Sheltered by Her Top-Notch Boss

‘All right, then. Bye.’ She couldn’t quite understand the expression on his face, a mixture of disbelief and conjecture, and it was only after James had gone that it finally dawned on her … he thought Jayden was her child. But he’d gone, without giving her a chance to explain.

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_8f3b57e1-c1d0-538c-bee4-7cd6dcfa27e5)

‘IS THERE SOMETHING on your mind?’ Lewis studied Ellie thoughtfully as they walked together towards A and E. ‘What’s wrong? Is it something to do with your TV programme? You look worried.’

‘Do I?’ Ellie covered her feelings with an attempt at a smile. ‘No, I’m not worried. Everything’s fine.’ And that was true, at least as far as her TV career was concerned. She was to record the next programme in the series in a few days’ time.

As to the rest, things were unravelling fast, and she couldn’t begin to tell him about that—where would she start? With the fact that in the last few days she’d discovered that her hospital career was under a cloud, or that her boss was the very last person she’d want to work with? Or maybe she could blame her troubles on the cryptic text message she’d received from Noah that morning—one that had left her wondering what on earth was about to explode in her face and cause all manner of fallout. He must have sent it yesterday, but she’d been busy looking after Jayden and hadn’t checked her messages.

Things are on the up and up. Just had a huge scoop—the Sunday Supplement printed myarticle and photo exposé about the Birchenalls. Will get a copy to you.

Despite her bad feelings towards Lord Birchenall, she would never have condoned putting forward any piece of writing that drew a negative picture of his family. It wasn’t in her to take that kind of revenge.

Unfortunately, though, it looked as though she was too late to put the brakes on Noah. Today was Monday, which meant the paper had already gone out. Whatever the article contained, it didn’t sound good, and she could only hope James hadn’t seen it.

‘Is it to do with your meeting with Amelia Holt tomorrow?’ Lewis persisted. ‘It must be on your mind.’

‘I suppose it is, but I’m trying not to think about it.’

‘I can understand that.’ He glanced at her. ‘Perhaps we could have lunch together tomorrow, and you can tell me all about it?

She nodded. She certainly didn’t want to talk about any of her problems to Lewis, though, so she did her best to change the subject as they walked into the emergency unit.

‘How is Lily getting on?’ she asked. ‘I went to see her over the weekend, and although she hid it from Jayden, it seemed to me she was a bit down.’

Jayden had been overjoyed to see his mother. He’d given her a picture he’d made, showing her sitting up in bed, with a teddy bear of her own to cheer her up. He’d beamed brightly when she’d given him a hug and a kiss in exchange.

Lewis pulled a face. ‘It’s only to be expected, I suppose. She has an intravenous drip to contend with, she’s not enjoying the enforced rest, and she wants to be with her child. And, of course, her husband’s still away. That can’t be good for her peace of mind, and it has a bad effect on her blood pressure.’

Ellie frowned. ‘He offered to come straight home from Switzerland to be with her, but she was worried about the effect on the business. He owns the company, so it’s their livelihood. Unfortunately he’s had to deal with a lot of difficult situations in the Swiss branch lately.’

‘That’s bound to cause a conflict of loyalties, I suppose.’

She nodded. ‘I told her I’m okay looking after Jayden, and she hasn’t gone into labour, so she told him to finish what he went there for. He says he’s going to come over here to be with her and then go back to work next day. Of course, they talk all the time on the phone, so that helps.’

‘Well, we seem to have stabilised her condition for now, but I’m keeping her on bed rest—her blood pressure does vary and we need to keep it down. As soon as I feel the time is right, we’ll deliver her baby by Caesarean section.’

‘At least I know she’s in safe hands.’

He smiled and said teasingly, ‘You know I’m taking extra-special care of her just because she’s your friend.’

Ellie laughed and they parted company as she set out to work her way down her list of patients and Lewis went off to answer his pager call.

James watched her approach the desk. He was there looking through a sheaf of papers, and as she came closer she saw they were lab reports.

‘Hi, there,’ she greeted him, but he only nodded in return, his eyes half-closed as he watched Lewis head towards one of the treatment bays. She looked at him in confusion. That wasn’t the reaction she’d expected. Again she had the feeling that there was some reason he didn’t want her being friendly with Lewis. Or was there something more to it?

‘I have to go out,’ he said, ‘so perhaps you could deal with the angina patient in room three?’ His tone was curt and she sent him a quick glance. His whole body was taut, she noticed, and a muscle was flexing in his jaw.

‘Okay.’ She frowned. ‘Will you be coming back at all today?’

‘I don’t know. My father was taken ill yesterday, and just now I had a call to say he’s taken a turn for the worse. I have to go and be with him.’

‘Oh, I’m so sorry,’ she said, a flood of sympathy washing over her. ‘That must be worrying for you.’ A horrible thought struck her. Had he seen the Sunday papers?

He didn’t answer her, but his smoke-dark gaze met hers like the lash of a whip, and she felt her throat go dry.

‘James …’

‘I’ve examined the patient briefly and he has unstable angina. He’ll probably need to be scheduled for cardiac catheterisation as soon as possible. I’ve given him blood-thinning medication, but he’ll need a beta-blocker and—’

‘I’ll see to it,’ she cut in. ‘Really, you don’t need to be concerned. I’ll do everything necessary.’ Didn’t he trust her? Was he having second thoughts about her competency now that Mel had made an official complaint?

‘I’m not concerned. Not about that, at any rate.’

‘Then what is it that’s troubling you?’

‘Perhaps you should talk to your brother about that. His article in the Sunday paper wasn’t even based on truth—my father’s business dealings are all above board. He would never harass anyone. And as for myself, what gives him the right to lay out my private life in the tabloids for all to see? What he did was irresponsible—unforgivable—especially given my father’s precarious state of health.’

He dropped the papers back in the tray and strode away before she could answer him. All at once her stomach felt like lead. So he had seen the newspaper. Now, more than ever, she wanted to know what Noah had written.

‘He’s well and truly put out, isn’t he?’ Olivia said, frowning, as she came to look at a patient’s file. She pushed a stray lock of fair hair behind her ear. ‘I’ve not seen him like that before—mind you, if you’ve seen the paper … I guess you must have—there’s a copy in the staff lounge.’

‘I haven’t seen it,’ Ellie answered quietly. ‘What’s it all about?’

‘Well, it’s to do with both him and his father. James has this upper-crust girlfriend, Sophie Granger—’

‘He does?’ Unexpectedly, Ellie’s heart plummeted. It hadn’t occurred to her that James was spoken for. But why would he not be involved? After all, he was an extremely eligible man.

Olivia nodded. ‘She’s from a well-to-do family—you know the sort of thing, born to money. They’re close friends of the Birchenalls, apparently. Anyway, there were several photos of him with her, but then there are also pictures of him leaving a private dinner party with another beautiful young woman. The article sort of makes him sound like a philanderer.’