Page 32 of Twin Surprise for the Italian Doc

The vows were traditional, but they were spoken by both Luke and Kate with a level of emotion that made them sound as if they had been written just for them. In the flicker of candlelight, within the ancient solidity of these historic walls, this ceremony was so beautiful it brought tears to Matteo’s eyes.

He wanted this forhimself, more than anything.

To promise himself to the woman he loved above any other. To know that he would never be alone. That he could begin the most important task he could ever achieve—to be a loving and devoted husbandandfather...

Even more than the desire to be standing where Luke was right now, holding the hands of the most beautiful bride ever, Matteo longed to be standing besidethe woman who was shaped by the creation of his first child. Who had that superbly rounded belly and the glow of impending motherhood, exactly like Georgia did right now.

He’d never seen her looksobeautiful...

Matteo stole a glance beyond Luke and Kate as they exchanged their rings and then found he couldn’t take his gaze away from Georgia as she stood there, holding Kate’s flowers, her eyessparkling with what had to be unshed tears and a tiny tremor in her bottom lip that captured his heart and squeezed it like a vice.

He remembered exactly what it was like to feel that lip beneath his own. To feel the passion that was so much a part of this woman.

‘With this ring, I thee wed... With my body I thee honour...’

The words about worldly goods became a blur of sound as Matteo grappledwith the desire to be doing that to Georgia Bennett.

Honouring her.

Touching that magnificent belly with his hands. With his lips...

Dio mio... He needed to control himself better than this. For heaven’s sake, the father of her child was most likely sitting in one of the wooden pews behind them. He would have to meet him very soon. Congratulate the man and tell him how lucky he was.

His glancefinally jerked away from Georgia.

Who was he?

Perhaps that man in the second row who was sitting alone.

He looked a good ten years older than Georgia, with grey hair streaking a neatly trimmed beard and moustache. He was focussed on the ceremony and looked...content? As if he knew he was the luckiest man in the world?

Except, if he was Georgia’s partner, hewasn’tthat lucky, was he? He waswith a woman who had cheated on him.

Yes. This line of thought was helping a lot. His body—and his heart—might be telling him one thing but his head knew better. He just needed to remember what was most important in life and the one thing that meant Georgia could never be the perfect woman for him and he would be able to get through the next few hours without doing or saying anything that couldlessen the joy of this occasion for Luke.

And then he could escape.

* * *

Champagne and canapés were to be served to guests in the Argyle Tower after the ceremony but there were some formal photographs to be taken before the bridal party could join the rest of the intimate group of the close friends chosen to share this occasion.

‘Come with me,’ the photographer ordered, after some shots outsidethe chapel. ‘You can’t not have the background of the whole castle behind you—it’s a classic. We need to be just outside the main entrance.’

At least she wasn’t alone with Matteo, Georgia reminded herself as she followed Kate and Luke towards the stone staircase. And it wouldn’t take very long and then she could make sure she was always in the company of someone else. Dougal McGregor, her bossas the director of Edinburgh’s Emergency Response Centre, was here by himself and would probably appreciate an introduction to many of the doctors from two of the major hospitals in their area.

In the meantime, however, nerves were kicking in. She had been able to lose herself in the actual ceremony as Kate and Luke had exchanged their vows to join their lives. Their love for each other was powerfulenough to have taken her breath away and bring tears to her eyes.

And, if she was honest, a part of that emotional reaction was tinged with regret that she would never find this for herself—a loving partnership that could make her world feel so full of promise. Sosafe...

It wasn’t that she hadn’t searched for it. A psychoanalyst would probably say that she’d been searching her whole life becauseeven her beloved mother hadn’t been able to make her feel completely safe. How could she, when she’d never felt safe herself? Georgia knew that she had to take the blame for many of her own relationships foundering as well. The huge barrier of not being able to trust a man had been formed, brick by painful brick, as she’d grown up, and she’d never quite managed to climb over it. She’d tried.She’d believed she had been successful last time, with Rick, but that had come crashing down in spectacular fashion—as it inevitably did, time after time.

It’s just not going to work, Georgie.

I feel like I have to try too hard all the time and I don’t even know what it is I’m supposed to be proving.

I’m sorry...but I’ve met someone else...

She needed love in her life, though. Who didn’t?And Georgia knew she had always been destined to be a mother. That was the ultimately trustworthy love, wasn’t it? Unconditional and fulfilling.

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