Susanne Hampton - Back in Her Husband's Arms

It could only be for tonight. For old times’ sake, she reasoned silently. There was no chance of anything more.

They had tried that and it didn’t work. She wasn’t going there again. She wasn’t giving up her dreams for this man. But she knew her heart was finally out of harm’s way—it was safely tucked inside the walls that she had erected when she’d walked out and left him—so she gave in to her desires. It would just be one night, she reassured herself.

He was staring straight at her with his bedroom eyes. Despite wondering if she was about to make one of life’s bad decisions and one she might just regret, she seemed powerless to stop. Was it lust or was it love? She wasn’t sure, but it was going to happen.

“Don’t tell me to stop. I know what I’m about to do—” she started.

Suddenly her words were cut short by his lips pressing against hers. His hands gently cupped her face as his mouth captured her sigh. She didn’t fight him. She didn’t want to talk anymore. Her hands instinctively reached up and pulled him closer. Her body arched with desire. She was aflame with the heat in his fingers as his hands slid under her clothing to stroke her bare skin. His kisses became more urgent and she opened her mouth to him. She wanted to feel him, to have him, just once more.

Dear Reader,

I am so happy to bring you this story of love the second time around.

Tom and Sara are two very dedicated doctors who fell in love but have been driven apart by a secret in Tom’s past that has prevented him from fulfilling Sara’s dream for their future. Sara has walked away from their marriage still deeply in love but not willing to sacrifice her needs. For the first time in her life she’s made a stand—even though it has broken her heart.

Fate brings them together three years later and they quickly discover the passion they shared is still very much present. But so are their differences.

Circumstance finds them spending four weeks working together, and they must make a choice: to fight their desire and continue on different paths leading away from each other, or to surrender to their longings and find a way forward in each other’s arms.

Tom and Sara are two wonderfully strong characters, and I hope you enjoy reading about their journey to find happiness as much as I loved writing this second chapter to their special love story.

Love really can be rekindled…it just takes faith, honesty and two pure hearts.

Susanne Hampton

Back in Her Husband’s Arms

Susanne Hampton

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Married to the man she met at eighteen, SUSANNE HAMPTONis the mother of two adult daughters—one a musician and the other an artist.

The family also extends to a slightly irritable Maltese shih-tzu, a neurotic poodle, three elderly ducks and four hens that only very occasionally bother to lay eggs. Susanne loves everything romantic and pretty, so her home is brimming with romance novels, movies and shoes.

With an interest in all things medical, her career has been in the dental field and the medical world in different roles, and now Susanne has taken that love into writing Mills & Boon© Medical Romance TM.

A recent title by Susanne Hampton:

UNLOCKING THE DOCTOR’S HEART

These books are also available in ebook format

from www.millsandboon.co.uk.

Dedication

To the very special women in my life who have helped me through life’s challenging times and made me stronger.

Your friendship is more precious than diamonds and a treasure greater than gold.

And to Charlotte for being the most amazing editor…thank you for your unlimited patience and encouragement.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER ONE

SARA FIELDING MADE her way along the wet footpath, dodging the small potholes that had filled with water from the overnight rain, her feet tucked inside flat knee-high boots. It was eight in the morning and bitterly cold. She tugged her collar up against the breeze that was cutting through her heavy overcoat, wishing she had worn her woollen tights.

Winter mornings in Melbourne were brutal, she remembered, and today was no exception. It had been thundering down when her plane had landed only an hour before and she had caught a cab straight into the city. The rain had paused momentarily but the overcast sky promised another downpour at any moment. Her favourite pair of brown leather gloves were only just preventing her fingers from freezing around the handle of her briefcase, so she quickly picked up her pace. She didn’t want to arrive at the hospital soaked to the bone.

Sara had been living in Adelaide for the last three years and this was only her second trip back to Melbourne in all that time. The first had been four weeks ago when she’d travelled over to finalise her visa at the American embassy. Sara had had serious reservations about returning to Melbourne at all. She would have preferred any other city, but it was the United States embassy that processed South Australian visa applications. She’d had no choice.

Melbourne held wonderful memories but also a sadness that she really didn’t want to face. She had told herself it was only an overnight stay. A quick trip. Nothing to worry about. But now, looking back, she realised she should have listened to her intuition and stayed far away from the town where Tom Fielding still lived. She was already planning a new life in Texas. So much further from Melbourne. So much further from the temptation of Tom Fielding.

She now knew that she couldn’t trust her heart, or her body for that matter, around the man. He wasn’t a bad man, quite the opposite, in fact, but he was definitely the wrong man for her. Against her will, Sara’s thoughts were dragged back to that brief trip and how terribly wrong it had all gone.

Day one had been fine. The visa application had been processed without any hiccups. It had been day two when Sara had found herself sitting alone at Vue de Monde on the fifty-fifth floor of the historic Rialto building. She had ordered her meal and had been in high spirits, sipping her white wine and thinking about her impending trip to Texas.

She had been offered a position at a large teaching hospital in San Antonio. It was going to be a fresh start, a chance to move on and find a life that might just fulfil her dreams. Sara had finally grown tired of her life revolving around what everyone else wanted. Sacrificing her dreams, her hopes, for the needs of everyone else had become a pattern until three years ago. That fateful day when she’d decided she couldn’t give up on one particular dream. She hoped this move would give her the chance to realise that dream. The dream of becoming a mother. She knew she had the packing, the shipping and all that a move of that distance entailed, but it would be worth every bit of effort. She would be free to live her life on her terms.