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He stepped over the threshold and the warmth of the house tingled against her cheek. Rafe kicked the door closed and let her down, his arms around her waist, supporting her against his body. She dropped her handbag and slid her coat off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor.
‘Aren’t we going to go and sit down?’ He wasn’t moving, just staring at her.
‘I have to do something far more important first.’ He held her close, kissing her. Tender at first and then the connection between them snapped into place, something hot and wild flooding through them both.
She’d lived for this. Dreamed of it, every moment that they were apart.
Rafe was showing no sign of wanting to move and she kissed him again. Yesterday was gone and tomorrow wasn’t here yet. And today was turning
out to be just perfect.
‘Maybe we should...talk?’
‘Not yet.’ He smiled down at her. ‘There might be a few constructive arguments along the way...’
‘I imagine so. I’m almost hoping there will be.’
‘In which case I want to remind us both how sweet it’ll be when we make up.’
That sounded like an excellent plan. ‘And this is the best you can do?’ She knew for sure that it wasn’t.
He kissed her again and her legs started to tremble. He felt it and supported her the few steps to the stairs, sitting down before he pulled her on to his lap. ‘Better?’
‘Much.’ She could feel his body against hers. Wound tight, like a coiled spring. ‘Rafe, I’ve missed you so much.’
‘Me too...’ He grinned. ‘I’m not dreaming, am I?’
‘If you are, then we’re both dreaming together.’ Maybe this would shatter the dream. She had to trust him enough to believe it wouldn’t.
She swung her feet up, looking at her mismatched footwear. Suddenly her swollen, discoloured leg seemed so much worse than it had looked this morning when she’d got out of bed and her fingers itched to pull her dress down and cover as much of it as she could. But being in his arms gave her courage.
‘I feel a mess, and I’m afraid that’s all you’ll see. I want you to be honest with me...’
‘Mimi...’ His fingers brushed her cheek, almost finding the healing scar on her face and instinctively she flinched. When his gaze found hers again, tears were glistening in his eyes.
‘Mimi, please don’t ever feel that you’re not the most beautiful woman in my world. Please don’t ever think that I’m judging you.’
‘You don’t care, do you? About my leg...the scars...’ Finally she could manage to say it.
His chest heaved as he sucked in a deep breath. ‘I care about them, but only because they hurt you. I love you.’
‘And love is blind?’
‘Never.’ His finger was under her chin, tipping her face up towards his. ‘I see every part of you. And I love every part of you. Please don’t be afraid, sweetheart, because there’s nothing for you to be afraid of.’
‘And I...’
He laid his finger over her lips. ‘There’s more I want to tell you. Your turn in a minute.’
She couldn’t help smiling. Rafe was clearly taking this decision to change seriously and it looked as if she was going to have difficulty in shutting him up. ‘Okay.’
‘I stayed away because it was what we’d agreed, and I thought it was best to let you recover properly without having me around. I wanted to let you make this decision, but I hoped every day that you would.’
‘Yes...’ It made Mimi feel so good to hear him say these things.
‘I want to love you and take care of you, but I want to let you take care of me too.’
‘Yes.’
