‘What’s confidential?’ she queried, intrigued and yet nervous.
‘Apart from my secretary, no one knows about this. I’m trusting you, Jessica.’
‘Yes, of course.’ She agreed without hesitation. It was asked of her, in one way or another, every working day, either by a patient, relative or colleague. And very little surprised her. ‘What is it?’
Gio moved to his desk and beckoned her closer. She edged forward, watching as he opened the bottom drawer of his desk, pulling it back with frustrating slowness, building her suspense as centimetre by centimetre the contents came into view.
She’d been wrong to believe he couldn’t surprise her. Her eyes widened in astonishment as she found herself staring at a drawer full to the brim with…
‘Chocolate!’
Gio couldn’t help but laugh aloud at Jessica’s stunned reaction. ‘What is your poison? Plain or milk? With or without nuts?’ he asked, taking a selection of bars from the drawer.
‘I don’t eat much chocolate.’
‘But you like it,’ he prompted, hearing the waver in her voice. ‘You must do… given the delicious scent of your hair and your skin.’
His words brought a bloom of colour to her porcelain cheeks. But it was the longing in her eyes that betrayed her sweet tooth. And then her pink tongue-tip peeped out to moisten the sensual curve of her lips, causing his body to react in such an immediate and blatant way that he drew back in shock.
‘Treat yourself,’ he encouraged, thankful that she appeared unaware of his response to her and, as he waited for her to make her selection, struggled to get his mind and body back under control.
‘OK.’ She took a small bar of milk chocolate with a hazelnut praline centre. ‘Thank you.’
‘Good choice,’ he murmured as she moved away.
Taking a bar of dark chocolate with almond for himself, he put the rest away and closed the drawer. Sitting down, he opened his chocolate, his gaze remaining on Jessica as she inspected the expensive high-class packaging, noting the moment realisation dawned.
‘Cioccolato Corezzi?’ She looked up, stunning green eyes wide with interest. ‘You make this chocolate?’
‘My family do. My paternal grandfather began the company over fifty years ago, and Papá and Mamma have grown it from a small specialist business with one shop in Turin into what it is today—one of Italy’s most famous hand-made chocolate houses.’
‘You’re understandably proud of them.’ She smiled, snapping off a square and popping it into her mouth, nearly killing him as those mesmerising eyes closed and a blissful look transformed her face as she savoured the flavours he knew would be bursting on her tongue. ‘Oh, this is amazing!’
‘Thank you.’ Her opinion was important to him and her enthusiasm made him feel warm inside.
Snapping off another square, she laughed. ‘No, thank you!’ she insisted, before popping the chocolate into her mouth to savour the taste as before.
It was the first time he’d heard her laugh. It was a warm, throaty, infectious sound and he wanted to hear it often. Frowning, he acknowledged just how involved he was becoming.
‘Did you never want to follow in your parents’ footsteps?’ she queried after a moment, perching on the edge of his desk, stretching her skirt across the pleasing curve of womanly thighs.
‘No,’ he answered, his voice rough. Clearing his throat, he sat forward. ‘It was never an option, and my parents knew it wouldn’t have suited me. Besides, I would have eaten all the profits!’
Taking a bite of his chocolate, he enjoyed another of her throaty chuckles.
‘You must have lorry loads of it delivered, judging by your drawer!’
Having her relax enough to tease him was an unexpected pleasure, as was listening to the softness of her accent. He wondered how she had come to be in Cornwall, so far from home, but he refrained from asking… for now.
‘Now you know my secret,’ he said, keeping his tone light and teasing. ‘It’s only fair you tell me one of yours, no?’
The change in her was immediate and, while he regretted her withdrawal and the loss of their rapport, he was intrigued by her reaction and eager to find out its cause. Her whole body tensed, as if she was closing in on herself. Sliding off the desk, she turned away, but not before he had seen the hurt and loneliness she worked hard to hide. Stepping across to the window, her shoulders lifted as she breathed in a slow, deep breath. Finally, she turned round, popping the last piece of chocolate in her mouth and scrunching up the wrapper.
‘I’m not very interesting, and I don’t really have any secrets,’ she told him with a manufactured smile, not meeting his gaze.
Oh, but she most certainly did. He knew it. And he was determined to uncover them and understand what she was anxious to hide. Behind the façade she presented to the world, the real Jessica was far from fine.
‘I ought to be going,’ she announced, picking up the collection of items she had with her all the time in the hospital.
‘What do you carry around in there?’ he asked with a mix of interest and amusement.
Her voice sounded strained now, all traces of the fun Jessica reined in and back behind her protective wall. ‘I have my notebook and diary,’ she began, looking down at the pile in her arms.
Gio listened as she told him about the information sheets, details of various diseases and injuries and their treatments, names and contacts for self-help groups and a welter of other things people might need. Her mobile phone, like her pager, was either attached to her waistband or in her pocket, depending on the clothes she was wearing. He suspected Jessica used the things she carried as a barrier, a shield between herself and others. He wanted to know why. The list of questions he had about her continued to grow.
Disappointment speared inside him as Jessica moved towards the door. ‘Thanks for the chocolate.’
‘Any time. I’ll tell my secretary you have free access to my secret drawer.’ He smiled, drinking in his fill of her while he could. ‘See you later. And try not to worry about your girl.’
‘I’ll try. Bye.’
The door closed softly behind her. At once the room felt different… and he felt lonely without the vibrancy of her presence. Dio. A week ago, if anyone had told him he’d be attracted to another woman, he would have believed it impossible. But Jessica had shaken him to his foundations?and out of the darkness that had enveloped his life for the last five years.
‘Megan, are you all right?’
‘Yes.’ It was a lie, but she managed a smile for Jess. ‘I’m sorry, I was miles away.’
Her friend sent her an understanding smile. ‘Josh?’
‘Yes,’ Megan repeated, a deep sigh escaping.
It had been a huge shock to discover that Josh had joined the St Piran’s trauma team back in the spring. Megan had assumed he was still in London. Wished he was still in London. Working with him when she was on call to A and E from Paediatrics was difficult and she had found it harder still since little Toby’s funeral.
‘He wants to talk,’ Megan confided, her recent confrontation with Josh in the canteen still fresh in her mind. Why did he want to rake over the past? Did he think she didn’t live with it every day of her life?
‘Would talking to Josh be such a bad thing?’
Megan’s stomach churned in response to Jess’s softly voiced question. Her friend knew there was past history with Josh, but Megan hadn’t divulged any details. She had never told anyone what had happened. She felt too guilty, too confused, too stupid, too hurt.
‘What’s the point?’ Bitterness laced her voice but she was unable to soften it. ‘It’s over. Done. What good would be served stirring it up eight years on?’
‘Perhaps you need to talk as much as Josh thinks he does,’ Jess suggested, confusing her more.
Megan frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s clearly still causing you heartache. Things are unresolved in your own mind.’ Jess paused a moment, her dark green gaze direct. ‘Forget Jo
sh and his reasons for wanting to talk. Think about yourself. Do you have questions that need answering before you can put things behind you once and for all?’
Too many to count, Megan allowed silently, one hand unconsciously moving to press against the flatness of her belly, a wave of pain rolling through her at all that was lost—all that Josh had taken from her. The thought of facing him after eight years was too scary to contemplate.
‘Maybe, but—’ Megan broke off, uncertain and indecisive.
‘But?’ Jess probed gently.
‘Seeing him again hurts so much and has brought back so many difficult memories.’ She bit her lip, ashamed that she had been so foolish over Josh—and that part of her remained drawn to him, despite everything that had happened. ‘I’m so angry with him, Jess. And with myself. Yes, there are things I want to know, but I’m not sure I can cope with what he has to say.’
‘Only you can decide if finding out what you need to know will help you find peace with the past.’
Megan nodded. Her friend’s words made sense. She just wasn’t sure what to do. The fact that Josh now had a picture-perfect wife, aside from causing her added pain and distress, complicated things even more. Although the body language she had witnessed between him and his beautiful wife, Rebecca, suggested that things might not be right in Josh’s marriage, he was married, so having contact with him beyond the professional was inappropriate.
‘It scares me, Jess.’
Her words whispered from her as she faced the awful truth?underneath the pain, anger and betrayal, a spark of the elemental chemistry still burned. She was as vulnerable to him as she had always been.
‘Emotions are complicated and the dividing line between love and hate can be wafer thin.’ Jess’s pager sounded and she glanced at it, a faint blush colouring her cheeks. ‘Sorry, Megan, I have to go.’
‘Problems?’
Jess shook her head. ‘It’s time for the neurosurgery case meeting. Gordon Ainsworth and, um, Gio, asked me to attend,’ she explained, gathering up her things. Pausing, she smiled. ‘Think things over. If you need to talk, you know it will remain confidential between us.’
‘Thanks, Jess.’
‘Take care, Megan. And good luck.’
Megan watched the other woman walk away, her vibrant auburn hair restrained in a plait. Recalling her friend’s blush, and thinking about the electric atmosphere she had noticed whenever Jess and Gio were together, she wondered if something was brewing there. It would be wonderful to see Jess happy. She was so private, and always seemed so alone. Megan shook her head, realising how alike they were. She respected Jess, and trusted her, and she knew how lucky she was to have her to talk to.
Unfortunately, her friend couldn’t tell her what to do. No one could. Decisions about Josh, and whether to face the past, were hers alone.
Gio stepped into the warmth of the August evening. Dusk was falling, and he glanced up at the darkening sky, expelling a sigh. He’d been called in earlier that Saturday evening after Josh O’Hara’s concern had grown about a man who had collapsed while on an outing to the beach with his wife. Further tests, including CT and MRI scans, had revealed that the man had a tumour growing in his brain, affecting his optic nerve and sensory centre. Surgery was scheduled for Monday.
The man and his wife would benefit from Jessica’s input. He’d speak with her on Monday. Which was nearly thirty-six hours away and too long to wait, especially as he hadn’t seen her since the previous afternoon, when she had attended what would become a regular Friday meeting for the neurological unit. Her presence had been beneficial to the team—but distracting for him on a personal level. He shook his head. Until a few days ago he hadn’t had a personal level.
Confused that his life had turned upside down, he walked towards the almost deserted consultants’ car park. The previous night had been the first when they’d not met up for an end-of-the-day chat. Jessica had been unable to come because she volunteered for the Samaritans and spent several hours there each Friday evening. He wasn’t surprised. Once more she was devoting her time to other people’s problems. Was it a way of avoiding her own?
In the car, he leaned back and rested his head, reflecting on how long and lonely the weekend was becoming without Jessica. He swore softly to himself. What a sorry state he was in. Part of him rebelled. He didn’t want any new woman in his life. Or so he had thought until Jessica. Now he couldn’t stop thinking about her or wanting to be with her. He wanted to learn her secrets and encourage the real Jessica out from behind her defensive wall. Was he the only one to notice the loneliness and hurt that lurked in the depths of her beautiful green eyes?
Starting the engine, he reversed out of his parking space, his gaze straying to the psychology building.
‘What the hell?’
He braked, letting the powerful engine idle as he observed the light that shone from Jessica’s office window. The rest of the building was in darkness. Had she forgotten to switch off the light the day before? He saw a flicker of movement inside and cursed. Jessica was here? Now? Returning his car to its parking space, he switched off the engine, climbed out and locked the door.
As he walked towards the building he reflected on Jessica’s odd behaviour and her reluctance to let him see inside her office. He’d brushed it off as a quirk, but her furtiveness made him certain that something more was going on and he couldn’t let this go.
Frowning, he remembered when he’d visited her office. She’d rushed home to meet her insurance company’s assessor and he’d forgotten to ask why. Was something seriously wrong?
The outer door of the psychology building was locked, but his swipe card and ID code gained him access. Relocking the door, he made his way through the darkened foyer and down the corridor to Jessica’s room. It was uncharacteristic for him to be impolite but, not wanting to give her time to shut the door in his face, he checked to see if it was unlocked. It was. He gave a sharp rap and swung the door open, astonished at the scene that greeted him.
Jessica, bare-footed and dressed in a pair of cotton shorts and a sleeveless tank top, which emphasised her voluptuous curves and set his pulse racing, was sitting cross-legged on a blow-up mattress on the floor. A pillow and a few items of bed linen were folded at one end. For the first time, he saw her hair in all its heart-stopping glory as it fell around her shoulders, the curtain of copper-red and burnished chestnut curls enveloping her in a halo of fire.
But she was not alone. Her companions held him transfixed and momentarily speechless. Two small, playful kittens frolicked around her, Tabby balls of fluff on stubby legs and paws that looked too big for them. His gaze returned to Jessica. The smile had frozen on her face and panic was setting in.
Determined to discover what was going on, but not wanting to alarm her, he closed the door and crossed to her before she had time to get up. He dropped to his knees, sitting back on his heels, smiling as the kittens investigated him, sharp claws digging into his thighs as they used him as a climbing frame.
Gently, he slid a palm under each warm, rounded little body, lifting them close for a better view, seeing the similarities and differences in what were clearly siblings’ faces. He loved animals, and would have surrounded himself with them, but Sofia had been allergic to several kinds of animals, making pets impossible. Thinking of his beloved wife, taken from him so dev-astatingly five years before, brought the familiar pain and he closed his eyes, rubbing his face against the two fluffy animals, feeling the dual purrs vibrating against his hands.
Gio opened his eyes and focused on Jessica, who sat little more than a foot away, shocked to silence, a whole mixture of emotions chasing themselves across her expressive green eyes. Turning the kittens so they were facing her, he held them against his chest, enjoying their softness and the feel of their heartbeats.
‘What are their names?’
His question apparently threw her because she stared at him for several moments as if expecting him to launch into an interrogation. She
bit her lip, diverting his attention to the tempting swell of her mouth. As she sucked in a breath, his gaze rose to clash with hers once more.
‘Th-that’s Dickens,’ she finally informed him, her voice unsteady and her hand shaking as she pointed to the kitten in his left hand, which had a dark face, pink nose and round green eyes, not unlike her own in colour.
‘And this one?’ he asked of the kitten in his right hand, which had slanting, almond-shaped eyes in a darker shade than its sibling’s.
‘Kipling.’
She looked lost and alone so he handed Dickens to her, and she clutched him close as if needing the comfort.
‘They are favourite authors of yours?’
Jessica nodded, her curls swaying like dancing flames. ‘Partly. But also for their characters. They’re very mischievous and inquisitive. With him,’ she continued, pointing to the kitten cradled in his hands, ‘I kept thinking he’s just so naughty, just so cute, just so everything, and so I thought of Kipling and his Just So stories.’ She was still tense, but a smile tugged her mouth as she looked at the kitten she held. ‘This one was into everything and I was always asking what the dickens he was up to. The names stuck.’
‘How long have you had them?’
‘About six weeks. Their mother was an unknown feral stray who had a litter in the barn on a farm near my cottage,’ she told him, relaxing a little. ‘Flora, who lives there, and who is a nurse at the doctors’ surgery in Penhally, isn’t sure what happened to the mother, but the kittens were abandoned and Flora took care of them. She couldn’t keep them all and was looking for homes for the others. I took these two.’
‘What happens to them during the day?’ he asked, intrigued how she had organised things.
‘They stay with Sid Evans?he’s the hospital handyman.’ Gio nodded, confirming he knew of the man. ‘He lost his wife recently and I’ve spent some time chatting to him,’ Jessica continued, although he was unsurprised to learn of her kindness. ‘He was very down and told me he wasn’t allowed pets at his flat. So I asked the hospital management if he could have the kittens in his work room during the day and they said yes.’ A warm smile curved her mouth. ‘Sid loves having them.’
St Piran's: Italian Surgeon, Forbidden Bride Page 6