by Joanna Neil
‘Of course not.’ Carys went with Alyssa to the ground-floor apartment. ‘I’ll be ready in a jiffy,’ she told Connor. ‘My bag was almost packed before we went out this morning, so I’ve only a few things to add to it.’
‘That’s okay. I’ll be out on the deck when you need me.’
Alyssa’s phone bleeped and she checked the text message that had arrived as they’d walked into the sitting room. ‘My mother’s arranged a time for us to link up by phone once a week,’ she said, looking pleased. ‘I wondered if she would remember.’
She chatted with Carys as her cousin finished putting last-minute items into her bag.
‘Connor’s gorgeous, isn’t he?’ Carys said, looking around for her make-up bag. ‘I was thrilled to bits that he took us out on the boat today. I really wasn’t expecting anything like that—just you and me together and a few take-away meals was what I thought when we planned the weekend—and then he went and produced that luxury hamper. Wow, that’s the life, isn’t it? It’ll seem so mundane, going back to my little home in Florida.’
‘Yes, I know what you mean.’ Alyssa could well understand her cousin’s enthusiasm. ‘But you do love your home really, and your family is there…that must count for a lot.’
‘True.’ Carys sighed. ‘But he is great, all the same.’
Alyssa chuckled. ‘Don’t tell me you’re smitten. It seems to happen to an awful lot of women, from what I’ve heard.’
‘Yeah…fat chance I’d have there.’
‘Anyway, Ross is just as dishy, and he’s very keen on you, or hadn’t you noticed?’
‘Ross?’ Carys’s eyebrows shot up. ‘No way. You’re joking.’
‘I’m not.’
‘You are, too.’
Still exchanging banter, the girls set off to meet Connor up on the deck.
‘Oh…I think I left my phone somewhere,’ Alyssa said. ‘I’d better go and find it.’ She was thinking of going with Carys to the airport, so she would need to have her bag as well. ‘I’ll catch up with you,’ she said.
‘Okay, no worries.’
It took a few minutes for Alyssa to find her phone, but eventually it turned up beneath a couple of magazines that Carys had put to one side while she was collecting her things together.
She dropped it into her bag and went upstairs to join Connor and her cousin.
She’d expected to hear them talking, but as she approached the veranda from Connor’s sitting room she saw that they were very quiet, talking in hushed tones and standing by the rail, their heads close together. Connor put his arm around Carys’s shoulder, bending his head towards her, and it seemed at one point as though their bodies almost meshed together.
Alyssa watched them, her mind reeling in stunned surprise. Connor’s expression was serious, and Carys was looking up at him with rapt attention.
Alyssa felt a wave of nausea wash over her. Was this really happening? She hadn’t mistaken what she’d seen, had she? Now all her dreams were dissolving in the light of that close embrace.
Was he exactly as people had implied, a man who went from one woman to the next? How could he do this? How could he tell her how much he wanted her, make her yearn for him in return, and then casually move on to try his charm on another woman?
He was treating her feelings as if they were of no account, trampling all over them.
She couldn’t bear to watch. This hurt went deep, like a knife wound to the heart, and her whole body froze in pain. Her world had collapsed in an instant. What was she to do now?
CHAPTER NINE
‘I’LL miss you, Alyssa.’ Carys stood beside Connor’s car and gave Alyssa a hug. ‘We’ll have to meet up again soon.’
‘We will.’ Alyssa was still hurting inside from the shock of seeing her cousin in such an intimate embrace with Connor, but none of this was her cousin’s fault so she made an effort to put on a show of cheerfulness. ‘I’ll come over to Florida for a weekend before I go…and there’s always the gala dinner in a few days’ time, on Saturday. You have to come over for that.’
Carys nodded with enthusiasm. ‘Yes, I’ll be there.’
Ross came to say his goodbyes, and Alyssa noticed he held onto Carys’s hand for a fraction longer than necessary. ‘I was going to offer to take you to the airport myself,’ he said, ‘but Connor beat me to it. I think I hate him.’
Carys laughed. ‘Don’t feel so bad about it. There’ll be other times. Anyway, I think he wants to talk to me about something—events management stuff for the hospital, and so on, and we can do that on the way.’
‘Oh, boring stuff…’ Ross grinned and kissed her lightly on the cheek. ‘Bye, Carys.’
‘Bye, Ross. And if you even think of doing that stunt with the water-skis, I shan’t speak to you. It was bad enough hearing that you’d been virtually knocked unconscious. You’ve been warned.’
Ross’s brows lifted. ‘So you do care about me after all? Okay, I won’t do it, then. I promise.’
Smiling, Carys slid into the passenger seat beside Connor. Alyssa didn’t think for a minute that Connor planned to talk to her about events management, but there was definitely some reason why he’d been so quick to offer to drive her to the airport. She had no idea what that might be, but she was determined now that she wasn’t going to go with them to find out. There was the problem of two’s company, three’s a crowd, to make her think twice about doing that.
But she was still deeply troubled by what she’d seen earlier. Connor had obviously been concerned when she’d said she was thinking about going back to the UK, and perhaps he’d taken that to mean he would have no chance with her. It seemed a bit odd that he should turn his attention to Carys so soon, though, especially since it was clear that Ross was interested in her.
She waved Carys off and went to her bedroom. There, she lay on the bed and tried to think things through. Connor had never looked at another woman in all the time she’d been over here. It just didn’t add up that he should start doing it now.
Could it be that she’d misinterpreted his actions? Perhaps she was letting her ex’s behaviour influence her unduly. She had a huge problem with trust, and it had coloured all her judgement. But she couldn’t rid herself of that image of Connor with his arm around Carys. It had shocked her to the core.
The situation tormented her, and she had no idea how to resolve the problem. She loved Connor, she realised that now, but it was like a festering wound, believing that he had let her down so badly.
* * *
Over the next few days, she couldn’t eat, she couldn’t sleep, but she tried to lose herself in work, anything to blot out the picture of Connor and Carys together. She couldn’t bring herself to talk to him about her worries because he might tell her it was true, and she didn’t know how on earth she would handle that without falling apart. It would be a crippling blow.
She went through the motions at work, putting on a brave face for the occasional patient who came into her surgery. When she had some free time she went over to the hospital to look in on the people she had treated.
‘Raeni’s on the mend, I believe,’ the registrar told her. ‘Her breathing’s improved, and her heart is pumping much more strongly. She seems to have turned the corner.’
‘That’s brilliant news,’ she said, relieved. Apparently Raeni’s children went to see her every day with their father, and were beginning to talk about the day when she would go home.
‘It shouldn’t be too much longer now,’ the registrar added, ‘two or three weeks, maybe. Of course, she’ll have to take things easy to begin with, while everything continues to heal.’
‘That’s much better than I expected, anyway.’ Alyssa thanked him and went to check on Malik, who was recovering on the men’s ward after his surgery.
‘How are you doing?’ she asked him. ‘I hear the operation went well.’
‘I’m okay…a bit sore, but the doctor said that’s to be expected. I got them to take me over to see the lady who was in the ot
her car. I’m really sorry for the way she was hurt.’ He pulled a face. ‘I was in a hurry that day because my wife rang to say she’d gone into labour. I was trying to get back home to her.’
‘I’m sorry things turned out the way they did.’ Alyssa frowned. ‘What happened when you didn’t get home?’
‘A neighbour took her to the hospital.’ He grinned, showing white teeth. ‘We have a little girl. She’s beautiful.’
‘I’m glad it worked out all right, in the end, Malik. Congratulations.’
Back on the film set, things were winding to a close. They finished filming the water-ski chase, and she was glad to see that Ross stood back and let a professional stuntman do the action scenes.
‘I didn’t have much choice,’ he told her in a mournful voice. ‘I’m pretty sure Carys meant what she said when she told me she wouldn’t speak to me. I guess my wild days are over.’
‘Poor you.’ She patted his shoulder and sent him a commiserating glance. ‘You’ll have to settle for being a top-notch film producer instead.’
‘Yeah.’ He laughed. ‘I guess that’s not so bad.’
A couple of days after that Alyssa closed down her medical centre and locked the door on what had been her sanctuary for the last few months. In a way, she was sad to see it come to an end, but she’d learned a lot about herself and her vocation as a doctor since she’d been here. It had given her a good breathing space and allowed her to sort out what she needed to do next.
On the day of the gala dinner she awoke to a glorious, sun-filled day and decided to go for a walk along the beach before breakfast. It would give her time to think. She needed to sort things out, once and for all.
She gazed around her at the gently swaying branches of the palm trees and let her glance wander over the magnificent sweep of the bay, where the blue water of the ocean met smooth, white sand. It was flawless, a true paradise island…all it needed was for her to find her soul-mate and to live with him here in perfect harmony.
She smiled wistfully and watched the waves break on the shore, leaving lacy ribbons of white foam. She desperately wanted Connor to be there with her.
Over these last few days she’d had plenty of time to think about what had happened on the day when he had taken Carys to the airport. Wasn’t it possible she’d got the wrong end of the stick and come up with a false idea of what was going on? Back home, her ex had cheated on her, and ever since then she’d found it hard to put her trust in anyone.
But James was a totally different person from Connor, wasn’t he? He’d never been particularly supportive, or understanding, whereas Connor had been there for her every step of the way. He’d never let her down. In fact, he’d gone out of his way to make sure she was safe, happy, and even that she was secure in her work.
She loved him, and surely that meant she had to learn to trust him? Somehow or other, she had to take risks with her feelings, because she didn’t want to miss out on being with him.
‘Alyssa…’
It was as though, by thinking of him, she’d somehow managed to conjure him up. She shielded her eyes against the sun and looked towards the house, to see Connor coming down the path that led to the beach.
‘Hi.’ She waved, and waited for him to come closer. ‘You’re up and about early,’ she said. ‘I thought this was your day off? I expected you’d be having a lie-in.’
‘It is.’ He caught up with her and came to stand alongside her, looking out over the sea. ‘I heard you moving chairs about on the deck and I realised you’d been going off for early morning walks since your work here finished. I wanted to come with you and wish you a happy birthday.’
Her eyes widened. ‘I didn’t think you would remember.’
He smiled. ‘I did. I was hoping you’d let me take you to the gala dinner—I realised I’d been taking it for granted that we’d go together, but I haven’t asked you formally. Will you let me take you? It will be a good way to celebrate your birthday. I’d like to make it special for you.’
She gazed at him, drinking in the sight of him. ‘Thank you, I’d like that, very much.’ She studied him thoughtfully, hardly daring to say what was on her mind. ‘Actually, I wondered if you might ask Carys.’
‘She’s going with Ross.’
‘Ah.’ She looked at him from under her lashes. ‘How do you feel about that? Do you mind?’
He seemed puzzled. ‘I think it’s great—she’s perfect for Ross.’
She frowned. ‘So it doesn’t bother you, her being with him?’ She couldn’t quite take in his easy answers. She hadn’t expected this response at all. How could he be so casual and unconcerned if he’d fallen for Carys?
‘Why would it bother me?’ He was genuinely mystified by her question, and she finally began to relax a little. Had she misjudged him? ‘Am I missing something here?’ he said. ‘You’ve been acting oddly ever since Carys went home. Is it because you’re missing her?’
‘I am,’ she admitted. She wasn’t ready to tell him the true reason. ‘We always get on so well together. I sometimes wish we lived closer to one another.’
He wrapped his arms around her. ‘She’s only a short flight away—or even a boat ride. I could take you over there whenever you wanted to see her.’
She smiled at him. ‘That’s really thoughtful of you,’ she said softly. ‘Thank you for that.’ It was typical of him that he should make the offer and she was beginning to feel ashamed of herself for doubting him. Surely there was a logical explanation for his behaviour with Carys? The trouble was, she was too embarrassed to ask him about it.
‘You’re welcome, any time. I want you to be happy, Alyssa.’ He frowned briefly. ‘Have you decided what you’re going to do about staying on in the Bahamas? I hate the thought of you going away. If it’s work that worries you, I know there’s room for another doctor in the emergency department at the hospital here. There would be no problem getting you in there.’
‘Do you think so?’
‘I know it,’ he said firmly. ‘Everyone talks about how much you did for the patients who ended up in the hospital, and because of you they’re all recovering. You know about the car-crash victims, they’re both doing well. And Alex has been discharged and is walking again with just a stick to help him—sooner or later he’ll be able to cope without that.’
‘Yes, I saw him the other day. He came on to the film set to say hello to everyone.’
‘You see what I’m saying? He’s doing fine. And so is Lewis, now that they’ve found the right antibiotic. Admittedly, it was touch and go for a while, but now he’s getting better every day.’
‘It just goes to show what a marvellous hospital system you have here.’
He hugged her to him. ‘Seriously, Alyssa…it gave me hope when you said you would go on with your work as a doctor. It would have been such a waste if you’d let it all go. But you could just as easily do that work here, couldn’t you? You don’t need to go back to the UK, do you?’
‘I suppose I could stay…but what is there for me here? Why would you want me to stay? You’ve never wanted to get deeply involved with anyone before this, have you?’
‘Things are different now.’ His hand smoothed over the length of her spine. ‘I dread the thought of you going away. I want you to stay here, with me. Ever since the accident last week, since I saw Ross’s car there and thought you were involved in the crash, I’ve been churned up inside, imagining what it would be like if you weren’t around. It was the same when I saw the tree through Ross’s windscreen and thought you might be hurt—I couldn’t understand why I cared so much. I’d never felt that way about any woman before.’
She lifted a hand to his cheek, scarcely able to believe what he was saying. ‘Do you mean it?’
‘Of course I do.’ He wrapped her fingers in his and kissed the palm of her hand. ‘You can’t imagine what it was like for me, thinking that you might be injured. It struck me like a blow to the stomach that I couldn’t bear it if you weren’t with me.’
<
br /> Her heart leapt. ‘I didn’t think it was possible for you to feel that way.’
‘Believe it.’ It was a heartfelt admission, and she felt his body shudder next to hers. ‘And then when you said you were going away, it was like a double blow.’ He frowned. ‘Alyssa, I know your parents miss you and you miss them—but they could come and visit any time, couldn’t they? There’s plenty of room for them to stay at the house.’
‘You wouldn’t mind that…them coming over to stay in the apartment? I mean, it was different with Carys, because you already knew her.’
‘Of course I wouldn’t mind.’ He kissed her tenderly on the lips. ‘I want you to stay on and think of the apartment as your own—’ He broke off, suddenly intent, searching her face for her response. ‘In fact, I’d sooner turn it back into a house and do away with the two apartments.’
‘I don’t understand,’ she said, suddenly confused. ‘Are you saying you want me to live with you?’
‘Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.’ He ran his hands over her arms, thrilling her with his gentle caresses. ‘I want to keep you close, Alyssa. When you told me you were thinking of leaving it made me realise how badly I needed you to stay.’ His fingers trailed lightly over her cheek. ‘I can’t bear to lose you, Alyssa. Will you stay here and marry me so that we can be together for always?’
She pulled in a sharp breath. She wanted to believe that he meant what he said, but her head was reeling from the sudden shock of his proposal. ‘But you—you said you didn’t believe in commitment…You’ve never wanted to settle down with any woman.’
‘Because I’d never met the right woman until now.’ His arms circled her once more and he kissed her, a long, thorough, fervent kiss that left her breathless and sent sweet ripples of ecstasy to flow throughout her body.
