The Doctor's Runaway Bride. Sarah Morgan
Sharon shook her head and gave an incredulous laugh. ‘No! I don’t believe it. I never saw a man more in love with a woman than Luca is with you. He’s crazy about you.’
Tia closed her eyes and took steadying breaths.
If only…
‘Trust me on this one, Sharon,’ she said finally. ‘Luca is not in love with me.’
‘So, if he doesn’t love you, why are there one hundred and forty people waiting for you to marry him, and why am I dressed like a green blancmange?’
There was a long silence and when Tia finally spoke her voice was little more than a hoarse croak.
‘Because I’m pregnant.’
The room was suddenly deadly quiet. ‘Tia?’
‘That’s the reason he’s marrying me.’ Tia gave a wobbly smile and blushed deeply. ‘And before you say it, yes, I’m a midwife and I should know the facts of life, but somehow I forgot them when I met Luca.’
In fact, she’d forgotten pretty much everything the moment she’d set eyes on Luca.
Fundamental things like how to walk away from a man before things became serious.
The truth was that Luca Zattoni was the most overwhelmingly attractive male she’d ever met. Cool and confident and stunningly good-looking, the chemistry between them had stopped her brain from functioning from the moment they’d met.
And that moment was etched in her memory for ever.
She’d been backpacking around Europe and she’d arrived in Venice late at night. As she’d left the bus station, a group of young lads had started to bother her and she’d felt a rush of relief when a car had suddenly pulled up.
Luca had stepped out of the driver’s seat, broad-shouldered and menacing as he’d strode towards the youths who had surrounded her, his glossy hair shining blue-black under the streetlamps. He was clearly a man who could handle himself in any situation and her tormenters had melted rapidly into the darkness, leaving the two of them alone.
So she’d been left standing next to an empty bus station, awkwardly muttering her thanks to this handsome Italian stranger whose dark-eyed scrutiny had made her feel decidedly light headed.
‘It’s late to be wandering the streets of Venice,’ he observed, his gaze flickering over her backpack and resting on her sturdy walking boots. ‘Can I give you a lift somewhere?’
He spoke in English and he had the sexiest voice she’d ever heard. Smooth, masculine tones tinged with enough of an Italian accent to make the blood heat in her veins.
Tia’s heart was thumping so hard she thought it might burst through her ribcage. ‘H-how did you guess that I’m English?’
‘Not difficult.’ His eyes rested briefly on her silver blonde hair and he gave her a smile that made her breathing stop. ‘Hair the colour of yours is very unusual in Italy. As you will discover if you continue to walk the streets at this time of night.’
She was still staring at him like an idiot. ‘I haven’t found anywhere to stay yet…’
‘Venice is generally a very safe city,’ he told her, ‘but a woman like you shouldn’t be walking around on her own this late.’
A woman like her…
Her eyes locked with his and something passed between them. A feeling so powerful that her knees weakened alarmingly.
His eyes held hers captive, drawing her in. ‘I would be happy to show you around and help you find somewhere to stay…’
She knew that getting into a car with a stranger was foolish in the extreme, but this man didn’t seem like a stranger and their relationship progressed so fast she barely had time to reason.
And then Tia discovered that she was pregnant.
She dragged herself back to the present, aware that Sharon was still staring at her, clearly taken aback by her announcement.
‘And you think that’s why he’s marrying you?’
‘I didn’t at first.’ Tia’s voice shook as she told Sharon what had happened. ‘I believed what I wanted to believe—that he loved me and that was why he was marrying me.’
Sharon bit her lip. ‘So…’
Tia took a deep breath. ‘But I’ve found out that he was just using me as therapy. It seems he was getting over another relationship.’ She shook her head slowly as she thought back over the past few weeks. ‘He only proposed because I told him I was pregnant.’
Sharon looked horrified. ‘How—? What makes you think he’s involved with someone else?’
‘Because I just met her.’ Tia dropped the bag and stared into the mirror. Her reflection stared back, her skin pale and streaked with tears. ‘I nipped along the corridor to talk to Luca’s mother half an hour ago, when you were in the bathroom. She was deep in conversation with a very stunning woman. Someone I’d never seen before.’
Sharon sank onto the nearest chair and stared at her with trepidation. ‘And?’
Tia fiddled with the silk of her jacket. ‘His mother was saying what a sad day it was. That he should have been marrying Luisa—that’s her name, by the way.’ She sniffed slightly. ‘And that he was marrying totally the wrong woman for totally the wrong reasons and it would never last.’
Sharon gave a soft gasp and lifted a hand to her throat. ‘And what did this Luisa woman say?’
‘That she and Luca had been so close for so long that things had just become confused. And that she’d seen him and spoken to him and he’d said he would always love her…’
‘No!’ Sharon groaned and shook her head. ‘I don’t believe it. Not Luca.’
Tia gave her a watery smile. ‘Why not Luca? Let’s be honest for a moment. This has been one of the fastest romances on record. I met him ten weeks ago. We barely know him, Shaz.’ Tia’s voice cracked and Sharon squeezed her arm.
‘Luca’s not a teenager, Tia. He’s an adult male who knows exactly what he wants out of life. I can’t see him marrying someone unless he wanted to. Maybe he finished it—’
‘No.’ Tia rummaged in her bag for a tissue and blew her nose hard. ‘No way would any red-blooded male finish with a woman like this one. You didn’t see her. She was seriously gorgeous. And elegant. Nothing like me. When Luca met me I was backpacking, for goodness’ sake! I’m so far removed from his usual style of woman that it’s laughable. I’m a homeless, rootless waif who’s terrified of commitment. Believe me, there’s no contest.’
Sharon frowned. ‘You forgot to add that you’re also warm, funny and irresistibly pretty. Tia, men have been falling over themselves to get to you for years and you don’t even see it. Trust me, Luca is crazy about you—’
‘Novelty value.’ Tia blew her nose again and tucked the tissue up her sleeve. ‘There’s obviously a shortage of blonde women in Italy. But I’ve come to my senses now, and I’m relieving him of his responsibilities. He can go back to the woman he loves. Come to think of it, he’s probably never been away from her. Maybe that’s why he was spending all that time at the hospital.’
‘He’s an obstetrician.’ Sharon reasoned. ‘You know they work hideous hours.’
‘Do I?’
What evidence did she have that he’d been working? Only his word, and he seemed to be very selective about what he disclosed.
And she could never marry a man who wasn’t completely honest with her.
She stood up, slipped on her coat and picked up her bags.
‘Tia, wait!’ Sharon hastily followed her across the