‘Why didn’t you?’ she asked softly.
‘I thought you would think I was using you,’ he admitted. ‘That I’d had an ulterior motive in asking you to come to the party with me.’
‘And you hadn’t?’ she asked innocently.
‘No, of course not,’ he protested. ‘The reasons I asked you to come with me were perfectly genuine—I was fed up with Annabel and her matchmaking and really didn’t want to become involved with anyone…’
‘So what happened?’ The teasing note was back in her voice again.
‘You happened,’ he said simply. ‘I had no idea the effect you would have on me. I guess I was attracted to you from the very start but I really didn’t bargain for the way I felt that night—and ever since.’
‘What are you saying?’ she said, gently reaching up and touching the corner of his mouth with the tips of her fingers.
‘I’m not really sure,’ he admitted. ‘I didn’t think I was ready to fall in love again…’
‘And now?’ she whispered, moving her fingers to trace the shape of his lips.
‘I believe that is exactly what is happening.’ His voice was suddenly husky and as he struggled to find the right words to explain further, Lara stood on tiptoe and, reaching up, drew him down to her again. Their kiss was longer this time, more intense, with a stirring of a passion that more than hinted of what pleasure was to come. At last, when they eventually drew apart, he once again looked searchingly into her eyes. ‘But what about you, Lara?’ He hardly dared to ask, afraid she would tell him this was all one-sided, that she had only gone with him in the first place to help him out, and that she was only here with him now because of her love of riding. ‘How do you feel?’
She considered for a moment and he held his breath. ‘I feel,’ she said at last, ‘as if I’m on the edge of something, on the brink of some huge adventure, full of excitement. I can’t remember ever feeling this way before. It’s like I’ve been waiting for this to happen all my life and now that it is happening, I can’t quite believe it.’
His heart leapt at her words. ‘So this could be love?’ he said softly.
‘Yes,’ she said slowly, ‘I really think it could.’ She closed her eyes as once again she lifted her face for his kiss, and behind them on the edge of the thicket one of the horses whickered softly.
The following two weeks for Lara were like nothing she had ever known before as her life began to change beyond all recognition. Her brother-in-law moved back into the family home and, as he and Cassie and their children attempted to rebuild their lives, Lara moved into a flat that had become vacant in the same building where Katie lived.
‘Not that I think you’ll be here for long,’ said Katie with a sniff as she helped Lara carry her possessions inside.
‘I can’t think what you mean,’ said Lara lightly.
‘Oh, yes, you can,’ said Katie. ‘You know exactly what I mean. So does everyone else at St Joseph’s. Honestly, you only have to see the way he looks at you to know what is happening. Even Sue’s accepted it now,’ she added with a chuckle.
‘She’s still a bit frosty with me,’ said Lara.
‘What do you expect? She’s spent a fortune on updating herself and what happens? You come along and whisk away the object of her desire right from under her nose. Anyway, what’s a little frost when you have a sizzling passion to keep you warm?’
‘It’s hardly that—yet,’ Lara protested.
‘You mean you haven’t…?’ Katie threw her an incredulous glance.
‘We are taking things slowly,’ said Lara, almost primly. ‘You know, getting to know each other properly, that sort of thing.’
‘You must be mad,’ said Katie with a sigh. ‘A hunk like that—I would have grabbed him at the first opportunity.’
‘He isn’t like that,’ said Lara. ‘In fact, he’s quite old-fashioned. I really believe he’s wooing me—you know, chocolates and flowers, candlelit dinners, things like that.’
‘Sounds dreamy,’ said Katie enviously. ‘No one ever wooed me like that.’
‘It is rather lovely,’ Lara admitted, ‘and very different. But, then, Andres is different to anyone else I’ve ever known.’
‘You can say that again,’ said Katie with a sigh. After a pause, she added, ‘When is he doing Cassie’s op?’
‘Early next week,’ Lara replied. ‘He’s seen her for the initial consultation and he’s booked her into the Roseberry for the actual surgery.’
‘Will you be on duty?’ asked Katie dubiously.
‘No.’ Lara shook her head. ‘Andres was adamant about that.’
‘He thinks of everything, doesn’t he?’ said Katie.
‘You know, I think he does,’ Lara agreed.
Sometimes she still couldn’t quite believe what was happening: that she and Andres were falling in love. She had known she was deeply attracted to him almost from the very beginning but she had hardly dared to hope that he might feel the same way about her, especially after his early insistence that he wasn’t ready for another relationship. But this feeling between them had seemed to creep up on him and take him unawares, so much so that he seemed totally overwhelmed by the strength of his feelings for her. That he was wooing her in the old-fashioned sense of the word, as she had told Katie, was perfectly true. And as unusual and unexpected as it was, she was determined to enjoy it.
On the day of Cassie’s surgery Lara and Dave accompanied her to the Roseberry and stayed there throughout the duration of her operation.
When it was over Andres came to the relatives’ room to talk to them, still dressed in his theatre greens. ‘It went well,’ he said, his gaze moving from Lara to Dave then back to Lara. ‘Very well, in fact, and in time, when the swelling has gone down and the wounds have healed, I think Cassie will be pleased with the results.’
‘We can’t thank you enough,’ said Dave, with tears in his eyes.
‘Not at all,’ Andres replied. ‘I’m pleased to be able to help.’
‘Can I see her?’ asked Dave.
‘Of course, but don’t tire her. She needs to rest.’
As Dave left the room Lara turned to Andres. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. ‘Thank you, Andres, from the bottom of my heart.’
Later, after Dave had left to go home to the children, Lara went and sat beside her sister as she recovered. The private room at the Roseberry that had been allocated to Cassie was quiet, tastefully furnished and lit only by a soft lamp beside her bed.
‘How are you feeling, Cass?’ asked Lara gently as she sat down beside her sister and took her hand.
‘Sore,’ murmured Cassie from beneath the swathe of dressings that covered her face.
‘You’re bound to be for a time,’ Lara replied, ‘but I’ve spoken to Andres and he said he was very pleased with the way the surgery went and that he hopes that in time you will be delighted at the results.’
‘I hope so,’ Cassie said. After a moment she went on, ‘You know something, Lara? I’m glad Dave wanted to come back while I was still looking so bad because I had thought it was that he couldn’t cope with—you know, having a wife who looked like that…’
‘Cassie, don’t.’ Lara gripped her hand more tightly. ‘I’m sure his going had nothing to do with that. I just think he reached the end of his tether and became stressed out with all that was happening at that time.’
‘I don’t suppose my depression helped either,’ said Cassie. ‘I shut him out, Lara. It was partly my fault.’
‘Well, it’s all over now. You have your husband back, the children have their father, and Andres has helped to give you a whole new appearance.’
‘And you?’ said Cassie, suddenly anxious. ‘What about you? Are you happy in your new flat?’
‘Yes, it’s fine,’ said Lara. ‘You’re not to worry about me, Cass. I’m perfectly all right.’
‘And what about you and Andres?’
‘We’re fine, too,’ said Lara softly.
‘Oh, good,’ m
urmured Cassie sleepily. ‘I’m so glad…’
Lara sat and watched her sister as her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, recalling all that had happened in the past few weeks since Andres had come into their lives, and how their lives had changed—Cassie’s, the children’s and her own—and how now, really, nothing would ever be quite the same again.
She was aware of a slight movement behind her then the sound of a voice, a voice that had become so familiar, so instantly recognisable.
‘How is she, Lara?’
She turned her head and found him standing slightly behind her.
‘She’s sleeping,’ she answered softly, her heart suffusing with a sudden surge of love for this man who had been responsible for bringing about so much change.
‘She needs to rest,’ he said. As Lara stood up he took her hand and stood beside her while they both looked down at the sleeping woman in the bed. As they stood there, the emotion of the day suddenly caught up with Lara and the tears that had been threatening for hours welled up in her eyes and spilled over onto her cheeks. Andres, catching sight of her tears, turned her to face him and with his thumbs gently wiped them away.
‘I’m sorry,’ she choked. ‘This is silly of me…’
‘Not at all,’ he said softly. ‘It’s been a very emotional time for you.’ He slid his arms around her and for a long moment simply held her close while she, after the intense emotion of the day, was quite happy to rest there with her head against his chest.
At last, drawing away a little, he looked into her face. ‘Have you eaten?’ he asked.
‘No.’ She shook her head.
‘Neither have I,’ he replied, ‘so I suggest we remedy that right away.’
She was happy for him to take the lead, expecting him to take her to a restaurant or wine bar but feeling a decided sense of relief when instead he instructed the cab driver who collected them from the Roseberry to go straight to his house in Knightsbridge.
Andres prepared a meal for them both, a meal of cold guinea fowl, asparagus, peppers and sun-dried tomatoes, accompanied by a crisp, white Chardonnay and followed by wild strawberries. Afterwards they sat together on the huge white sofa in the sitting room and Andres talked of his home in Argentina.
‘I want to take you there someday soon,’ he said, one arm protectively around Lara. ‘I want you to meet my family and friends. I want to show you the glacier-covered mountains of Patagonia, I want to take you to the Andes and to the very north to show you the Iguacu Falls where thousands of rainbows gleam through the spray…’
‘It sounds wonderful,’ she breathed, realising for the first time that when he now mentioned his home he no longer talked of Consuela as he had once done.
‘It is wonderful, my country, the country of my birth,’ he agreed. ‘Such contrasts of climate and scenery. But you were quite right, my love, about the English countryside on a fine, sunny day—there’s nothing quite like it.’
‘I’m glad you agree,’ she said with a little laugh, then fell silent as he gathered her into his arms. All further conversation between them was replaced by a long kiss that started by being relatively gentle but grew steadily, fuelled by desire and gradually mounting passion.
And when it came to the time when he would usually have suggested taking her home, it seemed the most natural thing in the world that she should stay and that side by side they should go upstairs together.
Not this time did he show her to her own room while he slept in another along the corridor. This time they both went to his room where very slowly he undressed her, lingeringly and lovingly removing each item of her clothing, kissing her skin and caressing her with his fingertips raising her senses to an even more heightened state of arousal until at last he gathered her up into his arms and carried her to the bed. She watched him undress, marvelling at the smooth olive skin and the muscles that rippled across his shoulders, the dark triangle of hair on his chest that tapered to his flat belly and the long lean thighs. Then he was naked and with a deep sigh he joined her, stretching out his long body beside her. He continued to caress her with tongue and fingertips, awakening such longings that she was forced to beg for release.
‘You don’t like this?’ he asked innocently, his dark eyes widening.
‘Oh, yes,’ she sighed, ‘I like it too much.’ And when at last they finally made love, their union was everything that Lara could have wished for as with infinite tenderness Andres took her to that mystical place where all reason ceased to exist and where at the moment of tumultuous release, he called her name and told her he loved her. Any lingering doubts she might have had about him being ready for a new relationship were finally swept away.
Later, much later, he held her in his arms and they slept, and when at last in the cold light of dawn Lara woke and turned to the man who still slept by her side, she was overcome with a sense of wonder at the depth of love they had found and the way everything had turned out for everyone. She turned her head again and stared up at the ceiling, remembering that first time she had seen this man from Argentina on that cold January day in his long overcoat and black fedora and how, moments later, she had almost run him over. How terrible it would have been if she had, if she hadn’t been able to stop or if he had walked right in front of her car. Little had she dreamt then just how much he would come to mean to her. Her heart filled with love and, turning her head again to look at him, she was surprised to find that during the time she had been thinking about their first meeting, he too had awoken and even now was lying there, watching her.
‘You’re awake!’ she exclaimed softly.
‘Yes,’ he agreed. ‘I was watching you. What were you thinking?’
‘I was thinking about the day we met when I almost ran you down, and thanking God that it didn’t happen…’ Her eyes narrowed slightly. ‘But what about you? What were you thinking?’
‘I was thinking how lovely you are, how lucky I am to have found you, how I want to spend the rest of my life with you and that I want to make love to you again…right now.’
‘How can I argue with any of that?’ she said with a little sigh.
‘I don’t want you to argue,’ he murmured as he reached out for her again. ‘I just want you to love me.’
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5818-4
THE LATIN SURGEON
First North American Publication 2005
Copyright © 2005 by Laura MacDonald
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The Latin Surgeon Page 16
