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'Dr Blair was really great, wasn't he?' Sadie had enthused. 'We'd sure miss him if he went to Africa.'

'Africa?' Lisa had said weakly.

'Yeah. That organization.. .what is it? International Physicians? They want him to go to Rwanda, or Burundi or some such place. He's considering it. I sure hope he doesn't go...' Sadie had gone on at great length, while Lisa had stopped hearing what she was saying. She'd only been able to think of her own impending loss.

She knew that Marcus had come to mean so much to her—that she loved him. A life without him in it somewhere would be incomplete. With a sigh, a feeling of restlessness, she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the trunk of a tree behind the bench. Marcus had shown her something of what a mature relationship between two people could be like. Thoughts of him seemed to fill her whole being...

Something made her look up—along the path towards the entrance to the park. A man was coming towards her— a tall man, who walked easily and was wearing a lightweight business suit with a striped shirt and tie. Lisa blinked, wondering if the heat was playing tricks with her vision—if she was seeing a mirage—or whether from her intense longing she had conjured up an apparition that would dissipate if she looked at it too hard. There was something about his casual elegance, the way he walked, that was familiar. Then her heart gave a lurch of recognition. It
was
Marcus. In a way she wasn't surprised—it was as though she had sensed his nearness.

What would he be doing here, in this park? She asked herself the question, hardly daring to hope that he had come to see her. Yet he was walking in her direction, coming to where she sat a little off the path. As he left the path and stepped onto the grass her heart began to beat like a wild thing.

'Hi,' he said, coming up to her. 'Your mother said you would be here. I came to find you.' How dear he was! Lisa wanted to jump up and fling her arms around his neck. Instead, she just sat there, staring at him as if he were an apparition. His hair was windblown, his tie loose.

'Aren't you going to say anything?' He smiled down at her in a way that would have melted the resistance of a stone, and she was far from that. 'May I sit down?'

'I... Yes, please do,' she said, stammering a little like an actress fluffing her lines. 'Why.. .why have you come to find me?'

When he was seated next to her his eyes went over her as though he wanted to renew his vision of her. 'I wanted to see you,' he said softly, 'and I thought it was time we had that drink.' The lines at the corners of his eyes crinkled up when he smiled.

'To.. .er.. .say goodbye?' she blurted, very conscious of his nearness. 'I understand you're going to Africa.'

'No. They wanted me to go. I refused.' To her relief, he turned his attention to Emma Kate who looked so adorable, oblivious to the world. Otherwise he would have seen how vulnerable she was as she felt some of the tension drain from her. 'It's too soon after starting my new post as Head of Department. There are other reasons as well.'

'Oh...'

A ethereal kind of silence surrounded them.

'It's nice to see you, Lisa,' he said after a while.

'Yes,' she agreed. 'I mean.. .it's nice for me to see you as well.'

'I've missed you,' he said, leaning back against the wooden bench and stretching out his long legs.

'Mmm... I've missed you,' she said.

'Another reason I came... Richard Decker has agreed not to press for any sort of legal custody. Your confrontation seems to have helped him to make up his mind,' Marcus said slowly, gazing out over the sun-dappled park and allowing her time to sort out her emotions. 'It appears that he intends to take his latest girlfriend with him to the Yukon. He did concede that he might want to see Emma Kate from time to time.'

'I see. That's a relief,' Lisa said. 'Thank you for conveying the news. Thank you for coming.'

'My pleasure. Do you care at all that he's finally going?' There was a tenseness about him and he did not look at her.

'No. It's finished,' she said truthfully. 'I feel wonderfully free.' What about you? she wanted to say. You must know that I love you—you must! Instead, she sat immobile. 'Why did you hire him, Marcus?'

'I wanted to precipitate something. I wanted you to confront the issue. And I wanted to see if I cared,' he said tensely. 'Although I couldn't admit that at the time—not to myself, not to you.'

'Did you care?' she whispered.

'Yes, like hell. Lisa.. .' Then his arm was along the back of the bench and his fingers on the sensitive skin of her neck, drawing her towards him, his eyes on her mouth.

'Marcus. . .' She whispered his name, allowing herself to move to him. Please kiss me, she wanted to say. Instead, she parted her lips to receive him, closing her eyes.

When his mouth at last came down on hers she sighed against him, letting her body go into his arms. All her senses were heightened. She heard the sound of the breeze in the trees, felt the sun caress her skin and smelt the scent of grass mingling with his tantalizing cologne. Then her arms were around his neck, her hand in his hair, pulling him to her as though she could never let him go.

They were oblivious to the surrounding world as the kiss went on an on, the touch of him like molten fire running through her veins, every part of her totally aware of him. He crushed her to him, kissing her with an abandon to match her own as he made a primitive sound of longing deep in his throat. Then she knew that the long wait was over, and that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

When at last he took his mouth from hers, he kissed her neck and murmured words of love in her ear. 'Knowing you has made me realize what really matters.. .to get my priorities sorted out...' he murmured, kissing the lobe of her ear.

Convulsively she kissed him, teasing his lips with hers. 'Marcus, I'm so glad you came to find me.'

He wrapped his arms round her tightly. 'When you were going to have your baby,' he said huskily, 'I found myself wishing that you were mine—that you were my wife, that it was my baby you were having. It was a revelation to me, perhaps because it was forced upon me in such a dramatic way—because I was part of it. I discovered what it really means to care about someone in an intimate way, instead of usually being on the outside of things. No other woman has meant that to me.'

'Oh, Marcus.' She breathed his name softly, putting her head on his shoulder. Their hands clasped.

'Then, when I saw Emma Kate,' he continued, 'I knew I wanted her to be mine...'

'You were wonderful... I...I wish I had been your wife,' she said wistfully.

'Darling...' He kissed her hungrily, the sexual tension seeming to crackle between them like a living thing. 'It's been such a long time.'

'I love you, Marcus... You must know that.' At last she could say those words, knowing he was ready to receive them. A wariness in him had gone.

'You've helped me achieve a balance,' he said, cupping her face in his hands. 'To look at my life in a different way. I need a wife, I need children. Not anyone—you!' He kissed her again. 'What I'm trying to say is that I love you, too.'

'I'm so happy.' She smiled up at him. 'And I know I've finally grown up.'

'I solemnly promise I'll be good to you, and for you.'

'I know you will. I'm ready to make the same promise.'

Marcus nuzzled her hair, holding her close. 'I want to make love to you and I want to marry you...not necessarily in that order, but preferably so. Please.' There was laughter in his voice, to which Lisa found herself responding with a wild leap of joy. 'Should I kneel at your feet?'

'Not necessary, Dr Blair,' she teased as she laughed up at him, 'Yes.. .yes to both requests. Come home with me, with us. Stay with me...please.' Suddenly she was shy. 'Maybe we should just go for that drink.'

'I have a bottle of champagne on ice in my car.' His eyes were warm with love. 'Will you share it with me?'

'Yes...please. And I do want to have more children, Marcus. Yours.'