‘Is that better?’ When he turned, his face was brooding, angry from the hurt that seemed to have steeped in his soul for a long time now.
‘A little bit.’
This was like a crazy game. Each trying to drive the other away, protect themselves, and yet fascinated by each other.
Unable to resist the temptation to dig deeper. Charlotte stepped forward. ‘Touch me.’
He looked at her as if she’d gone stark, staring mad. If she’d taken a moment to think about what she’d just said then she would have agreed with him completely.
‘Like this?’ His fingers trailed the line of her jaw. ‘Or this?’
His other arm snaked around her waist in a strong, domineering motion and suddenly she was pressed against him. She should have known better than to taunt Edward.
Charlotte reached up, cradling his jaw in her hands. Not even the fact that Isaac was in the next room could stop her now. ‘Now. Listen to me.’
‘I’m listening.’
He was listening all right. She had every piece of his attention, from the strong curl of his body to the ever-fascinating eddies of his mind. It was all-encompassing, irresistible.
Charlotte took a deep breath. ‘You should have let me know where you were, but I should have trusted that Isaac would be safe with you.’
‘And...?’
His anger had subsided and she could feel the tautness of his frame relax against hers. Melting, almost...
‘I just...’
‘Find it hard to trust?’
Was she that transparent? ‘Yes. I suppose I do. It’s a big world out there, and Isaac’s starting to be interested in it. My job is to keep him safe, make sure that he’s got what he needs, and...’
‘Let him go. Just a bit, maybe.’
‘Yeah. Just a bit.’ She reached up and touched the side of his face with her fingertips. ‘Who says that you don’t understand?’
He let her go abruptly. Probably just as well. Their bodies seemed to have taken on a life of their own. Moving against each other with an almost imperceptible but blissful friction.
He shook his head as if to clear it. ‘It’s not rocket science. You’ve had to fend for yourself and Isaac for a long time, now. Isaac’s father, the one person who should be helping you, is only making things worse. You’ve had to struggle to make ends meet, and been chased out of your home by debt collectors. I would think that trust issues go hand in hand with that.’
‘Hmm. Life’s a bit more complicated than rocket science sometimes.’
Edward leaned back against the kitchen counter, his hungry eyes still on her. ‘Rocket science isn’t really that complicated. One of those illustrations that doesn’t stand up to too much scrutiny.’
For a moment Charlotte could see the lure of his books. Something that was constant in an ever-changing world. If she could have seen the same beauty in numbers and science that Edward did...
Damn the books. They couldn’t give him this.
She stepped forward and found him there, ready. His body seemed to mould to hers—a close fit that left no room for anything else to come between them.
She kissed him. She couldn’t help it. And once she’d brushed her lips against his she couldn’t help but go back for more. His response was thrilling, strong and tender all at the same time.
One hand travelled lightly down her back. Across the rise of her hips and to the top of her leg. This was too much. She’d bitten off far more than she could chew.
‘Isaac...’ She just managed to get the word out.
‘Yeah...’
His grip on her loosened, but Charlotte couldn’t bring herself to pull away.
‘He’s just in the next room.’
She wasn’t telling him, she was telling herself. Giving herself the one and only reason that could stop her from keeping going until all the pent-up frustration came screaming from her lungs.
‘We should stop.’
Edward seemed as disinclined to bring this to a close as she was, but he was the stronger. He gave her one last, head-spinning kiss before he gripped her shoulders, carefully propelling her backwards, away from him.
‘That’s...sensible.’ Her cheeks were burning, and she still couldn’t quite catch her breath.
‘Yes. I’d better go and get us something to eat. Before...’
‘Before we get too hungry...’
‘Yes.’ He pulled the takeaway menu out of his back pocket. ‘What would you like?’
‘Anything. Surprise me.’
His lips twitched into a half-grin before he straightened his face. ‘All right. I’ll be fifteen minutes.’
Enough time to splash cold water on her face and take a breath. ‘Have you got chopsticks here?’
‘No, I’ll get some.’
He opened the kitchen door and disappeared into the living room. Charlotte heard him exchange a few words with Isaac, and as the front door slammed she shook her head. It was going to take a lot longer than fifteen minutes to get Edward out of her system.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
‘IS IT SO very wrong to feel like celebrating?’ Charlotte wondered if she sounded cold-hearted.
‘No.’ Paula swirled her herbal tea thoughtfully in her cup. ‘It’s exactly the right thing to do. You’ve got to look forward, not back.’
Paula clearly thought that Charlotte was being brave about this. It was nothing of the sort. Ever since she’d received the Decree Absolute this morning Charlotte had wanted to do nothing but dance. And, finding herself alone with Paula in the employees’ lounge, she’d been unable to contain her news.
‘Actually, it’s quite a relief. I was afraid my husband...’ Charlotte couldn’t help smiling ‘...my ex-husband would make some kind of objection somewhere along the line.’
‘From what you’ve said in the past...’ Paula looked at Charlotte thoughtfully. ‘Okay, so you’ve asked for no maintenance. Your ex didn’t ask for any rights to visit Isaac. Am I right in thinking that this guy was bad news?’
‘Between you and me...?’
Paula nodded. ‘Of course.’ Paula might gossip, along with the rest of them, but she knew how to keep a confidence.
‘Yeah. Very bad news. He hasn’t seen Isaac for months, even though I’ve asked him time and time again if he’d come.’
Paula snorted in disgust. ‘What kind of slug doesn’t want to see a cute little guy like Isaac? No wonder you want to celebrate. You want to come down to Drake’s tonight? We could crack open a bottle of champagne.’
‘I’d love to. But I’ve got to go and pick that cute little guy up.’
Paula nodded. ‘And the cute big one?’
‘There’s only one guy in my life who’s even remotely cute. And he’s three feet tall...’ Charlotte told herself that you couldn’t really call Edward cute.
‘Yeah, right. You’re either blind, or crazy, or...’ Paula grinned, her words taking on a sing-song intonation ‘...you’re telling porkies.’
‘I’m just out of one bad relationship. I think I’ll take some time to pause for a breath.’ Charlotte shrugged. ‘Twenty years or so.’
Paula leaned towards her. ‘I wouldn’t leave it twenty seconds if I could get my hands on Edward North.’
‘Who says I can?’
Only about half the clinic. And the other half reckoned she already had. Keeping secrets about what you did out of hours was easy enough. Keeping secrets about how you felt about the people you worked with was nigh on impossible in such a small community.
Paula had the grace not to remind her of the gossip. ‘Whatever. But in another four hours’ time it’s going to be the weekend. Tell me you’ll find something to do to celebrate, eh?’
‘Yes, I will.’
Paula nodded
. ‘Life’s too short to worry about what other people say. Even me.’
‘Thanks, Paula.’ Charlotte looked at her watch. ‘I’ve got to go. I’ve a clinic in twenty minutes.’
‘Edward North?’
‘Yes, Edward North—if you must know.’
* * *
‘Two more to go?’ They were in one of the Hunter Clinic’s plush consulting rooms.
‘Yes.’ Charlotte flipped through the notes. ‘April Ashe is next. She’s just coming in for a follow-up visit.’
‘Ah, yes, April. Have you seen her yet?’
‘Yes, she’s in the waiting area.’
‘How is she?’
Charlotte laughed. ‘Isn’t that what she’s here for? For you to say how she is?’
‘You know what I mean.’
Yes, she did. And it was a question that Edward wouldn’t have asked just a couple of weeks ago. ‘She looks great. She’s got a new dress on.’
Edward searched her face for some clue. ‘How would you know that? Or am I intruding into a knowledge base that’s for you to know and the male of the species to wonder about.’
‘You’ll have to wonder.’ Charlotte grinned at him. It was simple, really. When Charlotte had admired April’s yellow and white summer dress her mother had said it was new. But it was good to keep Edward wondering from time to time.
This time April walked into the consulting room alone. ‘Hi, April.’ Edward got to his feet. ‘You look very nice today.’
April nodded. ‘Thanks.’
Charlotte wondered whether he would ask, but he didn’t. Instead he set to, examining the skin on the side of April’s face. ‘That’s healing very nicely, April. What do you think of it?’
‘It’s...different. Good... It itches a bit still.’
‘Yes, that’s natural. It itches as it heals.’ Edward smiled. ‘You’ve been massaging the oil that Charlotte gave you into it? And I can see you’ve been keeping out of the sun.’
‘Yes.’
‘Good.’ Edward returned to his chair. ‘Well, I don’t think that I need to see you again.’ He smiled at April and she grinned back.
Experience had taught Charlotte that this was the point where she stepped in.
‘You will, of course, be seeing Charlotte again, and she’ll monitor your progress. But I was wondering whether you had any questions for me.’
Okay. This was new. Usually he left the questions part to the nurses.
‘Um... Not really...’
‘Hmm. So what’s this question you don’t really need to ask, then?’
April smiled self-consciously at him. ‘Well, I’m going to my end-of-year party at school in a couple of weeks’ time.’
‘Ah. That might be a little out of my area of expertise.’
He looked at Charlotte and she raised her eyebrows at him. So he was going to leave her something to do, at least.
‘I think that April would be interested in knowing whether another couple of weeks is going to make an appreciable difference to the look of the scar. And whether she can use a little make-up. Is that right?’
April nodded. ‘Yeah. There’s someone I...’
‘Yes. Of course. Well, the wound’s been dry for a while now, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t start to use light cosmetics occasionally, as long as they don’t irritate your skin. Charlotte can advise on which types to use and so on. As to the look of it...’ He paused, thinking for a while. ‘Generally speaking, I’d expect that area to look better in two or three weeks’ time than it does now. May I ask you a question, April?’
‘Sure. What is it?’
‘Well, it’s a long time since I was your age...’ He paused, as if waiting for a contradiction.
‘Mmm,’ April agreed.
‘But I can certainly remember it.’ He shot a stern look at Charlotte, who was barely repressing her laughter. ‘And I have to say that any young man who disregards your smile and your personality, and who only sees a scar, isn’t worth your time.’
‘That’s what my mother says...’ April gave him a wry look.
‘Well, it must be right, then.’ Edward snapped his notepad shut with an air of finality.
‘But...’ April looked at him thoughtfully. ‘But when I said I wanted my scar done she was all for it. So was my dad.’
Some of Isaac’s questions prompted that very same baffled look from Edward, but he regrouped almost instantly. ‘I look at it like this. What I do can’t change who you are, because you’re already special. My aim is to give you what you deserve.’
A slow smile spread across April’s face. ‘Nice one. Thanks.’
‘You’re very welcome, April.’ Edward rose from his seat. ‘Well, I can see that you ladies have some...um...things to talk about. Is your mother outside? I’d just like to have a quick word with her.’
April nodded and watched him go, before turning to Charlotte. ‘You know, I thought that Dr North was a bit stand-offish. But he’s really nice, isn’t he?’
Charlotte laughed. ‘Yes, he is. Really nice.’
* * *
Charlotte wished Paula a good weekend and watched her go through the doors to the outside lobby. She waited for a few minutes and then made for Edward’s office. She’d been saving her good news until they could talk uninterrupted.
‘You got it, then?’ He looked up when she tapped on the door, pushing the papers in front of him aside.
‘How did you know?’
‘I saw the courier delivery for you on the reception desk this morning.’
‘Okay.’ Charlotte sat down. ‘So I had a delivery. It could have been anything.’
‘That’s just the first of my observations. The second was that the envelope was my father’s stationery.’
‘So you went to the Sherlock Holmes School of Medicine, did you? You’ll have to do better than that. It could have been a letter from him telling me that there was some kind of problem.’
‘Ah. Yes, it could.’ Edward leaned back in his chair, the tips of his fingers touching to form an inverted V. ‘But then you wouldn’t have been looking like a cat that’s just got the cream all afternoon.’
‘I haven’t!’ That Edward had noticed the letter and known where it was from was hardly surprising. That he’d noticed her was still a new enough experience to make her shiver with pleasure.
‘Yes, you have.’ Edward gathered up some papers and stuffed them into his briefcase. ‘Let’s go.’
He picked up the heaviest of her shopping bags and ushered her out of his office.
He nodded a goodnight to Ethan Hunter, who had appeared from the lobby, and kept walking when Ethan spoke.
‘Do you have a moment, Charlotte?’
‘Yes, of course.’
It was all very well for Edward to walk on ahead, as if they both just happened to be leaving work at the same time, rather than together. But the canvas shopping bag with ‘Smart Girls Recycle’ emblazoned across it was hardly going to be his.
‘Mrs Ashe asked to speak with me before she left.’
‘Is there a problem?’ Charlotte had thought that the session with April had gone well, but generally clients stopped to complain, rather than praise.
‘She was very pleased with the way that April’s procedure has been handled, and she especially mentioned how well you’d looked after her. I hear you even gave her some make-up advice. Well done.’
‘Oh! Thank you, Ethan.’ Perhaps it was relief, but she thought she saw a flicker of warmth in Ethan’s normally impassive face. ‘It was very nice of Mrs Ashe to take the time to speak with you.’
‘She mentioned that Edward was very kind, as well...’ Ethan was clearly a little perplexed by the concept.
‘He always does his best for every pati
ent.’ Now probably wasn’t the time to go into any apparent change in Edward’s demeanour.
Ethan nodded. ‘Yes, of course. And it’s always good to hear that our clients value our people as much as we do. Passing their praise on is one of the more pleasant duties which falls to me when Leo’s not around.’
‘I appreciate it that you did. It means a lot.’ Charlotte smiled up at Ethan and made a move towards the exit.
Ethan walked with her. ‘You have a son?’
He’d clearly decided that this was one of those getting-to-know-you moments that a good employer should take with his employees. Charlotte wished he’d chosen a time when Edward hadn’t been waiting for her outside.
‘Yes. Isaac’s five.’
‘Must be quite a handful, then. Was he the boy I saw Edward playing with in his office a couple of weeks ago?’
‘Um... Yes.’
‘I’ve never seen Edward look so animated.’ Ethan was smiling now. A little distant, as if he was thinking about something else at the same time, but definitely a smile. ‘You and Edward make a good team.’
Charlotte swallowed hard and decided to interpret good team in a purely professional context. ‘Isaac has a way of involving people. I suppose all children do...’
‘Yeah. I guess they do. But Edward’s a pretty tough nut to crack.’ The smile faded and was replaced by Ethan’s usual thoughtful look. The one that implied his thoughts on the matter were not particularly happy ones.
‘No one’s that tough.’
Ethan raised one eyebrow. ‘I wouldn’t go as far as to say that.’ He stepped forward, opening the door to the lobby for her, and Charlotte walked through.
Edward was waiting there, her shopping bag nestled against his own briefcase at his feet. He nodded briskly at Ethan, who returned the nod and disappeared along the hallway.
‘Everything okay?’ Edward waited until Ethan was out of earshot.
‘Yeah, fine. Mrs Ashe told Ethan that you and I had done a good job with April, and he stopped to say thank you.’
‘That’s nice.’
‘He said we made a good team.’
‘Well, we do, don’t we?’
That slight quirk of Edward’s lips told her that he, at least, didn’t have his mind completely on the professional. ‘Why are you looking so glum? You’ve just had a vote of thanks from the boss. Ethan doesn’t say these things unless he means them.’
200 Harley Street: The Enigmatic Surgeon Page 14