Sydney Harbour Hospital: Lexi's Secret

‘Is Evie seeing someone?’ Lexi asked feeling a little piqued that she hadn’t been told by Evie herself. ‘I was under the impression there’s been no one since she broke things off with Stuart … what was it? Two years ago?’

‘I heard one of the nurses talking about Evie and Finn Kennedy,’ Bella said.

Lexi laughed. ‘Finn Kennedy? Are you out of your mind? He’s the last person I would have picked for Evie. He’s so grumpy and brooding. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile.’

‘He’s very kind to patients,’ Bella said in his defence. ‘And he’s smiled at me lots of times.’

‘In my opinion Finn Kennedy has a chip on his shoulder that it’d take an industrial crane to shift,’ Lexi said. ‘I hope to goodness Evie knows what she’s doing. The last thing we need in the Lockheart family is another difficult person to deal with.’

There was a small silence.

‘Has Mum been in to see you?’ Lexi asked.

Bella’s shoulders slumped a little further as she shook her head. ‘You know what she’s like …’

Lexi gave Bella’s hand another little squeeze. ‘I wish I could change places with you, Bells,’ she said sincerely. ‘I hate seeing you suffer … I hate the thought of losing you.’

Bella gave her a wobbly smile. ‘I guess that’s in Sam Bailey’s hands now, isn’t it?’

CHAPTER THREE

IT WAS a week later when Lexi ran into Sam again—literally. She was coming out of the hospital cafeteria with a latte in one hand while she texted a message on her phone in the other when she rammed into his broad chest. It was like stepping into a six-foot-two brick wall. The coffee cup lid didn’t survive the impact and the milky liquid splashed all over the front of Sam’s crisp white shirt.

He let out a short, sharp expletive.

Lexi looked up in horror. ‘Oops, sorry,’ she said. ‘I didn’t see you. I was … um, multitasking.’

He plucked at his shirt to keep it away from his chest. ‘This is a busy hospital, not a social networking site,’ he said.

Lexi put up her chin. ‘If you had looked where you were going, you could’ve avoided me,’ she shot back.

‘You could’ve burned me,’ he said.

‘Did I burn you?’

‘No, but that’s not the point.’

‘It is the point,’ she said. ‘There’s no damage other than a stained shirt, which I will take full responsibility for.’

He gave her a mocking look. ‘You mean you’ll hand it to one of the Lockheart lackeys to launder for you?’

Lexi ground her teeth as she looked up at him. Why today of all days had she worn ballet flats? He seemed to tower over her and it put her at a distinct disadvantage. She was faced with his stubbly chin and had to crane her neck to reach his chocolate-brown eyes. ‘I’ll see to it that your shirt is returned to you spotless,’ she said.

‘I can hardly take it off and give it to you in the middle of the busiest corridor of the hospital,’ he pointed out dryly.

‘Then we’ll have to arrange a handover time,’ she said. ‘What time do you finish today?’

He scraped a hand through his hair. ‘Look, forget about it,’ he said. ‘I have my own laundry service.’

‘No, I insist,’ Lexi said. ‘I wasn’t looking where I was going.’

‘I’m sure you have much better things to do than wash and iron my shirt,’ Sam said.

‘Like paint my nails?’ she said with an arch look.

He shifted his mouth from side to side. ‘OK, round one to you,’ he said. ‘I had no idea you were so actively involved in raising funds for the unit.’

‘I did tell you I was Head of Events.’

‘Yes, but I didn’t know you had been responsible for raising over five hundred thousand dollars last year.’

‘I’m going to double that by the end of this year,’ Lexi said. ‘You can make a donation if you like. I’ll give you the website address. You can pay online. All donations over two dollars are tax deductible.’

Sam was starting to see why she had been chosen for the job. Who could resist her when she laid on the Lockheart charm? She looked especially gorgeous today. She was several inches shorter than usual. But she still smelled as delicious as ever. That intriguing mix of flowers and essential oils teased his nostrils. She was dressed in grey trousers and a loose-fitting white cotton shirt with a camisole underneath that hugged her pert breasts. She had dangling earrings in her ears; they caught the light every now and again, making him think of the sun sparkling on the ocean. It had been her brightness that had attracted him like a moth to a flame all those years ago. He had been drawn to her bubbly nature; her positive outlook on life was such a contrast to his more guarded, introverted approach. She had flirted with him outrageously at a charity dinner held by her father in honour of the hospital. Sam hadn’t realised who she was at the time, and he often wondered if he would have taken things as far as he had if he had known she was Richard Lockheart’s youngest daughter. He couldn’t answer that with any certainty, even now.

Put simply, she had been utterly irresistible.

With her stunning looks, charm and at-ease-in-any-company personality, he had temporarily lost sight of his goal. He had compromised everything to be with her because that was the effect she’d had on him.

But finding out the truth about how she had used him had made him cynical and less willing to open his heart in subsequent relationships. He dated regularly but commitment was something he avoided. Friends of his were marrying and having families now but he had no plans to join them any time soon. He didn’t want to end up like his father, loving someone so much that he couldn’t function properly without them.

His gaze drifted to Lexi’s sparkling engagement ring. He felt a ridge come up in his throat as he pictured her walking down the aisle towards that nameless, faceless man. She would be smiling radiantly, looking amazingly beautiful, blissfully happy to be marrying the man she loved.

Engaged.

The word was a jarring reminder.

Lexi was engaged.

The three words were a life sentence.

Sam gave himself a mental shake. ‘I’ll get my secretary to make a donation on my behalf,’ he said. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me …’ He pushed against the fire-escape door with his shoulder.

‘There is a lift, you know,’ Lexi said.

‘Yes, I know, but I prefer the exercise.’

She glanced at the lift again before returning her gaze to where Sam was holding the fire-escape door open. She gave him a tight little smile that had a hint of stubbornness to it and brushed past him to make her way up the stairs. He felt his body kick start like a racing-car engine when her slim hip brushed against his thigh. It was probably not deliberate as there wasn’t a lot of space to spare. She went ahead of him up the stairs, another bad idea in spite of it being chivalrous on his part. He got a perfect view of her neat bottom and long legs as she made her way up. He tried not to think of those long legs wrapped around him in passion and that beautiful hair of hers flung out over his pillow.

He had lain awake for the last week, sifting through every moment he had spent with her five years ago. From the very first second when her blue gaze had met his across that crowded room he had felt the lightning strike of physical attraction. It had rooted him to the spot. He had felt like a starstruck fan meeting their idol for the first time. He had barely been able to string a few words together when she approached him. Whatever he had said must have amused her for he remembered the tinkling bell of her laugh and how it had made his skin lift in a shiver.

They had left the gathering together and they had barely surfaced from his tiny flat for the next two weeks. For the first time during his career he had neglected his studies. The thick surgical textbooks had sat on his desk opposite his bed, staring at him in a surly silence. And he had pointedly ignored them while he had indulged in an affair that had been so hot and erotic he could hardly believe it had been happening to him. The physical intensity of it had surpassed anything before or since. He had relished every moment with Lexi in his arms. She had been an adventurous and enthusiastic, even at times playful lover. He suspected she’d had a fair bit of experience, perhaps much more than him, but they hadn’t talked about it. Looking back, he realised she hadn’t said much about herself at all, even though he had tried to draw her out several times. In hindsight he could see why she had been so reluctant to reveal herself to him emotionally. There had been no emotional commitment on her part. She had simply wanted to create a storm with her father and had used him to summon up the thunderclouds.

‘Why did you pretend we didn’t know each other last week when you were visiting Bella?’ Lexi asked, stopping in mid-climb to look back at him over her shoulder.

Sam almost ran into the back of her. He felt the warmth of her body and got another delicious waft of her perfume. ‘I didn’t think it was wise to advertise the fact that we’d once been involved,’ he said.

‘Not good for your career?’ she asked with one of her pert looks.