The Playboy Doctor

‘Alleluia,’ he muttered, and she lifted her chin and walked to the door, glancing over her shoulder as she tugged it open.

‘Don’t think that the subject is closed. You had no right to change my arrangements for night calls without discussing it with me. This is my practice and from now on I make the decisions.’

With that she walked through the door and marched up the stairs, slamming what must have been her bedroom door firmly behind her.

* * *

The next morning Joanna stared at the packed waiting room in disbelief.

‘Where have they all come from?’ she asked Laura in horror. ‘How can all these people suddenly have become ill overnight?’

‘They’re not ill,’ Laura said with a giggle. ‘They’ve just seen that incredible car in the car park and they’ve come to take a look at the owner! Talking of which, where is he?’

‘I have no idea,’ Joanna said shortly, picking up the post and flicking through it quickly. ‘I’d assumed he’d be here to start surgery, but doubtless—’

‘I am here.’ Seb’s deep voice came from behind her and she turned, her sharp retort dying on her lips as she met those cool blue eyes.

‘Good. We’re going to be busy,’ she said stiffly, and he gave a careless shrug.

‘I can cope with busy. I assume you just want me to see George’s patients?’

‘Yes—thank you. Laura will help you if you have any problems,’ she said, and then gritted her teeth as she noticed the adoring look on Laura’s face. Oh, for heaven’s sake! What was it about the man that turned her entire sex into fools?

‘Anything at all you need, Dr Macaulay,’ Laura was saying breathlessly. ‘Anything at all, just give me a shout.’

Her meaning was crystal clear but Seb’s response was suitably neutral.

‘Thanks, Laura.’

Neutral or not, Joanna wasn’t prepared to take any chances.

She nodded to Laura and then followed him through to his consulting room. ‘Just one more thing, Seb.’

He settled himself at George’s desk and flicked on the computer. ‘What’s that?’

Joanna steeled herself. ‘Please, don’t seduce my receptionist. Laura is very young and very impressionable. She couldn’t possibly cope with a man like you.’

There was a long silence and then his eyes lifted to hers. ‘A man like me.’ His mouth twitched slightly. ‘As I said last night, you know nothing about the sort of man I am.’

‘I know that you’re the sort of outwardly flashy, macho male that girls like Laura fantasise about.’

Just as she had about Charlie when she’d been Laura’s age.

She almost laughed at her own thoughts. Laura’s age? The truth was that she wasn’t that much older than Laura was—she just felt it.

Joanna rubbed her aching temples with slim fingers. Goodness, she was tired. One undisturbed night didn’t seem to have made any difference at all to the way she felt.

Seb’s handsome face was expressionless and for once he didn’t answer her.

She took a deep breath and tried again. ‘I accept that you’re not responsible for the fact that women throw themselves at you. I’m just asking you not to give her any encouragement.’

Finally he spoke. ‘Did I give her any encouragement just now?’

She hesitated. ‘No, but—’

‘And I don’t intend to,’ he said quietly, leaning forward in his chair and returning his attention to his computer. ‘Relax, Joanna. And don’t worry about Laura. If it becomes a problem, I’ll take care of it.’

Joanna licked dry lips. ‘She’s got a massive crush on you already.’

‘Then I’ll handle it,’ he said calmly, his eyes flickering down the list of patients who’d booked to see him. ‘It won’t be the first time, trust me.’

She could well believe that. Women had always behaved really foolishly around Seb, and it was fairly easy to see why. He was rich and breathtakingly good-looking—qualities enough for most women.

But not her. She knew better.

‘All right, then, I’ll leave you to get on with your surgery. If you have any problems during your surgery, press the top right-hand button on the phone—it connects with my room.’

She gave Seb a brief nod and left the room, eager to get on with her own surgery.

Her first patient was Vera Peters, an eighty-two-year-old lady whom she saw from time to time with minor illnesses.

‘Hello, Mrs Peters, have a seat.’ She greeted the old lady warmly, wondering what the problem was. There were no clues in the notes. ‘What can I do for you today?’

‘My skin has flared up again,’ Mrs Peters grumbled, ‘It’s really causing me problems.’

Joanna examined her carefully and gave a nod. ‘I can give you some cream for that,’ she said quickly, tapping away at the computer. After a few moments a prescription issued from the printer.

‘Well, that was simple,’ the old lady muttered, taking the prescription with a nod of thanks. ‘I wish you could do something about my John as easily as that.’

‘John? Your husband?’ Joanna knew that the couple lived in one of the flats on the edge of the village. From what she knew, they seemed to manage very well. ‘What’s the matter with him, Mrs Peters?’

‘He’s stealing,’ Vera Peters said crossly, clutching her handbag firmly on her lap and pursing her lips. ‘That’s what’s wrong. He’s stealing everything in sight.’

‘Stealing?’ Joanna looked at her in astonishment, surprised by the violence in the old lady’s voice as much as by what she was saying. She’d always thought of her as a very gentle sort, the last person in the world to be aggressive. ‘What’s he stealing, Mrs Peters?’

‘Things that aren’t his.’ Her fingers tightened on the handbag. ‘Last week he took my handbag, this week it’s my coat. I suppose he thought I wouldn’t notice, with the weather being so hot, but he was wrong! I did notice.’

At least the man wasn’t on the rampage in the local shops.

Joanna cleared her throat, trying to clarify what she’d just heard. ‘So you’re saying that your husband is stealing things from you?’

‘Yes!’ Vera glared at Joanna and then thumped her fist on the desk. ‘And it’s got to stop. And it’s not just stealing. Sometimes he moves things just to annoy me.’

Sensing that the old woman was very upset, Joanna reached across the table and gave her hand a squeeze, her voice gentle. ‘What does he move, Mrs Peters?’