Her Consultant Boss

‘No. Most of the furniture was already here.’

‘My dad helps people move house,’ Jack volunteered. ‘He doesn’t live with us any more. He has a van and he goes around moving furniture for people. He says it does him in, with all the lifting, but that’s because he smokes. Do you smoke?’

‘No, Jack. I never have done. I don’t think it’s very good for you.’

Jack mulled that over. ‘It makes my dad cough. He says he’ll have to cut down… I think maybe I won’t start smoking.’

Megan nodded. ‘I think you’re very wise.’

They had been busily fetching and carrying for about half an hour, and she was just about to offer the children a glass of lemonade when there was an almighty crash, followed by the sound of a boy howling, and she rushed out onto the balcony to see Jamie on the floor, clutching his ankle.

She rushed over to him. ‘Let me have look at you, Jamie…show me where it hurts,’ she said quickly.

‘It’s my foot.’ White-lipped, Jamie looked up at her, the pain showing on his face. ‘Have I broke it?’

‘I don’t think so,’ she murmured, carefully examining the ankle. There was some swelling, but she didn’t think the damage was too bad. ‘I think you’ve just twisted it, Jamie. Stay there, and don’t try to get up. I’ll go and get a bandage for you.’

She glanced at Jack, who was watching and looking concerned for his brother. ‘Jack, will you stay with him?’

He nodded.

Megan quickly went and found her medical bag, and came back to crouch down beside Jamie so that she could set about strapping up the ankle. ‘Jack, will you go and fetch your mother? Tell her what’s happened.’

He sped off, glad to have something to do.

Megan concentrated on examining Jamie. It looked as though he had a nasty sprain.

‘There, does that feel a little better?’ she asked after a while.

He nodded, and she said lightly, ‘How did you manage to fall over?’

‘I tripped over the ladder. I forgot about it.’ He looked at his freshly bandaged ankle. ‘Are you sure it’s not broke?’

She nodded. ‘Yes, I’m sure. It will be painful for a day or so, and you might need to rest it for a while, but there’s no serious damage.’

By this time his mother had come hurrying along to see what was happening. ‘Is it bad?’ she asked anxiously. She knelt down to comfort her young son.

Megan shook her head. ‘No. He’s twisted his ankle, and I imagine it must be painful for him. He’ll probably need to take paracetamol for a day or so until he feels better.’

His mother nodded. ‘I’ll see to it that he has some. It was really good of you to help. Thank you for looking after him.’ She pulled a face. ‘You know, it’s about time those workmen finished up here and moved all their stuff. If they hadn’t left it lying about, this wouldn’t have happened.’

Megan could see her point. ‘I think I’ll have a word with the landlord,’ she said.

‘I’ll be all right, Mum. You don’t need to say anything to him about it,’ Jamie said.

His mother shook her head. ‘It isn’t right to leave things like this. We were lucky that it was just a twisted ankle. It could have been much worse.’ She led Jamie away, and he was still protesting as they went in through their door.

Megan went back inside her flat and phoned the accommodation officer, Mrs Carter, and explained what had happened. ‘Perhaps you could let the landlord know that there’s a problem,’ she said. ‘I think it’s something that should be dealt with fairly soon. Maybe he could have a word with the workmen?’

‘I’ll see what I can do,’ Mrs Carter said. ‘I expect he’ll be in touch before too long.’

Megan went back into the living room and tried to sort her belongings into some kind of order. Luckily, the flat was equipped with lots of shelves and cupboards and there was plenty of room to store everything away. It wouldn’t be too long before she had everything the way she wanted it. For the moment, though, she contented herself with adding a touch of colour to the place with cushions and rugs and some of her favourite ornaments.

When she had finished she went and soaked in the bath for half an hour, glad of the chance to relax in the scented water. Coming back to Wales had been a good move, she decided. She was back with her family, and although her new job had its own difficulties, she would do her best to make things turn out well.

The doorbell rang as she was towelling herself dry. Frowning, she pulled on a soft robe and belted it around the waist. Who on earth would that be at this time of the evening?

Opening her door a fraction, she was startled to see Sam standing there.

‘Oh!’ she said in surprise. ‘I wasn’t expecting you.’

His glance drifted over her, taking in the soft robe that clung to her like a second skin and gliding down over the smooth expanse of her bare legs, before returning to rest on the tousled mass of her auburn curls.

‘So I see,’ he drawled, a glint of something unreadable darting in his grey eyes. ‘Perhaps I should have rung first…although I would have expected Mrs Carter to have let you know that I was coming here.’

‘Mrs Carter?’ she echoed faintly. ‘I don’t think I understand…’

He lifted a dark brow. ‘You don’t?’ He studied her thoughtfully for a moment. ‘Perhaps she didn’t tell you that I’m your landlord?’

Megan felt her world tilt on its axis. Sam Benedict was her landlord as well as her boss?

She groaned inwardly. She had just complained about conditions at the flat she was leasing from him. Was there no end to the trouble she could land herself in?

CHAPTER THREE

SAM BENEDICT’S glance flickered down over the skimpy robe Megan was wearing. His mouth tilted. ‘Wouldn’t it be a good idea if you invited me in?’ he murmured. ‘Dressed like that, you could catch your death of cold, standing out here. I know it’s springtime, but the evenings haven’t warmed up that much yet.’

She felt a tide of pink run along her cheekbones. Coming face to face with him like this had made her forget all about the way she was dressed—or, rather, undressed. She lifted a shaky hand and ran it through her hair, and immediately regretted it because the movement caused the robe to come adrift and reveal rather more of her creamy flesh than she wanted him to see. ‘I was in the bath…’ She tugged the offending garment around her more closely. ‘I wasn’t expecting anyone to call this evening.’

‘Weren’t you?’ He lifted a dark brow. ‘Mrs Carter said something needed to be done quickly—that’s why I’m here.’

Pulling in a deep breath, she took a step back, and said, ‘You had better come in.’

A hint of amusement flared in his grey eyes. ‘Thank you, I will.’

He was enjoying her confusion and that sent a spark of irritation racing along her spine. Why was she forever on the wrong foot with him?

Megan showed him the way into the living room, and then stood and stared at Sam. ‘I had no idea that you were the owner of this place,’ she said awkwardly. Then, regaining a little confidence, she added with a flash of her blue eyes, ‘When you mentioned this accomodation, you didn’t say that it was your flat that I would be renting. I would have thought you’d let me know.’

Sam shrugged. ‘Would it have made a difference? It didn’t seem to me to be all that important at the time. You told me that you were looking for somewhere to stay and I simply pointed you in this direction. I wanted to make sure that things went smoothly at work, and that nothing could interfere with the day-to-day running of the unit.’ He grimaced. ‘It doesn’t do to have colleagues overloaded with problems in their everyday lives. There’s enough for them to concentrate on at the hospital, without their home life intruding.’

‘I think you should trust me to do my job properly,’ she said stiffly. ‘I’m perfectly able to decide for myself what needs to be done to make my private life run smoothly. Perhaps you should concentrate on your responsibilities as a landlord?’

Something flared in his grey eyes as her barb struck home. ‘You could be right about that.’ He went on briskly, ‘Let’s sort the problem out, shall we? You rang Mrs Carter to complain about the work that has been going on here, and she said that there had been some kind of accident. Would you like to tell me about it?’

‘I wasn’t objecting to the work,’ she pointed out in a cool tone. ‘After all, I took this place on knowing full well that it was still being refurbished.’

He nodded. ‘Yes. That was how I understood the situation. That’s why I was rather surprised that you needed to get in touch with me so soon. So, tell me, what went wrong?’