Falling for the Brooding Doc

by Annie Claydon

  ‘You’re sure about that? That you’re the best?’ Laurie knew that the Lakeside Clinic was the best of its kind, but she couldn’t resist the dig.

  ‘Yep. You’re well acquainted with what it takes to be the best. Once you get there, you know it.’ He leaned back in his seat, surveying the empty lake in front of him thoughtfully.

  There was steel beneath that easygoing smile of his. He’d given Laurie exactly what she wanted and still she felt that he’d got exactly what he wanted out of the deal too.

  ‘All right. Filing doesn’t appeal all that much, but I have a good understanding of sports injuries and I think I can contribute something as part of your medical team. Are you going to pay me?’ Maybe if the hours she worked came at a price, he wouldn’t demand too much of her.

  ‘Of course. I’m also going to be watching you, because our patients come first here. Always.’

  That put her very firmly in her place. But Laurie could work with this. The ability to help others, along with the freedom to dictate her own regime, was what she’d always wanted. What she’d fought with her father for. If she disregarded Ross’s watchful eyes, she could begin to persuade herself that this was going to be a piece of cake.

  ‘You think I’d agree to work for you if you said anything different?’

  ‘I wouldn’t sign off on your working as a doctor here if you said anything different.’ He gave her an innocent smile. ‘Do we have a bargain?’

  ‘You’re saying that as if I have a choice. But, yes, it’s a generous offer and it suits me.’

  He shrugged. ‘There’s always a choice. I’m interested to know why you chose to row right past my window this morning when you could have quite easily gone in the other direction.’

  Right. She should have expected that there was a catch to this. Apparently he felt their arrangement allowed him to ask awkward questions that she didn’t know the answers to.

  ‘No idea.’

  ‘Maybe that’s something we could talk about sometime...’ Ross’s smile was altogether too knowing, and much too delicious for Laurie’s liking. She got to her feet, trying to ignore the stiffness in her hip.

  ‘You can talk about it if you want. I’ll pass...’ She threw the words over her shoulder as she walked away.

  CHAPTER TWO

  THAT HAD...WORKED? Ross wasn’t entirely sure whether he’d done just what Laurie was hoping he’d do, or she’d done exactly as he’d hoped. It was difficult to tell, but when he told Sam about the arrangement she nodded, professing her approval.

  ‘You gave her no choice, then.’

  ‘That’s the part that bothers me, to be honest. It all feels a bit too much like blackmail.’

  Sam rolled her eyes. ‘This isn’t a hotel, it’s a clinic. The one thing you’ve always asked of everyone is that they’re part of the community here. If we’re at the point where there’s only one option you’re prepared to accept, that’s because Laurie’s shut all the others down herself. If this doesn’t work, I don’t see what will.’

  ‘If it doesn’t then I’m out of ideas. I really will have to think about throwing her out.’

  Sam smirked at him. ‘Of course you won’t. You don’t give up that easily, Ross.’

  Nice to hear. Although he suspected that even Sam underestimated the extent of the problem. Laurie was tough, determined and it was almost impossible to read her. There was obviously something going on beneath that poker-faced exterior, but for the life of him he couldn’t think what, and Ross suspected that getting to the bottom of it was the one way to help her heal.

  That made honesty his guiding principle. Laurie was a doctor and, even if only half of her reference was accurate, an exceptionally good one. There would be no skimming over facts that she wasn’t ready to hear, and it was apparent from their latest conversation that there would be no hiding his thinking behind anything. That was fine, but his growing fascination with her made everything challenging.

  She was no less fascinating when he called into her room at the clinic to see when she’d be ready to move. Laurie was strikingly attractive, but didn’t have the kind of soft prettiness that some found so appealing. The set of her jaw was a little too determined, and the look in her eye a little too challenging. She was the kind of woman that Ross could admire endlessly.

  And she was ferociously organised. Her bags were already packed and she was ready to go. When he reached for one of her suitcases she gave him a look that would have slain dragons and which sent tingles down his spine.

  She fell into step next to him, wheeling both suitcases behind her, as they walked along the gravel path that led to the house. When Ross opened the main doors, she stepped into the entrance hall, looking around at the grand old staircase and the honey coloured oak panelling on the walls, which were in marked contrast to the clean lines and emphasis on light and space of the newer building that now housed the clinic.

  ‘This is a bit different!’

  Ross nodded. ‘This is where the clinic started out.’

  ‘Hmm.’ She was taking in everything, the stained-glass panels in the doors, the flowers that Ross’s mother kept in the hallway. ‘When was that?’

  ‘Thirty-two years ago. I was four, and my mother came here and started the practice, expanding it to a small clinic. We lived in an apartment on one side of the house and the clinic was on the other.’

  ‘Thirty-six, then?’ Laurie’s half-smile told Ross that she was on a mission.

  ‘I’ll be thirty-six in a couple of months. September the fifth.’ He threw the extra information in just to let her know that she could ask whatever she wanted about him. His life was an open book. Apart from a few pages that had got stuck together, but that was a long time ago now...

  ‘And you were always destined to be a doctor? And come to work here?’

  ‘Not really. I went through the usual cornucopia of career ambitions but in the end I decided that what I saw every day, the kind of good that my mother was doing, was what I really wanted. We’d never intended that I should join the practice, but she was ill for a while and I came back to help out. I found that this was where I wanted to be after all.’

  ‘After all the time spent wanting to get away?’ There was a hard edge to her tone suddenly.

  ‘I wouldn’t put it quite like that. I suppose you sometimes need to distance yourself from something for a while to realise it’s what you really want. There’s something to be said for feeling you have a choice.’ Ross caught her gaze, and thought he saw a reaction in the fascinating depths of her eyes.

  ‘Choices are what we make for ourselves.’ She shrugged, looking around the hallway. ‘You live here, then?’

  ‘I have the apartment upstairs. My mother has the one downstairs, and the guest apartment is at the back.’ Ross began to walk towards the double doors that led to the single-storey extension, holding one side open for Laurie to manoeuvre her suitcases through.

  ‘You live on your own?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘No partner, then?’ She raised one eyebrow, as if that was difficult to believe.

  Maybe these questions were intended to divert him from asking any of her. If she thought they’d make him baulk, she could think again.

  ‘No. You?’

  She shook her head. ‘I travel light.’

  ‘Yes I can see that.’ He motioned towards the two large suitcases and she cracked a smile.

  ‘I travel light in all other respects.’

  Ross opened the door to the guest apartment and she walked inside, looking around. It was small but comfortable enough for a six-week stay and Laurie walked across to the windows, pulling back the drapes to let light stream in.

  ‘This is lovely. You’re sure it’s all right for me to stay here?’

  ‘Yes, it’s fine.’ He took the front door key from his keyring, handing it to her. ‘It�
��s all yours for the next six weeks. There’s a small kitchenette, but you can eat in the clinic’s restaurant. The cleaner comes in twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays.’

  Laurie smiled. ‘They won’t have much to do. I don’t make a lot of mess.’

  Ross had noticed that. Her room in the clinic had been impeccably tidy, with none of the usual bits and pieces that people brought with them for a long stay.

  ‘I don’t make a lot of noise either. I won’t be disturbing you or your mother...’

  ‘My mother’s away on holiday for the next couple of weeks, and my apartment’s upstairs on the other side of the building. Unless you’re planning a rave, you won’t disturb me.’

  She shook her head. ‘I don’t have enough friends for a rave. The ones I do have tend to go to bed early so they can be up to train in the morning.’

  He watched as she walked over to the French doors, unlocking them and stepping out onto the small paved area outside.

  ‘Nice view. Aren’t you worried it’ll be too much temptation for me?’

  ‘No. As I said, what you decide to do about your own treatment is entirely up to you. Are you worried?’

  ‘I’ll manage.’ Laurie gestured towards the spiral staircase that ran up to the balcony outside his apartment windows. ‘Do I need to turn a blind eye if I see someone sneaking up to your place?’

  ‘Such as...?’ Ross pretended he didn’t know what she meant.

  ‘I don’t know. If you had a thing going with one of the women at the clinic you might want to keep it quiet. Or one of the guys...’

  Ross grinned. When Laurie pushed, she pushed. He was beginning to like pushing back.

  ‘All my guests use the front door. And, no, I don’t have a thing going with any of my staff, and I’m not gay. You?’

  ‘I don’t have a thing going with any of your staff either. And I’m not gay. I’ll call the police if I see anyone sneaking up there at the dead of night.’

  ‘I’d appreciate it. Always good to have someone keeping an eye out.’

  Ross wondered whether she’d like to come upstairs to his flat and take a look through his wardrobes. If he hadn’t had a full schedule this afternoon, he would have been tempted to invite her up. But Laurie had already turned to walk back inside.

  ‘If you’re free tomorrow, I’d like to sit down with you for a couple of hours. Just to talk through which patients you’ll be responsible for.’

  She nodded. ‘That’s fine. But I’m going to have to take a day trip back home before I start to work with them.’

  Ross raised an eyebrow. Normally patients were encouraged to stay here at the clinic to promote a regular regime of rest and exercise. But then he’d just made it very clear that Laurie wasn’t a patient any more, and he couldn’t think of a reason why she should stay. Other than his growing curiosity, which wasn’t anyone’s business but his own.

  ‘I need clothes.’ She glanced down at the two large suitcases. ‘Work clothes, that is.’

  Right. Ross imagined that she would have noticed that the staff here often wore the same kind of casual sporting wear that he’d seen Laurie in for the last week. His own chinos and open-necked shirt were about as formal as things got. Perhaps there was another reason for her day trip, but he couldn’t imagine what it could be.

  ‘You’ll be fine as you are.’

  She shook her head. ‘No, I have work clothes and sports clothes. The two don’t overlap.’

  It was a reason of sorts. And impossible to tell whether it disguised another motive.

  ‘Okay, I’ve got to make a trip down to London the day after tomorrow to see some patients who’ve been referred to us. You want to join me?’

  Laurie eyed him, a hint of amusement playing around her lips. ‘Making sure I don’t escape?’

  Ross shook his head. ‘You can leave any time you like, there’s no need to escape. I’d just like to be the first to know if you do. Shall I book an extra train ticket?’

  ‘Yes. Thanks.’

  He’d either called her bluff or travelling down to London with him fitted in with her plans as well. Ross nodded his assent and turned, walking out of the guest apartment. He had no idea what Laurie was going to throw at him next, but he imagined that the next few weeks were going to be anything but dull.

  * * *

  What the blue blazes...? Are you sleeping with someone at the clinic? It was really none of her business. He could shapeshift into a vampire bat and hang upside down in the rafters all night if he wanted, it made no difference to what he did during the day as a doctor. Or as a boss. She supposed that Ross was her boss now.

  One who had a very obvious interest in what drove her, and that was something that Laurie preferred to keep to herself because she wanted to forget about it. Her questions had started as a defence mechanism, a way of showing him how uncomfortable it was when someone else tried to pick your life apart, but he’d stubbornly refused to appear even slightly uneasy.

  Then her own curiosity about him had taken over. Why someone like Ross didn’t have potential partners queuing all the way up the steps of the fire escape. He had everything. Good looks, good job, a nice personality when he wasn’t being so pushy. And even when he was being pushy he just oozed sex appeal. That wasn’t her heart talking, it was a simple fact.

  Laurie bent down to unzip one of her suitcases, feeling the stiffness catch in her hip. That was another thing. She’d fought so hard over the last months, trying to deny that anything serious was wrong, to both herself and everyone else. But Ross had taken that all away from her. He’d professed not to care whether she got well or not, although clearly he did. And then he’d put all the responsibility for her treatment squarely in her lap.

  It was a case of being very careful what you wished for. Laurie had spent so many of her teenage years fighting for her freedom that it was a hard habit to break. She’d tried to free herself from being told what to do about her injury, and now she’d done it. It was a bitter victory, though, because she suddenly felt very alone.

  Nonsense. That was nonsense. She’d feel better when she had work to do. In the meantime, she’d have to think about drawing up a therapy plan for herself...

  * * *

  At eight o’ clock the following morning, Ross was sitting in his office, already working. Laurie wondered whether she should have come a little earlier.

  Making a contest out of who could get up earliest would have been just petty. Juvenile. Seriously tempting, though. Laurie tapped on the frame of the open door and he looked up, beckoning to her to come in. Those eyes made the idea of competing with him even more enticing.

  ‘Have you thought any more about which patients you might take on?’ It was phrased as a question, but the curve of Ross’s lips left Laurie in little doubt that he reckoned she had.

  ‘I’d like to know a little more about what you’re expecting me to do first.’ She refused to think of this as her counterattack. It was just a query.

  He leaned back in his seat. Ross was every inch the boss, relaxed and assured, with an elusive air of being in charge. He might like to pretend that there were options, but in truth his word was law around here. She could leave, but then she wouldn’t get what she wanted.

  ‘What do you think?’ He batted the question back.

  Laurie took a breath. ‘I think that I could contribute medically, and in helping to structure exercise regimes, but then you already have good doctors and physiotherapists on your staff, so I’d just be another pair of hands. What you don’t have are any professional sportspeople.’

  He nodded. ‘Go on.’

  ‘I think that’s unique experience that I can bring. I understand the pressures and how injury can be a challenge.’

  ‘I agree.’ He grinned suddenly. ‘We see eye to eye so far.’

  Meeting Ross’s gaze was becoming the biggest challenge in al
l of this. She wanted to enjoy the warm tingle of excitement that it brought and smile back at him, but Laurie had to remember that Ross held her future in his hands. One of the lessons she’d learned from a childhood that she was largely glad to have left behind was that showing her feelings to an authority figure wasn’t a good idea.

  ‘In that case... I suppose that the choice of which patients I can work with most effectively is clear cut.’ Best not name any names. Best not give him the ammunition to slap her down, the way her father had.

  ‘Yes and no. Pete Evans and Usha Khan are both professional athletes but...’

  It was just as well she hadn’t mentioned that Pete and Usha would be her first choice of patients to work with. It sounded as if Ross was about to rule them out. Laurie nodded and pushed two files across the desk towards her.

  ‘I’d like to discuss two other patients with you. We’re expecting Adam Hollier and Tamara Jones to join us within the next week, so you’d be able to take them on right from the start of their stay here.’

  ‘That would be helpful.’ Laurie reached for the folders. She’d never heard of either of them and wondered whether they were newcomers to their respective areas of sport. She flipped open the first file and ran her finger down the details for Tamara Jones.

  ‘She’s fifteen.’ That was going to be a difficulty. In Laurie’s own experience, fifteen meant traumatic choices and a lot of heartache.

  ‘Yes. Tamara’s a very promising young runner who lost the lower part of her leg in a car accident. She’s had some problems with the fit of her prosthetic that have set her recovery back, and we’re in the process of organising the adjustments. She’s frustrated at the slow progress, though, and facing a crossroads in her life at the moment.’

  ‘I can identify with that.’ The words slipped out before Laurie could stop them.

  ‘How’s that?’ Ross predictably picked up on every chance to ask her about herself.