The Australian's Bride: Marrying the Millionaire Doctor / Children's Doctor, Meant-to-be Wife / A Bride and Child Worth Waiting For

Exquisite but almost unbearable.

If anticipation was a drug, Susie was in danger of falling victim to an overdose.

Could Alex not feel it? Or was he enjoying this? Doing it deliberately, in fact? Drawing out this public part of their evening together as a kind of foreplay?

The way he was looking at her certainly seemed deliberate. Susie couldn’t hold that gaze for more than a few heartbeats at a time. It was so…intense.

‘Interested’ was too pale a word for it. He seemed fascinated. Smitten even?

Wishful thinking, perhaps, but it would be far too easy to fall into that dark gaze. To lose herself and any control over what she might say. And that would be dangerous. Susie didn’t want to change the way Alex was looking at her. How awful would it be to see a hint of alarm or a cloud of doubt dulling that fierce approval? Or, worse, a gaze that slid over her shoulder to scan other women in the room.

There were plenty of them. The resort was full to capacity thanks to the quarantine trapping the guests. Many of the people using the restaurant were dressed up for the occasion and Susie was sure she was the only one wearing the same outfit as she had the night before. She hadn’t expected to be going out on a date, though, had she?

And she could never have expected Alex. Not in this lifetime. He was too good to be true and that gave a sense of urgency to this dinner. Any moment now he would wake up and realise how beautiful the other women in here were and wonder what on earth he was doing, sitting here so intent on Susie Jackson.

Or his phone would ring and he’d be called back to see Danny or some other patient. He’d work all night and by morning daylight would make him see clearly and realise that Susie wasn’t this special.

His touch contradicted her fears. Even more deliberate than his gaze, the way he rested a forefinger lightly beside her elbow and then traced the curve of the muscle all the way to the pulse at her wrist. A pulse that had to be telling him just how arousing his touch was, which made it even harder to hold his gaze. Susie had to use her tongue to dampen suddenly dry lips and she saw her own flare of desire mirrored in those dark eyes.

Yet he still appeared to be in no hurry to finish the meal. He picked up his fork again, speared an asparagus tip then added a shred of the braised lamb shank beside it, put it in his mouth and chewed carefully, his gaze barely leaving Susie’s face.

Her own fork felt as if it was made of lead and her appetite was waning rapidly. For food, at any rate.

‘So…’ Alex swallowed, put down his cutlery and reached for his glass of red wine. ‘You know about my early love life. Tell me about yours.’

Susie opened her mouth to protest that she didn’t know very much. He had married the girl next door— the love of his life. A marriage marred by tragedy. OK, maybe that was enough. Knowing more might be too scary.

‘Did you start early?’ Alex prompted. ‘Like my Stella seems to be doing?’

‘I got interested,’ Susie admitted, ‘but there were… ah…technical difficulties.’

Alex looked startled. ‘Sorry?’

‘I had a clone,’ Susie explained. ‘Still do, actually.’ She had to take pity on Alex’s deepening expression of bewilderment. ‘I have an identical twin sister. Hannah. Boys were either scared of us because they thought we were playing tricks on them or they went too far the other way and thought they could get both of us—at the same time.’

‘Oh…’ The slow smile of comprehension was gorgeous. Susie watched his lips curve and wanted to lean over the small table and kiss him. ‘Two of you,’ he murmured. The smile widened. ‘Yes, I can understand the attraction.’

‘We’re only alike to look at,’ Susie added firmly. ‘Quite different in other ways. Hannah’s the assertive one. She’s a kick-ass A and E specialist who works in a big city hospital in New Zealand. She recently married another ED doctor and…and she’s just found out she’d expecting her first baby.’

Oh, Lord, how had that slipped out? And with that edge of wistfulness that Alex surely couldn’t miss. Good grief—how to scare a man off in one easy move.

‘So I’m going to be an aunt,’ she finished—hopefully brightly. ‘It’s very exciting.’

‘Hmm.’ Alex was loading his fork again. Cutting his food with a precision that reminded Susie what he did for a living. Reminded her also of how skilful those long fingers were in other, more personal arenas. Hurriedly, she dropped her gaze to her own plate and stirred the wild mushroom risotto she had chosen for a main course.

Change the subject, she ordered herself sternly. Fast!

‘You would have been proud of Stella today.’ Good choice of topic, Susie congratulated herself. Appropriate and distracting.

‘I’m always proud of Stella.’

‘She was wonderful with the children in Benita’s group. She knew quite a lot about rainforest frogs and she’s a natural teacher.’

‘Is that so?’ She had definitely caught his interest. ‘Yes. Even when she was really sick in hospital, she took an interest in the younger children. It’s a shame she never had any siblings.’

Susie was grateful she had a mouthful of risotto that precluded a response. Was Alex suggesting he might want more children in the future?

‘Teaching wouldn’t be a bad career for her if that’s something she wants to do,’ Alex said. ‘Challenging but not necessarily too physically demanding.’

‘I don’t think anything is going to hold Stella back. She had a major hurdle to get over in accepting her prosthesis, but I think she’ll go from strength to strength now.’

‘Thanks to you.’ Alex discarded his fork and caught Susie’s hand, covering it with both of his. ‘I am very, very grateful for what you’ve done for my daughter.’

‘It’s been a pleasure.’ Susie loved the feeling of her hand being enclosed like this. It felt safe. Protected. A miniature version of what it would feel like to have her whole body held in Alex’s arms.

She wanted to be held. So much.

‘You’re very fond of Stella, aren’t you?’ Alex seemed to be watching her carefully.

It rang a warning bell. What was the real question being asked? Whether she could see herself being Stella’s stepmother? Surely not. Scared of reading too much into the query, Susie simply nodded in response. And smiled.

‘And you’re going to become an aunt.’ Alex let go of her hand to return his attention to his dinner. ‘Do you see yourself having your own children one day?’

Oh, help! The was getting heavy. A question as loaded as a shotgun. Susie tried to remember how he’d worded his comment about siblings for Stella. He’d used the past tense, hadn’t he? That meant he wasn’t considering the possibility.

‘I love kids,’ she said cautiously. ‘And, yes, I guess I did always see myself being a mother, but…’

‘But?’ Had Alex noted the way she had also used the past tense?

‘It would depend,’ Susie floundered. Somehow she had to avoid slamming doors. She also had to avoid putting Alex under unreasonable pressure by hinting how strong her feelings were. He couldn’t possibly share them. It was too soon. Too much the stuff of fairy tales.

He wasn’t going to let her off the hook, however. ‘On what?’ he asked.

‘On the partnership I was in.’ Susie abandoned her food in favour of her wine. She also gave up any mental gymnastics. This was important and she couldn’t be less than truthful.

‘I’m thirty-three,’ she said bluntly. ‘It’s quite possible that someone I meet will already have children and not want any more. Yes, I’d be sad not to have a child of my own, but if I meet the man I want to spend the rest of my life with, I’m not going to let that get in the way. It’s the partnership that’s the most important.’

Strangely, Susie was finding it easy to hold Alex’s gaze as she spoke words that came straight from her heart. ‘It’s the feeling of never being alone,’ she said softly. ‘Even if you’re miles apart. Knowing that someone is there for you, no matter what.’

‘Trust.’ Alex nodded. ‘Two halves of a whole.’

‘Yes.’ Susie still hadn’t looked away. Hadn’t even blinked. ‘And finding that is like the end of the rainbow. Anything else…everything else…has to be negotiable.’ She smiled, hoping to lighten the odd intensity surrounding them. ‘Whew! Does that answer your question?’

‘Indeed.’ But Alex wasn’t smiling. He was looking very serious. Digesting what she had said? Planning an early escape from a crazy woman who was planning to snare some poor man for a lifetime?

The waiter’s approach to their table was well timed. ‘Would Sir and Madam like to see the dessert menu?’

‘Would we?’ Alex raised an eyebrow at his companion and Susie had to lick her lips again and reach for her wineglass. Her whole mouth felt dry now.