Accidental Seduction

by Caroline Anderson

  'You didn't seem to worry with Williamson yesterday,' he said with another touch of that same arrogance. It made her blood boil. Why wouldn't he just back off and drop it?

  'He's a friend,' she said cuttingly. 'You're a colleague—and it's staying that way, unless you foul up so badly you lose your job. Bear it in mind.'

  She turned on her heel and stalked off, walking round the corner slap into Max.

  He caught her shoulders with his long, strong fingers and eased her away from him, his mouth twitching.

  'Throwing yourself into my arms, precious?' he murmured, and she stepped back and laughed a little shortly.

  'I've just had a run-in with Mike Taylor. He really is a pain—and he's not a good doctor.'

  'I'd noticed,' Max said softly. 'What's he done now?'

  So she told him, and Max frowned. 'But I wrote her up for all of that. What were the night staff doing, and what was Mike's excuse?'

  'Oh, he didn't really have one, and there was an incompetent agency nurse on last night, I think, from what Damien was saying. She's been a problem before. I think he's going to report her so she's not used again. He reckons she's only doing it to gain access to drugs.'

  'And we've got an incompetent SHO. Great. Want me to talk to him?'

  She shook her head. 'No. I think it's OK for now. He tried to explain his behaviour yesterday, by the way—he said he fancied me himself and he was jealous! What a load of bull.'

  Max chuckled. 'He's obviously made a stunning impression. I would say he's definitely in with a chance.'

  'A chance of having his lights punched out. He's awful—so cocky.'

  'Well, you know what they say. Pride comes before a fall—and I reckon that young man's about to topple from a great height.' He looked down at her, his eyes softening. 'So, how are you this morning?'

  Annie felt the warmth of his gaze like a physical caress, and heat skittered over her skin. 'I'm fine. Alice was a bit fussy before I left, but it's the weekend now and I'm not on duty until Sunday, so I can give her my undivided attention for a day, at least.'

  . 'How about coming out with her?' he said suddenly. 'We could do whatever she likes.'

  Annie laughed, horribly tempted but quite unable to give in. 'She's only eight months old, just. She doesn't like much—food, music, cuddles—her repertoire's decidedly limited at the moment. I might take her for a walk in the park to feed the ducks. She likes to watch them.'

  'That might be fun,' he said, and she had a sudden moment of panic. Max was obviously angling for an invitation to join them, and not asking him was going to sound so churlish, but she couldn't let it happen.

  'Max, I think it might be better if we wait a bit,' she said quietly. 'You know what I feel about you having too much to do with her.'

  'Too much? I haven't even clapped eyes on her yet! What's the matter with her, Annie? Has she got two heads?'

  Oh, lord; 'Of course not!' she said hastily. 'There's nothing the matter with her—but anyway, most of the time when I see you she's asleep.'

  'Well, think about it. I promise not to bond with her or corrupt her or damage her in any way.'

  His crooked smile was teasing, but she sensed it disguised his hurt, and she felt dreadful. Of course it was natural for him to want to see her, and she was probably being over-sensitive about the looks thing. Most people didn't have a clue what they looked like, and smiley, happy babies were pretty much all the same.

  Weren't they?

  No. Oh, heck. What a coil!

  'I'll think about it,' she promised.

  'Good. Got time for breakfast before we start?'

  'Actually, I have,' she said a little thoughtfully. 'Although, do you really think it's a good idea? I mean, if Mike noticed we were looking rather cosy, he's probably not the only one.'

  'Well, we just won't have to look too cosy, then, will we?'

  Max had a steely glint in his eye and was obviously determined not to give in to Mike and his ilk. Annie gave a mental shrug. If he didn't care, why should she?

  They went for breakfast.

  * * *

  Mrs Bradley settled down under her new drug regime, to their mutual relief, and Tim Jacobs seemed to be coping without the syringe driver, but Annie was still seething with Mike for his incompetence.

  When Max was on the ward, she showed him the notes so he could see how clearly visible were the drugs he'd written up for Mrs Bradley yesterday, before he'd gone off duty.

  'The man's an idiot!' Max said in disgust. 'How on earth could he not see that? It's as clear as daylight. Unless...' He peered more closely at the notes. 'These drugs that Mike's written up—I don't think that's his writing. Look, it's nothing like his signature. I wonder if the agency nurse wrote him up for the drugs, and simply got Mike to sign the form without looking at it.'

  'And if so,' Annie said slowly, 'I wonder if she actually gave Mrs Bradley all she was written up for, or if she gave herself what you'd written her up for, and so couldn't let Mike see the form? She might even have had some of the pethidine Mike had signed Mrs Bradley up for.'

  Max scrubbed a hand through his hair and rolled his eyes despairingly. 'It gets worse and worse. We need to speak to Damien, and then I think we probably need to involve the police. I'd better have a word with Mike first, and find out his side of the story word for word. Do you want to be there when I do that?'

  Annie gave a hollow laugh. 'Do I want, or do I think I should be? Actually, I think the answer to both is "probably".'

  Max called Mike into the ward office, questioned him in minute detail about exactly what had taken place during the night and then explained their concerns.

  Mike, to his credit, had the grace to admit that he hadn't really studied the drug chart before signing it.

  'I just accepted what she told me,' he said. 'In fact, she probably had her hand over that part of the chart, pointing to the bit where she wanted me to sign. I was tired, I was busy and I should have checked it.'

  Heavens, Annie thought, humility? From Mike? Wonders will never cease.

  However, his humility wasn't going to help Mrs Bradley to have had a better night, and it wasn't going to solve the problem of the agency nurse. Max called in Damien, and they checked the amount of pethidine that had been signed for in the drugs cupboard. There was less left than there should have been, and at that point they had no choice but to call in the police.

  Annie phoned her mother and told her she was going to be late home. There was no way that she could leave until this had been sorted out, and the police wanted to interview her. to get her version of the events.

  In the end by the time she got home Alice was asleep, and Jill told her that the baby had been fussing and crying, and had taken ages to settle.

  Annie crept into her daughter's darkened bedroom, and she stood at the side of her cot with tears running down her face. 'I'm sorry, baby,' she said brokenly. 'It was just one of those things. Maybe one day you'll understand and forgive me.'

  The baby stirred and snuffled in her sleep, and Annie lowered the cot side, bent over and stroked a feather-light kiss over her daughter's brow. The skin felt a little hot and damp, and Annie wondered if it was a remnant from the crying or if her daughter was going down with something.

  Still, she had a day off the next day, and she fully intended to spend every single moment with her daughter. She wouldn't even allow herself to think about Max, and how nice it would be to have him with them.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Max phoned Annie at ten o'clock the following morning, and asked if she had any plans for the day.

  'Yes,' she said firmly, 'I'm spending it with Alice. She wasn't well last night, and I felt really guilty when I got home so late. I've only got one day off this weekend, and it just isn't fair. She didn't ask to have a working mother.'

  'I wasn't suggesting you should spend it without her,' Max said, a note of mild reproach in his voice. 'I just wondered if you fancy doing anything else— taking her somewhere, or feed
ing the ducks—but if she's not very well, that might not be a good idea.' He paused for a moment, then went on, 'I don't suppose you feel like having some company while you play with her?'

  She did, actually. Her parents were both out for the day, and wouldn't be back until later that night, and there was nothing she wanted more than Max there to keep her company. She wanted it so much that she actually hesitated, and then she remembered her resolve.

  'She's pretty grizzly,' she said, thinking as she did so that it sounded a feeble, miserable excuse. Most people with a grizzly baby would be only too happy for somebody else to come along and try and cheer it up. 'I'll probably have to walk up and down cuddling her most of the day, or trying to get her to go off to sleep, and if there's anybody else here she probably won't settle,' she continued, trying to make it plausible.

  She heard Max's quiet sigh over the phone. 'OK, I understand,' he said. He sounded resigned, which was good news, actually, because Annie was rapidly reaching the point where she didn't want to argue with him any longer. The prospect of the day stretching ahead of her with no one but the fretful baby for company was depressing.

  'I'm sorry,' she said with absolute sincerity. 'Maybe when she's feeling better.'

  And that, of course, took away any future excuses. Never mind, because she was fast coming to the conclusion that Max was the ideal person for them both, and her good intentions seemed founded on nothing very substantial at all.

  'Max, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to go because she's crying again,' Annie said regretfully.

  'OK. I tell you what, ring me later if you change your mind or if she settles,' he replied. 'I should be in all day, I've got things to sort out about the house— Oh, by the way, did I tell you, my offer was accepted?'

  She felt a little quiver of excitement. 'Oh, Max, that's wonderful! I'm so pleased for you.'

  He gave a rueful laugh. 'I think I'm pleased for myself, but there's an awful lot of work to do and I'm feeling a bit daunted. I'm going round there again today at some point and I'm going to draw up a list of all the things that need doing and try and get them in order. By the time I've done that, I'll probably withdraw my offer!'

  She could hear his smile over the phone, and it cheered her up. 'I tell you what,' she suggested, 'why don't you phone me when you get back and tell me all about it?'

  'Won't I disturb the baby?'

  'No, the phone is nowhere near her. It'll be fine. Max, I have to go. I'll speak to you later. Have a good day.'

  She cradled the phone and ran back to Alice, scooping the miserable baby up in her arms and rocking her lovingly. 'Oh, sweetheart, what's the matter with you, darling?'

  In reply, Alice scrubbed her fist against her gums and dribbled all down Annie's T-shirt.

  'Oh, baby, are you teething? Grannie said you were. Come on, I'll put some gel on it for you.'

  By the end of the afternoon, Annie was ready to scream. There were definite advantages to being a working mother, she'd decided. She wished Max would phone, but the instrument remained stubbornly silent.

  It was probably just as well. If he phoned now and suggested he come round, she'd probably bite his hand off. But he didn't, not until seven o'clock, when Alice had finally worn herself out and fallen into a heavy sleep and Annie was slumped in a chair in her little sitting room, exhausted.

  Then the phone rang, and she dragged herself out of the chair and picked it up. 'Hello?' she said tonelessly.

  'Annie?'

  'Oh, hi, Max,' she said, trying to muster a little enthusiasm.

  'Are you all right? You sound knackered. Have you had a really bad day?'

  She rolled her eyes. 'You might say that. She's only just gone to sleep. She's been crying since I spoke to you this morning. I don't know how my mother's going to cope with her tomorrow if she's still like this.'

  'Take a day off,' he suggested.

  She stared at the phone in amazement. He was her boss, and he was telling her to take a day off? 'I can't, really. It's the weekend, and I'm on call, and I know it's going to be chaos. Who's going to cover it if I don't do it?'

  'Me? I'm on call anyway, as back-up for you, so I might as well spend the day at work. Think about it. I've not got anything else to do, anyway, especially if you're busy.'

  'Did you manage to get everything done at the house?'

  He gave a choked laugh. 'Sort of. I've got a list as long as my arm—terrifying. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to come back to you, but the police wanted to speak to me again about the agency nurse. She's in deep trouble. Apparently, when they started checking back, there've been problems on several of the other wards she's worked on, and it was only when we reported things that it all began to fall into place. Anyway, I'm finished there now, and I wondered how you were fixed. Have you eaten?'

  Eaten? What was that?

  'No, I haven't eaten,' she said wearily. 'I don't think I've got the strength.'

  'Well, if Alice is asleep, why don't I pick up a takeaway and bring it round to you, and we could share it? That way you don't have to trouble your mother to babysit, and if the baby starts to fuss you can always kick me out.'

  Annie hesitated for about half a second, then succumbed. 'That would be lovely,' she said gratefully. Now she thought about it, she was absolutely starving, and the idea of having a hot tasty meal put down in front of her with absolutely no effort required on her part was wonderful.

  'Any particular variety?'

  'Whatever you like. I'll leave it up to you. I could eat dust at the moment.'

  He chuckled. 'Don't do that. Just hang on a minute, and I'll be with you. If you leave the front door on the latch, I won't even have to ring the bell.'

  'Come round the back. I've got my own door. It's in the corner, with all the pots and tubs outside. I'll leave it open.'

  It took him fifteen minutes, and in that time she dived through the shower, scraped her wet hair back from her face and slapped on a little make-up—not very much, just enough to rescue her battered self-esteem.

  He walked in through the door just as she put the plates to warm in a bowl of hot water, and he had a plastic carrier bag in one hand and flowers in the other.

  'Here—cheer you up a bit. You sounded really down on the phone.'

  He handed her the flowers and brushed a gentle but slightly possessive kiss over her lips. It felt absolutely right. She took the flowers and buried her nose in them.

  'Oh, the carnations smell gorgeous!' She went up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. "Thank you.'

  His eyes softened. 'My pleasure,' he murmured.

  She sniffed appreciatively. 'Whatever that is smells gorgeous, too.'

  'Chinese. It was the first one I found, and it looked respectable.'

  She looked at the name on the side of the bag and her eyebrows shot up. 'Oh, it's respectable all right. It's the best Chinese in town.' She didn't add that her family reserved them for high days and holidays. 'If. I'd known you were going there, I would have laid the table and lit a candle,' she teased.

  He smiled slightly. 'Sounds romantic.'

  Annie felt suddenly flustered. 'I said if I'd known, but I didn't, so we'll have to eat it on our knees or it'll be cold.' She fished the plates out of the hot water, gave them a quick swipe with a tea towel, grabbed the cutlery from the drawer and headed for the sitting room with Max and his carrier bag in hot pursuit.

  He put the bag down on the coffee-table, and she pulled out all the little containers, opened them and sighed. 'Bliss. Spare ribs—and lemon chicken. And Singapore noodles! Oh, I am going to be so fat.'

  'I don't think so. You could do with putting on a bit of weight. You've got skinny in the past year.'

  Annie rolled her eyes. 'I'm not surprised. If you'd had to run around after Alice today, you would have got skinny—and that's just one day!'

  Max shook his head, and piled her plate, handing it to her with a smile. 'Here—your first course.'

  She laughed. She couldn't be bothered to take offence,
and anyway he was absolutely right. She fully intended to clear all the dishes before the end of the evening!

  Max watched her indulgently as Annie ate her way through a vast quantity of food. He'd wondered if he was being silly and had bought far too much, but seeing the way she attacked it, he realised that she really had been hungry. He hadn't realised that she'd got her own little kitchen and sitting room at the back here, and he wondered if she did all her own cooking or if her mother helped her.

  If she cooked for herself it explained a lot, because she probably didn't bother. She probably rushed in late, saw to the baby and fell onto the settee with a packet of biscuits or an apple. He resolved to bring around a take-away more often. Or, alternatively, cook for her at his house.

  Now, that was a tempting thought...

  Annie finally ground to a halt. Putting her plate down, she flopped back against the settee and sighed hugely.

  'That was the best thing I've tasted in years,' she said with a smile. 'I could love you for ever for the Singapore noodles.'

  He gave her a curiously intent look, then his mouth quirked in a fleeting smile. 'I might just hold you to that,' he said softly, leaning over to brush her lips with his, and she felt a flood of warmth sweep through her.

  It was just a figure of speech, something she would have said to anyone, but Max had turned it into something else, a declaration, and she suddenly realised that she had no urge at all to retract the innocent remark.

  However, she wasn't going to follow up on it either, and she got hastily to her feet. 'Coffee?' she said brightly, and he gave her a knowing little smile.

  'That would be lovely, thank you. Can I wash up while you do that?'

  Annie rustled up a teasing smile. 'Goodness, housetrained as well?'

  'I don't chew the furniture either,' he said, deadpan, getting to his feet and gathering together the plates and the discarded cartons.