He listened, intrigued by the change he saw in her.
This wasn’t the Sally he’d known.
When had she developed such poise and confidence? he wondered, his eyes sliding over the determined jut of her chin and the set of her narrow shoulders. He could remember clearly a time when she’d hung on to his every word as if he were some sort of god. When she’d been so lacking in self-confidence that she’d barely been able to make a decision without help.
Now she stood her ground, challenging him to defend his decision without displaying a flicker of discomfort, every bit his equal.
‘I’ll talk to her,’ he said finally, slipping his pen into his pocket and closing the notes in which he’d been writing. ‘We’ll do it together. Then you can tell me if I’m insensitive.’
He strolled round the desk and saw her back away hastily, as if she was afraid that he might touch her.
The realization that he wanted to do just that came as a shock.
For a moment their eyes held, and if they hadn’t been standing in the middle of the labour ward, in full view of anyone who happened to pass, Tom would have kissed that soft mouth that he remembered so well.
He’d been addicted to her mouth. The look of it, the feel of it under his, the taste of it …
‘We need to talk, Sally,’ he said roughly. ‘In private.’
In fact, he realized with a sudden stab of shock that he wanted to do a great deal more than talk.
Something flickered in those green depths. ‘No.’ Her voice was low but firm and she glanced over her shoulder quickly, as if she was afraid someone might have overheard his comment. ‘We don’t need to talk.’
Tom drew in a long breath, finding it difficult to know how to respond to this new, confident Sally.
In the old days she would have talked.
In the old days she couldn’t get enough of him.
They’d talked for hours about everything and anything.
‘All right, then, I’ll talk and you can just listen. There are things I need to say to you.’
They couldn’t pretend that the past hadn’t happened.
If they were going to be able to work together effectively, then at the very least they needed to clear the air.
She looked at him. ‘You said everything that needed to be said on the last occasion we met.’ Her gaze was clear and direct and her voice was remarkably steady. ‘And I got your message, Tom. Loud and clear.’
CHAPTER TWO
SALLY turned and walked back along the corridor, her legs shaking and her heart thumping.
When she’d imagined meeting him again, part of her had wondered whether she would feel differently about Tom. Didn’t people often look back and wonder what they’d seen in their first love? She’d often wondered if that would be true of her. Would she look at Tom and wonder what all the fuss had been about?
But now she knew that the answer to that was no.
She could see exactly why she’d fallen for Tom and she knew that if she wasn’t careful, she could fall for him again.
He was the sexiest man alive, with those sharp blue eyes, that brilliant brain and that unshakable self-confidence that had been such a draw when she’d been an insecure teenager.
He’d always been strong in every sense of the word and he was still strong.
Reminding herself that she wasn’t insecure any more and that she didn’t need his strength, she lifted a hand to push open the door to Angela’s room, but a powerful arm slid in front of her and turned her round, backing her against the wall.
‘Don’t think you can avoid me for ever,’ Tom warned softly, his blue eyes burning into hers as he planted an arm to one side of her, reducing her opportunities for escape. ‘You chose to come back.’
He was too close.
She couldn’t cope when he was this close.
Her nose picked up the tantalizing male smell that was Tom, and desire, long dormant, uncoiled low in her pelvis.
She flattened herself against the wall, impossibly aware of the strength in his shoulders and the hardness of his eyes.
‘What are you implying?’ Her eyes sparked into his and she pushed the past to the front of her brain. She wasn’t doing this again. ‘That I came back to you? Don’t flatter yourself, Tom. I came back home. My friends are here. Friends I’ve missed. I have as much right to live here as you.’
The fact that her friends were also his friends and family was something that she didn’t want to think about right now.
In fact, she couldn’t think about anything much with him standing so close to her.
She wanted to move but she couldn’t.
Her body was pinned against the wall, trapped by the heat of his gaze and by her own weakness.
‘Which is why we need to talk. This is a small community, Sally. Everyone knows about our past relationship. Do you really think it’s something that we can ignore? We need to deal with it.’
She was painfully aware of the warmth and power of his body so close to hers, of the fact that if she moved even a fraction she would be in his arms.
And that was the last place in the world she wanted to be.
Suddenly she found the strength she needed.
‘We both dealt with it seven years ago, Tom,’ she said calmly, her steady voice totally at odds with the rapid beating of her heart, ‘and people will soon get used to the idea that our relationship is purely professional now. Excuse me. I need to get back to Angela.’
His eyes narrowed slightly but his arm dropped and he stood to one side.
Feeling totally shaken but determined not to show it, Sally walked into the room and smiled at the woman now comfortably settled on the bed.
‘How are you doing, Angela? I’ve brought Mr Hunter to have a word with you.’ Desperate for a few moments to collect her thoughts and calm her frantic pulse rate, she checked the CTG trace carefully. Then she glanced at Tom, her expression neutral, as if he were a consultant she’d only just met and not a man who had been the love of her life. ‘Do you want her to be continuously monitored?’
Tom shook his head. ‘Not for the time being. There’s no reason for it, providing we keep a close eye on everything.’ He smiled at Angela and settled himself on the edge of the bed. ‘It seems as though I owe you an apology.’ His voice was soft and his eyes shone with warmth as he looked at the anxious woman. ‘When I saw you a few weeks ago I told you that I wanted you to try and deliver this baby yourself. I obviously didn’t notice how worried you were.’
Angela shifted awkwardly. ‘It doesn’t matter …’
‘It matters,’ Tom said firmly, ‘and from now on I need you to promise that you’ll ask me about anything that worries you and we’ll talk about it together. Do you promise?’