Midwives On-Call At Christmas. Tina Beckett

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СКАЧАТЬ Now she seemed connected to him—tied to him, and he didn’t want that to end. The blood was roaring through his ears. The feel of the soft fluffy wool on the sleeves of her jumper pushed his temperature skyward.

      But his self-defence mechanisms were still kicking into place. He’d lived his life too long like this for them to disappear instantly. ‘But you did leave,’ he murmured. ‘You left your husband.’

      He was fixed on her eyes. Fixed on the perfectness of her skin and beautiful auburn hair framing her face. She nodded. ‘I did.’ It was almost as if she sensed she had to tease him every part of the way. She gave a little smile, ‘But I had exceptional circumstances—you know what they were.’

      He reached over and touched her hair. ‘Not really. Tell me about them. Tell me about Freya’s dad.’

      He could see her hesitation, see her sucking in a breath. He’d just shared with her. She now knew about one of the biggest influencing factors in his life. He’d barely scratched the surface with her.

      Her eyes fixed on the floor. ‘Robert was my boyfriend. We were together about a year when I fell pregnant unexpectedly.’ She threw up her hands. ‘I know. Don’t say anything. A midwife accidentally falling pregnant. The irony kills me.’ Then she smiled. ‘But Freya is the best accident that will ever happen to me.’ She bit her lip. ‘It’s stupid really, and hindsight is a wonderful thing. Robert’s parents were real traditionalists. So we got swept along with their ideals and got married before Freya arrived. The truth was Robert was never really the marrying kind.’

      ‘But you married him anyway?’ He gave a little smile. It wasn’t really a question, it was a more a sympathetic observation. Bonnie didn’t seem upset, just a little sad.

      She started winding a strand of hair around her finger. She nodded. ‘I think I was more in love with the idea of being in love, than actually being in love. In my heart of hearts, I never really pictured us growing old together.’

      ‘And?’

      She shrugged her shoulders. ‘I was busy with work and juggling childcare for Freya. I kind of lost sight of being married. Robert was distant—distracted. I suspected something was going on. It made me mad. I came home early from work one day and found another car in the drive. I let myself into the house and found Freya playing downstairs. Robert was upstairs, in bed, with one of my closest friends.’ She shook her head and sagged back a little. ‘It wasn’t my finest hour. The fact Freya was in the house. The fact it was one of my friends...’

      Jacob raised his eyebrows. ‘Oh, no. What did you do?’

      She rolled her eyes. ‘My “friend” ended up naked in my front garden after I’d marched her down the stairs. Robert’s clothes were deposited out of the bedroom window—so at least she found something to wear.’ She shook her head. ‘After that, I just grabbed some things for me and Freya, packed up and went to my parents. I filed for divorce straight away.’

      He was watching her closely. ‘How did you feel?’

      She paused for a second. ‘It’s probably a really awful thing to say—but I was more humiliated than anything else. Robert and I had been growing apart. I probably always thought we would come to a natural end. I just didn’t expect it to be like that.’ She gave a rueful smile. ‘I wasn’t exactly heartbroken about it. I might even have been secretly relieved it was over. But we lived in a small place. Every person in the town knew exactly what Robert had done to me. And pride is a terrible thing. I felt people staring at me wherever I went. I couldn’t take it any longer.’

      He nodded slowly. ‘So you came to Cambridge?’

      ‘I had to. I know you understand, Jacob. It’s called self-preservation. It’s the thing that makes you get out of bed for another day, even when you don’t want to. I needed a change for Freya and me. I needed a chance of a new life for us both.’

      He reached and brushed a thumb down her cheek. She was so wise. He’d never met anyone like this before. There was so much more to learn about Bonnie Reid.

      He’d shared with her tonight, and now she’d shared with him.

      ‘Thank you,’ he whispered.

      Her pretty brow furrowed. ‘For what?’

      ‘For not leaving tonight.’ It was the thing that had bothered him every step of the way back home. It was the thing that he’d dreaded. That he’d expected. Because that was what he deserved. And he knew that. But Bonnie Reid had just surpassed all of his expectations.

      His heart squeezed. If he’d left this room as she’d decorated it, things would have been perfect. The fire flickering in the fireplace, the tree lights twinkling all around them. But he’d destroyed all that and brought them back to his white, harsh, empty walls.

      Bonnie Reid deserved better than that. Freya Reid deserved better than that.

      She licked her lips. It was the tiniest movement—a subconscious movement—but it was all that he needed. He moved forwards, not hesitating, his lips connecting with hers.

      She tasted of strawberries mixed with wine. The remnants of her perfume drifted up his nose, the feel of her jumper connecting with the delicate skin at the bottom of his throat. She didn’t seem to mind his wet jumper. She didn’t seem to care that wine sloshed from his glass as he wrapped one arm around her and tangled the other hand through her hair.

      That hair. He’d wanted to touch it from the moment he’d seen it. It was silky, falling through his fingers easily. But he didn’t want it to fall through. He wanted to catch it—just as he wanted to catch her. So he wrapped it around his fingers, anchoring his hand at the back of her head as the kissing increased.

      She pulled back—and for a horrible second he thought she was going to say this was all a terrible mistake. But she didn’t. Bonnie Reid was taking charge.

      She moved, lifting the glass from his hand and sitting it on the side table, then, pushing his shoulders back against the sofa, she swung one leg over him, so she was sitting on top of him.

      She put her arms around his shoulders again and looked him straight in the eye. ‘There. That’s better.’

      ‘It certainly is.’ He didn’t hesitate. He pulled her closer, feeling the warm curves of her breasts against his chest. He slid his hands up and under her jumper. Her smooth, silky skin beneath his fingertips. Everything about this felt right.

      Her smell. Her taste. Her touch. Her fingers skirted around his neck and shoulders, along the line of his jaw, scratching against his stubble, then through his hair, pulling his lips hard against her own.

      His tongue played around the edges of her mouth as their kiss deepened. Suddenly, these clothes were too much; they were stopping him from feeling exactly what he wanted to.

      He drew back and pulled his wet jumper and shirt over his head, then pulled her soft jumper off, throwing it on the floor with his own.

      Her round full breasts were encased in a cream lace bra. She was breathing heavily now, her body weight on the most sensitive part of him.

      He ran his fingers across her shoulder, reaching the pale skin at the bottom of her neck and then down, over her breastbone, between her breasts and down to her navel, resting just above the button of her jeans.

      She СКАЧАТЬ