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She tried, and failed, to rein her heart in.
‘Then...?’
‘I simply came to tell you that I love you,’ he muttered slowly. As if testing the words out, taking them for a spin—those words that she had longed to hear for over three years.
She tried to respond but all she could do was nod her head, some sound caught in her throat but unable to come out. It was like magic sprinkling around them and making the moment all the more beautiful.
He cupped her face, his thumbs skimming over her silken skin almost in wonder.
‘I love you, Talia,’ he affirmed, more boldly this time.
‘I know,’ she choked out, not sure it was entirely the best response. But Liam didn’t seem to mind. He offered a half-rueful smile.
‘I always thought it was a cliché, but I think you know me better than I know myself.’
‘No, I just gave you more credit than you gave yourself,’ she answered. ‘Hardly surprising, given how your father treated you.’
‘Enough about him,’ Liam managed gruffly, taking her by surprise. ‘I’ve spent too long being the man he wanted me to be. Playing the lonely, damaged surgeon and believing that I didn’t deserve happiness in my life. In trying to ensure I never turned out like him, I ended up being exactly like him. But I won’t be that person any more. That isn’t who I want to be.’
‘And who do you want to be, Liam?’ she asked breathlessly, unable to control the wild fluttering of her heart in her chest.
‘I want to be the man you see when you look at me. The man who deserves a woman as extraordinary and unique as you. You light up every dark corner of my world and you fill it with colour when I didn’t even think it could be reached. You have this incredible way of making everyone around you feel cherished, and special, and I want to bask in that warmth for the rest of my life.’
‘You make me sound like some kind of saint.’ She reached her hands up to cover his as they cupped her face. Revelling in the feel of them. ‘But I’m not. I’m just the woman who loves you.’
‘Which is more than I ever thought I deserved. You’ve saved me, Talia, when I didn’t even want to acknowledge how lost I was.’
The raw quality of his words reached inside her, making her feel happy. So happy. It was almost perfect.
‘I think we saved each other,’ she told him solemnly. ‘We fit, Liam. We each need the other, which is why I couldn’t stay on the island without you.’
‘And that’s the one thing I can’t accept.’
She froze as his words sank in. The grave expression on his face chased out that happiness she’d felt a moment ago.
He loved her but he didn’t want her to stay?
‘Liam—’
‘I can’t accept you giving up your life, your family for me,’ he cut in, stopping her. ‘St Vic isn’t just a place where you work, or live, it’s where you belong. It’s the very essence of who you are. Vibrant, and exciting, and vivacious. I always knew it. But seeing you here, and seeing you back home, there’s no comparison. St Vic amplifies everything that’s so wonderful about you.’
‘I can’t leave you.’ She shook her head, not understanding how he could claim to love her one minute and say he wanted her to go back home the next. ‘I won’t—’
‘That’s not what I’m saying.’ His voice cracked, the mere idea of it almost too much to bear. Something he’d never thought he’d feel. ‘I’m saying that I want to return with you.’
‘Wait, you want to...what?’
‘We’ll go back to the island together. Nate already made it clear that he’d liked me as a surgeon. Even if there’s no opening at The Island Clinic team for the moment, I can work for St Vic’s hospital.’
‘You’re right.’ His hands moved to grip her shoulders. Not painfully, more like enough to give her heart a thrill of excitement. The hint of a promise. ‘I want a new start, Talia. A kick-start to a new life. Our new life.’
‘And that’s back on St Vic?’
‘Back home,’ he said gently. ‘Because being there is the closest I’ve ever felt to having a home.’
‘But your work? Your career?’
‘I love my job, and what I do. But you were right, I’ve been living my life in the shadow of my mother’s death. Every move that I’ve ever made has been part of a quest for acceptance from a man who will never accept me. I can’t make up for my mother’s life. She was unique, and precious. But her death was as much my loss as his. He has spent my whole life denying me that, while I’ve been twisting myself in knots, trying to make amends for something that was never my fault. You finally helped me to see that, and I will always be grateful.’
