Sheltered by Her Top-Notch Boss

She nodded. ‘We’re in different departments, but we’re both at the hospital. I’m a registrar in A and E.’

Ellie studied him from under her lashes. She could see what Zoe meant. He had the kind of looks that had her stomach doing peculiar flips, despite her initial misgivings about him, while her senses were falling over each other as they clamoured for attention.

He was gorgeous, there was no doubt about it. He had black hair, beautiful grey eyes and perfectly proportioned, angular features, along with a body that was lithe and muscular, radiating energy. Even in her present unhappy state of mind she managed to register all those things.

James turned to Lewis. ‘Hi,’ he said. ‘Are you and Jessica still coming over to the house this weekend?’

‘Yes, we are.’

‘Good. We’ll look forward to seeing you there.’

Lewis nodded. ‘James is my cousin,’ he explained to Ellie. ‘He’s always taken it on himself to watch out for me. I lost my parents when I was in my teens, you see, and his father took me in.’

‘Ah, I see.’ She hesitated. ‘I’m sorry to hear about your parents, I never knew that. I guess there must be a strong bond between you and your cousin because of that—you’re a bit like brothers, I suppose?’

‘That’s right.’

‘I make sure he stays on the straight and narrow,’ James said with a smile. ‘Though I’ve been away for a while and perhaps I need to catch up with the latest news. I’d no idea he was working with such a beautiful woman.’

Seeing their absorption with one another, Zoe gave a satisfied smile and walked away from them, taking a reluctant Lewis along with her. ‘I want you to meet a friend of mine,’ she told him.

Ellie set her empty glass down on the bar and glanced at James. ‘I thought I caught a glimpse of you earlier,’ she murmured. Even then, she’d been on edge without knowing why. Perhaps it was all down to the horrible day she’d had.

He smiled. ‘Same here. I saw you come over to the bar a few minutes ago. The truth is,’ he confided, ‘I’ve been badgering Zoe to introduce us ever since.’ His glance wandered over her, drifting down over the dress that clung where it touched, over her long, silk-clad legs, still crossed at the knee, and came back up to linger on the mass of burnished chestnut curls that lightly brushed her shoulders.

Her skin heated as though it had been licked by flame. No man had ever had this effect on her, turning her body to fire with a single glance.

She struggled to get control of herself, and then looked at him once more. Perhaps she knew him from seeing him around the hospital?

‘I heard you’ve already started working in A and E,’ she said, ‘but I don’t think we’ve actually met before this, have we? Somehow, I had the feeling …’ She added quickly, ‘It gets so busy in the emergency unit, I don’t always have the opportunity to meet up with new people straight away.’

‘I’ve been working the night shift,’ he answered, ‘getting to know the lie of the land. Officially, my job as consultant doesn’t start for a couple of days.’ He studied her once more. ‘I feel I do know you already, though. I often watch your TV programme—Your Good Health.’ He gave her a crooked smile, and there was a mischievous glint in his eye.

‘I have to tell you, you’re my very favourite TV presenter—you look terrific both on and off camera, and you make medicine seem like child’s play. I imagine every red-blooded male who watches the programme secretly yearns for you to be there to mop his brow.’

She laughed. ‘I very much doubt that, but thank you anyway. I enjoy doing the show. It makes a change from A and E and I hope I might be doing some good, maybe helping people to look after themselves.’

‘I’m sure what you do is extremely useful.’ He looked at her empty glass. ‘Can I get you a refill?

She shook her head. ‘Actually, I was just about to leave. It’s been a long day, one way and another. I think I’ll ring for a taxi.’

‘You’re not enjoying the party?’ He frowned. ‘I wondered if there was something amiss when I saw you earlier. You seemed preoccupied, a little despondent maybe? Is it something you want to talk about?’

‘Not really.’ She eased herself off the barstool, pulling down the hem of her dress and smoothing the material over her hips. His gaze followed the movement of her hands and she said huskily, ‘There’s no reason for me to spoil your evening by involving you in my problems. I’ve had a difficult day and I should never have come here, but I didn’t want to let Zoe down.’

‘I understand.’ He frowned. ‘I’m sorry you’re feeling that way. Maybe I could see you home? I have my car outside. Whereabouts do you live?’

‘Ashleigh Meadows, but I don’t want to put you out. I’ll be fine, really. You should stay and enjoy the party.’

‘That’s okay. It’s no trouble. I didn’t intend to stay long anyway.’ He glanced at the gold watch on his wrist. ‘I have to be on duty at the hospital in just over an hour, and Ashleigh Meadows is on my way.’

‘Oh, I see.’ She hesitated. It wouldn’t hurt to accept his offer, would it? ‘Well, in that case, okay. Thanks.’ She glanced quickly around the room. ‘I’d better take a minute to go and say goodbye to Zoe.’

He nodded and went with her, and a few minutes later they were both sitting in his luxuriously upholstered car, with the air-conditioning switched on and soft music coming from the CD player. She gave him directions to her house, and after driving for a few minutes James turned the car onto the Ashleigh Road. Ellie sat back, lulled by the soft purr of the engine, trying to relax and let the music soothe her battered soul.

James slanted her an oblique look. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to tell me about it? Whatever it was, it seems to have made a powerful impact on you. Was it personal or something that happened in A and E?’

Her first instinct was to stay closed up and keep things to herself. She certainly wasn’t going to tell him her worries about her brother and his constant battle with debt. Noah had phoned her first thing that morning, worried about the way things were going with his finances. She loved her younger brother and would do anything she could to help him out, but his situation troubled her.

But as to the other problem—what was the point in keeping it to herself after all? No one could make it better, but perhaps talking it over with a colleague might help her to come to terms with what happened.

She gave a shuddery sigh. ‘A patient died,’ she told him. ‘I know it happens from time to time, and as doctors we should be able to deal with it, but this was someone I knew—the aunt of an old schoolfriend of mine. I knew her quite well and it was such a terrible shock when she died. It was upsetting that I couldn’t save her. I kept asking myself if I did everything possible.’

His brow creased in sympathy. ‘I’m sorry. It must have been terrible for you to go through that, especially with someone you knew.’ He turned off the main road and the car’s headlights picked out the country lane, stretched out like a ribbon before them, throwing the overgrown hedgerows on either side into deep shadow.

She nodded. ‘But it was worse for Amelia. Her aunt virtually brought her up, and she was devastated when she died.’ She hesitated, her voice dropping to a hoarse whisper. ‘She blames me for letting it happen.’

He exhaled sharply. ‘You mustn’t take it to heart. It’s the shock—sometimes people just can’t accept it when a loved one dies. They say and do things while they’re emotionally upset and often come to regret it afterwards. I’m sure you did everything you could for your friend’s aunt.’

Ellie winced. ‘I’m afraid Mel doesn’t see it that way. Perhaps if she knew me better she might have more confidence in me, but we lost touch after we left school and moved in different circles.’ She frowned, thinking back over what had happened. ‘She thinks I should have changed her aunt’s medication and sent her for surgery, but I’m not sure if there was anything I could have done to change the outcome.’

‘What was wrong with her aunt?’ He slowed the car as a cluster of houses came into view, yellow points of light illuminating the village in the darkness.

‘There was an inflammation around her heart. She was brought to A and E in a state of collapse, with severe chest pain and breathlessness. I put her on oxygen and monitored her vital signs, did blood tests and sent her for a CT scan, as well as echocardiography.’ She sucked in a breath.

‘The tests showed that she had an acute bacterial infection that had caused the pericardium to become congested with purulent matter. I put her on strong antibiotics and started to drain the pericardial fluid, but in the end her heart simply stopped.’ Her voice choked. ‘I think her age and general frailty worked against her. Her heart couldn’t take the strain.’

‘And you explained all that to your friend?’

She nodded. ‘Yes, but I don’t know whether she took it all in. I fetched her a cup of tea and sat with her for a while, and tried to explain, but it was as though she was frozen. She seemed not to hear what I said. She was upset and angry at the same time.’

He pressed his lips together in a grim line. ‘It happens that way sometimes.’

‘I suppose so.’ She looked out of the window as the cottages drew near. ‘Mine’s the old farmhouse,’ she told him. ‘Turn next left, and it’s at the end of the track.’

A short time later he pulled the car up on the gravelled drive outside the brick-built house. A lantern in the wide, slate-roofed porch gave off a welcoming glow, highlighting the ivy-covered walls and the tidy front garden.

‘Judging from what I can see by the light of the moon, you have a very attractive place here,’ James commented.

Ellie nodded. ‘I’m glad you like it. I’d had my eye on it for a while, and when it came on the market I jumped at the chance to buy.’ She gave a wry smile. ‘It needed a lot of renovation, so at least it was within my budget. I like it because it’s not crowded out by other properties—there’s just the converted barn across the courtyard at the back of the house.’

She paused then asked hesitantly, ‘Do you have time to come in for a coffee before your shift starts? I could give you a quick look inside, if you like.’ She’d only just met him, but he had a warm and sympathetic manner, and she wanted to be with him just a little bit longer.

‘That would be great, thanks. I like these old farmhouse cottages—they have a lot of character.’

‘That’s how I feel, too.’ She slid out of the car, leaving its comforting warmth for the coolness of the summer evening, and together they walked to the front door. ‘Though cottage is perhaps a bit of a misnomer—it’s quite cosy inside, but there are two storeys.’

The door opened into a large entrance hall, and she led the way from there to the kitchen, where James admired the golden oak beams and matching oak units.