He’d get over it.
The trouble was he didn’t think he’d get over it in one night.
He began moving faster, and so did she, her eyes growing wider and more desperate-looking.
Her first spasm was so strong Nick almost came then and there, but he held on, watching with wonder as her face became suffused with a seductive mixture of surprise and sheer joy. He’d never seen a woman look like that before. Never felt a woman who felt the way she did, either.
Finally he surrendered his control, astonished at the intensity of his own climax, and the strange lurch to his heart when she pulled him down on top of her.
‘Oh, Nick,’ she cried, and nuzzled into his neck. ‘Oh, my darling…’
Nick didn’t say a word. He couldn’t.
He’d never felt so confused. All he was sure of was that he’d never felt what he’d felt just now when she’d called him her darling. The endearment had wrenched at his very soul, that soul which he’d always imagined was too dark for such sentiment.
As he lay there with her cuddled up to him, Nick gradually became sure of something else: he didn’t want to frighten Sarah off any more.
Which rather changed his plans for the rest of the night.
Nick didn’t delude himself that this more romantic side he’d unexpectedly discovered within himself would last. But, for now, he found it quite irresistible. He could not wait to make love to Sarah again, could not wait to see the delight in her eyes.
But first, there was something he had to do. Carefully he disentangled himself from her arms and headed for the bathroom, where he washed himself fresh and clean then returned to the bed. He was about to stir her with some kisses when the phone next to his bed began to ring.
SARAH woke to the sound of a phone ringing. For a split-second she had no idea where she was. But the feel of Nick’s naked body pressed up against hers swiftly cleared the haze in her head, everything coming back in a rapid series of flashbacks.
Her, coming to his bedroom wearing that outrageous teddy.
Him, carrying her to the bed.
Her, lying back against these satin pillows.
Him, making love to her.
But then came another memory: she’d called him darling afterwards.
When the phone continued to ring, Nick sighed then rolled over to reach for it.
No, don’t, was her instinctive reaction.
But his hand had already swept the receiver up to his ear.
‘Yes?’ he said rather abruptly.
Sarah clutched the sheet up over her breasts as she sat up, pushing her hair back off her face at the same time. Who on earth could it be?
Not Chloe, she hoped, trying to worm her way back into Nick’s life with a million apologies.
‘For how long?’ Nick asked in concerned tones. ‘How bad are they?’
She had no idea whom he was talking to or what it was about. But it didn’t sound like Chloe.
‘No, I think you’re right, Jim. Don’t listen to her. She has to go to hospital. Now.’
Sarah sucked in sharply. Something was wrong with Flora!
‘I don’t think we should wait for an ambulance,’ Nick told Jim quite firmly. ‘Get her into the back of the Rolls and I’ll drive you straight to St Vincent’s. I’ll just throw some clothes on.’
Slamming down the phone, he tossed back the sheet and jumped up.
‘Flora’s having chest pains,’ he threw over his shoulder as he strode across the floor towards his walk-in wardrobe. ‘I’m taking her to the hospital.’
‘Can I come too?’ Sarah asked, her heart racing with alarm.
‘No, it’ll take you too long to dress,’ he said as he returned to the bedroom, jeans already on, a blue striped shirt in his hands.
‘But I—’
‘Let’s not argue about this, Sarah.’ He shoved his arms into the shirt’s sleeves and drew it up over his shoulders. ‘I’ll call you from the hospital.’
‘You haven’t got any shoes on,’ she pointed out when he headed for the door, shirt flapping open. ‘You can’t go to a hospital without shoes!’
He grumblingly went back for some trainers, then flew out of the door. Sarah heard him running down the stairs. Then she heard nothing.
A shiver ran down her spine, nausea swirling in her stomach at the possibility that Flora could be having a heart attack. She might even die!
The thought brought back all those horrible feelings she’d had when her father had been struck down by a coronary. Aside from the emotional trauma of losing her last parent, she’d been besieged with regret that she hadn’t even been able to say goodbye to him, or tell him that she loved him.
Flora might not be a parent but Sarah loved her dearly. It pained her that Nick hadn’t let her go with him, even though he was probably right—she would have taken longer to dress than him. He’d taken all of thirty seconds!
But that doesn’t stop you from dressing now and following him to the hospital in your own car, does it?
Sarah was out of the bed in a flash, dashing for her room.
She didn’t dress as fast as Nick, but she managed to make herself respectable in under ten minutes. Getting out of the house, however, took her another few minutes, because she had to lock up. Then she had difficulty finding the hospital, not having been there since her mother fell ill all those years ago. At last she located the right street, along with a parking spot not far from the emergency section.
She’d just made it to the ER waiting room when her mobile rang.
It had to be Nick, she reasoned as she retrieved it from her handbag.
‘Nick?’ she answered straight away.
‘Where in hell are you?’ he grumbled down the line. ‘I tried the home number and you didn’t answer.’
‘I couldn’t just sit there, Nick. So I got dressed and drove myself to the hospital. I’ve just arrived at the emergency waiting room. How’s Flora?’
‘Not too bad. They whipped her in and gave her some medication to thin her blood straight away. Then they hooked her up to some kind of heart-monitoring machine that does ECGs and other things. The doctor thinks it might just be angina.’
‘But that’s still not good, is it? I mean, angina can lead to a heart attack.’
‘It can. But at least we’ve got her where she can have some further tests, and proper treatment. You know Flora. She doesn’t like going to doctors, or hospitals. I’m going to make sure she stays in for a couple of days till we get a full picture of her condition. I’ve rung a colleague whose uncle is a top cardiac specialist here. We’re going to transfer her to a private room after the doctor in ER is finished with her, and he’ll come in in the morning and take over.’
Sarah felt the tension begin to drain out of her. ‘That’s wonderful, Nick. How’s Jim doing?’
‘To be honest, I’ve never seen him so distressed,’ Nick whispered. ‘He’s sitting by Flora’s bed as white as a sheet himself. I’m going to try to persuade him to come with me for a cup of tea and a piece of cake. I think he’s in shock. Look, just sit down where you are and I’ll be with you shortly. Then we can all go together. There has