Zac smiled and stood, then went around to pull out her chair. ‘Let’s start again.’

In a room, a different room, Ava wrapped her arms around the man she’d thought would never hold her like this again, and savoured the strength and vitality that she’d thought was out of her reach forever. She held him as if she would never, ever let him go.

She kissed him, putting into that kiss all the love she’d been holding back, all the fear, all the frustration she’d felt at his loss of memory, and to her absolute delight he returned it tenfold. Her hands slid up and over the taut muscles bunched beneath his shirt, and she curved her fingers into his shoulders and neck with a sigh of delicious deja vu as the kiss deepened. Tongues touched, tasted, entwined, and she jammed herself closer.

He slid his hands down her back and cupped her bottom so that he could lift her slightly towards him. He groaned, a deep, growling noise that made her mouth tilt under his. Oh yeah. Her big, strong man was the perfect size. Ava wasn’t sure if it was the loss of the ground beneath her feet or the sudden depth of his kiss that made her feel as though she were flying. Either way, she didn’t want Zac to stop.

She felt like she’d been starved of this. As though she’d waited a lifetime to be back in his arms.

‘You sure you remember? You’re not just tricking me into seduction?’

‘Absolutely.’ He leaned over her and brushed the hair away from her eyes, and the expression she saw on his face and in his eyes stopped the world and the laughter, and brought the sting of tears as well as a swell in her heart. Her hand lifted unconsciously to her chest and pressed. Speaking of hearts. What if the love of your life finally remembered who you were?

He took her face between his fingers and gazed into her eyes. ‘Ava, I’m serious. I want us to be like this always. Talking. Hugging. Loving. Forgiving. Me holding your hand. Wherever we are, till death do us part. I need to marry you. Forever. I can see us being one of those old couples walking along hand in hand. Into a desert sunset.’ He dipped his head and kissed her once more. ‘I promise I’ll renew the vow at Uluru soon. But for now, will this do? Please?’

There was no doubting the searing need and also the slight trepidation she could see in his eyes. Was he that blind not to see how deeply she cared for him? She blinked away the tears that threatened to make this magical moment too misty to see.

She drew a deep breath. ‘I love you, Zac. I loved you from the first morning after our unexpected night together.’