The Seduction Challenge

by Sarah Morgan

  Lucy tried to imagine the Cornish fishing village crammed with tourists, and failed. She wasn’t sure she’d like it crowded. She was growing to love the shriek of the seagulls and the wildness of the winter sea.

  Tina came to the door and smiled at them. ‘I made coffee and I bought pasties from the Quay.’

  Inside the tiny shop Lucy stopped and blinked. It was like Aladdin’s cave. Brightly coloured dresses and jewellery were artfully arranged to catch the eye and intrigue the casual shopper.

  ‘That’s so pretty,’ she murmured, fingering a pale pink top with delicate beading around the edges.

  ‘Isn’t it lovely?’ Tina beamed at her and then propelled her through to the back room. ‘But you don’t want that. I’ve found something spectacular for you.’

  Just then Joel’s mobile rang and he rolled his eyes and finished his mouthful of pasty. ‘No peace for the wicked.’

  He answered the phone and listened, his expression suddenly serious. ‘I’ll be there.’

  ‘Michael’s been called to an emergency and there are patients piling up so I need to go back.’ He picked up the rest of the pasty and dropped a kiss on Tina’s cheek. ‘Thanks for lunch. Can you be an angel and run Lucy back to the surgery when you’ve finished?’

  Tina nodded and Joel turned to Lucy with an apologetic smile. ‘Sorry to abandon you.’

  ‘No problem.’

  ‘Make sure she doesn’t buy anything conservative’ was Joel’s parting shot as he sprinted out of the door to his car.

  ‘Nothing conservative, eh?’ Tina smiled at Lucy. ‘He’s going to love what I’ve chosen. Wait there.’

  She emerged a few seconds later, carrying a long sheath of blue-green silk which she handed to Lucy. ‘Try it. With your colouring it will look stunning.’

  Lucy looked at it doubtfully. ‘I’ve never worn anything that glamorous before.’

  ‘All the more reason to start now,’ Tina said firmly. ‘Changing room is behind you.’

  Not wanting to argue, Lucy walked into the changing room and slid out of her uniform, staring at the dress on the hanger. Would she ever dare wear it?

  Well, there was no harm in trying it on, she reassured herself, reaching for the dress and stepping into it.

  ‘Are you decent?’ Tina’s voice came from behind the curtain and Lucy gave a hollow laugh.

  ‘It’s impossible to be decent in this dress.’

  Tina whipped back the curtain and frowned. ‘You’ve left your bra on.’

  Lucy looked at her, shocked. ‘Well, of course I’ve left my bra on.’

  Tina shook her head. ‘That dress needs you to go braless.’

  ‘Tina, I’m hardly small in that department,’ Lucy pointed out, scarlet with embarrassment as Tina delved inside the dress and deftly removed her bra. ‘I need to wear a bra.’

  ‘Not with this dress you don’t,’ Tina said firmly, picking up a packet of pins and making some quick adjustments. ‘There, that’s better. Just scoop your hair up… Perfect.’ She smiled with satisfaction. ‘Now look at yourself.’

  Lucy glanced at her reflection and her eyes widened. A complete stranger stared back at her. The stranger had lush, extravagant curves and a ridiculously tiny waist.

  Was it really her?

  ‘You look sensational,’ Tina said, an awed expression on her pretty face. ‘I’d do anything for a figure like yours. That dress was made for you.’

  Lucy tugged dubiously at the neckline. ‘It’s too revealing. And I’m too top-heavy.’

  ‘Nonsense. It’s totally stunning.’ Tina stepped back and narrowed her eyes. ‘Joel isn’t going to be able to keep his hands off you.’

  Remembering the previous night’s kiss, Lucy felt a blush come to her cheeks and Tina gave a cheeky grin.

  ‘Come on—tell me everything.’

  ‘There’s nothing to tell,’ Lucy said firmly, but Tina’s smile was so warm and understanding and she was such a kind person that Lucy found herself telling Tina everything.

  ‘You married your childhood sweetheart? Wow.’ Tina shook her head slowly as Lucy came to the end of her story. ‘I mean, that’s great,’ she said, correcting herself hastily. ‘I just can’t imagine it myself. What happened when you were training? Did you do the usual round of drunken parties?’

  Lucy shook her head. ‘Not really. I was nineteen when we married, and we didn’t go out much, to be honest.’

  ‘Oh.’ Tina looked taken aback and then gave a sheepish grin. ‘In that case, remind me never to tell you about my university days. You’d be scandalised.’

  Lucy smiled. ‘I don’t think so.’

  Tina looked at her curiously. ‘Didn’t you ever feel that you missed out? While the rest of us were all experimenting, you were already married.’

  ‘And raising a family,’ Lucy said quietly. ‘I had Sam when I was twenty.’

  Tina nodded slowly and fingered the gorgeous dress. ‘So now maybe it’s time to have some fun, Lucy Bishop. You need to live a little. Think of enjoying yourself, and nothing else.’

  ‘I have a child!’

  Tina raised an eyebrow. ‘And he’s going to mind if his mother wears a stunning dress that makes her look like a film star? I don’t think so.’

  Lucy looked at her reflection and felt a thrill of excitement. She’d never worn a dress like this before, and suddenly she wanted to, more than anything in the world.

  ‘I’ll have it,’ she said shyly, and Tina whooped.

  ‘That’s my girl! Let’s knock him dead!’

  As she prepared for her afternoon clinic, Lucy couldn’t stop thinking about what Tina had said.

  Had she really missed out? While everyone else had been partying, she and Tim had been building a home together. At the time she’d never even questioned what they were doing—it had just seemed to be the inevitable conclusion of their relationship.

  But had they both misunderstood their relationship? Had she been too young and inexperienced to understand the difference between friendship and true love?

  Was that why Tim had left?

  Had he found something different with the young woman he’d left her for?

  Puzzled and thoughtful, she worked her way through her afternoon list.

  Her second patient was Penny, the girl she and Joel had seen a few weeks before.

  Lucy greeted her and asked her how she was.

  ‘Well, I had my period, so that was a good thing,’ Penny said, clearly relieved that her one-night stand hadn’t led to an unwanted pregnancy. ‘I took the pills, like Dr Whittaker said, and I wasn’t sick or anything.’

  ‘Good.’ Lucy looked at her expectantly and Penny blushed and fidgeted slightly in the chair.

  ‘I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have come back to you, but you were so kind to me and—’ She broke off and Lucy gave her hand a squeeze.

  ‘Just tell me what’s worrying you.’

  ‘Well, things don’t feel right,’ Penny muttered, ‘ever since…well…’

  ‘In what way haven’t they been right?’ Lucy’s tone was warm and encouraging. ‘Don’t be embarrassed, Penny. Just tell me what’s worrying you.’

  Penny bit her lip and scraped her hair behind her ear. ‘I’ve been bleeding.’

  ‘Did you have a normal period after you took the emergency contraceptive that Dr Whittaker gave you?’

  ‘Oh, yes.’ Penny nodded. ‘But since then I’ve been spotting a bit and it just feels—well, uncomfortable.’

  ‘Do you have any discharge?’

  Penny blushed fiercely and nodded. ‘Yes.’

  Lucy’s voice was gentle. ‘Dr Whittaker suggested that you go to the sexual health clinic at the hospital for some swabs—did you do that, Penny?’

  Penny shook her head. ‘No. I couldn’t face it. I just felt too embarrassed.’ She stared at the floor miserably. ‘I suppose I was just hoping that everything would go away if I ignored it.’

  ‘The problem is, Penny, that you may have caught an infectio
n from the man you slept with,’ she said quietly. ‘The clinic is equipped to test for all sorts of things and give advice.’

  ‘But what if someone sees me there?’

  ‘People go there for all sorts of reasons,’ Lucy told her. ‘Family planning advice included. And the staff are sympathetic and experienced. They’re used to dealing with problems just like yours. And it’s all confidential, of course. In fact, it’s one of the few places in the hospital where you can refer yourself. You can make your own appointment without a GP referral, and they don’t even tell your GP your results unless you give permission. So it really is confidential.’

  ‘But if my mum found out that I’d been there…’ Penny sighed and looked totally dejected. ‘Do I have to go?’

  ‘Well, we can’t force you,’ Lucy said, her tone sympathetic, ‘but it would be the right thing to do. I need to ask you something else, Penny. Have you had sex with anyone else since your one-night stand?’

  Penny shook her head. ‘No way! I’m never having sex again.’

  Lucy gave her a sympathetic look. ‘You feel like that now because you’ve had a fright,’ she said softly, ‘but you won’t feel that way for ever. Maybe you started a bit young. You need to wait until you’re ready, and then think carefully about contraception and make sure you use condoms. In the meantime, I’m going to take a swab for something called chlamydia.’

  Penny looked blank. ‘What’s that?’

  ‘It’s the most common, treatable sexually transmitted disease,’ Lucy told her. ‘The problem is that, left untreated, it can cause something called pelvic inflammatory disease which can sometimes make you infertile. We certainly don’t want that happening to you, so we need to do some tests and then treat you if necessary. It would also be sensible for me to take a routine smear test.’

  She explained what she wanted Penny to do and then took a smear and an endocervical swab.

  ‘The results should be back in about four days,’ she told Penny, ‘so why don’t you give me a call and we can take it from there? But I think you should consider going to the sexual health clinic.’

  Penny bit her lip and adjusted her clothing. ‘But now you’ve done the tests…’

  ‘I can only do some of the tests,’ Lucy explained. ‘It really would be best if you went to the experts, but have a think about it and we can talk about it when you call in for your results.’

  ‘All right. Thanks, Sister.’ Penny gathered up her things and left the room leaving Lucy feeling uneasy.

  Wanting to talk about Penny’s case, she checked that there were no patients waiting and went to find Joel.

  He was in his room, talking to Michael, and broke off when he saw her.

  ‘Problems?’ He lifted a dark eyebrow and she shook her head, embarrassed that she’d interrupted them.

  ‘Nothing urgent. Sorry.’ She made to slip away but Joel caught her arm.

  ‘It’s OK. There’s no need to dash off,’ he said firmly. ‘Michael and I were just gossiping. You’re not interrupting anything.’

  Michael grinned. ‘In other words, he’s telling me to go and get on with some work.’ He saluted his brother and left the room.

  Joel looked at her, his hand still closed tightly over her wrist. ‘What’s worrying you?’

  ‘Penny,’ she told him. ‘She came back to see me.’

  She explained what had happened and he frowned and released her.

  ‘If she’s got a discharge, she really ought to go to the sexual health clinic. I did tell her that she needed to do that.’

  ‘I know, but she’s young, she feels guilty about having a one-night stand and she just wants it all to go away,’ Lucy said softly. ‘I’m afraid that she isn’t going to go at all, so I tested her for chlamydia and took a smear.’

  Joel shook his head, clearly concerned. ‘But you know that co-infection with other sexually transmitted infections often occurs. She still needs to go to the clinic.’

  ‘I know that.’ Lucy defended her decision. ‘But if she refuses to go, then surely we’re better off at least testing her for what we can.’

  Joel sighed and ran his hands through his hair. ‘Has she slept with anyone else since?’

  Lucy shook her head and he gave a wry smile. ‘So at least we don’t have to worry about contacts. I suppose that’s something to be thankful for.’ He breathed out and thought for a moment. ‘All right, well, you know I’d be more comfortable if she had a full-infection screen from the clinic but as you say, if she won’t go, we can’t make her. Let’s see what her results are and think again.’

  Lucy bit her lip. ‘Maybe I should have offered to go to the clinic with her—’

  ‘Lucy, you can’t do that!’

  ‘She’s just a child, Joel,’ Lucy reminded him, ‘and she’s scared and embarrassed—’

  ‘And you’ve got too much on your plate to go and hold her hand.’ Joel shook his head. ‘You’ve done everything you can, Lucy. At some point she needs to take responsibility for her own health.’

  He stretched an arm across his desk to access his e-mail, and her eyes dropped to his broad shoulders. She knew how it felt to be held against that chest.

  She tried to remember a time when she’d reacted to Tim the way that she reacted to Joel but she couldn’t.

  So what did that mean?

  Joel glanced up from his computer and she met the full force of that intense, blue gaze.

  It was like touching an electric fence.

  For a moment they were both silent, and then she cleared her throat and backed towards the door, breaking the contact.

  It was stupid even dreaming about what it would be like with Joel. She wasn’t his type of woman. He was used to smart, sophisticated types with a PhD in flirting. She had absolutely no idea how to flirt. Despite her marriage, she was far too inexperienced and naïve for a man like Joel.

  And even a stunning dress wasn’t going to change that.

  Forcing her mind back to work, she returned to the treatment room and discovered that Ros had found her more patients. It was approaching three o’clock and she’d just seen the last one when Ros hurried into the room, her expression serious.

  ‘We’ve just had a call from one of Ivy Williams’s neighbours. She’s had an accident.’ Ros put a hand on Lucy’s arm. ‘I’m just preparing you, pet, because I know you’re fond of her.’

  ‘What’s happened?’

  Ros sighed. ‘She was going to the shop for a few things and she was hit by a car. Someone said she didn’t seem to look at all before she crossed the road. It was as if her mind was totally elsewhere.’

  Lucy stared at her in horror. She knew exactly where Ivy’s mind would have been. With her Bert.

  ‘Is she—is she…?’ Lucy couldn’t even bring herself to ask the question but Ros read her mind.

  ‘We’ve called an ambulance and I sent Joel, because obviously he’s more experienced in this sort of thing than anyone else. But I don’t know how bad it is, I’m afraid. I just thought you ought to know.’

  ‘Yes.’ Lucy nodded. ‘Thanks, Ros. I’m going home now anyway, so will you call me when you hear something?’

  She could have called Joel’s mobile, of course, but if he was battling to save Ivy she didn’t want to disturb him.

  She collected Sam from school and took him straight home, along with a friend whose mother had been asked to work a few extra hours. Lucy was only too pleased to help, knowing that the favour would be returned at some point in the future. That was how working mothers survived, by supporting each other in times of need. It was all about sisterhood.

  Functioning on automatic, Lucy cooked sausages and mash, wondering whether Joel would have eaten. She hadn’t heard anything from Ros and she didn’t like to call because she knew that someone would phone her when they found a minute to do so.

  But she couldn’t concentrate on anything, and by the time she heard a tap on the door at eight o’clock she was completely on edge.

  It was
Joel, looking tense and exhausted, the beginnings of dark stubble darkening his jaw.

  ‘Hi.’

  She’d never seen him look tired or stressed before, but tonight he was showing signs of both and she opened the door immediately, worried about him. ‘Come in. I’ve been waiting for some news, but I didn’t want to call you in case I disturbed you.’

  He followed her into the flat, his mouth a grim line. ‘The news isn’t good, I’m afraid.’ He looked at her warily and she knew instantly.

  ‘She’s dead, isn’t she?’ Her voice was quiet and he nodded slowly.

  ‘I’m sorry. I know you were fond of her. She really didn’t stand a chance. A woman who witnessed the accident said that she just stepped out into the road, almost as if she didn’t care what happened to her.’

  ‘I don’t think she did,’ Lucy said softly. ‘She hasn’t cared about anything since Bert died.’

  Joel sighed. ‘She had massive injuries. We did get her to hospital and we did our best but, frankly, there was never really a moment when we thought she’d survive.’

  ‘Poor Ivy.’ Lucy was troubled. ‘Do you think she did it on purpose? Maybe she was suicidal, and I didn’t notice.’

  Joel frowned and shook his head. ‘No, don’t think like that. You were great. Dad told me that you visited her just to check on her. The witness said she just looked as though her mind was elsewhere.’

  ‘With Bert,’ Lucy said sadly. ‘She was totally lost without him.’

  Joel looked at her and then walked towards the window, his expression unreadable. ‘I can’t imagine it,’ he said quietly. ‘I can’t imagine loving anyone so much that without them your own life seems pointless and empty.’

  Lucy swallowed. ‘Haven’t you ever been in love?’

  She knew that Joel had never been short of girlfriends. Surely he’d cared about some of them?

  ‘No.’ He shook his head slowly. ‘Never.’ He gave a wry smile and shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘At least, I don’t think I have. What is love? I’m damned if I know, Lucy.’

  For a moment his expression was bleak and then he sighed. ‘Why don’t you tell me what it feels like to be in love? Presumably you were in love with Tim when you married him. Tell me how it felt.’