about moving either.’

  ‘You’re very good at what you do,’ Dart said. ‘What about your job with the studio?’

  ‘It’s just a job, Dart. Sure, showing the public Tarparnii, as well as the needs of other developing countries, is important but I’m not the only person who can do the job.’ She looke
d up at him. ‘Home is where the heart is…and you have my heart.’

  Dart looked down at the woman he loved. ‘Are you saying you’ll quit your job and move to Brisbane?’

  ‘I’ll change jobs and move anywhere you are. Brisbane, the country, the outback, Tarparnii. I know how to adapt, Dart. Years of training with my mother has at least taught me that much.’

  He nodded. ‘You most certainly do know how to adapt. You’re truly gifted in that area while I…’ He exhaled harshly. ‘I don’t have a clue where I fit. I feel disjointed wherever I am, except when I’m standing still with you in my arms.’ He smiled at her and pressed a kiss to her lips. ‘I work for six months at a hospital in Brisbane, all the while counting the days until I can return to Tarparnii.’

  ‘Then why don’t we go to Tarparnii?’

  ‘But PMA has rules.’

  ‘Let’s see if we can’t…alter them a little.’ She nodded encouragingly. Dart looked at the woman before him, seeing that she was deadly serious.

  ‘You’re serious?’ He laughed. ‘You are.’

  Emmy’s blue gaze was intent. ‘Why can’t we change things? What if we go to Tarparnii contracted not only to run but also to build a surgery and set it up. I’m talking about a real dedicated building with running water, not a bamboo hut. Think of how it will help Meeree and Jalak in their village. And in J’tagnan’s village, we could build another one.’ Emmy was becoming excited about the possibilities.

  ‘All of that takes money, investment backers.’

  She spread her arms wide and angled her head to the side. ‘Why do you think I was meeting Felix?’

  ‘That’s why you were meeting him?’

  ‘I could see the other night that you weren’t comfortable with the paparazzi and even though you’re willing to put up with them, that’s no sort of lifestyle for our new life together. I met Felix to get him to crunch some numbers, to see if it’s doable.’

  ‘Obviously it is.’

  ‘It is.’ She laughed and he knew he’d never get tired of hearing that sound. ‘This is going to work.’

  ‘Just like that?’

  ‘Why not?’

  Dart was astounded. ‘You’d finance it?’

  ‘Most of it. I have trust funds from my parents and both sets of grandparents. I don’t need them, Dart. Money has brought me nothing but misery for most of my life so, yes, I think these projects will definitely work. My brother’s already on board and two of his colleagues are showing interest.’

  ‘You’ve been busy these past few days.’

  ‘I wanted to have your present ready to give you when I came to Brisbane to see you.’

  ‘You were really going to come?’

  ‘I was going to wait in a hospital waiting room, drinking vending-machine coffee, until you agreed to talk to me. Instead, you’ve come to find me.’

  ‘My heart belongs with yours, Em. Always will.’ Dart’s mouth settled over hers and Emmy had never felt better in her life.

  She was finally home, in the place where she’d always belonged, in Dart’s arms, for evermore.

  Epilogue

  Two years later, Emmy sat looking out of the plane window at Sydney Harbour below. They were coming home to Australia and she was surprised not to get that same excited feeling she’d had on previous occasions whenever she’d been away from her country.

  She looked across at her husband, who was pretending to snooze, his head back, his eyes closed. That’s when the excited feelings started tingling within her. Her husband, being with him, staying together, that was where her happiness came from now and it was just the way she wanted it.

  They were returning to Sydney for her brother’s wedding after spending the past eighteen months working in Tarparnii, erecting clinic buildings, complete with running water and proper examination beds rather than stretchers, in several villages. There was still a lot of work to do but she and Dart had trained other PMA personnel and soon, after the wedding, they were looking forward to relocating themselves to Cairns, in far north Queensland.

  ‘It’s close to Tarparnii, the climate is similar and I’ve never lived there before so we can make fresh memories. Our memories,’ Dart had said, and kissed her.

  Now Emmy couldn’t wait for the wedding to be over. Tristan had gone the road of the big society wedding, which was just fine for him. Emmy and Dart had been married on a golden-sand beach at sunrise, no press, no fanfare, just the two of them with a few of their close friends, Emmy’s camera crew taping the ceremony for posterity. Their real wedding had taken place in Tarparnii, with their PMA friends around them for the par’Mach festival, which was where the Tarparniian women chose their life partners. There, she and Dart had been bound together for all eternity.

  A smile touched her lips as she twirled the plain gold wedding band she’d worn for almost two years before she entwined her hand with Dart’s strong, lean fingers…fingers that knew every part of her body, knowing just where to touch, to excite, to love.

  He opened his eyes. ‘Are we almost there?’

  ‘We are. Four days of press, of interviews, of smiling until your cheek muscles hurt. The paparazzi are going to be all over this wedding.’

  Dart shrugged. ‘Good for the paparazzi. I’m more concerned about you.’ He reached over and touched her stomach with his free hand, caressing her belly and knowing her pregnancy would soon start to show. For now, though, he loved it that it was just their secret.

  She relaxed at his words, glad he’d now accepted that from time to time the press would invade their privacy. It didn’t last for ever, though. ‘I’ll be fine.’

  ‘I’ll make sure you are.’

  She leaned up and kissed him. ‘My protector.’

  ‘For ever, my Emerson-Rose.’

  All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

  All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  ® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

  First published in Great Britain 2009

  Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,

  Eton House, 18–24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

  © Anne and Peter Clark 2010

  ISBN: 978-1-4089-1844-9

  Table of Contents

  Cover Page

  Excerpt

  Title Page

  About the Author

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Epilogue

  Copyright

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