The Playboy of Harley Street / Doctor on the Red Carpet

by Anne Fraser

  Recently he had started wondering if he was drawn to extreme sports because something was missing in his life.

  Fabio knew he and the other small select band of BASE jumpers were alike underneath. They were all always looking for the next challenge, taking ever-increasing risks, needing bigger and bigger thrills. Sometimes these risks paid off and new records were broken; sometimes they didn’t and people died. It was an acceptable part of their sport. Although the authorities never saw it that way. They were always trying to limit access for the jumpers. Not that Fabio really wanted to jump off buildings. He preferred being out in the open, away from the city.

  He took one last deep breath and flung himself into the air. God! There was no feeling in the world that could ever replace what he felt at this moment.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ‘HEY, anyone seen the latest photo of our Fabulous Fabio?’ Jenny plonked the tabloid newspaper down in the staff kitchen where they were all gathered, with the exception of Fabio who hadn’t yet arrived, to discuss the day’s patients.

  Jonathan picked it up and grinned. ‘What’s he been up to this time?’ He let out a low whistle. ‘That’s some stunner he’s with. He didn’t tell me he has a new woman.’

  ‘Not that you could keep track, darling, even if he did. We both know Fabio changes his girlfriends the way other people change their socks,’ Rose said with a mischievous smile. ‘I’m just glad the paparazzi aren’t so interested in you these days.’

  Jonathan wrapped his arms around his wife’s shoulders. ‘Not very playboy to have a heavily pregnant wife, is it? Oof. What did you do that for?’ he grunted as his wife elbowed him in the stomach. ‘You know which one I’d rather have on my arm any day of the week.’

  Katie sneaked a look at the newspaper. Her heart thudded uncomfortably against her ribs when she saw that the picture was of Fabio and the co-pilot they’d met on their trip to Monaco. He had an arm around her narrow waist as she leaned against him. Almost matched in height, the blonde still managed to look as if she was gazing up at Fabio adoringly. And as for him, he was grinning down at her as if he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

  She felt disappointed and hurt and angry. It wasn’t as if Fabio and herself were anything more than colleagues. Why then did she want to tear the paper into tiny little shreds? Now she knew for certain why he had asked her out. Out of sympathy—that was all. He’d probably been relieved when she’d said no so he could take Miss Drop-Dead Gorgeous. She should have trusted her instincts. Fabio Lineham was not a man to rely on and the photograph was a timely reminder of that.

  ‘She’s gorgeous,’ Jenny was saying. ‘Does anyone know who she is? I don’t recognise her.’

  ‘She’s a pilot,’ Katie said, and blushed as curious eyes turned to look at her. ‘She was the co-pilot on the trip we made to Monaco.’

  Jonathan laughed. ‘Trust Fabio never to miss an opportunity to get himself a date with a beautiful … Oof,’ he gasped as Rose elbowed him again. ‘I mean a horrible, not-my-type-at-all woman.’

  Vicki was also studying the photograph. ‘I think she’s got a mean look to her, if you ask me,’ she said. ‘Why can’t Fabio find a woman who he can fall in love with? He can’t go on playing the field for ever.’

  ‘Who can’t?’ Fabio asked as he came into the room. He took the newspaper from Vicki and tossed it on the coffee table. ‘You guys, of all people, should know not to believe everything you see in the papers.’

  ‘So, you’re telling us the picture is made up?’ Vicki teased. ‘Too bad we all know you too well.’

  ‘Anyway, back to work,’ Rose said. ‘I thought I should tell you that as we’ve agreed, we’re advertising for some more staff. A paediatrician to take over some of the children and an obstetrician and gynaecologist. More and more of our ante-natal patients are wanting the practice to see them all the way through labour and beyond.’

  ‘And a new nurse?’ Vicki said hopefully. ‘It’s not long until you go on maternity leave, Rose, and we have more than enough patients as it is.’

  ‘That too.’ Rose smiled and pressed a hand to her belly. ‘I think he just kicked me!’

  As the rest of the staff, with the exception of Fabio, crowded around the expectant mother, Katie slipped outside into the reception area.

  ‘You okay?’ She whirled round to find Fabio standing behind her, studying her quizzically.

  ‘Sure. Why shouldn’t I be?’ Just because I thought you cared just a little for me—she thought the words, knowing that she would never say them.

  Fabio looked as if he was about to say something, but just then the bell on the door rang, announcing their next patient, and Jenny rushed into the room.

  ‘Cripes,’ she said. ‘I almost forgot. Sheikh Mustaf is bringing his two children to see you, Fabio. It’s a first visit, so we’d better not keep him.’

  Later, after Katie had seen the three patients scheduled for treatment, including Gillian, who did turn out to have Lyme disease and whose stiff limbs were improving. Just as Gillian left, Fabio popped his head around the door.

  ‘I have two tickets for a film premiere next week and I’m looking for company. My cousin Kendrick is in it and I promised him I’d go.’

  ‘What about Drop-Dead Gorgeous?’ Katie muttered under her breath.

  ‘Who? What did you say?’ Fabio looked perplexed as he walked towards her. Katie stared. There was something wrong with the way he was moving. Yes, he was decidedly favouring his left leg.

  ‘What’s wrong with your leg?’ Katie asked, her chagrin with him momentarily forgotten.

  ‘Nothing much. Now, what were you saying? Something about dropping dead? I hope that wasn’t directed at me?’

  ‘Sit down on my couch and either roll up your trouser leg or take your trousers off,’ Katie said firmly.

  ‘You want me to undress?’ Fabio’s eyes gleamed. ‘Are you sure this is the time or the place?’

  Katie gave him a none-too-gentle shove. ‘Sit,’ she said. ‘Can’t you do as you’re told for once?’

  Something in her expression must have warned him she was in no mood for joking around. He sat on the couch and rolled up his left trouser leg. ‘See? Nothing wrong.’

  ‘The other one, please, Fabio.’

  Reluctantly he did as she asked. Katie bent and studied his ankle. It was swollen and badly bruised.

  ‘When and how did you do this?’

  ‘On Saturday,’ Fabio conceded. ‘But it’s nothing. You should see—’ He broke off.

  ‘See …?’ When he remained stubbornly silent she asked him again. ‘What happened?’

  ‘I was jumping at the weekend and let’s just say there was a rock where the ground should have been flat.’

  ‘You should be more careful,’ Katie said tightly.

  Fabio shrugged. ‘What’s the fun in being careful? Ouch! That hurt.’

  Katie was unaware that she was squeezing Fabio’s injured ankle, but she gave it another squeeze for good measure. It was only a sprain but, knowing Fabio and his recklessness, it could just as easily have been broken.

  She stood up abruptly. ‘Ice is what you need for that ankle. But you know that.’

  ‘Hey, what did I say?’ Fabio looked genuinely baffled. ‘You’re mad at me. Why?’

  ‘You shouldn’t be doing stuff that might stop you from working. You have a responsibility to keep yourself fit. How else are you going to look after your patients?’

  ‘I don’t take unnecessary risks, believe me.’ He studied her through half-closed eyes and a slow smile spread across his face. ‘Don’t tell me you’re worried about me.’

  ‘Of course I’m not.’ Katie turned away so he couldn’t read her expression. She was angry with him, but whether it was because of the photo in the paper or the fact he didn’t seem to care what he did with himself, she didn’t know.

  Fabio hopped off the examination couch, grimacing as he put weight on his ankle. Katie felt his hand on her shoulder and he whirled her roun
d so she was forced to look into his eyes.

  ‘Te, te, te, minha linda, don’t care about me too much.’

  And then he dropped his hand and, leaving her speechless, left the room.

  The days settled into a rhythm. In the mornings they would meet over coffee and discuss the patients who were expected in for treatment as well as those requiring home visits.

  Katie was kept so busy it hardly gave her time to think. When she wasn’t seeing patients at the clinic, she was either out seeing patients in their homes on her own or with Fabio or another doctor at the clinic. Little Lucy was doing well and Katie often went to their house to carry out her physio.

  One day Fabio sought her out.

  ‘I have a couple of tickets for that movie premiere and I wondered if you’d changed your mind about coming with me. My cousin is in it. He’ll probably be there as he’s between movies at the moment.’

  ‘Your cousin is a movie star?’

  Fabio grinned. ‘Kendrick’s not exactly a film star. Although he could have been.’

  ‘I’m confused.’

  ‘He’s the stuntman. If you think I like risking my neck, I can assure you I have nothing on Kendrick. I don’t think he’s happy unless he risks it at least once a day.’

  Then the memory of the film star on the yacht talking about Kendrick came back to her. Kendrick was the cousin who’d been in the army before becoming a stuntman. She shuddered. ‘What is it about some men that they can’t be happy unless they’re behaving like Rambo? I feel sorry for his wife.’

  ‘Kendrick hasn’t got a wife. Not the marrying kind, I guess. Doesn’t seem to run in our family for some reason.’

  It was another subtle reminder—as if she needed one—that whatever this was that was between them, it wasn’t to be taken seriously.

  ‘I’m sure you’ll find someone else to take easily enough,’ she said stiffly.

  ‘I’d like to take you.’ A smile played on his lips. ‘I promise you I’ll be a perfect gentleman. You’ll be perfectly safe with me. Just two colleagues having an evening out together.’

  Katie tried to ignore the disappointment she felt at his words. Hadn’t she decided that she and Fabio had very little in common?

  ‘Please,’ he said again. ‘I really would enjoy your company tonight. I can relax when I’m with you. Unless, of course …’ his smile widened ‘… you don’t feel that you can trust yourself with me.’

  He really was the most arrogant man.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Katie retorted, stung. ‘I wouldn’t fall for you if you were the last man on earth—whatever misapprehension you’re labouring under.’

  That told him. But it made her sound about three years old. His eyes had widened with surprise and was it something else? Satisfaction? Damn. Even to her own ears her protestation sounded remarkably like a case of the lady protesting too much.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she added hastily. ‘I don’t know where that came from. It was rude and unnecessary. Of course I’d love to go.’ Now, that was better. That was the normal response to a colleague who was being friendly. It wasn’t as if they’d be alone. Surrounded by people, he wouldn’t be able to tempt her with his dark green eyes and dangerously sexy mouth. And if her heart bumped against her ribs, it was nothing to do with wanting to spend time with Fabio. Nothing at all.

  Katie was nervous as she dressed for her date. Not that it was a date, she reminded herself. He needed a companion for the evening, that was all.

  Suzy had put Ricky down for the night and was perched on the edge of Katie’s bed with a mug of cocoa.

  ‘Now, you have to note everything,’ Suzy said. ‘I want to know it all. Who was there, what they were wearing. Especially what they are wearing.’

  Before Suzy had gone on maternity leave she had been a buyer for one of the more upmarket fashion chains. She had always been bringing home clothes and up until her pregnancy and Richard’s death had been one of those women who looked stunning whatever they wore. Suzy had loved Katie’s descriptions of the people at the party on the yacht and waited eagerly every evening to hear about the women who came to the clinic.

  ‘I don’t know, Suzy. I think I should phone him and tell him I can’t go. I don’t want to leave you on your own and, besides, the thought of being in the company of all those beautiful people terrifies me.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Suzy said firmly. ‘You can outshine them anytime. As for me …’ she reached over and touched Katie on the hand ‘… I’m doing okay. It’s you I’m worried about.’

  When Katie went to protest, Suzy cut her off.

  ‘I know you feel the pain of Richard’s death as much as I do. I’m trying to look to the future, even though the fact it doesn’t include Richard hurts like crazy. I know in some ways it’s worse for you. At least I have Ricky and my parents, but Richard was the only family you had left. I made a promise to him, remember? Part of that promise is pushing you to get on with your life too. So think of tonight as you doing it for me, okay?’

  A lump in her throat, Katie reached over and the two women hugged briefly.

  ‘Okay. For you. And because Richard would never forgive me if I didn’t,’ Katie said. ‘Now, what am I going to wear?’

  Suzy had insisted that they go shopping for something new for Katie to wear to the premiere. It had taken longer than any other shopping expedition Katie could remember, but Suzy wouldn’t give up until they’d found the perfect dress. It was an off-the-shoulder, two-tone, silky, floor-length evening dress in blood red. Not something Katie would have ever chosen for herself, but she had to admit it made her feel sexy and sophisticated.

  Fabio collected her, and when she came down the stairs, he whistled under his breath.

  ‘Deus, you look stunning,’ he said simply.

  ‘You don’t look too bad yourself.’ Katie smiled back. He was wearing a dinner jacket and a crisp white shirt open at the neck … Five o’clock stubble shadowed his chin, if anything making him look more dangerously sexy than before.

  Katie noticed that Fabio was driving a sports car. He must have retrieved it from the panel beater. At least in London he couldn’t drive as if he were on a racing track. He opened the door with a flourish and, feeling a bit like Cinderella, Katie slid into the soft leather seat.

  ‘I wondered if you’d change your mind,’ he said as they pulled away.

  ‘I did think about it, but here I am.’

  Fabio slid her a glance. ‘I’m very glad you are.’ The smile he gave her made her heart hum and she was thankful that the darkness hid the heat that rose to her face.

  Although Katie had seen clips of film premieres on television, the experience of actually being there was something else entirely. She doubted whether she had ever seen so many photographers in one place before.

  It was impossible to ignore the cameras, seeing as the minute they stepped out of the car flashbulbs popped and dazzled like a million exploding stars as the photographers pointed their cameras at them.

  ‘Fabio! Look this way! Who’s the lady? What is your mother up to? Does she have another film lined up?’

  Fixing a smile on his face, Fabio gripped Katie by the elbow and steered her along the red carpet.

  ‘Just look straight ahead and try to smile,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘They’ll soon turn their attention to someone else. There are plenty bigger fish here tonight than me.’

  It was easy for him. He didn’t have to worry about getting four-inch heels stuck in the hem of an evening dress that had cost Katie almost a month’s salary, only to have the picture appear in a newspaper. She smothered a giggle. Who would have thought only a couple of weeks ago that she’d be worried about having her picture in a newspaper?

  ‘Pretend they’re all naked—it works for me,’ Fabio whispered in her ear, making her laugh, and she relaxed. It was surreal, being here, being photographed alongside the rich and famous. It would be another memory to stash away for her grandchildren.

  Nevert
heless, by the time they were safely inside, away from the photographers’ lenses, she found herself sympathising with those in the public eye. Although she knew that many sought publicity, it couldn’t be easy to be constantly under scrutiny. Was that what it had been like for Fabio when growing up? No wonder he seemed so self-assured.

  Just then a tall, muscular man in his early thirties approached them and flung his arm around Fabio’s shoulder.

  ‘Fabio, good you could make it.’ Piercing blue eyes turned on Katie and the man gave her an appreciative look. ‘And who’s this?’

  ‘Hands off, Kendrick. She’s with me,’ Fabio growled. ‘Katie, I’d like you to meet my cousin, Kendrick. Kendrick, this is Katie.’

  ‘Pleased to meet you, ma’am.’ The accent was mildly American and the voice held an undercurrent of amusement. Kendrick grinned at Katie. ‘Any time you get tired of going out with this Pom, I’d be glad to show you around.’

  Another flirt. Did every man in Fabio’s family behave the same way?

  ‘You must be the stuntman,’ Katie said. ‘I’m really looking forward to seeing your film.’

  ‘You won’t even see me,’ Kendrick warned. ‘It’s my job to make it look as if the hero is doing it all himself. I wouldn’t have come to London to see it except I happen to have heard there’s some good waves in Ireland this weekend.’ He turned to Fabio. ‘Are you up for it?’

  Fabio grinned. ‘Count me in.’

  ‘You surf too?’ Katie asked.

  Kendrick flicked his eyes at Fabio. ‘I guess some people would call it surfing. Others call it Big Wave. Regular surfing is for ladies.’

  What was that supposed to mean?

  ‘I’ve got a ‘copter lined up and a couple of jet skis,’ Kendrick continued. ‘So we’re sorted.’ He looked at his watch. ‘If you’ll excuse me, the film is about to start and my date is waiting.’ He nodded across to a film star with a metallic dress who, although surrounded by adoring men, kept looking Kendrick’s way.