There was laughter in his voice as they talked. It didn’t sound nearly so rusty these days but it still didn’t happen nearly often enough for her liking.
The trouble was, that deep husky sound was just another facet of the man that set her hormones in an uproar, whatever she tried to do to subdue them.
Take his appearance, for example. How was she supposed to keep her emotions on an even keel when Seth turned up wearing a classic charcoal grey suit with a silk shirt and tie just one shade paler, and then opened the jacket to reveal a tartan waistcoat?
The fact that the tartan exactly matched the long sash she had draped over one shoulder in honour of their Buchanan forebears couldn’t be a coincidence. The fact that he must have deliberately searched it out touched her deeply.
‘I love the waistcoat,’ she murmured when she had the threat of tears under control.
‘Well, it was either this one, the one covered in naked ladies or the hand-embroidered one featuring a forest scene full of jungle animals.’
She gave a gurgle of laughter, instantly diverted. ‘I don’t believe it! Naked ladies?’
‘No, I thought it was too much of a good thing, too. After all, I’m seeing them all day,’ he said with wicked nonchalance. ‘Actually, that’s why my brother gave it to me…when I told him what specialty I was thinking of.’
‘You mean it actually exists!’
‘Do you doubt it? Perhaps you want me to wear it to work one day.’
‘Don’t you dare! You’d probably be sacked. It wouldn’t be so bad if it were on your underwear, but a waistcoat…’ She shook her head, still not certain that she believed him.
‘Now you’ve got designs on my underwear?’ he demanded in a scandalised voice, and she was laughing again, marvelling at this new side of his character. In all the weeks that she’d known him she’d never heard him talk in such a flirtatious way. Was it because this was a social event totally separate from their daily work?
Whatever the reason for his light-hearted mood, she was delighted. It was just what she’d needed to stop her dwelling on all the people who couldn’t be here today.
‘Don’t look now, but I think the photographer’s finally finished,’ Seth muttered as the man in question began fitting his precious camera into an expensive-looking case and the small group began to scatter. ‘Is this the point where we can relax and get in our cars?’
‘Only until we get to the hotel. What’s the betting he’ll be lying in wait to get a shot of them cutting the cake?’
‘As long as he doesn’t mind catching me in the background shovelling food in. I’m starving,’ he complained. His stomach chose that precise moment to rumble loudly and Ella was laughing again.
As Ella got ready for the dance that evening her emotions were in turmoil.
She’d spent most of the day in Seth’s company, much of it laughing, but it had been those other times that had left her on edge.
The first time had been when she’d been following Sophia into the little hospital chapel and had realised that, instead of watching the bride, Seth’s eyes had been following her. She’d been too far away to read his expression then, but later, during their meal, she’d noticed several times that there had been another emotion hidden behind the smiles.
Towards the end of the reception he’d stopped to have a word with the newly-weds and it had only been when she’d heard her sister insisting that his presence was essential at the dance that evening that she’d realised that he’d actually been trying to make his excuses.
Now here she was dressed in all her finery with her make-up as perfect as she could make it, and she was scared to join the rest of the wedding party. In fact, she was terrified to find out how much it was going to hurt if Seth wasn’t there.
‘Are you ready, Gabby?’ Sophia called as she tapped on the door.
Ella threw one last look around the room, contemplating the likelihood that she could manufacture a sudden migraine so that she could hide out in these luxurious surroundings.
‘Coward!’ she muttered, straightening her shoulders and lifting her chin. ‘Don’t you dare think about doing anything to spoil Sophia’s day. Anyway, if you’re lucky, you’ll actually be able to claim that dance from Seth.’
She drew in a deep breath and reached for the little credit-card sized piece of plastic that would let her back in at the end of the day.
‘Am I ready?’ she said as she flung the door open. ‘What do you think?’
The first of the guests had already started arriving when the wedding party stepped out of the lift, but the only person Ella saw was Seth.
‘Sorry I didn’t get back in time to escort you from your room,’ he murmured as he offered his arm. ‘I had a visit to make and was delayed.’
Ella was so relieved that he was there that it was several moments before she realised how tense he was. The muscles in his arm felt like iron, almost as though he was having to steel himself against her touch.
‘Seth?’ she whispered uncertainly, loosening her hold on him.
‘Shh,’ he whispered back, similarly conscious that they were now being ushered into a reception line and their words might be overheard.
He caught her hand in his and replaced it on his arm with a gentle squeeze. ‘I’m sorry. Problems on my mind. I should learn to switch off.’
He smiled down at her but, although he was trying hard to hide it, she was becoming too adept at reading him to miss his preoccupation.
There was no chance for any further private conversation as they were submerged under a series of waves of colleagues, each eager to greet the newlyweds. By the time they reached Ella and Seth on the end they were ready to talk shop and it didn’t take very long before the formality of a reception line degenerated into a happy welcoming mêlée.
Finally, David’s father grabbed a glass and tapped it with a knife.
‘I’m not going to make a speech,’ he announced to cheerful laughter, ‘but now that we’ve welcomed Sophia into our family I feel like I can take over some of the duties that her father would have performed. In this case, it’s to invite you all to gravitate towards the buffet whenever you’re ready. After that, we’ll get the two of them to cut the cake and the dancing can begin. In the meantime, we’d like to thank all of you for coming to share this happy day with us.’
The round of applause that followed set the tone for the evening. Everyone Ella spoke to seemed genuinely happy for her sister and were thoroughly enjoying the party.
As predicted, the photographer reappeared just in time to make a full-scale production out of cutting the cake, but Ella barely noticed. She was filled with rapidly growing anticipation as the time for her long-awaited dance with Seth drew nearer.
Her first chance of getting Seth to redeem his promise had been ruined by the announcement of Sophia’s impending wedding. That made it seem somehow fitting that it should finally be fulfilled at that wedding.
Not that she hadn’t tried to claim it in the interim. She’d actually attended the Valentine’s Day dance at the end of a twelve-hour shift in the hope that she might be able to dance with him.
She hadn’t even been sure that he would be there, knowing that he’d disappeared from the unit around six o’clock, muttering something about being late.
As if he’d been waiting for her to arrive, he’d been standing near the door surrounded by a plethora of pink and red hearts and, true to their reinstated friendship, she’d felt perfectly free to walk up to him to claim the next dance.
They’d even got as far as walking onto the floor before his pager had called him away and Ella had begun to wonder if they were fated never to dance together. She’d seen how well he’d moved with other women and couldn’t wait to know the all-too-rare pleasure of partnering a man who really knew how to dance.
The band struck up, beginning with a waltz especially for David and Sophia.
Ella’s eyes prickled as she watched them slowly whirling around the floor together. T
here was an almost dream-like perfection to the scene with the tall blond man in his dark suit cradling the elegant auburn-haired woman in the slender flowing ivory dress.
‘Ready to join them?’ Seth murmured in her ear and Ella’s heart turned a somersault.
It dropped straight into her strappy sandals when she heard a pager go off and realised that it was Seth’s.
‘Not again!’ she wailed as he made his apologies and hurried away.
It was several minutes before he returned, minutes in which Ella had begun to wonder if she was ever going to dance with the man.
‘He isn’t on call, so why was his pager going off?’ she muttered crossly. ‘And why did he even have his pager with him in the first place?’
Her heart leapt anew when she saw him making his way into the room again. She hurried to meet him, eager to claim him at last, but then she saw the expression on his face.
‘Seth?’ she murmured, drawing him unobtrusively to one side. ‘What’s the matter?’
He looked shattered…or battered?
Whatever had happened in the few minutes since he’d left the room, it had obviously hit him hard and her heart went out to him.
‘I’m sorry. It’s…’ He shook his head, clearly unwilling or unable to go on.
‘Bad news?’ She couldn’t think of any patients that would cause this effect. He tended to become more involved than most consultants, probably because he was dealing with something as special as childbirth, but she’d never seen him like this before.
‘Yes,’ he said then paused to sigh heavily. ‘No. Not really, but still…’
‘Is there something you need to do? Somewhere you need to go? Would you like to leave? I could always make your apologies to—’
‘Yes…No…Oh, God, I don’t know,’ he said indecisively, obviously rattled. He shook his head then groaned and ran his fingers through his hair in a gesture of exasperation.
Just then the bandleader announced a Latin selection and Ella’s ears pricked up in spite of the fraught situation with Seth.
His mouth twisted wryly. ‘I promised you a dance months ago, didn’t I? How good are you at Latin-American?’
‘Tango?’ The familiar beat was already making her feet itch.
‘Competition or Argentinian?’ he said, and it sounded almost like throwing down a gauntlet.
‘Oh, Argentinian, every time,’ she replied, surprising herself with a husky laugh. ‘If you think you’re up to it.’
His bow took her by surprise, as did the way he took her hand to lead her out onto the floor. He was a tall dark-haired Englishman, but just for a moment he’d looked every inch the flamboyant Latin, right up to the proud way he held his head.
The tango had been one of the last dances Ella had learned when she’d still had time to go to classes, and it was the one that never failed to stir her senses.
The Argentinian form had developed in a region where the men greatly outnumbered the women, so that the most popular man on the dance floor would be the one who made his partner shine.
For this to happen, the two would have to find some deep elemental connection when they began to move to the music that would allow each to know instinctively what the other wanted.
Ella had heard about this elemental connection but until Seth took her into his arms she had doubted that it really existed.
It was almost like finding the other half to herself, the part that had been missing the whole of her life and without which she would never be complete.
The music swirled around them, the tempo echoing the beat of their hearts as they stepped, swayed and turned in perfect harmony. Every inch of her body was aware of him, their bodies meeting, brushing, taunting in a ritual that evoked more primitive activities.
For several electric beats of the music he held her poised in his arms, her weight pivoted on the ball of one foot while her body draped seductively across his.
Ella gazed up into the mysterious grey of his eyes and when she recognised the searing heat they held she breathed in sharply.
Her senses were teased by the faint scent of the soap he’d used earlier in the day and something more individual, something that belonged just to Seth.
The dance continued but their connection was so strong by now that she could follow his every move without thought, their bodies so attuned that they could have been dancing together for years.
This is it, she thought exultantly as they gazed into each other’s eyes, oblivious of anyone or anything else in the room beyond the music. This must be that once-in-a-lifetime partnership her dance teacher had told her about. The bond that went far beyond mere physical compatibility to unite heart and soul as well.
Then Seth brought their bodies together again, joining them from shoulder to thigh to execute a series of fast and intricate steps. They didn’t miss a beat, even when she realised that, like his, her body was reacting to their proximity and the passion of the dance.
It was all in his eyes, as she was sure it must be in hers—the initial surprise and confusion, followed by pleasure and enjoyment that escalated into exultation.
By the time the music reached the final throbbing chord she was breathless and her body was electric with adrenaline but all she could think of was the fact that, at this moment, he wanted her every bit as much as she wanted him.
‘Fantastic!’ someone shouted and they jerked out of the spell that had wound around them to find themselves alone in the middle of the floor surrounded by applauding colleagues.
Seth rolled his eyes at her but she could tell by the rising colour along his cheekbones that he wasn’t quite as nonchalant about being the centre of attention as he appeared.
‘Do we duck and run, or what?’ he murmured.
‘How about a bow for the judges?’ she suggested, and suited her actions to her words before they tried to make their way towards her sister.
It was a bit like running the gauntlet with all the exclamations and compliments that were showered on them, but it all faded away when she concentrated on the protective arm Seth had wrapped around her shoulders.
There was teasing about the possibility of changing careers when they reached their table but Ella was almost oblivious to it, far more conscious of the tension that had built up between them on the floor and was still humming between them.
She chanced a glance at him and found Seth watching her, his eyes darker and more intent than ever, and her heart missed a beat.
For several timeless seconds he gazed silently at her as though trying to come to a decision, then he leaned closer.
‘I need to speak to you,’ he said hoarsely, catching hold of her hand and clasping it tightly with his, then glancing over her shoulder at the throng surrounding them in the room. ‘Can we leave for a while or do you still have duties to perform?’
It took Ella a moment to get her thoughts in order.
‘No more duties.’ She shook her head with an uncertain smile. ‘Soph needed me to get her into her dress, but it’s up to David to get her out of it. I’ll just have a quick word with her. OK?’
‘OK, but—’
‘I won’t be long,’ she promised and stood up on shaky legs that had nothing to do with their recent dance.
He seemed very intent and an unexpected shiver slid up her spine to raise the hairs on the back of her neck. She had a sudden feeling that he was going to tell her something she didn’t want to know, something that would change the relationship between them for ever.
‘Soph?’ She’d had to wait a minute to speak to her and was overwhelmingly aware of each passing second.
‘Hey, Gabby!’ Sophia exclaimed with a happy smile, beckoning her closer. ‘Nice to see that those years of dancing lessons paid off in the end. I’ve never seen you do it better.’
‘Thanks, Soph, but…Would you mind if I were to cut out on you? Seth was bleeped a little while ago. I think it was bad news. Anyway, he wants to talk and…’
‘After that dance I’d be ver
y surprised if all he wanted to do was talk!’ she teased, much to Ella’s embarrassment. Thank goodness there was no one close enough to overhear.
‘Soph! We aren’t…You know we don’t have that sort of relationship.’
‘Well, I definitely think you ought to be thinking about it. If he’s that good a mover on the floor, just imagine what he’ll be like between the sheets!’
Ella was still spluttering when Sophia waved her off.
‘If I see you again this evening, well and good. If not, we’ll see you when we get back from honeymoon.’
Ella made her way across the floor with one part of her mind concerned about what Seth was going to talk about. Unfortunately, the other part was still replaying her sister’s teasing words in glorious Technicolor.
CHAPTER EIGHT
SETH was waiting anxiously for Ella to appear, his impatience made worse by apprehension.
‘This is stupid,’ he muttered as he tugged at his collar then thrust his hands into his pockets.
Why on earth had he suggested talking to her? He knew it was too soon to be holding this conversation, and he’d been mad to have suggested it tonight, but after all these months he’d suddenly been struck by a desperate need to talk.
That could only have resulted from that final phone call, the call that had told him that the situation he’d been living with had finally, painfully resolved itself.
For the first time in a long time—much longer than he cared to think about—there was actually light at the end of the tunnel, and he hoped that Ella was the one holding it.
For the moment, though, there were still an awful lot of problems to be resolved. Too many. Perhaps he should just leave a message for her to say that he’d had to leave…
Too late.
There she was coming out of the room now, the fluid fabric of her dress and the coppery bronze colour making her look like a column of living flame and setting every hormone in his body on fire.
She caught sight of him and the way her face lit up was unbelievable. How could he have been so lucky to have met someone like her?
Mistletoe Mother (Medical Romance) Page 11