'I want you to go,' he told her through gritted teeth. 'I know,' she replied evenly. 'Well?' he barked.
'We haven't finished discussing my employment as your nurse, Mr Hamilton,' she told him with a calmness she was far from feeling.
'You are mistaken, Miss King,' he bit out forcefully. 'There is no employment to discuss.'
'I've been employed by your daughter—'
'My daughter doesn't run this house, Miss King, I do.'
'Really?' Olivia queried softly, knowing that now was a time to remain insensitive to his disability, even to taunt him with it. 'I would say you're doing very little of anything hiding yourself up here.'
Marcus closed the door with savage force. 'What did you say?' he ground out.
She made her voice sound light and conversational, knowing she couldn't allow him to know of the tears swimming in her eyes. 'Sally is very young to have this sudden responsibility, but I think she's coping very well. Of course, she shouldn't have to cope with it at all, but she has no choice, does she? So, until you can physically throw me out of the house, I will continue to work for your daughter.'
Marcus was very white, breathing raggedly. 'Get out of here,' he ordered weakly. 'Just leave.'
This time she did go to the door, knowing that he had indeed 'had enough'. 'I'll be with you on Monday morning, Mr Hamilton,' she told him lightly.
He didn't answer her, but bent over defeatedly, Olivia finally allowing the tears to fall as she leant back against the wall outside.
Hurting Marcus was the hardest thing she had ever had to do—besides leaving him that first time, although then she had had no choice, knowing she had no place in his life now his wife was back. Today she had chosen to hurt him, and it had hurt her more.
Sally sat on the top step of the stairs, Standing up as Olivia continued to cry, her arms going wordlessly about her shoulders as she comforted her.
'You heard?' Olivia choked.
'Yes,' the younger girl confirmed huskily.
'I had to do it. I didn't want to, but I had to.'
'Yes,' Sally said again, 'I know that.'
'I wish your father did. Oh, Sally, I can't do this,' Olivia shook her head. 'I'm hurting myself as much as Marcus. I would have given anything to put my arms around him and cry.'
'I've already done that,' the other girl said quietly. 'It doesn't do any good. He just patted my hand and told me not to worry. Not to worry!' she scorned shakily. 'I've done nothing else since the accident. And Grandmother does nothing to help, she can't even bring herself to visit him. He needs someone like you, Olivia, to make him fight. I need someone like you too,' she added quietly. 'Please, Olivia, you're my last hope.'
Olivia couldn't ignore the pleading in those grey eyes, eyes so like Marcus's she felt like crying again. 'I'm not sure…' She knew her hesitation was a sign she was beginning to give in.
'You told Daddy you'd be here on Monday morning,' Sally eagerly picked up that weakening. 'If you don't turn up he's going to think he's won, that he frightened you away.'
'Yes,' Olivia sighed heavily, knowing the other girl was right, knowing herself that she had given in at that moment. 'Although Mr Brooks has the final say on whether or not I should be Marcus's nurse,' she warned.
'He'll say you should,' Sally said with conviction. Olivia had a feeling he would too!
CHAPTER FOUR
Monday morning dawned bright and sunny, and Olivia determinedly kept her thoughts on the beauty of the day as she ate her breakfast alone with Sally, Sybil Carr having hers on a tray in her room. In fact the older woman had more or less made herself absent from the time Olivia had arrived at the house the evening before.
Olivia had insisted Sally should go to college today. 'Life has to return to normal,' she told the younger girl as she voiced her misgivings over breakfast. 'Besides, if your father believes himself to be alone in the house with me he might be less inclined to want to throw me out.'
'I wouldn't count on it,' Sally grimaced. 'He hasn't mentioned knowing you're in the house, but he's been in a terrible temper since last night.'
Olivia gave a rueful smile. 'Then he does know I'm here.'
'I think so,' the younger girl nodded, glancing at her wrist-watch. 'I'd better be going. Are you sure you'll be all right?'
'Very sure,' she smiled. 'I've had worse patients than your father.' Although she couldn't for the life of her remember when! Some of her patients had been difficult, even goodnatured Rick Hayes at first, but none of them had been quite as formidable as Marcus proved to be.
Simon Brooks had been all for her taking over the care of his patient, sure that in time the anger he displayed only to her would bring about some sort of result. Olivia only hoped it would be a favourable one!
She hesitated outside the door to Marcus's bedroom, wondering what sort of reception she was going to get. If what Sally had said about his temper was true he wasn't going to put out the Welcome mat!
He was already out of bed and dressed, sitting by the window as she entered after a brief knock. He didn't even turn as she entered the room, as if he knew who it was before she came in.
'Why do you wear those glasses when there's nothing wrong with the look of your eyes?' Olivia attacked as she walked across the room to his side.
Instead of the anger she had been hoping to evoke his mouth twisted into a mocking smile. 'And why do you wear that uniform when you know I can't see how efficient you look in it?'
Hot colour flooded her cheeks. 'I—Well, I—How did you ?'
'Know?' he finished tauntingly. 'It moves crisply as you walk. Starchy, like you,' he added insultingly.
That was better! 'You didn't answer my question about the glasses,' Olivia reminded him abruptly.
'I wear them because I want to wear them.'
'That's no answer at all!'
'It's the only one you're going to get,' he drawled. 'You didn't answer me about the uniform.'
'I'm a nurse—'
'So you've already told me,' he derided. 'My nurse. And I would prefer it if you didn't wear a uniform when you're with me. Take it off.'
Colour flooded her cheeks, her eyes wide. 'I beg your pardon?'
'My dear Miss King,' he drawled mockingly, 'what do you think I meant? You're staying at the house, aren't you?'
'Yes.'
'Then it should be a simple matter for you to go to your room and change into something else.' His expression suddenly became bleak. 'Although you could take the damned thing off here for all the good it would do me! Even the pleasure of looking at a beautiful woman has been denied me.'
'I'm not beautiful,' she dismissed.
'But I'll never know that, will I?' he rasped. 'You could weigh twenty stone and look like Godzilla for all I know!'
'I'm not quite that ugly,' she smiled. 'You don't have to see a woman's beauty,' she gently tried to ease his bitterness. 'You can always feel it.'
'Oh yes,' he derided harshly, 'I'm sure any woman would just love me to grope my way over her body. Would you like it, Miss King?' he scorned.
Olivia bit her bottom lip, not sure she would be able to withstand the intimacy that would call for.
'I thought not,' Marcus taunted hardly.
She drew in a deep controlling breath, knowing that this was her first real test, that she had to treat this case as professionally as if she didn't know Marcus, hadn't once loved him. 'I'll make a deal with you,' she told him briskly.
He stiffened, his expression suddenly wary. 'What sort of deal?'
'You take off the dark glasses, they aren't necessary for you anyway, and you have perfectly nice eyes—and I'll let you Braille me. Is it a deal?' she asked audaciously.
Marcus seemed to think about it for some time, then he nodded slowly. 'Deal,' he said abruptly. 'Although I could be letting myself in for a disappointment.' He sat forward in his chair, looking up at her expectantly.
Olivia moved to kneel in front of him. 'Disappointment?' she questioned.
'You have a very sexy voice, Miss King.' He gave a twisted smile. 'How sad if I find it belongs to the Godzilla creature after all!'
She smiled, then took his hands, the long sensitive hands that still bore the marks of his scars, and put them either side of her face, knowing that it was only natural he should want to know what the person behind the voice looked like. If only she didn't feel quite so nervous about it—the thought of Marcus touching her so intimately made her breathing soft and shallow.
He touched her hair first. 'Hm, nice. Soft and curly.
Colour?'
'Sort of reddish-gold,' she supplied breathlessly. His fingertips were featherlight on her face now, her skin sensitive to his every touch.
He was so absorbed in his task, she hoped he didn't sense her trembling. 'Nice eyebrows,' he murmured. 'And long silky lashes. What colour eyes?'
'Green?'
'Deep green, or the green of—'
'Deep green,' she supplied abruptly, his breath warm against her face.
'An upturned nose,' he mused as his finger ran the length of it. 'Freckles?'
'A few,' she confirmed, her discomfort increased by the amount of time he took over each feature.
'High cheekbones,' he continued. 'Hollow cheeks, so you aren't twenty stone,' he mocked.
'Eight,' she supplied curtly. 'And I'm five feet eight inches tall.'
'That's too thin for your height,' he frowned. 'No wonder your cheeks are hollow! It's a nice mouth,' he touched the lower lip, parting them slightly. 'Mmm, very kissable.'
It took all her will power not to pull away from the intimacies he was subjecting her to, but she knew by the derisive twist of his mouth that he was deliberately goading her. She remained silent with effort.
'Has it been kissed often, Olivia?' he rasped suddenly. 'Occasionally,' she amended stiffly. His fingers moved abruptly to her chin. 'Determined,' he decided. 'But then I knew it would be,' he murmured, touching her ears now. 'Pretty,' he nodded, and his hands dropped away. 'You're a very beautiful woman, Olivia. Stand up now,' he instructed.
'You're finished?' she asked with some relief. He shook his head. 'You have to be standing when I Braille your body.' She gasped. 'No!'
His expression hardened. 'That was the deal, Olivia,' he said harshly.
'No—'
'Yes,' he insisted tautly. 'I asked if you would mind my groping my way over your body, and you said I could Braille you if I discarded the glasses you've taken such an aversion to.'
The hot colour in her cheeks wouldn't be dispelled. 'I meant my face, not my body!' she gasped.
Marcus's mouth thinned. 'So you're backing out of the deal?'
'It wasn't the one I made, and you know it wasn't!' 'Pity.' He sat back in his chair, as if the subject weren't important to him. 'You're too thin for my tastes, anyway,' he added insultingly.
It was even more of an insult than he knew. Olivia remembered clearly the voluptuous wife he had preferred to her six years ago.
'Well?' he barked as she still knelt in front of him. She stood up, looking down to see the bitterness etched into his harsh face. And those damned glasses—how she hated them! But enough to withstand Marcus's hands on her body? Cruel as it might seem, at least he wouldn't be able to see her blushes! 'All right,' she snapped, 'you can Braille my body too.'
A pulse jerked erratically in his jaw, but he made no effort to move. 'I'm not that desperate,' he dismissed coldly, and stood up, and as Olivia hadn't yet moved, walked straight into her. 'I'm sorry.' His hands came out to steady her with ill-concealed impatience, moving sharply away. 'Here, take the damned glasses if it's that important to you.' He held them out to her.
Olivia took them, seeing that the strain in his eyes had increased the last few days. 'I'll just go and change out of my uniform. I thought we could go for a walk in the garden—'
'No.'
She frowned. 'No?'
'I told you before,' he bit out curtly. 'There's no point to it.'
'I think there is.' She was just as stubborn. 'Besides, you can renew your acquaintance with Jasper. I met him last night, he's lovely.' She had found the dog to be very friendly, although Sally said he was pining for Marcus. 'He isn't eating properly, you know,' she told him. 'He misses you.'
'Dogs are fickle creatures—like women,' he added hardly. 'He'll soon transfer his love to someone else.'
There was a wealth of bitterness in his words, showing that he might have loved his wife enough to take her back, but that he had never forgotten her defection.
'But he doesn't need to, does he?' she persisted. 'Not when he still has you.'
Marcus looked really angry now, his mouth tight, his eyes narrowed. 'I don't want the dog up here, and I don't want to go down to the garden! For God's sake just—leave—me—alone!'
'I can't do that.' Olivia gave him a close look. 'Did you shave this morning?'
He frowned. 'What does that have to do with Jasper?'
'Nothing. I just wondered—'
'Well, don't,' he snapped. 'I don't need a nursemaid. I'm completely bathroom trained,' he taunted. 'I went through all that at the hospital. I was also taught how to dress myself. So why the sudden interest in whether or not I've shaved?' He touched the lean smoothness of his chin, not a nick or missed whisker anywhere.
'It's very good,' Olivia assured him. 'I was just wondering why, when you can do complicated things like washing, shaving and dressing yourself, you wouldn't go for a simple walk in the garden.'
'Because I refuse to stumble about with a white stick, that's why!' he told her savagely.
Why hadn't she thought of that? Marcus was much too proud to let anyone see him in such a vulnerable position. He had Brailled this bedroom and the adjoining bathroom, knew every inch of them, but the garden was an unknown quantity to him, full of unseen hazards he didn't even want to try and challenge. She was so new at dealing with the psychology of a newly blinded person; she had only dealt with it briefly during her general training as a nurse. She had told all this to Simon Brooks, but he hadn't seemed to think it was important. The previous nurse had been highly trained in this field, and yet getting no response from Marcus at all. Olivia just wished she didn't feel quite so much as if she were moving in the dark too!
'I have something much better than a white stick,' she told him cheerfully.
'Oh yes?' he sneered.
'Yes.' She remained unperturbed by his scorn. 'Try this.' She put her hand into his, feeling him flinch away from her. 'Or this if you prefer,' she put her hand through the crook of his arm. 'It should be quite simple for me to give you the instructions you need.'
'No!'
'Why not?' she sighed.
'Because I'm perfectly happy where I am,' he rasped.
Her mouth set in an angry line. 'Maybe you are— but I'm not! I have no intention of spending all the summer in this stuffy room when there's all that lovely garden I could be sitting in.'
'Running away, Miss King?' he taunted.
'Not at all,' she replied calmly. 'I just think Jasper would appreciate my company more than you do.'
'Undoubtedly,' he drawled.
Olivia shot him a glare of frustration before leaving the room, her heart beating faster in her agitation. After saying she was going to the garden it would have given him a victory to think he had swayed her to his will if she stayed. He might think he had her running, but she hadn't finished yet by a long way!
She changed into denims and a dark green tee-shirt before going downstairs, to find Jasper already out in the garden, coming over to greet her exuberantly.
'Your moody master is still sulking in his room,' she said in a loud voice, conscious of the still figure sitting behind the open window upstairs. 'So it's just you and me, boy. Let's find you a stick to play with, hmm?'
For the next hour she and Jasper had great fun playing together, Olivia making sure Marcus knew exactly how much she and the dog were enjoying themselves. Although she didn't have to try very hard; Jasper was a del
ightful dog, very gentle, very friendly, and she felt as regretful as he looked when it was time for her to go back inside.
'I know, boy,' she stroked his golden coat. 'But I have to get back to work now. Perhaps tomorrow, okay?'
She went straight up to her room next to Marcus's to wash and tidy herself before lunch, her cheeks glowing with health, her eyes bright and clear as she went back down to the kitchen where the housekeeper was just serving lunch.
'I'll take Mr Hamilton's up with mine, if you like,' Olivia offered.
Miss Podmore looked uncertain. 'I usually give Mr Hamilton his on a tray.'
She nodded. 'We'll both have it on a tray.' 'I don't think Mr Hamilton will like that.' 'I don't suppose he will,' Olivia agreed lightly. The housekeeper gave her a puzzled look. 'You don't seem worried by that.' 'I'm not.'
'Well—all right,' the middle-aged woman shrugged, putting the covers over their food and putting both meals on the same tray. 'But don't say I didn't warn you,' she added ruefully.
'I won't,' Olivia laughed, carrying the tray upstairs, knocking on Marcus's bedroom door with her foot, the tray too big to balance in one hand. 'Come in,' he called. 'I can't!' she shouted back.
'What the hell—' She could hear mutterings, and then the door was opened.
She sailed past him with the tray. 'Lunch,' she told him lightly, although all this cheerfulness was starting to be a strain. She was going to be worn out by it all by the end of the day!
Marcus moved to join her at the small table by the window. 'I thought you were a nurse, not a waitress,' he sneered.
Olivia arranged the food on the table, automatically telling him where she put everything. 'I'm not going to argue with you now,' she told him softly. 'I won't allow you to ruin my appetite. The pork looks delicious.'
'Then at least you won't starve, will you?' he derided.
'No.' She made herself comfortable in the chair opposite his. 'Aren't you going to sit down?' She looked up at him.
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