Antarctic Affair (21 page)

“Come inside,” she yelled over the racket, and held
the door open for him. He stalked past her close enough for her to smell his
spicy aftershave which flooded her senses with bitter-sweet memories of
Antarctica. Her heart was pounding, her cheeks were flushed and her hands
wouldn’t stop shaking.

The second she closed the door blocking out the
noise Taj turned to face her. For the first time she noticed he’d lost weight,
his face was pale and he had dark circles under his eyes. Despite all this he
was still the most beautiful man she had ever seen, and seeing him again, six
weeks after they’d spent that amazing night together, just made her realise
that she was still as much in love with him as ever.

‘You look great,” he said, gazing at her.

“Thanks,” she replied, shyly. Then because she
didn’t know what else to say, “Can I get you a drink? A glass of wine,
perhaps?”

He shook his head. “Actually, I was wondering if we
could talk for a minute.”

“Sure.”

She led him out onto the deck where she had placed
two wicker chairs and a small table from which to admire the view. It was a
balmy evening and the deck was bathed in sunlight.

“Wow, it’s beautiful out here,” he mentioned,
walking to the end of the deck and staring out over the gentle slope to the
sea.

“Yes,” she agreed. “It’s what sold the place to me.
Living in London I never had a sea view. Every time I come out here I consider
it a treat.”

“I’m at the other end of the bay,” he said
conversationally.
 

“I was wondering when I’d bump into you,” she said
softly.

“I’ve been away,” replied Taj.

She nodded, “Of course.” That’s right, he was always
away. “How did you know I was here?” she asked casually.

“I got hold of Max,” he said steadily, his gaze
holding hers. She was suddenly very confused. “Why?” she whispered, terrified
that he’d tell her he wanted to see how she was doing, or something equally
mundane. Because if this started happening all the time, she was going to be a
wreck. Suddenly moving to Santa Monica didn’t seem such a hot idea after all.

“Don thought it might be a good idea.”

“Don? I don’t understand?”

Taj came and sat next to her. “Actually Don had
lunch with Max the other day and Max told him you were here. I had no idea
you’d taken the job. I assumed you’d gone back to London.”

“I did,” she told him. “But only to resign and pack
up. Max cornered me at the airport in Santiago and made me sign the contract.
Thank goodness he did too, because this is the best decision I’ve ever made.”
She swept her hand around to emphasise the fresh air and the twinkling blue sea
the same colour as Taj’s eyes.

He smiled, “You certainly seem happy.” She wished he
wouldn’t do that. It reminded her all too painfully of laughing and joking with
him on the
Explorer
. Her poor heart
was not holding up too well here at all. She had to cut to the chase and find
out why he was here, and if he intended on staying a while. Then at least she
would know what she was in for.

She blurted out, “So you found out I was living here
and popped round to say hi?”

“I’d forgotten how direct you could be.”

“I think I told you before, I like to get to the
truth of the matter. In this case if you’ve come over merely to say ‘welcome to
the neighbourhood’ then I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

She was surprised when he didn’t answer immediately.
He mere sat there and watched her, his gleaming eyes seeing way too deeply into
her tormented soul.

“Can I ask why you’re being so civil?” he finally said.

Georgina took a shaky breath, it was time she put
her cards on the table.

“I can’t bear to be friends with you,” she sighed.
“I can’t hang out with you, walk on the beach or do whatever it is you
Americans do with your friends, while I still feel the way I do. I’m afraid it’s
very simple - my heart can’t take it.” She stared at her hands. “Please
understand, it’s nothing personal,” then her voice broke, “I just love you too
much.”

“Oh George, I’ve been such an idiot,” he groaned.
Her head jerked back in surprise. He leant across and took her hand. “Since I
left you in Ushuaia I’ve been beside myself. I realised that day we docked that
you had decided to give up everything in London and come here because of me and
I flipped. I couldn’t do it. I thought the expectation would be too high, that
we didn’t stand a chance, but not having you near me has been far, far worse.”
He looked at her helplessly, “I’m miserable without you.”

“You mean…? You want to give us a shot?” She must be
misunderstanding him. This could not be happening.

“No my sweet, darling George. I realised after I let
you walk away from me that I loved you to the point of distraction. I’m not
prepared just to give this a shot. I’m asking if you’ll marry me. I never want
to see you walk away from me again.”

“Oh Taj!” she flung herself into his arms unable to
stop herself. He held her tightly, as she buried her face in his neck, tears
flowing down her cheeks.

“But are you sure? You were so adamant before. I’d
hate for you to regret this later.”

He covered her face with kisses.

“I couldn’t be more sure. I should have carried you
off into the sunset the day we got off the
Explorer
,
but stupidly, I let you go. Luckily for me you came back, and for your own
reasons, not because of me. You gave me a second chance, one that I may not
deserve, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to pass up on it again.”

Georgina gazed at him in wonder. “Please tell me
this isn’t a dream?”
 

“I can prove it’s not a dream,” he told her fishing
in his jacket pocket and pulling out a tiny little box. Georgina stared at him
incredulously.

“I got this when I found out you’d come back to live
here.”

“I can’t believe this…” she sobbed.

He sat her down on the chair, which was just as well
because her legs were about to give way they were trembling so much. Grinning
from ear to ear he dropped down onto one knee.

“You don’t have to do this,” she told him, stroking
his face lovingly. She couldn’t seem to keep her hands off him.

He gazed up at her.

“Yes I do,” he said firmly. “Because I’m not ever
risking losing you again. I don’t care if we’re apart eleven months of the
year, but for that one month I’m with you, I want to know you are mine in every
sense of the word.”

He opened the box and Georgina gasped in delight.

“It’s exquisite,” she whispered. Taj took out the
ring and slipped it on her finger, unlike the last one, it fit perfectly.

“Oh Taj, its perfect,” she melted against him and he
kissed her on and on until they were both gasping for breath.

“Is that a yes?” teased Taj, staring lovingly into
her eyes.

“Yes, it’s a yes!” she cried, and closed her eyes as
he kissed her eyelids, her nose and then her mouth.
 

“These chairs aren’t very comfortable,” he
complained huskily, a few minutes later and picked her up in one smooth motion.
“I think it’s time you showed me the rest of our house.”

“Our house?” she giggled. “You want to stay here
with me?”

“Well, yours is so much nicer than mine, although
technically mine is closer to the beach.”

“Mine has better views,” she countered.

“True, perhaps I’ll just sell mine and we can use
the money to travel, together.”

She snuggled into his arms as he carried her into
the house.

“I still have a chalet in Switzerland, don’t
forget,” she told him. “We could flog that to add to our travel fund.”

He laughed. “Perhaps you can exchange it for one in
Vale or Tahoe. The skiing is just as good there.”

“Now there’s an idea,” she whispered, “By the way
you just missed the stairs, this is the lounge.”

“If I don’t find the bedroom soon, the lounge is going
to have to do,” he growled.

Georgina laughed, “In that case, upstairs and to the
right.”

They never actually made it to the bedroom. Taj
decided he needed to kiss her on every step and by the time they got to the top
they were so overcome with longing and desire that even a few more metres was
too far. It was many hours later that they finally found the bed, and by that
time they were so exhausted that all they could do was wrap their arms around
each other and fall asleep, safe in the knowledge that whatever challenges lay
ahead, they would face them together, because staying together could never be
as hard as staying apart.

THE END