‘Thank you,’ I whisper. I lay a hand on one broad shoulder for balance and swing my leg over so I can straddle him. As I lower myself down on him, my skirt flowing around me, the disbelief on his face grows. He looks like all his Christmases have come at once, poor guy. He bands an arm around my waist while his other hand slides through my hair to find the back of my neck as if in a dream.

‘What are you doing?’

I pause, gazing down at him. My fingertips skate over the dark, neatly trimmed beard I adore so much.

‘Showing you how much I appreciate you.’ I swallow. ‘Showing you how much I love you.’

He stills beneath me. His mouth opens, but no words come out.

‘I love you,’ I repeat, growing teary. ‘And I’ll never, ever be able to thank you for the way you’ve looked after me and Tabs.’ A pause. ‘And I miss you.’

I know he’ll get my meaning. I mean it how he meant it when he said it in his parents’ garden.

‘I miss you too,’ he whispers. ‘I love you too. And you don’t ever have to thank me. I did it because I love you. Both of you.’ His fingers drift absently through my hair, setting off a trail of goosebumps over my neck. His eyes are almost all pupil now, and they’re astonishing. ‘I think I’ve been in love with you since that very first time I laid eyes on you at the RA. I’ve never had that reaction to a woman. Never. And it’s just got stronger and stronger since then, sweetheart.’

I believe him. He may have had a funny way of showing it at times, but I believe that he loves me. I believed it when he told me in that waiting room, too.

And I can’t wait a second longer.

I dip my head and I kiss his lovely mouth, and oh my God, the second my lips touch his, the second my chin brushes against his soft beard, I’m spinning, soaring through the air, because I missed this so much. He’s provided me with so much physical comfort during Tabs’ medical marathon, but nothing beats this.

The drag of my lips against his.

The satisfaction of him opening for me.

The filthy slide of his tongue into my mouth as he gets the memo that I want this. I need this.

I shunt myself further forward and hit a serious bulge as he drags his hand lower and grabs my bottom, tugging me more closely against him. I moan into his mouth and claw at his short, silky hair with one hand as I let the other roam over his bicep. His shoulder. He’s so much, and I am fucking starving.