Rachel stared in shock at the man stood in the doorway, momentarily lost for words.
"Tom!" she gasped, finding her voice "I…I didn't know you were in London"
"Like yourself, I had an invite to the Brits dog and pony show tonight, and President Oliver felt the Captain of the James needed to represent him" Tom shrugged depreciatingly "May I come in?"
Rachel stepped back, extending her arm in invitation, admiring the handsome figure Tom Chandler cut in his dress whites as he walked into her dusty apartment. It had been almost 6 years since Tom Chandler had saved her life in that St Louis hotel and their paths had gone their separate ways, but her heart still skipped a beat as she looked her fill – damn but the man was still sinfully handsome.
"Like what you see Doc?" Tom murmured sotto voce, the half-smile quickly turning into a shit eating grin as he noted the fiery blush that covered the beautiful face which haunted his dreams.
"I was staring, wasn't I?" Rachel murmured quietly, hating the fact she'd been caught ogling him, trying hard to ignore the other voice in her head that was very much not ashamed and was far too eager to see what Tom Chandler would do about it.
"Yeah you were, but I liked it if I'm completely honest Rachel" Tom replied as he closed the space between them, caressing her face with a hand she noticed with surprise was now free of a wedding ring. Between the caressing hand on her face, and the almost hungry look in his ocean blue eyes, Rachel felt suddenly breathless.
"Your ring…" she whispered "You're not wearing your wedding ring" Rachel cringed inside, hating herself for stating the blindingly obvious and for the needy tone in her voice.
Since the day she and Quincy had stepped aboard the Nathan James 7 years ago, Rachel had been attracted to Tom Chandler. He was everything she'd ever wanted in a man – smart, articulate, fair minded, and took absolutely none of her crap like so many previous partners had. It had been easy to ignore and quash that attraction when weighed against the love and fidelity that coloured his words when he spoke of his beloved wife, and Rachel had been genuinely upset for him when he'd finally been told Darien was dead. She winced as she saw the pain flash briefly in his eyes.
"It was time" Tom replied "I'll never stop loving her, but Darien would've been the first to tell me it was time to stop putting my life on hold, which brings me to you. I did ask you to come find me when you were done globetrotting didn't I?"
"You did… and I did, but we kept missing each other if you remember" Rachel returned, thinking of the occasions she'd visited the Chandler home whenever she'd been Stateside. Ironically, she felt as if she knew Tom's father and children almost better than the man himself.
"Sorry about that, but perhaps I can remedy that?" Tom smiled, his hand still caressing her face tenderly "Would you be my date to the Prime Minister's little soirée tonight?"
"I'd love to, I think I've got something that'll suffice here, providing it still fits" Rachel returned his smile, hoping she didn't sound too eager.
For a moment, Rachel thought Tom was about to kiss her and closed her eyes in anticipation, realising just how much she'd been wanting him to do just that since he'd shown up at her door so unexpectedly. Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door and a cheerful voice called out from behind it.
"Hey Doc, Commodore – you still in there?" the voice said "Any chance you can come to the door and vouch for me? Your bodyguards are lookin a mite twitchy here"
"I second that Tom, getting a little tense out here buddy" another voice added
Tom groaned, his forehead touching Rachel's tenderly, annoyance and regret dancing across his features.
"Looks like the half time entertainment's arrived" Rachel muttered, feeling equally annoyed.
"We heard that" Tex called, grinning at Mike Slattery, who looked equally amused, knowing how much his friend would be cursing them right about now. If he hadn't seen the large cluster of reporters already gathering around the US Embassy building, a crowd that would only grow exponentially, he wouldn't have ceded to Tex's suggestion of persuading Tom and Rachel to arrive with the Nathan James's crew.
"They're not going to go away you know, might as well let them in, we don't want a diplomatic incident" Tom sighed, knowing Mike at least would have good reason for disturbing them.
Rachel nodded, stepping away from his touch regretfully and opened the door, smiling at her two friends and motioned them inside as she waved to her security detail, letting them know the duo were friend not foe.
"Sorry to gate-crash your tete-a-tete, but the buzzards are flocking outside the embassy, and its still 2 hours before the Embassy shindig kicks off" Tex informed her with a rueful smile, hugging her as she did so.
"Buzzards?" Rachel queried frowning, not quite catching the reference
"Reporters" Mike Slattery replied "We know you're not keen on big crowds, even less crowds of reporters, so we thought it might be better if you and Tom arrived with the rest of the James's crew"
"Safety in numbers" Tex added, as like Slattery he knew how much both, Rachel in particular hated large crowds.
Rachel looked at the three men before nodding her assent, knowing they were right. Since her shooting she hated the way the press swarmed around her, trying to paint her as some sort of victim. It had taken weeks of therapy, both physical and mental, to overcome what had happened to her. Rachel wasn't about to let anyone put her back in that box, and finally seize her chance with Tom, she was tired of living with regrets.
Carpe Diem she thought to herself Seize the day or should that be sailor?
"Very well gentleman, let me grab my glad rags and I'll change aboard the James, if I can borrow your quarters Tom?" Rachel said firmly before crossing the room quickly to her bedroom to collect her dress.