Fever Cure

by Phillipa Ashley

  Keira lifted a hand and waved. Carrie was hobbling over, the train of her wedding gown draped over one arm.

  Keira hugged her warmly. “Carrie, you look sensational.”

  “Thanks,” said Carrie, giggling. “You look very nice too. That’s what Matt’s Uncle Lionel says anyway, though I think ‘fit’ was the word he used.”

  Keira pulled a face. “That’s just what I need—a geriatric stalker. You’ll have to get me his phone number at the rest home. Come on, give us a twirl.”

  “Oh, okay, then. If you absolutely insist.”

  “I do.”

  A fortune in silk and beading rustled and sparkled as Carrie spun round. Keira felt a rush of pleasure. No matter what had happened to her, she couldn’t be cynical for long. It just wasn’t her style, and Carrie did look absolutely gorgeous. Gorgeous and happy. She smiled. “It’s a beautiful dress, Mrs. Landor. Shame about the groom.”

  “Mrs. Landor. Oh gosh, that makes me feel like a Victorian matriarch,” said Carrie, grinning. “As for Matt, someone had to take him on.” She paused for a moment, turning towards the bar. “Oh, but Keira, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

  Keira glanced over her shoulders and felt her heart drop twenty floors. Bearing down on them were the groom, Matt Landor, and Tom Carew. Worse, Carrie was up to something, and you didn’t have to be a genius to work out what.

  “Keira. This is Tom. The Honourable Doctor Thomas Edmund Jasper Carew, actually. He and Matt have been working together for Volunteers Abroad, the medical charity.”

  Surely not… Honourable? A doctor? Keira wanted to curl up and die. She’d dropped her pants in front of a lord. Well, virtually a lord.

  “Dishonourable, more like.” Matt laughed, slapping Tom on the back.

  Tom’s mouth twitched in embarrassment. Well, thought Keira, that made two of them.

  “And this, Tom darling, is Ms. Keira Grayson, a friend from school.”

  Carrie’s voice was a little too high and excited, which meant she’d spotted a matchmaking opportunity and was going to make the most of it. It hadn’t taken her friend long to turn into Mrs. Bennet

  Keira felt the blood rushing to her face as Tom offered his hand. “Pleased to meet you. Do I need to curtsey?”

  His eyes glinted. “Only if you feel the need.”

  His fingers were every bit as strong as she’d remembered from the churchyard, and in the dim light of the hotel bar, the scars were barely visible unless you were looking for them. Don’t stare, she’d have told her pupils; it’s rude.

  “Actually, we’ve already met,” he said, gazing down at her with a wicked gleam in his eye.

  Now why wasn’t there a convenient chasm around when you wanted one? A nice big pit you could disappear into completely. Please don’t tell them about the pants, she pleaded silently.

  “We bumped into each other before the ceremony.”

  Her insides began to liquefy.

  “Keira mislaid something from her bag, and I picked it up.”

  Was that strangled sound really coming from her?

  “Absolutely.” He looked directly into her eyes as she held her breath. “I found her mobile from the church steps.”

  The tension ebbed away. Her shoulders slumped. It was all she could do to keep from letting out a cry of relief.

  Carrie beamed. “Wasn’t that nice of Tom?”

  “Very…noble,” Keira muttered through gritted teeth, still feeling the warm cradling of his palm around her fingers.

  “Tom’s a GP at the health centre,” offered Carrie.

  Keira shot him a hard stare. “Really?”

  Now just what was an aristocrat doing working in the local NHS clinic? It just didn’t figure. But then, Tom Carew was full of surprises.

  “So you’re a teacher?” he asked.

  She just couldn’t resist it. Sorry, but it had to be done. He’d enjoyed himself at her expense once too often today.

  She raised her glass to him. “Well observed.”

  He gave a mock bow in return. “A teacher and a comedian. It must be my lucky day.”

  Carrie gathered up her train. “We must go. My new in-laws await. Don’t forget to ask Tom to tell you about his work in Papua. It’s fascinating.”

  Carrie offered her cheek to be kissed, and Tom duly obliged, brushing her face with his lips and giving a bone-melting smile. It brought brightness to his eyes, a softening of his expression that made him look… The only way of describing it was “at home”. Yes, that was it. Comfortable, rather than edgy and uptight.

  “Fancy a pint, mate?” asked Matt.

  “No, he doesn’t,” said Carrie firmly, laying a hand on her new husband’s arm.

  “You go ahead,” said Tom. “I’ll join you in a moment.”

  Keira waved her hand as Carrie dragged Matt off, cringing inside. Why did brides try to fix you up? As if they could somehow inject you with a dose of their happiness and good fortune. Well, fairy tales didn’t happen, especially not to the likes of her, and definitely not with minor aristocracy.

  She couldn’t help glancing down at her bare toes. What must Tom think of her? No shoes, grubby feet, and he already knew—or thought he knew—what kind of underwear she wore. Well, she thought, two could play at that game, and she’d have bet fifty quid he’d got silk boxers on. They’d be black, of course, and clinging tightly to the contours of his firm backside. Suddenly, the urge to press her legs together was overwhelming. Fire shot through her as the image blew her brain. Tom, slipping his shorts over his thighs, the silk slithering over the powerful muscles she knew lay underneath.

  “Can I get you some champagne?” he asked.

  “Um. Oh yes. Yes, please.” So he was staying, then. He was probably just being polite.

  He called to a passing waiter, completely oblivious that he’d turned her mind to mush. “Could we have some champagne, please?”

  The waiter held out a silver tray. “Of course, sir.”

  He was offering her a crystal flute, holding it by the stem to keep the wine chilled.

  “So, you’re working as a GP at the health centre?” she asked, taking the glass carefully from his scarred hands. A cold bead of condensation slid down the stem and onto her fingertips.

  “That’s right,” said Tom, helping himself to an orange juice.

  Keira took a gulp of her wine. “Are you staying long in the city?”

  “Not if I can possibly help it.”

  She was momentarily floored. She hadn’t expected him to be rude; hadn’t seemed his style. She sipped her drink delicately and tried to keep her voice even, giving him another chance. “Is it that bad being back in London?”

  “No, it isn’t. Look, I’m sorry. I was rather rude just then.”

  “Yes, you were. In fact, if you were in my class, I’d really have to send you to the naughty corner,” said Keira in between unwisely large gulps of wine.

  Tom raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure the naughty corner is politically incorrect these days,” he said.

  Keira downed another large mouthful. “It is, but I think I could reinstate it, especially for you.”

  He’d done it again. Made her breasts prickle against the lace of her bra. She couldn’t get the image out of her mind. The one that had Tom stripped naked and standing in front of her desk with a half smile on his lips, waiting for her command… What on earth had they put in this champagne?

  His expression was deadpan. “Okay. I have apologised, but I can go to the naughty corner if you really want me to.”

  She shifted uncomfortably, trying not to imagine Tom pinning her to the wall of the stationery cupboard, lifting up her skirt, his hands tugging down her knickers, his mouth settling over her nipples.

  “That won’t be necessary,” she said, sounding prim as triple X-rated fantasies rampaged through her mind.

  He was a doctor. She might have known he had an understanding of when people weren’t telling him the truth. His face softened. “I should explai
n. What I meant to say is, it’s not that I have an allergy to the locals. It’s just that I’m only here for a few months. I’m working a short-term contract at the health centre; then I’m going back to Papua. This situation is merely temporary.”

  “Oh.”

  Temporary. Tom had just stood her under the power jet and turned the setting to “icy blast”. She might have known that meeting him was too good to be true.

  “That will be a loss to your patients.”

  He set his empty glass down on the table. “I’m sure they can’t wait to see the back of me. I don’t think I’m what they were expecting.”

  The silence was thick, filled only by the sharp scent of Tom’s aftershave and her heart, beating slow and hard. “You made a nice speech,” she said, trying to shift the conversation to more neutral territory. “It was very…sincere.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Short too.”

  “Now you’re teasing me, Ms. Grayson.” His eyes sparkled sexily, making the blood beat in her head.

  She gulped down another mouthful of fizz, hoping it would stop her feeling all shivery inside. “I’m not teasing you,” she said as bubbles burst on her tongue. “It really was very good. I mean it was witty and funny, but you managed to avoid any jokes about ex-lovers or tales about the groom dropping his trousers on a boozy night out.”

  “You know,” said Tom, “I don’t actually recall Matt losing his trousers. Then again, there was plenty of stuff I left out. Theft of traffic signs comes to mind, and there was an incident with a sheep… I didn’t think it would go down well with his new in-laws.”

  “You’re the soul of discretion, then?”

  “It is rather useful if you’re a doctor. You have to keep a lot of secrets, Keira, be they great big ones or little tiny ones.”

  She felt her cheeks warming again as he gave her that look that felt like an MRI of her innermost thoughts.

  “So you’ve been working in the rainforest. Carrie said it was in Papua New Guinea, at the station where Matt used to be a doctor?”

  “That’s right.”

  He beckoned to the waiter again and selected an orange juice from the tray. Keira shook her head. No way did she need any more stimulants.

  “How come you got to do that?” she asked. “Was it an exchange visit?”

  “Absolutely. It was with a medical charity. They send health professionals to places where they’re most needed.”

  “Papua sounds incredible. All those mountains, the jungle, the tribal culture.”

  He lifted his eyebrows. “Most people in the UK have never heard of it.”

  She laughed at his assumption. “There’s no need to sound quite so surprised. I am a teacher. We’ve been studying Melanesia with the children.”

  Then he paused and looked hard at her. “Really? And what have you discovered?”

  “Well—”

  His dark eyes sparkled in the half-light. “I can see I’m going to have to be firm with you, Ms. Grayson, or I’ll never get anything out of you. Come on!”

  “But…”

  “No buts. You’re coming with me.”

  He dumped his glass on a table and grabbed her free hand in his. Not gently, either, but firmly, his hand warm and confident around hers. Her head whirled like disco lights, and her heart thudded out a bass line. All because The Honourable Dr. Tom Carew was dragging her towards a darkened room, her body was zinging like she’d been rubbed down with a hot chili, and she didn’t want to do a damn thing about it.

  Chapter Two

  “Tom, hold on a minute!”

  “Don’t worry,” he said, tugging her to an empty table in a dark corner of the function room. “Contrary to appearances, I really don’t bite.”

  He let go of her hand and pulled back a chair. “Sit down, please.”

  She was open-mouthed as he slipped off his morning jacket and hooked it over the back of the chair. Even in the half-light, the breadth of his shoulders and the narrowness of his waist almost snatched her breath away. His brocade waistcoat hugged his body like a second skin. Why did formal clothes do that for a man? Even Mr. Average could look half decent in a frock coat and cravat. As for a man like Tom, six feet plus of dangerous sensuality… Well, it just shouldn’t be allowed.

  “Sit down.”

  “Not until you tell me what you’re doing.”

  “Please.”

  She sat. Then watched as he settled his long, lean frame into a seat and leaned back. He looked absolutely, totally, infuriatingly at ease.

  “Now, Ms. Grayson. I want to know just what you’ve been teaching your students about Papua New Guinea.”

  “This isn’t fair! You’ve actually lived there.”

  “Yes, but I want to hear your version of the story.”

  “It’s not a version. It’s accurate. We only have pictures and DVDs and the Internet, of course. None of us has actually visited the area, but we’ve been using it to help the children learn about geography and art and biology. Exploring different ways of life…”

  “Fascinating,” he said, leaning on the table and resting his chin on his hand. “Do go on.”

  “No way. Not if you’re going to be sarcastic again.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  He bestowed one of his half smiles on her. She wished he wouldn’t. And there was something else. Even though she felt like a pupil being tested on her times table or French verbs, she also felt like—well, like Tom Carew was flirting with her.

  Which was annoying.

  And ridiculous.

  And sexy.

  “Let’s hear it, then, Ms. Grayson. I’m waiting.”

  He sat back in his chair and folded his arms, eyes glinting in the half-light of the room. Oh, why was he doing this? Suddenly, she knew that whatever she said, however accurate, however confident she sounded, he was going to shoot her down in flames.

  And right now, she longed to be burned.

  She held his gaze, daring him to look away. “Papua New Guinea is part of the largest non-continental island in the Pacific. It has more than six hundred islands and is south of the equator.” Keira paused, wondering why the leather seat of her chair had become so warm.

  “Carry on. Full marks so far.”

  She moistened her lips. “This is so not fair.”

  “Just get on with it.” The corners of his mouth twitched encouragingly in a smile. “Just get on with it—please,” he added.

  “Okay. You asked for it. The capital is called Port Moresby, and the terrain is made up of reef-fringed lowlands and some very big mountains, and there are also some active volcanoes and earthquakes and…” It all came out in a rush, as excitedly and incoherently as any child in her class. This was ridiculous. She was a grown woman. She could silence thirty chattering tongues with one word. Tame aggressive fathers with a single sentence. Yet here she was, dissolving into jelly in front of one man.

  “Very impressive. I’d say you’d have got ten out of ten for that. Even from my old Latin master. However, aren’t you missing the point somewhat?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Facts are all very well, but they can’t possibly tell the real story, can they? The beauty of the landscape, the wildlife, the people…the sounds, sheer colour of it…” His eyes were drawn to the windows, where the October evening had already turned dark. “The culture is so diverse and rich. Each community has different needs. You can’t generalize. Your children need to really experience what living in Papua is like. Amazing, vibrant, challenging.”

  Keira sat, transfixed, feeling the warmth in his voice.

  Tom frowned. “I’m sorry. I must be boring you.”

  “Oh no.”

  With a voice like his, he could have made the telephone directory sound like poetry. “No, on the contrary, please go on,” she said. “Don’t stop there. What was it like? Working in such a strange place, so far from home?”

  “An honour,” he shot back. “Tough and challenging, bu
t a great privilege. To help the people out there. I mean, the contrast with here is incredible, and some of the facilities are rudimentary outside the main centres of population. But the people are so generous and courageous. I learned so much from them. Far more than they ever got from me,” he added ruefully.

  “And you can’t wait to go back.”

  “Is it that obvious?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  He nodded, and Keira suddenly knew. The realization made her feel cold. It meant that much to him, then, his work, the people. It was an impossible act to compete with, a desire that fierce. For anyone, especially an ordinary teacher from the suburbs. And there was something she wanted to ask, needed the answer to, and she didn’t know why it mattered so much, it just did.

  “Why did you come back? Why are you here working in a city doctor’s surgery sorting out people’s bunions and colds?”

  She saw the ironic twist of the mouth, already recognizing the signal when he felt awkward or challenged. “To be fair, most patients present with more serious problems than that.”

  “I know. That was meant to be a joke.”

  “Sorry. My sense of humour went into cardiac arrest.”

  Now she got the full-on smile. The relaxing of the jaw that transformed his whole expression from harsh to almost gentle. She watched as his fingers stroked his glass, wiping away the condensation. What would it be like to be touched by those fingers that had known so much…

  She tingled all over, from her toes to her breasts, which had suddenly become heavy with desire. Look what he could do to her, this private man she was speaking to so intimately. For she sensed it was intimate, the way he was letting her inside his head.

  “You asked me why I came back,” he replied. “Simple, really. My two-year posting came to an end, and I wanted to experience another culture. Just as fascinating in its own way, and difficult at times, but not quite the same.”

  Tom hoped Keira couldn’t see the slight tremor in his hand brought on by his being slightly economical with the truth. But sometimes wasn’t it better to give people half a story? How could he tell a girl he’d only just met the real reason he was back home? How could he confess the truth—that if he had his way, he would be back in the rainforest right now?