‘Oh. Right. You’d better come in then.’ She led him into the living room, waving him towards a chair. ‘I was just about to have a glass of wine,’ she said, making an obvious effort to appear hospitable. ‘Will you join me?’
‘Better not.’ Daniel shrugged. ‘I’ve got to pick Nathan up in an hour’s time. He’s playing basketball,’ he added, more for something to say than because he thought she would be interested. He was very aware that he was intruding on her free time. ‘He plays for his college team and really enjoys it.’
‘Nathan’s your son?’ She poured herself a glass of wine and sat down. ‘How old is he?’
‘Nineteen.’
‘And he’s still at college?’ she queried, lifting the glass to her lips.
‘Yes. He dropped out of school just before his GCSEs and missed over a year, so he’s had to catch up,’ Daniel explained, his eyes drawn to where her mouth touched the glass. She took a sip of wine then lowered the glass but his gaze remained locked on her mouth. There was the faintest sheen of moisture on her lips now and he felt his senses reel. Would her lips taste of wine? Would their sweetness be all the more potent if he kissed her?
‘Was he ill?’
‘Sorry?’ Daniel forced his eyes away from her mouth, but he could feel the blood racing through his veins. The thought of kissing her and savouring the wine-sweet temptation of her lips was irresistible. When was the last time he had felt this kind of craving? he wondered, dizzily. When had the thought—the mere thought—of a kiss made his blood race and his body throb? He couldn’t answer either question simply because he couldn’t remember feeling this aroused in his entire life.
‘Your son—did he drop out of school because he was ill?’ Eleanor repeated, setting down the glass with a tiny clatter that made him jump.
‘No.’ Daniel took a deep breath as bile rose to his throat, the bitter taste of guilt and betrayal. How could he have imagined that what he had felt just now had been more potent than what he had felt for Camille? It was hard to hide his dismay as he continued. ‘His mother died and it sent Nathan off the rails for a while. Thankfully, he got himself together in the end but it was a struggle. That’s why he’s my number one priority and always will be. I owe it to Camille to make sure our son has a happy and fulfilling life.’
CHAPTER SIX
ELLIE DIDN’T KNOW what to say. She had deliberately avoided delving into Daniel’s personal life. It had seemed the sensible thing to do, to maintain her distance. However, finding out that his wife had died was a shock, even more so when she could tell by his expression that he was still grieving. Picking up the glass, she took another sip of wine while she searched for something to say but everything seemed trite. How did you offer comfort for such a huge loss?
‘I’m sorry,’ she finally managed.
Daniel inclined his head. ‘Thank you.’
‘I had no idea about your son. Or your wife.’ All of a sudden Ellie felt that she should apologise for inadvertently upsetting him. ‘I would never have asked you about Nathan if I’d known...’ She tailed off, afraid of compounding her errors.
‘It’s fine. Really.’
He smiled but there was a bleakness in his eyes that told her it did matter, it mattered a lot. Ellie bit her lip but the words wouldn’t come. Not the right ones, anyway, the ones that might make him feel better.
‘It’s OK, Eleanor. Honestly.’ Leaning forward, he touched her hand. ‘It’s four years since Camille died. I’m past the stage of bursting into tears if her name is mentioned.’
‘It must be hard, though,’ Ellie said quietly.
‘It is. But you learn to accept what’s happened after a time, and that helps.’ He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze then let her go. ‘Having Nathan has helped as well. I’ve had to focus on him, especially in the beginning. It hit him extremely hard.’
‘He’s all right now, though?’ she queried. Funnily enough, she realised that she wanted to know everything now, every little detail that she hadn’t wanted to hear before, although she wasn’t sure why.
‘Oh, yes. He’s got his act together and is planning to go to university next year if he gets the grades. And that is something I never thought would happen a couple of years ago.’
‘Good. I’m glad everything has worked out,’ she said truthfully.
‘Thank you. But how about you? Are you over whatever caused you to move up here?’
‘How did you know?’ she began, then stopped when she realised how revealing it was.
‘That something bad had happened to you?’ He sighed. ‘Most people don’t abandon a promising career and move hundreds of miles away from everything they know unless they’re trying to escape from a very painful situation, Eleanor. It doesn’t take a genius to work it out, does it?’
‘I suppose not,’ she conceded.
‘So, do you want to talk about it?’ He smiled at her, his eyes filled with warmth. ‘I’m a good listener, I promise you.’
‘There’s not a lot to talk about.’ She shrugged, not sure if she wanted to disclose all the unsavoury details. Would it help or would it make her feel even worse if Daniel knew how she had been humiliated? It was hard to decide yet in the end the words came tumbling out, almost as though she needed to rid herself of them. ‘It’s an all too familiar story, I’m afraid. I was engaged to be married until I discovered that my fiancé was sleeping with someone else.’
‘It must have been a shock even if you aren’t the first woman it’s happened to,’ Daniel said gently.
‘It was, although I should have realised that something was going on.’ She gave a bitter laugh. ‘The signs were all there. I just failed to read them properly!’
Daniel frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘That Michael—my ex—had been behaving strangely for months, cancelling dates or claiming that he was meeting friends for a drink. I just accepted what he said without questioning it, more fool me!’
‘It’s easy to be wise after the event,’ he said quietly. ‘But you were engaged so it was only natural that you believed him.’
‘That’s what my parents said.’ Ellie sighed. ‘I felt such a fool, though, especially when Gemma said that it had been clear to everyone that Michael had been leading me on.’
‘Not the kindest thing to have said,’ Daniel observed, frowning. ‘Who’s Gemma?’
‘My sister. Or, to be absolutely correct, my adopted sister, although that isn’t right either as I’m the one who was adopted.’ Ellie realised that she wasn’t making much sense but talking about what had happened wasn’t easy. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to speak calmly and rationally. Daniel didn’t need her gibbering on like an emotional wreck.
‘I was adopted as a baby, you see. Apparently, my parents had given up any hope of having a child of their own so they decided to adopt. Then, eight years later, Mum discovered she was pregnant and along came Gemma.’
‘I see. And how did you two get on? Were you close?’
‘Not really. We were very different even as children. I was rather shy and introverted, whereas Gemma was far more outgoing. Oh, my parents did their best not to show any favouritism but they couldn’t help it. Gemma was the child they had longed for and they adored her.’
‘Did you resent it, that they appeared to love her more than you?’ Daniel said softly.
‘I’m not sure resent is the right word,’ Ellie said, slowly. Funnily enough, she had never tried to work out how she felt about the family dynamics before. ‘I suppose I just accepted that was how things were. My parents loved me, and I knew it, but they loved Gemma more. The only thing I can remember thinking was that I had to be better behaved than Gemma.’
‘You felt that you had to earn their love?’ Daniel observed, and she frowned.
‘I suppose so.’ She looked up and
felt her heart lurch when she saw the way he was looking at her with such concern. Daniel cared about what she was telling him. He cared about her. The thought unlocked the last of her reservations. ‘Gemma and I didn’t see very much of each other once I went to university—she had her life and I had mine. I introduced Michael to her when I took him home to meet my family and they seemed to get along well enough. I had no idea she had reservations about him.’
‘Where did you meet him?’
‘At work. He was a junior partner, the same as me.’ She shrugged. ‘To be honest, I didn’t take to him at first. He had very strong views and could be, well, rather bombastic at times. Then the head of the practice invited us both to dinner one night and things progressed from there.’
She paused, needing a moment before she told Daniel the rest. ‘Anyway, we started seeing one another and eventually became engaged. Michael used to joke that it would be good for his career as the senior partners were very keen on folk being married rather than merely living together. They thought it lent stability to the practice.’
‘Hmm. I see,’ Daniel said dryly, and she sighed.
‘You’re wondering if that was the reason he was so keen to get engaged, aren’t you?’ She didn’t wait for him to answer. ‘I’ve wondered that myself so I don’t blame you, although it’s not very flattering to think that there was an ulterior motive behind it all.’
‘What happened to cause you to break up?’ he asked quietly.
‘I found him in bed with one of the practice nurses. It was a Saturday morning. Michael had told me that he was going out for a drink with a couple of friends from university on the Friday night so I decided to surprise him—take him some coffee in case he had overindulged and generally minister to him. I had a key to his flat so I let myself in and headed upstairs.’ Ellie felt tears start to stream down her face as she recalled the moment when her life had fallen apart. ‘They were in his bedroom. The door was open and as I went up the stairs, I could see him and Stacey in bed. It didn’t take a genius to work out that they’d spent the night together!’
Daniel acted instinctively. Standing up, he went over to her and drew her up into his arms. He couldn’t begin to describe how horrified he felt by what he had heard. That anyone could treat her that way was beyond his comprehension. All he could do was try to comfort her any way he could. Tilting her face, he wiped away her tears with his fingers, murmuring to her under his breath.
‘It’s all right. I know it must hurt like crazy right now, but it will get easier, believe me.’
‘Will it?’ She looked at him and his heart ached when he saw the plea in her dove-grey eyes. She was desperate for reassurance and somehow he had to find a way to convince her that she would get past this low point in her life.
‘Yes. No matter how painful it is at the moment, it will get better.’ A single tear dripped off her lashes and he wiped it away with his fingertips. Her skin felt so soft, as soft and as smooth as satin, and a jolt of awareness flashed through him. He knew that he was stepping into dangerous territory, yet it was impossible to relinquish his hold on her when she needed to be held so much. ‘You just need time, Eleanor, that’s all. Time to put it all behind you. Then, when you meet someone else, it will no longer matter.’
She was shaking her head before he had finished speaking. ‘I don’t want to meet anyone else. I’ve no intention of putting myself in the same position again.’
‘You’ll change your mind,’ he demurred. ‘Once you’ve had a chance to put this into perspective, it will be a very different story.’
‘I doubt it!’ Her eyes blazed up at him. ‘I know exactly what I intend to do with my life and it doesn’t involve being at the beck and call of any man. From now on I intend to answer to one person only: me!’
She stepped back, effectively breaking his hold on her. Daniel felt a wave of sadness wash over him. Eleanor was turning her back on love. She planned to live her life on her own, never marry and probably never have a family either. He couldn’t bear to imagine her leading such a lonely existence.
‘Eleanor,’ he began, then stopped when his phone rang. Taking it out of his pocket, he felt his stomach sink when he discovered it was Nathan calling. Basketball practice wasn’t due to finish for another half-hour and he couldn’t help worrying what was wrong. ‘Is everything all right?’ he demanded, turning away while he answered the call. He felt his anxiety subside as Nathan explained why he was phoning. ‘OK, I’ll be there as soon as I can.’
He ended the call and turned to Eleanor. ‘That was Nathan. They’ve finished early because the lights in the gym have fused. I’ll have to go and fetch him.’
‘Of course.’
She led the way from the room and Daniel could tell that she was making an effort to collect herself. That she regretted her outburst was obvious and he sighed. Eleanor had grown used to hiding her feelings while she had been growing up but he wasn’t convinced it was a good thing. Sometimes it did more harm than good to bottle things up, although he doubted if she would appreciate him telling her that. He was trying to rid himself of the thought of how lonely she was going to be if she carried out her plan when she turned to him.
‘What about the keys?’
‘Oh. Yes, of course.’ Daniel took them out of his pocket, silently berating himself for forgetting the reason why he had come. He’d got so caught up in Eleanor’s affairs that it had slipped his mind. ‘It’s quite straightforward,’ he said hurriedly. ‘The Yale key unlocks the front door and the other one is for the back. The alarm cupboard is behind the reception desk and the code is 7826. You just need to key it in and that’ll stop the alarm going off.’
Daniel busied himself with practicalities, relieved to have something else to focus on. He’d had his doubts about her moving abroad and, after what she had told him, he was less convinced than ever that it was a good idea. However, it wasn’t his place to tell her that. At the end of the day, it wasn’t as though he could offer her an alternative, not just a job but a life that wouldn’t mean her being on her own. He must never forget that Nathan came first.
The thought was strangely disquieting and he hurried on. ‘Would you like me to write it down for you?’
‘There’s no need,’ she said quietly. ‘7826—I’ll remember it.’
‘Excellent!’ Daniel winced when heard the falsely hearty note in his voice but there was nothing he could do about it. Eleanor had opened the door and it was clear that she expected him to leave now that he had done what he had come for.
Zipping up his coat, he went to step past her, pausing when she said quietly, ‘Drive carefully. The wind’s really strong tonight.’
‘I will.’ He wasn’t sure what prompted him to do what he did next. Maybe it was her unexpected show of concern but he bent and kissed her on the cheek. His lips lingered for the briefest of moments before he drew back, but he could feel the impact of what he had done spreading throughout his entire body. ‘Goodnight, Eleanor,’ he said, his voice sounding so strained that it was like hearing a stranger’s voice, but in a way that was what he was, a stranger to himself, a person he no longer recognised.
‘Goodnight.’
Her voice drifted after him as he ran down the steps. It seemed to follow him as he made his way round to the car park. Daniel got into his car then sat staring through the windscreen. After Camille had died, he had felt numb. The long months they had spent fighting the cancer that had eventually claimed her had left him drained. There had been nothing left inside him, not even anger at the fact that he had lost the woman he had loved. The only emotion he’d felt had been the need to protect Nathan. Oh, he had cared about his patients and had wanted to do his best for them, but, personally, he had felt nothing. Wanted nothing. Needed nothing. But not any longer.
Daniel drove out of the car park, forcing himself to concentrate as he drove along the narrow w
inding roads. He couldn’t afford to let his mind wander, mustn’t allow himself to think about what he wanted now. In a few months’ time Eleanor would leave Beesdale, leave him, and go heaven knew where. That was all he needed to know.
* * *
Ellie was already in her room when Daniel arrived at the surgery the following morning. She had spent a restless night, going over what had happened, but she still wasn’t sure why he had kissed her. Had it been a token gesture, like those meaningless kisses everyone exchanged on meeting or parting nowadays? Or had it been an attempt to comfort her after what she had told him? She could make a case for either and yet Daniel didn’t strike her as a man who went in for kissing women in an ad hoc fashion. On the contrary, he was the kind of man who only kissed a woman when he meant it.
A frisson ran through her and she jumped up. Going over to the cupboard, she checked the shelves to make sure that she had everything she needed. She mustn’t make the mistake of thinking that Daniel had kissed her because he had wanted to kiss her. As she knew to her cost, men were experts at disguising the truth!
‘Good morning. Looks as though it’s going to be another busy day. We already have a queue out there.’
Ellie swung round when she heard Daniel’s voice. He was standing in the doorway and there was something about the way he was looking at her, a kind of wariness to his expression that made her heart surge. Had he been thinking about that kiss as well? Thinking about it and remembering how it had felt? For if she had spent time trying to work out why it had happened, she had spent an equal amount of time recalling how his lips had felt when they had touched her cheek...
A shudder ran through her and she gripped hold of the shelf when she felt her legs start to tremble. The memory of how warm his lips had felt as they had brushed her cheek had imprinted itself into her mind and it would take a long time before she rid herself of the memory. ‘Ahem...yes. It looks like it,’ she murmured, struggling to get a grip.
The Boss Who Stole Her Heart Page 6