It was a strangely satisfying feeling for Max that had nothing to do with suddenly being eligible for the job again if she agreed. That he could protect Georgia was paramount. ‘We could help each other.’

Georgia looked up at him. ‘How?’

‘Your divorce was finalized, wasn’t it?’ He tilted his head hopefully.

‘Yes. I made sure that happened.’ She frowned. ‘Why?’ The guy bounced all over the place and she couldn’t keep up. ‘I’m beginning to think Tayla had a lucky escape.’

He shrugged. ‘Tayla was getting exactly what she wanted. An indulgent life with me to parade every now and then at her charity functions, and I had a wife I needed for my job. Neither of us planned on having children.’

No children, no living together, all for the sake of a job. What was wrong with these people? ‘Wrong era,’ she said, with barely concealed distaste. ‘Employers can’t make you marry any more.’

Max shrugged. ‘The directors wanted a married man because they’ve had so many problems with people leaving the role. The last one ran off and eloped when he was most needed. The powers that choose knew of my impending marriage and that gave me the edge.’

He shrugged. ‘Unfortunately, the idea of living with Tayla just won’t gel any more for me either.’ He said the words as if he he’d decided to change his brand of deodorant.

‘And you’re telling me this because…?’ She couldn’t keep the disappointment out of her voice. She’d liked him and he wasn’t worthy of that. Despite everything, she still believed true love was out there for most people, and Max cheapened it when he talked like that.

He lifted his head and captured her gaze with his own as if he sensed her disapproval and it mattered to him. His golden eyes warmed. ‘I’d been having second thoughts about marrying Tayla earlier. Even before your water broke.’

Georgia winced at the memory of that time in the church. That certainly wouldn’t go down as a highlight of her life!

He grinned. ‘Don’t be squeamish. You’re a midwife. As an obstetrician I think labour is great, as long as your baby is due.’

She watched him pull himself back to the topic, and she had to smile as he went on.

‘You’ve made me realise how close I’d been to disaster with Tayla. I can see now I want more in a wife than convenient paperwork.’

How had they started this conversation? Now she was confused at a time when she most needed clarity. ‘You want to tell me what you want in a wife?’ Suddenly she felt like crying. She knew what she didn’t need in a husband.

He went on and she tried to blink away her tears before he could see them.

Max was getting to the point. He just hoped she saw it the way he did. ‘Ah. Yes. The big question. Now I want a partner. Someone who understands what I do and even has a passion for it. I can’t fight Tayla every time someone has a baby out of hours or obstetrics have an emergency.’

He noticed the way her hand tightened over her baby and he couldn’t begin to imagine how she must feel to have been so close to losing her daughter a second time.

Maybe he had stumbled on someone he could come home to or meet at work and bounce problems off. Someone who had a social conscience and a warm heart. Someone like Georgia.

He couldn’t help the glimmer of hope that maybe the last twenty-four hours had all worked out the way they had for a reason—or with divine intervention, as requested.

No doubt he was mad, but the idea he’d just had wouldn’t leave. He could even salvage the job from something Georgia had said if he played up the business aspect, but suddenly that wasn’t as important as protecting Georgia from the creep. He paused and looked at her again. ‘You could marry me.’

She held up her hand. ‘You don’t know me.’

He sat forward. ‘I know enough. I’m sure you are a sensible woman and wouldn’t normally entertain the idea. That’s why I’m pursuing you now when your guard is down.’

She huffed humourlessly. ‘My guard isn’t down that much. I’ve just seen my ex-husband and my protective instinct hormones are surging. I don’t need to waste another couple of years of my life finding out if the next guy I marry is a jerk, or worse.’

She had a point, but Max didn’t believe he was a jerk. ‘What about a temporary marriage with, say, a year’s contract? You save me and I’ll protect you.’ He frowned with concentration as he marshalled his best arguments.

‘I’m serious, Georgia. I need to be married and after today I only have one week left. I’ve a friend I can get a dispensation form to get a licence in forty-eight hours, and you would be out of your ex’s reach until you are stronger.’

He sat back a little in case he was crowding her. ‘It doesn’t look like I will fall madly in love at my age and I like you. I like you a lot. I need a temporary wife and Harry said you were looking for a job after the baby. You could work with me when you’re ready.’

‘It all sounds so coldly clinical.’

‘We could warm it up.’ He saw her face close and he backed off quickly. ‘I’m sorry. Joking. We won’t go there.’ He paused and risked a lighter comment. ‘Especially as you’ve just given birth.’

She had to smile and he knew it. But he was intrigued.

‘Would it help if I told you I think we would deal very well together? Much better than expected?’

‘Much better than whom?’ She shook her head. ‘You and Tayla? Two selfish, immature, rich people who think marriage is a sham or an excuse to wear feathers?’

He held up his hands. ‘The feathers were not my idea. In fact, a condition of marrying me is that you are not allowed to wear feathers.’

‘I’m not marrying you, Max.’ She turned her shoulder on him. ‘I’m not even sure I like you after this conversation. And I can’t believe that Harry was a part of this whole sellmy-daughter-to-a-loveless-marriage thing.’

‘Harry wanted to have Tayla safely married before he was much older.’

He saw the moment she understood, and the sudden sadness in her eyes as she sat back against him, all else forgotten. ‘Why the urgency?’

‘That’s for Harry to tell, not me.’ It was Harry’s secret, not his.

‘Poor Uncle Harry.’

He squeezed her shoulder. ‘Leave it. He is dealing with this in his own way.’

She stared and shook her head. ‘So that’s why Harry agreed?’

‘One of the reasons.’ He smiled sympathetically and then went off at a tangent again. ‘I do have one burning question that’s puzzled me.’

She raised her eyebrows and his arm slid away from her shoulder so he could look at her fully.

‘Did you want a place in the wedding party or did Harry lean on you?’

She grimaced. ‘Who wants to be a pregnant matron of honour? Harry was so pleased that Tayla was settling down, and he wanted to see that, as cousins, his daughter and I were friends. Knowing he’s unwell explains why he was so insistent. I wanted to please Harry and the idea that I did have a family was comforting.’

Max admired her warmth for Harry. ‘Harry thought I would make a good husband.’

‘I understand that.’ She looked worriedly at him. ‘I’ve already made one mistake in marriage, though, and I’m frightened I’d make a bigger one with you.’

Max could feel the swing his way and he vowed she wouldn’t regret it. ‘That’s the beauty of it, Georgia. This is a business arrangement.’

Her voice was quiet but determined. She spoke slowly. ‘I’m thinking. I can’t believe I’m doing it but I am considering your proposal on the basis of a one-year contract.’

She shivered under his arm. ‘My biggest problem is that I’m still frightened. Especially now Elsa has been born. Sol has seen her, and will want her. And me. I’m too vulnerable.’

She looked up at him to read his face and make sure he understood what she was offering. To make clear all she wasn’t offering and the risks.

She spelt it out. ‘In a business relationship I could build up my strength in a safe environment and you need a wife in name only. To be honest, that’s all I’ve got to offer anyway. And I need to ease back to work and get on with my life.’

He squeezed her shoulders and she felt so frail under his hand. He would guard them both. ‘Fine. Come home with me and I swear I will keep you both safe.’

He smiled crookedly because he didn’t want to say it but in all honesty it needed to be said. ‘I don’t wish to take advantage of your shock unfairly. Your uncle would probably also be able to offer you protection from your ex-husband.’

She shook her head. ‘That won’t work. You say Harry is unwell and I’m not up to Tayla’s recriminations.’

‘Not a relaxing thought.’ He smiled at her and the tension lightened a little in the room. That was it, then. He had what he wanted. Hopefully so did she. He stood up. ‘Let’s go, then.’

She tilted her head and looked up at him. ‘It’s that easy?’

‘It will be. You pack and I’ll sort out the rest.’

She shifted Elsa onto one arm and pulled the toothbrush from her pocket. ‘I’m packed.’

When Georgia walked out of the hospital and into the sunlight it felt as if Tayla’s disastrous wedding had been a year ago not just one day.

Max’s hand hovered near the small of her back and she carried Elsa tightly against her, as if to defend her from an unknown assailant.

Incredibly, with Max, she did feel safe, even after the shock of knowing Sol had found her.

‘Why do I feel so protected with you when I barely know you?’ She’d met him such a short time ago and she’d made a disastrous marriage before. Was she making another mistake?

‘Because I’m a mature and respected consultant,’ he said. ‘I’ve known Harry for years and your uncle trusted me enough to marry his only daughter off to me.’

That part sounded acceptable.

Then she saw Max’s big square, ostentatious, boy’s toy shiny black Hummer parked outside the door and she shook her head. ‘You’re just a kid with your ego.’

Max patted the bonnet of the huge all-terrain vehicle. ‘Cool, isn’t it? At least I get my baby dirty when I go offroad.’

‘Where’s your chauffeur?’

‘He has other jobs. I don’t use that car often. It belongs to my mother.’

She sniffed and looked again at the vehicle. ‘Does your baby have an infant capsule?’

He smirked. ‘Now she does.’

She looked at him. ‘When did you get the time to organise that?’

‘The capsule belongs to Maternity and I promised I’d have it back tomorrow.’

‘You have connections.’

‘I’m one big connection, but to answer your question…’ He paused and looked her full in the face. ‘You trust me with Elsa, don’t you?’

‘Of course.’

‘Then you can trust me with you as well.’

She had no answer for that.

CHAPTER FOUR

MAX and Georgia’s wedding was simple, at the registry office, and the only guests were Max’s housekeeper and Harry.

It was done two days later, as soon as the licence came through, and Georgia didn’t wear feathers.

As she stood beside her new husband and watched him sign the marriage certificate, she realised how little she knew about this man. And yet even in the last forty-eight hours he had shown a kindness and sensitivity that brought tears to her eyes. Hormones again, of course, but nonetheless Max was a darling and even Elsa liked him.

Goodness knew what he had told Harry, but her uncle had nothing good to say about Sol and kept patting her on the shoulder. What could have been horribly awkward as they arranged their hurried wedding and transfer north proved an amusing and relaxed time, thanks to Max.

They moved north to Coffs Harbour straight after the ceremony.

Living with Max was an experience. Where Sol had been obsessive about cleanliness and order, Max was oblivious and gloriously extravagant.

He thought nothing of dropping towels by the pool, having his St Bernard in the house, and arriving with an enormous bunch of bananas to hang on the veranda.

Thankfully he had an eccentric housekeeper, Mrs White, who adored him and didn’t mind.

For the first six weeks of Elsa’s life, Max ensured that Georgia had little to do except be there for her baby, eat well-cooked meals provided by the amazing Mrs White, and sleep in between attending to Elsa’s needs.

Thank goodness, because Elsa roared and screamed and barely slept with colic for most of that time, and Georgia shuddered when she thought of how it would have been if she’d had to manage a household as well.

The first night Elsa had screamed, Max had just come in from an emergency Caesarean at two a.m. and Georgia had been down in the kitchen to try Elsa with some boiled water in a bottle.

Max had found Georgia nightie-clad and barefoot, her thick hair pushed distractedly behind her ears, and every time Elsa had emitted a tiny broken sob he’d seen it had torn at her mother’s heart.

‘Give her to me.’ He held out his hands and he saw the way she hesitated. It was amazing how much that hurt. ‘I do know about babies, you know.’

‘Of course you do.’ She passed Elsa over and he hated her hesitation to trust him.

Distraught and exhausted, Georgia looked at her wits’ end and Max just wanted to hug her.

Georgia ran her fingers through her hair. ‘But so do I! I know more about babies than you,’ she said, and there was a break in her voice. ‘But it’s not working!’

Baby Elsa felt tense and coiled with pain in his arms, and he saw why being unable to comfort her daughter would upset Georgia so badly.

She watched him like a hawk as he cupped her baby’s head in his hands and rested her body on his forearms. Then he propped her bottom against his stomach so that she was folded with her legs up his chest. He’d seen the midwives carry babies this way at night when they had pain. When Elsa stopped crying, Georgia rolled her eyes.

‘Typical,’ she said, and he couldn’t help the smirk.

‘See.’

‘Hmmm.’ She crossed to the sink and filled a glass with water. ‘You can hold her while I have two headache tablets for the damage caused by the last two hours.’

‘Have a hot chocolate. I’ll join you. Little missy here looks like she wants to sleep.’

Georgia sniffed. ‘She inherited it from her mother, who also wants to sleep.’ Georgia literally drooped in front of him and his need to comfort her returned. Normally she was so efficient, he actually admired her more for being human.

‘Forget the chocolate. Why don’t you grab a couple of hours’ rest? I imagine you’ve not long fed her so she’ll probably sleep until morning if the pain leaves her alone. I can bring her back to you when she wakes up.’

‘You’ve been up all night and you have to work tomorrow.’ he saw the struggle with the concept of leaving her baby with him.

‘Tomorrow is Saturday and I’m only on call.’ He watched her rub her forehead as she tried to concentrate.

‘Saturday. So it is.’ She smiled wearily and he felt his gut contract at her vulnerability.

The more he saw of her the more he just wanted to pull her into his arms and protect her from her own stubborn, independent self. And a few other things crossed his mind like freight trains, but he wasn’t going there.

The last things she needed from him were pressure and lust, and he’d promised himself he would leave her to heal the deep wounds left by her former husband for at least the year.

He didn’t know if he’d last that long but he was going to damn well try, if it killed him.

By the time Elsa was smiling and cooing at two months Georgia felt as if she’d lived in Max’s wonderful house for ever—but it wasn’t the real world.

She saw very little of Max, though, except when he appeared in the early hours to give her a break if Elsa was having a bad night. Even at those times she was usually so exhausted she just handed Elsa over and crashed into her bed so she felt that she knew less about him than she had when they’d first met.

He was unfailingly polite, wonderful with Elsa considering he had no real experience of babies apart from helping them into the world, and provided the safest haven a woman in need could wish for.

The disconcerting thing about Max for Georgia was the speed with which he seemed to disappear. She knew he was busy at work but she wondered if that, in fact, accounted for his hurry to get away. She really would have liked to have seen more of him.

In the tenth week Georgia had had enough of being the lady of leisure and Max’s avoidance techniques had begun to irk her.

On the day it all changed, she wandered into the kitchen in search of Mrs White while Max was away at work. She found another potato peeler to help with the vegetables and prepared her assault. ‘What time will Max be home tonight, Mrs White?’

Mrs White, who would not be diverted from calling Georgia Mrs Beresford, or allow Georgia to call her Miriam, was a little round woman who, despite her name, dyed her short hair jet-black and wore heavy eyeliner.

She looked up from her own peeler and smiled at Georgia like a jolly panda. ‘It’s Monday so they have a regional discussion at five. Probably seven-thirty or maybe eight tonight.’

‘He works long hours, doesn’t he?’

‘Always has, but he used to try to get away offroading on weekends.’ She pointed her peeler at Georgia. ‘Though he hasn’t had the Hummer out in the bush since we moved up here.’

Georgia knew Mrs White didn’t understand their relationship. Obviously the housekeeper was aware they slept in separate rooms and usually ate meals at different times because of Elsa’s regime. They weren’t even housemates as such because their paths rarely crossed.

But Mrs White had seen they were happy enough and that was good as far as she was concerned, especially compared to the close shave of Tayla—an opinion she’d shared with Georgia very early on.

For Georgia, the initial space Max had given her had been perfect, but now the distance he’d created frustrated the life out of her.

It was like living in the snow with a big, roaring fire on the other side of the window she wasn’t even allowed to warm her hands at. His company was becoming more desirable all the time.

If she didn’t want to fall into the trap of building her life around the flashes of company Max gave her then it was time to begin to think of a few hours of work or she would never regain her independence.

‘I’d like to share my evening meal with Max from now on, if that’s OK. Elsa is starting to go to sleep by seven. Perhaps I could set the table in the dining room tonight.’

Mrs White didn’t quite clap her hands but she did beam approvingly. ‘Of course. I’m sure he’d enjoy the company.’ She smiled across at her. ‘And if Elsa wakes up, I could mind her so you won’t be interrupted during your dinner.’

Georgia opened her mouth to demur when she realised that if she was interrupted then Max would be also, and she could see Mrs White was keen on the idea.

‘Thank you. That would be lovely.’

When Max arrived home that evening, the table was set for two. Georgia had taken the trouble to dress for dinner and put make-up on for the first time in over two months.

She felt like a schoolgirl on her first date, which was ridiculous when she considered how up close and personal she and Max had been at Elsa’s birth.

When he first came in, Georgia felt a fluttery tingle of excitement reverberate through her, just by looking at the way he smiled at seeing her. He looked tall and handsome and his white shirt sat snugly across his shoulders and chest in a disconcertingly sexy way.

His smile held a hint of surprise when he saw the table, but the expression was there so fleetingly she couldn’t be sure, and she hoped it was a pleasant change for him and not one of those saveme-from-the-nuisance moments.

‘I thought I might join you for dinner in the evenings if work permits, Max. Is that all right with you?’ Georgia heard the uncertainty in her voice and she winced. It wasn’t like she was asking to sleep with the guy.

‘I’d like that. We don’t seem to have seen much of each other.’ His eyes crinkled and his golden eyes warmed as his gaze drifted over her. ‘You look beautiful.’

‘Thank you.’ She didn’t know what else to say but some of the nervousness in her stomach subsided.

The conversation faltered and they both looked out the window.

Max broke into the silence. ‘Elsa seems to be settling with her colic.’

Georgia winced. She’d felt so guilty about that. ‘It must have been very distracting for you, and I am sorry.’

Max smiled that particularly sweet smile that always brought a lump to Georgia’s throat. ‘It has been very distracting to have a gorgeous ghost wandering around my house in the early hours of the morning. I’d grown used to her, though, and actually quite miss bumping into her in the wee small hours.’

Georgia began to relax. ‘I’d think myself more of a gargoyle than gorgeous, but I did feel like a ghost in those early days. You were pretty wonderful with Elsa.’

‘Nonsense,’ Max said. ‘She liked me.’

Georgia pretended to glare at him. ‘Excuse me. She liked me, too, but she would not stop crying sometimes.’

He tilted his head. ‘Ah, no. There is a difference. She adores you and knows you feel her pain.’ He smiled again. ‘I’m just the shallow bloke she can go to sleep with when she’s too tired to cry. But I think she’s grown out of me now.’

Georgia couldn’t imagine anyone growing out of Max. He was such a sweetie.

She’d been going to edge slowly towards discussing her plans but it seemed too complicated. Suddenly she just needed to get it all out into the open.

‘I want to go back to work, Max. One or two days a week. Or even half-days, if I could. That way, I can come home to Elsa for feeds.’

Max nodded but he felt like shaking his head. Violently. He looked at her and thought Georgia had grown even more stunning over the last two months. He was having a hard time keeping her out of his thoughts at work, and the idea of her on the hospital ward would complicate things enormously.

‘Are you sure it’s not too soon?’ he said quietly, and he passed her the lemon squash with ice she always seemed to ask for on the rare occasions they shared a drink in the evenings.

It was hot up here, he’d noticed that, and now they wanted him to do three months past Murwillumbah near the Queensland border. They’d actually asked if his wife would be interested in a little part-time work. That would be an even smaller hospital to run into her in.

‘I’m bored, Max. I’m sick of living off you. I want to regain my independence. Elsa doesn’t need me twenty-four hours a day now. Mrs White would love to have her to herself for a couple of hours in the daytime.’

Georgia paused and then said, ‘Thanks to you, I feel safe, Max. And ready to do more.’

Max nodded. ‘You’re the one who has to decide. If you think you’re ready then I’m sure you are. I’ll ask around tomorrow.’

He poured himself a glass of beer. ‘I’ve had an offer for three months up past Murwillumbah where the one obstetric GP has retired. The idea would be to take over his practice for a few weeks but really they’d want me to see if it is still viable as a maternity unit. It’s pretty much a midwifery-run unit and almost in Queensland. If I go, would you want to come or stay here with Mrs White?’

‘Is she staying here?’ Georgia looked startled and he wondered why.

‘She will do if you do!’ Georgia had more need of Mrs White with Elsa than he did.

‘I’m a big girl. You have to stop looking after me, Max.’

‘You’re my wife,’ he said. In truth, he did very little and would love to do more, but she valued her independence and the other thing, the one he tried not to think about but kept him awake at night, needed time.

‘In name only,’ she said.

Bingo. That was the crux, Max thought, and the devil answered. ‘We could change that.’

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