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‘If I drove you back, it’d only take ten minutes.’ He wound his arms around her waist, pulling her close again.
‘I can stay if you want some company. I’ll make a cup of coffee and you can take a quick look at the book.’ She gestured towards the package on the table.
He shook his head. ‘That can wait. I, on the other hand, have already waited long enough. I just want to hold you for a little while longer.’ He kissed her and every nerve ending flared abruptly into life. Suddenly there was nothing else in the world that she needed to do as much as kiss him back.
‘I’m sorry, Greg. I shouldn’t have—’
He laid his finger across her lips. ‘Hey. None of that. We are what we are. Everyone has issues. But we can work through them. We’ve just got to keep talking.’
‘And?’
‘When we’ve finished with the talking, we could try a little loving.’
‘Just a little?’
He chuckled. ‘Not if I have any say in the matter.’
CHAPTER TEN
THE HOSPITAL LIBRARY wasn’t large, but it did have as many bookshelves as could be squeezed into such a limited space, and they were all full. Greg found Jess in there, poring over a list and consulting the shelves.
‘Hey, there. Any luck?’
She shrugged. ‘Not sure yet. None of this is any particular order. People just take books out and put them back anywhere.’ She paused, grinning, and pulled a volume from a pile on the floor. ‘Ooh, look! There’s a good start.’
‘A Christmas Carol.’ Greg took the book from her and flipped the pages. ‘You know, I don’t think I’ve ever actually read this. I’ve seen films, of course.’
‘Then you should take it home. Might get you into the spirit of things.’ She smiled at him, and Greg’s world tipped slightly. He could almost see himself taking time out to actually do some reading.
He put the book aside for later. ‘I’ve got something for you. A surprise.’
Her eyes flipped to his empty hands and then to his face. ‘A surprise? What is it?’
‘Well, if I walked in here holding it, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it? Anyway, first things first.’
Her ability to anticipate what he wanted was almost uncanny. She was in his arms almost before he’d had a chance to reach for her. Her kiss told him that everything his senses had been yearning for was right there. Not yet, though. He wasn’t going to blow it by forgetting to say any of the things he’d left unspoken up till now.
‘You look lovely.’ She was dressed simply, dark trousers and a red sweater. A complicated twist of beads around her neck that weren’t quite her style but looked great. ‘You smell gorgeous. Did you dress up for me?’
She flushed awkwardly then met his gaze. ‘Yes, I did.’
‘I appreciate that.’ He kissed her again. That physical language that meant more than words sometimes.
She nodded, eyes glistening. ‘So where’s my surprise?’ She dug him in the ribs. ‘Come on.’
He chuckled, breaking away from her and fetching the box that he’d left in the hallway, setting it down on the small library table. She gave him a questioning look then tore off the packing tape with which he’d resealed the box and pulled out layers of bubble wrap.
‘Greg! It’s… ’ She peered into the box. ‘Look at the roof and the little chimneys.’
He reached inside and carefully drew the model out. ‘You like it?’
‘It’s beautiful. Look, there’s even grass in the courtyard and a little gatehouse and railings.’ She was entranced, trying to take in all the features of the tiny representation of the hospital at once. ‘What did you do?’
‘I didn’t make it myself, if that’s what you mean. There’s a company that Shaw Industries uses that make models of some of our larger engineering installations. I passed the job on to them and tipped the wink to Ash that he wouldn’t need to do anything. Do you mind?’
‘If you think I’m going to quibble about how you got your contribution to the pageant done… ’ she shrugged ‘… I’ve been begging for things for months now. I’m not picky about where they come from.’
‘Good. So, can I expect a—?’
