not to think about how different their childhoods had been. Max’s parents had seemed unhappy to be tied down with a child. They’d evidently loved to travel, and he had cramped their style.
Annabelle’s home, on the other hand, had been filled with love and laughter, and when her parents had travelled—on long road trips, mostly—their kids had gone with them. She had wonderful memories of those adventures.
She’d hoped she and Max could have the same type of relationship. Instead, she’d become so focused on a single aspect of what constituted a family that she’d ignored the other parts.
Had she been so needy back then that she’d damaged Max somehow?
Well, hadn’t their breakup damaged her?
Yes, but not in the way she’d expected. Annabelle had grown thicker skin over the past three years. Before, it seemed as if her whole life had been about Max and their quest to have a family. When that had begun breaking down and she’d sensed a lack of support on Max’s side to continue, she’d become more and more withdrawn. She could see now how she’d withheld love whenever Max hadn’t done exactly what she’d wanted. Just as his parents had.
She regretted that more than anything.
‘So what do you want to do about it?’
He set his glass down. ‘About what?’
Did she need to spell it out? ‘About the paperwork. Maybe this is the reason we’ve been thrown back together. To tie up loose ends.’
A smile tilted up one side of his mouth. ‘So I’m a loose end, now, am I?’
Nothing about Max was loose. He’d always been lean and fit, but now there was a firmness to him that spoke of muscle. Like the biceps that just peeked out from beneath the polo shirt he’d changed into before leaving the hospital.
They’d checked on Baby Hope before taking off. She was still holding her own, against all odds. But if a donor heart was not found soon...
She shrugged off the thought. ‘You’re not a loose end. But maybe I’m one of yours. You could be happy, Max. Find the right woman, and—’
‘You’re not a loose end, either.’ His hand covered hers, an index finger coaxing hers to curl around it. The sensation was unbearably intimate and so like times past that she was helpless not to respond to the request. Their fingers twined. Tightened. The same heat from the exam room sloshed up her neck and into her face.
‘Are you done with your meal?’
Her eyes widened. ‘Yes. Why?’
‘Would you mind coming with me for a minute?’ He threw some notes onto the table, and, without even waiting for the bill, got to his feet.
She swallowed hard, wondering if he’d had enough of this conversation. Maybe he even had his signed divorce papers back in his office. If so, she hoped she wouldn’t burst into tears when he presented her with them.
But he’d just told her she wasn’t a loose end. And he’d held her hand in a way that had been so familiar it had sent a sting of fear through her heart.
So she picked up her coat and followed him through the pub, weaving through tables and people alike. When their waitress made to stop them, Max murmured something to her. She nodded and disappeared back among the tables of customers.
At the door, Max helped her into her coat and they went out into the dark night. It was chilly, but it wasn’t actually as cold as she expected. When Max kept on walking, rather than stopping to let her know why they’d left the restaurant, she remained by his side. She had no idea where they were going, but right now she didn’t care.
A taxi stopped at the kerb. ‘You looking for a fare?’
‘I think we’re okay.’ Max glanced at her as if to confirm his words. She gave a quick nod, and the cab driver pulled away in search of another customer. The bar was probably a perfect spot to do that, actually, since anyone who’d had a few too many drinks would need a way to get safely back to their flat. Putting her hands in her pockets, she waited for him to tell her why he’d brought her out here. Maybe something was wrong with him physically. Could that be why he’d come home from the Sudan?
A few minutes later, she couldn’t take not knowing. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘It’s still there, isn’t it, despite everything?’
She frowned, moving under one of the street lamps along the edge of a park. ‘What is?’
‘That old spark.’
She’d felt that spark the second she’d laid eyes on him all those years ago. But he wasn’t talking about way back then. He was talking about right now.
‘Yes,’ she whispered.
She wished to hell it weren’t. But she wasn’t going to pay truth back with a lie.
‘Anna...’ He took her hand and eased them off the path and into the dark shadows of a nearby bench.
She sat down, before she fell down. His voice... She would recognise that tone anywhere. He sat beside her, still holding her hand.
‘You’ve changed,’ he said.
‘So have you. You seem...’ She shook her head, unable to put words to her earlier thoughts. Or maybe it was that she wasn’t sure she should.
‘That bad, huh?’
‘No. Not at all.’
He grinned, the flash of his teeth sending a shiver over her. ‘That good, then, huh?’
Annabelle laughed and nudged him with her shoulder. ‘You wish.’
‘I actually do.’
When his fingers shifted from her hand to just beneath her chin, the shiver turned to a whoosh as all the breath left her body, her nerve endings suddenly attuned to Max’s every move. And when his head came down, all she felt was anticipation.
* * *
Max wasn’t sure what had come over him or made him want to leave the safety of the bar, but the second his lips touched hers all bets were off. The fragrance of her shampoo mixed with the normal sterile hospital scents, and it was like coming home after a long hard day.
His fingers slid up her jawline, edged behind the feminine curve of her ear and tunnelled into her hair. Annabelle’s body shifted as well, turning into him, her arms winding around his neck in a way he hadn’t felt in far too long. Or with any other woman.
The truth was that simple. And that complicated. No woman would ever be able to take Anna’s place—so he’d never even tried to find one.
He deepened the kiss, tongue touching her lips, exulting in the fact that she opened to him immediately. No hesitation.
They’d always been good in bed, each instinctively knowing what the other wanted and each had been more than willing to oblige. Soft and sweet or daring and adventurous, Anna had always been open to trying
