But he’d seen Kate and she’d been in frayed jeans and...and bare feet, for God’s sake. And she’d had cute toes. With red nails.
Connor loved red toenails. He couldn’t look at this woman now without remembering those toenails. He knew he wouldn’t be able to pass her in the corridor of St Pat’s from now on without remembering them, and it was messing with his head.
Two women in one body.
Connor was intrigued.
Not that he was attracted to her or anything. Hell, no. It was simply a conundrum.
A challenge.
He’d only come back to St Pat’s because it was too late to jack up a game of squash and, if he was going to eat a microwaved dinner by himself, he wanted the distraction of the new journal he’d left on his desk. So why had he veered into the emergency department on his way out?
‘I just wanted to hear the verdict on the foot,’ he said aloud. ‘If something’s broken, I’ll have a mountain of paperwork on the way. The theatre was booked under my name, you know.’
The foot was propped up on pillows, with an ice pack on the top of it.
‘Look at this.’ Bella leaned forward and lifted the ice pack.
The bruise was starting to look really impressive now. The colour was much darker and the internal bleeding was tracking down the side of the foot to pool in the hollow beneath the ankle bone.
‘Hmm...’ Connor said in his most professional voice.
Bella giggled.
Kate’s voice was clipped. Clearly this was nothing to joke about. ‘We’ve only just got back from X-Ray,’ she said. ‘We’re waiting for the radiologist’s report to come through.’
‘I could pull up the X-ray and have a look myself if you like.’ Connor was surprised they hadn’t been fast-tracked in the first place. Staff were always given preferential treatment and that was fine by him. It was one of the only perks of a job that required far more commitment than any other career.
‘Bella’s a patient here,’ Kate said. ‘And I’m a relative. The department’s busy.’
She wasn’t about to bend any rules herself and didn’t want them bent for her.
Fine.
Connor smiled. He hitched one hip onto the end of Bella’s bed. ‘No worries,’ he said. ‘I’ve got nothing better to do. I’ll wait, too.’
The discomfort on Kate’s face was worth waiting a bit longer for some food. Man, she was regretting not bending a rule or two now.
Her voice sounded tight when she spoke. ‘I might go and give Jackie a call. She’ll want an update.’
Connor raised an eyebrow when Kate pulled a mobile phone from the pocket of her jacket. She gave him the kind of look only women seemed to be capable of. The one that made you feel about two inches shorter or something.
‘I’ll go outside,’ she told Bella. ‘I wouldn’t want to interfere with any electronic equipment being used in here.’
Connor grinned at Bella as Kate swept past. ‘She does know that doctors have their phones on all the time in here as back-up for their pagers, doesn’t she?’
Bella’s eyes widened. ‘Do they?’
‘Of course they do.’ Connor suppressed a sigh. Maybe it was just him. Maybe every other person on the St Pat’s planet went around obeying every little rule and regulation. ‘How’s your foot feeling?’
‘Fine. I had some painkiller when I got here. It doesn’t even hurt to wiggle my toes now, see?’
Toes wiggled. Bella had a French polish thing going on. Classy. The sort of look he would have expected Kate to go for. If he’d ever bothered to spare a thought for her toenails.
Which he hadn’t. Of course.
‘Who’s Jackie?’ he asked abruptly.
‘My mum. Kind of Kate’s mum, too.’
‘Oh?’ Connor was bemused. Surely her niece’s mother would be more in the category of a sister? ‘How’s that?’
‘Kate came to live with us when she was fifteen. My dad’s her older brother. I was six so it was like getting a big sister for a surprise present. A huge surprise, cos I didn’t even know I had an aunt.’
‘How come?’
Bella lowered her voice. ‘Dad didn’t have anything to do with his family. He left home when he was seventeen.’
‘How old would Kate have been then?’
‘About five? He’s never talked about it. He doesn’t talk about his family at all, really. Neither does Kate. It’s like they’re orphans or they’ve got a secret pact or something. Anyway, it was kind of cool to have a teenage aunt. Especially as I’ve got four younger brothers and sisters and if Kate hadn’t come to live with us I would have been the oldest and had to help look after them all and that would have been a bit of a fun-buster, wouldn’t it?’
Connor knew he shouldn’t be encouraging this kind of personal gossip about a colleague but it was irresistible. There was clearly a mystery here. One that might explain why Kate was the way she was. Why had she gone to live with her older brother and his young family at an age when most girls needed their mothers? Why had her brother turned his back on his family when he hadn’t been much older himself? What kind of parents had these young people had?
Connor wasn’t going to try and analyse why he was so fascinated. He’d probably do that later, when he wasn’t in the company of the irrepressible—and very open—Bella.
‘So you’ve never met your grandparents?’ he found himself asking quietly.
Bella shook her head. She bit her bottom lip as she sucked in a quick breath. ‘Grandma died not that long after Kate came to live with us. She and Dad went off to her funeral and that was that. Except...’
‘Except what?’ OK, Connor was dead curious now. Riveted, even.
‘I shouldn’t say... Kate doesn’t even know I know.’
Connor leaned closer. ‘I won’t breathe a word,’ he promised.
Bella was still hesitating. She looked over his shoulder as though fearful of Kate’s return. Then she looked back at Connor, biting her lip. She wanted to tell him.
And, damn, he wanted to hear.
‘You can trust me,’ he murmured. ‘So can Kate.’
‘I found a letter,’ Bella whispered. ‘About a parole hearing.’
Connor’s jaw dropped. ‘Who was in prison?’
‘I think he still is,’ Bella said.
‘Who?’
‘My grandfather.’
‘What’s he in prison for?’
‘I have no idea.’ Bella shook her head. ‘But I think he went in there the same year that Grandma died and that’s... God, about seventeen years ago so it must have been something really bad—’
‘What’s really bad?’
They both jumped as Kate walked in.
‘My foot,’ Bella said promptly. ‘If it’s broken it would be a really bad way to be starting a new job.’
Connor had to admire the way Bella had extricated herself from a tricky moment but something in Kate’s face made him think that she knew there had been more to the conversation. The glance she flicked at Connor was wary. She would not be at all happy if she knew the kind of private details Bella had been sharing about her aunt, that was for sure. He shouldn’t have encouraged it. He shouldn’t even be here, come to that.
‘I’ve just spoken to the consultant,’ Kate said. ‘He’s had a good look at the X-ray and talked to the radiologist. Nothing’s broken. He’s going to come and talk to you before we go but they’re going to put a compression bandage on and give you a sick note for work for a couple of days. You’ll need to keep it elevated and rested. You might get a set of crutches if it’s too painful to put weight on.’
‘Not broken? Yay!’ Bella beamed. ‘I’ll be dancing again in no time, then.’
A nurse bustled into the cubicle with a handful of bandages. ‘Hi, I
’m Gemma,’ she said. ‘I’ve come to bandage up that poor foot of yours.’ She nodded at Kate and then did a double-take as she spotted the extra person in the cubicle. ‘Connor! What are you doing here?’
‘I’m kind of...involved in the case,’ he said.
‘Of course you are.’ She grinned, and turned to her patient. ‘It’s Bella, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
‘And I hear you dropped a steriliser bucket on your foot in Theatre.’
‘Mmm.’
‘In my theatre,’ Connor put in. For some reason he felt he needed to explain his involvement. He’d never dated Gemma but he had been out with one of her friends a few times. That knowing little comment was sending a message to Kate that he didn’t like at all. He wasn’t trying to pick Bella up, here. Not at all. She was bright and bubbly and fun and everything but she was far too young. And too...open? Not mysterious enough?
Uh-oh, there was something disturbing in this line of thought. It really was time he left but Gemma was uncovering Bella’s foot now. He could just stay for a minute and make sure she did a good job of that compression bandage.
‘Ooh, nice bruise,’ Gemma said admiringly. ‘Did I hear you say something about dancing soon?’
Bella was admiring her foot as well. ‘Maybe not immediately.’
‘Shame. There’s a dance on next Saturday night that should be great fun.’ Gemma looked up at Connor. ‘I assume you’ll be going.’
‘Wasn’t planning on it.’ This was another message he wasn’t comfortable with Kate receiving. He could just imagine what she thought of him. Someone who took no notice of rules, dated everything in a skirt and couldn’t stay away from even the hint of a party. Shallow only began to describe that kind of person, didn’t it?
‘But it’s a fundraiser for Paeds. The “P” for pool party?’ Gemma shook her head. She turned to Kate. ‘The physiotherapy department is trying to raise enough money to put in a new therapeutic pool. You’ll be going, won’t you, Dr Graham?’
‘No.’
The word was final. Kate had no intention of going to this party. Or any other party judging by the echo of the word that hung over Bella’s bed.
A determined gleam came into Bella’s eyes. ‘Why not?’ she demanded. ‘Sounds fun. Except that I have no idea what a “P” party actually is. Sounds a bit dodgy to me.’
‘Fancy dress,’ Gemma explained. ‘You have to come as a character that starts with the letter “P”. You know, like a pirate?’ She eyed Connor. ‘That would be a great one for you.’
Kate was staring at her shoes. She didn’t dare look at Connor.
She could understand all too well why the girls found him so attractive with that ‘bad boy’ vibe going on. It was all too easy to imagine him dressed up as a pirate with a gold ring in his ear and a rakish hat and a king-of-the-world kind of attitude.
No wonder she found Bella’s face lighting up like a Christmas tree when she felt compelled to lift her gaze.
‘What about a princess?’ Bella exclaimed. ‘Oh, I have to go. Even if I’m on crutches. I’ve always wanted an excuse to dress up as a princess.’ She saw Kate’s expression and grinned. ‘Yeah, yeah...I know. I did it all the time when I was a kid but this would be like...legitimate.’
Kate had to smile at her excitement. She would make a perfect princess with her gorgeous long hair and those big blue eyes. The men would be falling all over themselves wanting to find out who she was. Maybe Connor should go as a prince instead of a pirate and stake a visible claim. She couldn’t help her glance sliding in his direction as her brain prompted her to say something aloud but the suggestion died on her lips at his expression.
Curious, that’s what it was.
Oh, God...she knew they’d been talking about her when she’d gone to phone Jackie. That conversation she’d interrupted hadn’t been about Bella’s shaky start to her new job at all. So what had been the ‘really bad’ thing they’d been discussing? How embarrassing it was to have a spinster aunt who hid herself away and needed to get a life?
‘We’ve still got plenty of tickets,’ Gemma said. She was winding a bandage firmly around Bella’s foot with admirable precision. A figure-of-eight style, with the overlapping bandage edges exactly a centimetre from the previous one. ‘There’s an inter-departmental competition for who can sell the most tickets. You should all come.’ She turned her head to glare at Connor. ‘Especially you. How could you not go when you’re so involved with everything in the kids’ wards?’
Connor was still staring at Kate. ‘I’ll go if Kate goes,’ he said.
Bella laughed aloud. ‘Yes! Me, too.’
Kate saw the look that passed between them. This was turning into a conspiracy. Not only had Bella hooked up with the hottest guy in St Pat’s in no time flat, had they used the few minutes they’d had alone together to make some kind of pact to see that Bella’s aunt...got a life?
‘I’m not going,’ Kate said, aware that she was failing to keep a hint of desperation from her tone. ‘Fancy dress? I don’t think so.’
‘But don’t you see?’ Bella asked. ‘It’s perfect.’
‘No, I don’t see,’ Kate muttered. She watched Gemma hook the tiny metal ‘crocodile’ clips into place to secure Bella’s bandage. Good. They could escape very soon.
‘You never go to work social events, do you?’ Bella said.
Not unless she absolutely had to. How embarrassing was this? Bella thought the whole world was on her side and there was no need to keep things private. She was open and honest and...everything Kate could never be. No wonder Bella never had any trouble making friends wherever she went. Kate had nobody she could call a real friend but she didn’t need that pointed out to the people she had to work with. Especially to Connor Matthews. It was bad enough that he already thought of her as boring and unattractive and incapable of having fun.
Bella didn’t wait for a response. ‘With a costume party you get to go as someone else. In a disguise. It doesn’t really have to be you going at all.’ She grinned at Connor. ‘Hey, you could go as a priest.’
Gemma snorted. Even Kate felt her lips twitch.
Connor had spotted her amusement. ‘Pollyanna starts with “P”,’ he muttered.
‘You wouldn’t need to dress up,’ Gemma said kindly. ‘Pathologist starts with “P”. You could wear your white coat maybe.’
The one that she wore all buttoned up, like she buttoned up her life? Prim was a ‘P’ word. So was prude. Kate felt the stirrings of real annoyance. She felt she was being put under pressure to prove she wasn’t that person. Which she could, if she wanted to. With bells on. Prostitute started with ‘P’. She could borrow that scrap of fabric Bella called a skirt and put some bright red lipstick on and leave her hair loose and nobody would recognise her. Heavens...the prospect was disturbingly attractive.
Except that Connor would recognise her because he’d seen her with her hair down. He might think she was trying to send the message that she was up for it. Desperate, even.
It was a relief when the ED consultant breezed in to talk to Bella and broke the negative spin her thoughts were taking. He had a pair of elbow crutches with him and advised Bella to use them for the next day or so until she could bear weight without pain.
And then it was finally time to go home and get to their long-delayed dinner. Thankfully, Connor was preparing to disappear into the night, after saying he was glad things had turned out so that he wouldn’t have to cope with long-winded serious accident investigations.
But he waited to hold the door open for Bella, who was hopping slowly as she got used to the crutches, and Gemma came rushing up with a bunch of tickets in her hand.
‘So...three tickets for you guys, then?’ she asked brightly.
Connor eyed Kate. ‘I will if you will,’ he said.
‘I
can’t go if neither of you go,’ Bella said. ‘I don’t know anybody else here well enough yet.’ She also eyed Kate. ‘Please? Please, please, please, Auntie Katie?’
Auntie Katie? Good grief. That took her back to the days when her niece had been a small child and Kate had had something that Bella had wanted very badly. Kate shook her head, realising that defeat was looming. ‘We’ll see.’
‘That always means yes.’
‘No,’ Kate said faintly. ‘It doesn’t. But we’ll buy the tickets anyway seeing it’s for such a good cause.’
Bella somehow got a hand free to give Connor a high five. ‘We’ll see you there.’
* * *
She was here.
Connor hadn’t really expected Kate to turn up but his reaction should have been no more than surprise, surely? Why was he feeling so pleased?
Just to be on the safe side, he avoided her for the first hour or two of the party but even when he was in the middle of the dance floor, he couldn’t help spotting her at regular intervals. What on earth was she wearing? A long, black dress that had wide strips of white material pinned across it at regular intervals. Was she supposed to be...a prisoner?
That would be a bit Freudian, wouldn’t it?
And didn’t convicts have arrows rather than stripes?
He could ask Bella but she was floating around in a pretty, puffy pink dress and a sparkly tiara and was never short of a dance or conversational partner. Kate always seemed to have someone to talk to as well. Who was that guy in the panda suit?
Oh, yes...Lewis Blackman, head of the pathology department. Not that it was any of his business but Connor noted that they seemed to be getting on very well and he found himself frowning. For goodness’ sake, Lewis was far too old for Kate. He was at least sixty and Kate couldn’t be any more than around his own age.
He didn’t see Kate dancing. Not even once.
Bella must have noticed her aunt’s lack of participation as well because when Connor finally had the opportunity to dance with the best-looking princess of the night, she turned him down.
‘Ask Kate,’ she urged.
The Legendary Playboy Surgeon Page 4
