A frisson of How dare she? melted into the irrational impulse to beg, if that was what it would take to make Megan stop. Jaye walked around to the front of the car, planting his hands on the bonnet. Megan glared at him, and he wondered for a moment whether he’d made a mistake and she was capable of driving straight over him.
‘Is it going to hurt you so much to listen? Because if it does, you’ve made a good decision.’
Here, outside the public part of the house, it was impossible that someone wasn’t watching, and now that he had to raise his voice to make himself heard, they were probably listening, too. But however much it dug at his pride to be seen blocking her path to prevent her from leaving, he couldn’t give up now.
‘We want medical professionals who can listen to other people—’ Megan cut him short by suddenly winding down the window and leaning out.
‘I think you should know that appealing to my professional pride isn’t going to work.’
It seemed to be working. Megan was no longer scrunching her face up in a scowl, which was a distinct improvement. The feeble winter sunshine tangled in the gold of her hair, making him feel as if he were looking at an angry angel.
‘Noted. Let’s make it personal, then. I’ll get on my knees if that’s what you want...’ That would provide a talking point for whoever was watching.
The ghost of a smile flitted across her face. ‘That would be embarrassing for both of us.’
If Megan was the woman he thought she was, there was no risk in what he was about to do. All the same, Jaye felt a slight tremor in his chest. He’d been wrong before, and he didn’t relish the idea of explaining how he’d let one of the best candidates the charity had seen in years slip through their fingers, without putting up more of a fight.
‘All right, then. If you can face the idea that you might be wrong, we’ll go inside and talk. If not, have a nice life.’
He turned, making for the path that led around the side of the house. Jaye felt his heart clench with inappropriate joy as he heard the car door open and then close again, and Megan’s footsteps behind him.
Walking down the stone steps that led to the semi-basement kitchen, Jaye opened the door for Megan and she walked inside. Now that lunch had been served the place was deserted, but there were still enough cups left in the dresser to throw a few if Megan got the urge. He motioned her towards the large kitchen table and she sat down.
‘Coffee?’ Something hot, to break the ice.
‘Yes. Thank you.’
He made the coffee, aware of her gaze on his back. The silence was killing him. It gave Jaye time to want things, to consider telling Megan everything. How he’d loved Sonia, but it had turned out that the thing she’d really loved had been the idea of being a duchess, and all that brought. How diminished he felt, every time someone looked straight through him and found only his title.
He put the mugs on the table and sat down opposite her. Despite the warmth in there, Megan was still wrapped in her coat, as if she was leaving herself prepared for a quick exit. But her gaze never moved from his face. Frank, blue eyes which would have made confiding in her easy, if only he had the nerve to do it.
She took a sip of her coffee. ‘I’m listening.’
Chapter Two
WOULD SHE EVEN be here if she hadn’t seen the burst of passion in his dark eyes? If thought and action hadn’t blended deliciously into one as he’d marched around to the front of her car, blocking her way. Megan didn’t want to think about it.
But he was right. It was a surprise to find that Jaye even cared what she thought, but since he’d made it plain that he did, the least she could do was to listen. If it turned out that his reasons for treating his child like an optional extra were anything like her own father’s, then she’d leave.
‘I’m not going to pretend that I don’t know what this is about. I’m well aware that what happened between Sonia and me was a talking point at the hospital where you both worked.’
‘That you left three days before the wedding. And that she was pregnant.’ Megan tried to keep the accusatory tone from her voice. The facts spoke for themselves.
‘Yes. That story is...basically true.’
Then what were they doing, sitting here talking about it? Megan swallowed down her exasperation.
‘What you do is entirely your business. But it’s my business who I choose to work for, and I want that to be someone who I feel I can trust.’
‘I admire that sentiment. Not everyone would stick to their principles and give up something they want in favour of something they think is right.’
‘I’m just being practical. If I’m going to be working abroad, I need to know that there’s a support network here that I can rely on. That’s non-negotiable for me.’
It should be non-negotiable for anyone, but Megan felt it more keenly. When she’d been little, ‘Uncle’ Harry had visited once every two weeks, bearing expensive toys and presents. It hadn’t been until she’d been a teenager that she’d found out that he was really her father, and she’d spent the intervening years trying to distance herself from his brash attempts to have a say in her future. She wasn’t going to allow all that to count for nothing by putting herself in a position where a man just like Harry could tell her what to do.
Jaye’s gaze caught hers. Dark, and almost tender. ‘The story was true, but it left out some important details. I wasn’t the father of Sonia’s child.’
‘But...’ Megan took a swig of her coffee and almost choked on it. ‘So you just walked away...?’
‘I’m sure you’re not naïve enough to imagine that there wasn’t any just about it. We had a few full and frank discussions.’ He hesitated, as if he might be about to elaborate, and then shook his head. ‘The only other thing you need to know is that I left because Sonia called off the wedding.’
‘I don’t...’ Megan covered her mouth with her hand. Actually, she did believe him.
‘You don’t think I’m telling you the truth?’ He shrugged. ‘I’m afraid I can’t help you with that. You’ll have to make up your own mind.’
If he’d been lying he probably would have elaborated, or used his charm to convince her. But his face was impassive, making the sadness in his beautiful eyes even more compelling.
‘But you must have known what everyone at the hospital was saying. Didn’t you want to correct it?’ It would have been easy enough. A ten-minute call to one of the hospital bosses, who would have passed the information on to his secretary, with the hint that it could be tactfully fed to one or two other people. That was how rumours worked.
‘Yes, I knew exactly what Sonia’s friends were saying. And, no, I made no effort to correct it, even though I knew it was untrue.’
Discretion maybe. Or maybe he just didn’t care what anyone else thought. Jaye had always seemed quite capable of that kind of arrogance. Or maybe humbled pride, that any woman could cheat on him.
It didn’t matter. She wasn’t thinking of making Jaye her best friend, she was looking for a boss who she could trust.
‘I believed what I heard and...’ Megan felt herself redden at the thought. ‘I’m sorry. I should have known better than to trust second-hand gossip.’
He shrugged her apology away. ‘What you heard was as much my responsibility as Sonia’s. What matters now is that you make your decision based on the facts.’ He smiled and Megan felt herself flush, heat zinging up her spine.
He hadn’t given her a shred of proof, and precious little explanation, but she believed him. If those eyes were lying then she could kiss goodbye to everything she thought she knew about human nature.
‘I still have a decision to make?’ Megan heard herself whisper the words. If Jaye couldn’t forgive her behaviour, she wouldn’t blame him.
He planted his forearms on the table, hands clasped together, and leaned towards her. Challenging, and yet i
ntimate too. ‘Absolutely. I believe you’ll justify my confidence in you.’
‘Then...’ Megan’s head was spinning, and her heart was pumping fast. Both organs seemed to be vying for their say in the matter. ‘I like working for people who expect success. They generally put fewer limitations on their goals.’
Jaye laughed suddenly. ‘I’m glad to hear that.’
He clinked his mug against hers, and drank. A toast to an unexpected success, dragged from the jaws of failure. If nothing else, working for Jaye’s charity was going to be interesting, and even more of a challenge than Megan had thought.
* * *
If Jaye did nothing else in the next four days, at least he might manage to repair some of the damage. His and Sonia’s engagement might have been a disaster in the making, averted only at the very last minute, but there was no reason why Megan’s career should be damaged by the fallout.
He hadn’t examined the potential consequences of letting the rumours persist, wanting only to disappear. Hurt and feeling that if he shrunk any more, he’d lose himself completely, he’d retreated to Sri Lanka. The clinic that his father had founded after the 2005 tsunami, and which Jaye had helped build, was a place of tranquillity and calm. A place to heal and find his balance.
But it was a different balance. He’d tried dating again, but had found himself caught up in a fury of mistrust, unable to accept that his new partner’s motives for being with him could be any different from Sonia’s. In the end, he’d given up the struggle and had let her go, burying himself once more in the work that brought him peace and fulfilment.
Jaye stared at the crackling logs in the fireplace. When Megan had believed him, it had felt as if a little piece of his heart had been repaired. Here, sitting in his apartment, with only the sound of the fire to keep him company, he knew that one piece would never be enough.
He should get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a full day, and he needed to focus. Preferably on something other than Megan’s smile.
* * *
The conference was under way, and already it felt to Megan that she’d entered a self-sufficient bubble. One that brought people who’d worked in many different parts of the world together with those who were just starting out on their careers. It was almost impossible to find the time to meet and talk to everyone.
But the one person she never seemed to talk to was Jaye. Although he was always there, he was always at the opposite end of the room from her. The coincidences were beginning to form a pattern.
At least she could watch him, and that had its very definite pleasures. Tall, graceful and always impeccably dressed, he was the stuff that daydreams were made of. And if he caught her watching him, then that could surely only be because he was watching her.
* * *
Jaye had retreated to his apartment in the west wing of the building, and sat in his study with John Ferris. It had been an exhausting two days.
‘You’re pleased with how things are going?’
‘On the whole.’ John sank into the leather chair on the other side of the fireplace. ‘I was a bit disappointed about Steven.’
Jaye and John had spent over two hours last night with the young doctor, talking through all of his reasons for leaving. ‘But you did say that was the point of this. That we shouldn’t assume any particular outcome for any particular candidate but find out what the best way forward was.’
John nodded. ‘Yeah. Steven’s not in the right place to take up a job with us at the moment. He’s got a lot of potential, though, and I want to keep in touch with him.’
‘You think that in twenty years’ time he’ll be Head of Surgery somewhere. Consulting for us, and mentoring our young surgeons?’
‘Who knows? We have to look towards the long term, and funnier things have happened.’
This was exactly why Jaye had recruited John. Four years ago, Jaye had returned from Sri Lanka with a new commitment for a future that had seemed empty without a wife and the prospect of children. It was time to take a step back from his private practice in London and concentrate on the charity that he and his father had built together. And he had needed an organiser, someone who could work side by side with him and run the charity, while Jaye concentrated on its medical activities. John had been that person.
‘What about Megan?’ John’s question interrupted his reverie.
‘What...about her?’ Megan had occupied his thoughts for much of the last two days, and that was a very good reason to take a step back. John’s decisions would be far less clouded by the urgent need to look into her eyes and see her smile.
‘It looked as if she was intent on leaving the other day, before you threw yourself in front of her car in the driveway. I asked her if everything was all right.’
‘What did she say?’
John laughed. ‘She played her cards as close to her chest as you are now. Told me that it was a misunderstanding, and that you’d come to her rescue. She made it very clear that it was all her fault and that you’d addressed her concerns very fully.’
Jaye resisted the impulse to smile. Since he hadn’t spoken with Megan himself in the course of the last two days, he’d relied on her demeanour and the few shy smiles that she’d given, when his gaze had met hers. It felt good to hear that Megan was moving forward on the basis that she really did believe him.
‘It wasn’t all her fault. Mostly it was mine.’
‘Yeah. Takes two to tango.’ John was looking at him steadily. ‘Is there anything else I should know? You and her?’
The question knocked Jaye off balance for a moment. Maybe because he’d wondered more than once how it might have been had he met Megan before Sonia. But the truth of it was that the only moments of intimacy between them had been in his head.
‘No. Megan and I met before, years ago and in the course of our jobs. But that’s all, there’s never been anything between us.’
‘In that case... I wonder how you feel about offering her a posting in Sri Lanka. They’re short-staffed there and, with the new doctor in residence still settling in, they could do with the help.’ John flashed Jaye a questioning look.
‘Staffing’s your province, John. I trust your judgement.’
‘And I appreciate that. But considering your close ties with the clinic in Sri Lanka, I thought I’d get your opinion before I mentioned the idea to Megan.’
‘I think it’s a great idea. I’d like to see what Megan makes of Sri Lanka.’
* * *
Megan trudged across the well-manicured lawn, sliding down the steep slope to the edge of the woodlands beyond, where Jaye’s father was shovelling clumps of sticky earth into a wheelbarrow.
‘Megan...’ Raj Perera straightened up, leaning on his spade as she approached. ‘You’ve decided on a walk?’
‘No.’ Megan pulled the piece of paper from her coat pocket. ‘I was wondering if you could help me with something.’
‘Of course. That’s my role as your group leader this weekend. And I could do with a break.’
Megan handed over the paper, and Raj looked at it. ‘John’s set us all a challenge. We all have to give a five-minute talk about one of our charity’s programmes. I’ve been given the Western Province Free Clinic in Sri Lanka.’
‘That’s a place very close to my heart.’ Raj’s way of making an observation, then watching and waiting to see what you’d do with it, was a lot like Jaye’s. A little less disturbing maybe, because Megan didn’t have to contend with her own quickening heartbeat, which happened whenever Jaye was around.
‘I heard that you and your wife were the ones who started it.’
‘Yes, we did.’
‘Well... I asked John if there were any restrictions on how we could get the information we needed and he said there weren’t. And since you were there, right at the start...’
Raj thought for a moment, and then
nodded. ‘What do you have in mind?’
‘I thought maybe a short interview, if you could spare the time.’ Megan gestured towards the spade. ‘I can do some digging in return...’
Raj’s smile reminded her of Jaye’s too, but it was a lot more freely given. ‘Very well. What would you like to know?’
‘Why you founded the clinic.’ Megan took the spade and started to dig.
‘Caroline and I were in Sri Lanka, visiting relatives, when the tsunami hit in 2005. Many people needed medical aid, and we immediately gave what help we could. I set up a clinic in a tent, under a tree.’
‘And people came...?’ The earth was sticky and unyielding and Megan heaved her weight onto the spade to sink it into the ground.
‘Yes, they came. There were so many, and sometimes they only had the clothes they stood up in. Caroline helped organise the effort to feed and clothe them and give them some kind of roof over their heads.’
‘It must have been...heartbreaking.’ Megan had worked in areas of great need, but never in a disaster zone.
‘It was. And yet it warmed my heart too. Jaye is my oldest son, I have three more. All four of them came, for six weeks, to give what help they could.’
‘That must have made you very proud.’
‘It did. Each of them has followed their own path, but Jaye... In that six weeks he found his calling.’
Until recently, Megan would have thought that Jaye Perera’s only calling in life was to make money, and exercise the power that he had inherited. Raj was clearly not referring to either of those things.
‘His calling? To be a doctor, you mean?’
Raj smiled. ‘He’d already walked that path—Jaye had just qualified as a doctor. He was evaluating his next step, and had a number of very good options available to him here in the UK. But he gave them up and stayed in Sri Lanka for a year, working with me to build the clinic.’
‘He raised funds?’ This was a new side of Jaye, which Megan hadn’t seen before.
‘No, he built the clinic. He helped dig the foundations, and then poured concrete and laid bricks. And every afternoon he cleaned up and worked at our ramshackle surgery. Accuse me of bias if you wish, but I’ve never seen a man work so hard.’
Forbidden Night with the Duke Page 2
