Daring to Date Her Boss

by Joanna Neil

  ‘It’s all right,’ she murmured. ‘I shouldn’t have let my feelings show...we were both caught off guard. I was a bit off balance for a while, but I’m all right now.’

  She wasn’t all right, of course. Her lips still tingled from his kiss. Those few blissful moments in his arms had been wonderful, and for just a little while he had managed to blot everything from her mind.

  But it should never have happened. He was right about that. That kiss had been extra-special, incredibly moving, tender and full of promise, but it wasn’t right for them to have explored their feelings for one another that way.

  It would be a mistake to get involved with anyone from her place of work, and especially with him, wouldn’t it? He’d already said he was finding it difficult to reconcile his professional obligations with his feelings towards her.

  It wouldn’t be fair to either of them to let their emotions get out of hand, would it?

  But wasn’t it already too late?

  CHAPTER SIX

  ‘IS EVERYTHING ALL right between you and Tyler?’ Noah came into the staffroom and saw Saskia standing by the coffee maker.

  ‘Um...’ Saskia thought about that for a moment or two. ‘Yes, I think so,’ she answered cautiously. She frowned. How had Noah managed to pick up on their difficulties? Hadn’t she and Tyler been ultra-careful around one another ever since the day he’d kissed her? In fact, Tyler seemed to be going about his work in a perfectly normal fashion—she was the one who was finding things difficult.

  ‘Why?’ she asked Noah. ‘What makes you think there’s a problem?’

  He shrugged lightly and helped himself to biscuits from the cookie jar. ‘He’s been quite tense these last few days, and that isn’t like him at all.’ He frowned. ‘I suppose it could be that his plans for the house aren’t going too well.’

  ‘Plans? What plans?’

  ‘Oh, you haven’t heard about them? He wants to remodel the interior of his house to make it more light and open, but he isn’t too sure yet how to go about it. I think he feels everywhere’s too cluttered at the moment.’ He smiled. ‘It isn’t, of course, not by normal people’s standards, but Tyler likes everything to be streamlined, very neat and everything in its place. It’s a thing with him. He’s the same with the garden.’

  He propped himself up against the worktop, facing her. ‘You must know what he’s like by now. Everything has to be faultless...a bowling-green lawn and manicured flower borders. Even the trees and the shrub garden are pruned to conform to his idea of perfect symmetry. And have you seen his small patch of kitchen garden? It looks as though it’s been planted out along regimental lines.’

  ‘Oh, dear.’ Saskia paused, holding the coffee jug motionless in mid-air. ‘Yes, I’d noticed his beautiful garden. These things are important to him, aren’t they?’ Absently, she poured coffee into her cup. ‘I’m afraid I’m probably to blame if he’s not himself of late. I might have upset the apple cart.’

  He looked at her askance. ‘How? Why? What could you have done? It’s certainly not your work—people speak very highly of you.’

  ‘Well, that’s a relief.’ She pulled a face. ‘Although I still think Tyler’s waiting for me to trip up somehow. But actually it’s nothing to do with work.’ She placed the coffee jug back on its stand. ‘The thing is, the children and I took Boomer for a walk the other day, and I let him off the lead as we came back towards the house—as I always do. Usually there’s not a problem, he’ll wait for me by the front door...but not this time. He must have picked up a scent of some sort because he took off at top speed and before I could stop him he’d dashed into Tyler’s back garden.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound good.’

  ‘No.’ Her mouth turned down at the corners. ‘There were a couple of loose slats in one of the fence panels—well, to be honest, I think Boomer was responsible for those in the first place. Whenever the postman calls Boomer tries to head butt his way out of the garden and onto the side path.’

  She frowned. ‘Anyway, he managed to get through the other day. Of course, I went after him—through the gate, not the fence,’ she added hastily, and Noah’s mouth curved. ‘I’d no idea what was going on, or what he was after. But then the children admitted that someone—probably Charlie, though he wouldn’t own up to it—had left the rabbit’s cage undone and Bugsy had escaped about an hour earlier. They’d looked everywhere apparently, but couldn’t find him.’

  ‘Uh-oh...this is getting worse by the second.’ Noah grinned as he took a cup down from the shelf. ‘I suppose the rabbit had managed to find his way into Tyler’s garden as well?’

  She nodded. ‘Oh, yes. By the time I caught up with him he’d had a whale of a time, eating his way through the carrots and peas, and when Boomer started chasing him the pair of them ran amok in the flower beds. The chrysanthemums and the dahlias were trampled into the ground. I felt awful.’

  Noah tried unsuccessfully to suppress a smile. ‘Oh, dear. What did Tyler have to say about that? I’d love to have seen the look on his face.’

  Saskia’s mouth twitched a fraction. ‘He didn’t say very much at all, to be honest. When Boomer started barking Tyler came out of the house and asked what was going on, but once he’d taken in what was happening I don’t think he could trust himself to speak. He grabbed Bugsy and put him back in his cage and then he just glared at the dog. I’ve a feeling he wanted to grab him by the scruff of the neck and shake him, but he managed to hold back. I’d been trying to catch Boomer all this time, but he thought it was a game and kept running off. Tyler was too quick for him, though. He just grabbed him by his collar and marched him over to me.’

  ‘He must have said something to you.’ Noah pushed his cup towards her on the worktop and she filled it with hot coffee.

  She made a wry smile. ‘Yes...well, he did say a few choice words between gritted teeth. The gist of it was along the lines of “How long was this tenancy supposed to last?” and then he muttered something under his breath. I didn’t catch it all, but I think the end product might have been “There has to be some way the agreement can be broken.”’ She rolled her eyes. ‘I’m hoping he didn’t mean it. I did say that we would go over to his place and try to put the damage right as far as possible, but he looked horrified at the thought. I’m sure he expected us to make matters worse.’

  Noah laughed. ‘I wouldn’t take it to heart. I’ve never known Tyler to lose his self-control or stay annoyed for too long. This will all blow over soon enough.’

  ‘Hmm, maybe, but I wish there was something I could do to put things right. I’m wondering if I should offer to help him out with his plans for the house. If he’s having trouble visualising them, I might be able to come up with a solution.’

  ‘It could be worth a try.’ Noah sipped his coffee. ‘I know Imogen spends quite a bit of time at his place, but she obviously hasn’t been able to come up with anything. She’s pretty much like him—she’s very organised. I think she suggested taking out some of the furniture and removing a bookshelf here and there, but he didn’t seem too keen on that idea.’

  Saskia’s brow furrowed. Imogen—Dr Lancaster—seemed to be the one person Tyler trusted. He was always pleasant to her and seemed to be in a good mood whenever she was around. But, then, Imogen probably never put a foot wrong. She was always perfectly groomed, her hair was sleek and smooth, and she ran her cardiovascular clinic with flawless efficiency. She was probably Tyler’s ideal woman. A wave of depression rolled over her.

  ‘Does that bother you—about Imogen seeing Tyler outside work?’ Noah’s voice cut into her thoughts and she came back to earth with a bump.

  ‘I...I’m not sure,’ she hedged, aware that he was watching her carefully. ‘Maybe. A bit.’ She didn’t want to own up to her true feelings, but Noah seemed to see quite easily through her subterfuge.

  ‘You’ve fallen for him
, haven’t you?’ His mouth made a rueful shape. ‘Perhaps I should have guessed before this.’

  ‘I don’t know what I feel,’ she murmured. ‘I’m not looking to get involved with anyone.’

  ‘No, maybe not.’ He gave her a wry smile. ‘I had the feeling I wouldn’t get anywhere with you...but I’m here for you, you know, any time you need a friend.’

  ‘Thanks, Noah.’ She stroked his arm lightly. ‘And I do appreciate you listening to me. You’ve been a great help.’ She hesitated. ‘I’m sorry if you had any other expectations.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it.’

  She went to rinse out her cup at the sink. ‘I’d better get back to work,’ she said. No doubt he would work his charm on some other young woman. It was his nature not to be downhearted for too long.

  And at least he’d given her an idea as to how she could make things up to Tyler. She left him to his coffee and went back to A and E.

  ‘Would you come and take a look at the woman in room four?’ Katie asked as soon as she saw Saskia. ‘I’m worried about her. She’s complaining of nasty chest pain and aching in her jaw, but according to the ECG readout there’s no sign of a heart attack. She has a history of high blood pressure and she keeps feeling faint.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll come right away.’

  Saskia followed Katie into the treatment room and could see at once that the woman was in a great deal of pain, too restless even to sit comfortably on the bed. She was in her late forties, with dark hair that clung damply around her face. Katie was encouraging her to breathe oxygen through a face mask but she put that briefly to one side to answer Saskia’s questions.

  ‘Can you tell me what happened?’

  ‘I’ve been feeling ill for a few days.’ She was clearly breathless. ‘I thought it might be flu, but then I started to get this pain in my jaw. It’s a horrible, throbbing pain. But the pain in my chest is the worst.’

  Saskia nodded. ‘Can you describe it?’

  ‘It’s unbearable. It was like a ripping, tearing sensation, and now...now it’s really awful, the worst ever.’ She paused to get her breath, and Saskia quickly ran the stethoscope over her chest.

  ‘All right, Mrs Miller—Jenny...’ She smiled at her. ‘I’ll give you something stronger for the pain, and I’m going to arrange for you to have X-rays and a CT scan.’ Jenny’s blood pressure was dropping, and while that would be a good sign in someone who was usually hypertensive, in this case Saskia felt it was something else entirely.

  ‘It’s bad, isn’t it?’ Jenny slumped against her pillows. Her features were grey and drawn with anxiety and beads of perspiration had broken out on her brow. ‘Am I going to die?’

  Saskia laid a hand on her shoulder. ‘You’re very poorly, but nothing bad is going to happen to you while I’m looking after you.’ She was almost tempted to cross her fingers behind her back as she said that. If what she suspected was true, this woman was in real, life-threatening danger. Above all, she had to keep her from becoming severely stressed. ‘In the meantime, I just want you to rest and not worry about anything.’

  Jenny nodded wearily and went back to gulping oxygen through the breathing mask.

  As soon as she had arranged for a porter to take Jenny along to Radiology, Saskia went in search of Tyler. Katie was right to be concerned about this patient—something dire was going on here and if her tentative diagnosis was correct they would have to act super-fast. Jenny’s life could be at stake.

  She found Tyler in one of the other treatment rooms and as she entered he looked up, sending her an oblique glance. ‘Is something wrong?’ he asked, and she nodded.

  ‘Okay, give me a minute.’ He finished checking his patient’s reflexes and then asked the nurse to admit the man to the observation ward.

  Stepping out of the treatment room, he gave Saskia a narrowed look, and she guessed he thought it unusual that she should come in search of him. So far, whenever possible, she had tried to sort out any problems for herself without involving him. She’d wanted to show him that she didn’t need to be constantly monitored, that she was perfectly capable of acting independently.

  Now, though, she was afraid this was something she couldn’t deal with on her own. Jenny would need expert surgical intervention.

  ‘What’s the problem?’ he asked. His manner was brisk and professional, and she found herself missing his former friendly approach.

  ‘My patient is very seriously ill, and I don’t believe we can treat her here, in this hospital. I think we need to call out the air ambulance.’

  ‘Uh-huh. Tell me more.’

  Quickly, she outlined Mrs Miller’s condition. ‘She isn’t showing the symptoms of a heart attack, but I’m afraid it could be far worse.’

  He frowned. ‘There are several things it could be—an ulcer, gallstones. They can cause severe pain. We wouldn’t need to call out the helicopter for those.’

  ‘But she does have a heart murmur. What if it’s a tear in the aorta? That’s a possibility, too, isn’t it? She described a tearing pain.’ The aorta was the heart’s major blood vessel and anything going wrong with that could have dreadful consequences.

  ‘Hmm...do you think you might be making too much of this? People’s descriptions of pain aren’t necessarily accurate. It’s all subjective.’

  She stood her ground. ‘Either way, it will show up on the CAT scan. I think you need to come and look for yourself.’

  ‘You’ve had the results already?’ He started to walk with her to the radiology unit.

  ‘Not yet, but I’m fairly certain they’ll show a problem with the artery. If we’re lucky it has only just started leaking—that could be why her blood pressure is dropping. If not, she might only have a few hours left.’

  He frowned. ‘You seem very sure about this.’

  ‘I’ve seen it before. That’s how I’ve learned to be on the lookout for it.’

  They went into the CAT scan booth and after studying the films on the monitors for a few minutes Tyler made a whistling sound through his teeth. ‘There’s an aneurysm—here, do you see? The artery’s blown at a weak spot—probably due to the persistently high blood pressure.’

  He moved away from the screens and spoke briskly. ‘Okay, let’s put in a couple of large-bore IV lines and get her started on beta blockers to reduce the forces on the arterial wall. We’ll keep her on morphine for the pain.’

  ‘I’ll see to it.’

  ‘Good. I’ll alert the hospital in Truro that they need to have a team standing by.’

  She nodded and hurried away, immensely relieved that he had listened to her. Her priority now was to prevent the tear in the artery from getting any worse.

  By the time Tyler came back to her a few minutes later, she had done everything she could to stabilise their patient. ‘Will we be going with her in the helicopter?’ she asked, but he shook his head.

  ‘They’re sending over one of their cardiac specialists to stay with her on the journey. She’ll go for surgery to repair the damage as soon as they arrive back at the hospital.’ He studied her with renewed respect. ‘That was well spotted. You might just have saved her life.’

  ‘I hope so.’

  Tyler spoke to Jenny for a while, reassuring both her and her husband, who had arrived at her bedside in a state of great anxiety. He promised them both that she would be well looked after. He answered all their questions and Saskia could see that they felt comforted by his compassionate, capable bedside manner. Then, when he judged they needed some time to talk things through, he excused himself and left them in the care of the nurse.

  He walked with Saskia to the nurses’ station. ‘How are things with you? Have you heard anything more from the hospital about your brother and his wife?’

  ‘There’s been no real change,’ she told him. ‘The doctors have identified th
e specific bacterium causing Sam’s infection and they’re trying him on a different antibiotic. They’ve put him on diuretics to try to reduce his fluid load, but so far it’s still an uphill struggle. It’s much the same with Megan, too. The abscess doesn’t seem to be responding to treatment, so they’re having to try other drugs.’

  ‘I expect it will take some time before you see any real results. At least things are no worse. Perhaps that’s something to bear in mind.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so.’

  He gave her a quick, cautious glance. ‘If you need any help with getting over there to see them, I could arrange things for you with a friend who has a motor launch. I know how expensive it can be on the ferry. He’ll just need to know when exactly you plan to travel.’

  ‘Thanks, I appreciate that.’ Grateful, she laid a hand fleetingly on his arm, needing that brief moment of intimacy. He gave her shoulder a light squeeze in return.

  ‘Any time. I’ll do whatever I can.’

  Despite the tension between them, he was keeping his word about helping her, and she appreciated that. He was a thoughtful, considerate man, and she didn’t want to put up barriers between them. Even in the short space of time she’d known him she’d found herself looking for him, at home and at work, wanting to be near him.

  She couldn’t forget that kiss, the way he’d held her. It had been something special, deliciously tender, and even now she went hot all over at the thought of it.

  It wouldn’t do, of course. She was tormented by the knowledge that falling for someone like him could only ultimately lead her to pain and heartbreak. If they started a relationship and things went wrong between them she would be the one to pay the price. Her working life would become a nightmare.

  If she didn’t want to go through the problems she’d had with Michael all over again, she had no choice but to put up a wall of sorts between them.

  The air ambulance arrived within a few minutes and she went with Tyler to hand over their patient to the specialist doctor. ‘We have a team waiting, ready to operate,’ the doctor said. ‘We’ll keep you informed, but judging by the scans you sent us she’ll be in surgery for several hours.’