Jealous. What a horrible word.
‘What’s going on with Iain McKenzie?’
‘What?’ She dropped the fork she’d been holding for the last few minutes.
Carrie was smiling. ‘Our grumpy Scotsman isn’t quite so grumpy. We’re all wondering what’s happened. Do you know anything?’
‘Me? No.’ The words came out too quickly, falling over themselves in their haste.
Carrie put her fork down. ‘Lexi?’ Her eyebrows were raised.
Oh, no. Carrie had that look on her face. That you’d-better-tell-me-everything-right-now look.
Lexi started shaking her head and focusing intently on the raspberry sponge, which all of a sudden she could eat easily. ‘I’ve no idea what’s going on with Iain. I’ve just told you I’ve not been around. I’ve been flying everywhere and barely had a minute to myself.’ She popped a big piece of sponge into her mouth to stop herself saying anything else.
‘Whatever you say, Lexi. But it’s a remarkable coincidence that Iain appeared to get a whole lot brighter after your interview.’ She lifted her hand and gave Lexi a wink. ‘But if you say you know nothing, that’s fine with me.’
The waitress came over and placed the bill on the table and Carrie had it in a flash. She waved it at Lexi. ‘But it’ll cost you!’
Lexi grabbed the bill and swallowed the big lump of cake in her throat. Everything was still so new with Iain. She didn’t want to tell Carrie that in between flights to here, there and everywhere she’d either been sleeping at Iain’s or he’d been sleeping at her place.
And if carrot cake was the price of Carrie’s silence, that was good enough for her.
Lexi knocked on the door of Leo’s office. She was trying to put all thoughts of the last time she’d been in here out of her mind. The thought of ending up with Iain lying on top of her made her blush. She only hoped the colour she felt flooding her cheeks would not be obvious to Leo.
‘Come in,’ came the deep voice behind the door.
She opened it. Leo was sitting behind his desk with the phone cradled between his shoulder and face, while he scribbled furiously in front of him. He gestured to Lexi to come in and sit down in front of his desk.
She gave him a wide smile and settled into the comfortable chair. Leo had a smile on his face, and it was so nice to see.
There had been so many changes in him over the last few weeks—all to do with his engagement to Lizzie Birch, the head nurse at the Hunter Clinic. Leo had always been good at his job but his personal life and his relationship with his brother had always seemed rocky. It was so nice to see him with a genuine, permanent smile on his face.
He put down the phone. ‘Sorry about that, Lexi.’ He shuffled some papers on his desk until he found what he was looking for. A printout of the accounts and charitable donations that Lexi had sent him. He stood up. ‘That’s quite a pile you’ve sent me.’ He looked around his desk. There was barely any of rich wood surface visible. ‘What do you say we go through to the conference room and spread these out?’ He smiled. ‘Lizzie left us some doughnuts for the meeting.’
Lexi stood back up. ‘Perfect. You get the doughnuts, I’ll get the coffee.’
She walked through to the conference room and left her papers on the desk, then crossed the corridor to the kitchen and loaded the pods into the machine. Perfect cappuccinos in two minutes flat.
She could hear voices as she approached the conference room. Its doors were wide open. Her steps slowed as she recognised Ethan’s voice.
She hesitated. She was reluctant to go and interrupt them, even though she was supposed to be having a meeting with Leo right now. Tension seemed to emanate from both of them as soon as they were in the same room.
Leo sounded happier today. She could hear his deep voice easily. ‘I wanted to let you know that Lizzie and I have set a date.’
‘What? That’s great. Congratulations, Leo. When is it?’ Lexi felt relieved. Ethan did sound happy for his brother. Maybe things had eased between them?
‘It’s the last Saturday in April at Claridge’s.’
‘Wow. You don’t hang about. Something else you want to tell me, brother?’
‘What? No. Not yet, anyway.’ There was a little edge to his tone. As if there was a smile on his face as he was saying the words.
‘And are we going to have to remortgage the clinic to pay for it?’
Leo let out a laugh. ‘No, that’s all under control.’ His voice went a little quieter. ‘It was Lizzie’s dream to get married there and I plan on giving her exactly what she wants.’
There was a little pause then Ethan replied, ‘Making Lizzie happy is exactly what you should do.’
The edge of the cups had heated up and Lexi shifted her fingers to try and avoid being burnt. Maybe it was safe to go in now? She stepped closer to the door.
‘So—I wanted to ask you a question.’ Her foot stopped mid-air. Maybe not.
‘What is it?’
She was close enough now to see both men. Ethan was leaning heavily on the table—still not using the walking stick that he should. Leo was sitting opposite him, his hand pulling at the edge of his ear. The way he did when he was uncomfortable.
‘I wanted to ask you to be my best man.’ The words came out in a rush.
There was a pause. A heavy silence in the air.
Just say yes, Lexi willed Ethan. She shifted her fingers on the cups again. Say yes before I burn myself.
‘I don’t think so, Leo.’ Ethan’s voice was low, so low Lexi couldn’t believe he’d just said those words. She must have misheard.
‘Why not?’ She cringed. She could hear the tension in Leo’s voice, no matter how he tried to hide it.
‘I just don’t think it’s a good idea. Ask Declan or Edward—you’ve known them for a long time. They’d do a better job than me.’
Lexi could almost hear the long intake of breath from Leo. She could only imagine how hurt he felt right now. Even if he wasn’t showing it.
From this angle she could see him paste a smile on his face. ‘You never were very good at speeches, were you, Ethan?’
‘Rubbish. Whether you wrote them for me or not.’
It was an easy let-off. Even though he was obviously hurt, Leo had decided not to enter into a spat with his brother. His voice went a little lower. ‘I just thought I should ask you first. You were the one to tell me to get my act together and sort out things with Lizzie.’
‘That’s because I’m the smart one in this family—and don’t you forget it.’
Ethan had turned and headed towards the door. The conversation was clearly over.
‘Sorry, Lexi, didn’t see you there.’
She pasted a fake smile on her face. ‘You’d better not have eaten my doughnut, Ethan Hunter. You could be in big trouble.’
He winked. ‘Why break the habit of a lifetime?’
Lexi walked into the room and put the cups on the table. ‘Sorry I took so long, Leo.’ She didn’t want to let on that she’d heard any of the previous conversation. It seemed wrong to hear private business between the brothers. It made her uncomfortable.
Leo grabbed a cup and took a drink, pushing the plate with the doughnuts on it towards her. ‘Go on, dive in.’ He looked down at the papers spread in front of him and gave a sad kind of smile. ‘The income of the clinic has skyrocketed since you got here, Lexi. We’re going to be able to support Olivia Fairchild’s charity much more than I originally thought. I want you to know you are worth your weight in gold.’
Lexi bit into the doughnut, blowing her calorie count for the whole day. It was as if the whole conversation before hadn’t happened. However hurt Leo must currently be feeling, he wasn’t showing it.
But Leo was good at that. He’d switched from personal to professional mode in an instant.
It was up to her to do the same. No matter how hard she found it.
She pulled out the spreadsheet she was looking for. ‘I’m glad you’re happy, Leo. There’s just
a couple of other things we have to discuss.’ She laid them out on the table and opened a laptop, which had Iain’s interview loaded and ready to be released.
Leo’s eyes focused on the first shot. Iain in his dark suit, white shirt and red tie, standing in front of the Hunter Clinic sign with his arms folded across his chest. He let out a laugh. ‘Lexi Robbins. How did you manage to get that shot?’
She raised her eyebrows and tapped her nose. ‘I have my ways. But I’ll never tell.’
Leo leaned back in his chair as he watched, shaking his head in wonder as the video finished. ‘Wow, Lexi. You’ve done a fantastic job.’ He glanced outside. ‘I’d better hire a new receptionist. Our phones are going to ring off the hook.’
She nodded. ‘I think you’d better.’
‘It goes out tonight?’
‘Yes.’
‘Does Iain know? He’s very private. I’m surprised he agreed to shoot it.’
She gathered up her papers, a knowing smile on her face. ‘Let me handle Iain. I am the PR person after all.’
Leo nodded and gave her an appreciative smile. ‘You certainly are.’
Iain was deep in surgery. He was grafting skin taken from the thigh onto a patient’s cheek. His registrar was driving him crazy with all the questions she was asking.
‘But why did you select the thigh area?’
He took a deep breath under his mask. ‘We looked at the other traditional areas. The skin on her arms was too freckly, the skin on her buttocks wasn’t suitable to transfer to her face. The skin on her thigh was the best option.’
The registrar let out a little sigh. ‘It just seems so odd. Most people are more conscious about skin cancers these days—particularly on the face. Why didn’t she see about it sooner?’
‘And why didn’t you read the case notes?’ Iain snapped.
There was silence in the theatre. He could sense the rest of the staff cringing but he was tired of this lazy registrar with her enquiring mind. She asked thousands of questions without once looking for the answers herself.
And what’s worse was that this patient had seen her doctor. She’d seen several doctors, several times, none of whom had referred her to get a biopsy until it was too late. Her cancer could still be treated, but if she’d been referred the first time she’d worried about the pale brown mark on her face, the surgery she would have needed would have been minimal. A tiny scar. Rather than extensive surgery into the surrounding tissues that required a skin graft. And if the registrar had bothered to do her job she would have known all that.
He gritted his teeth. He was getting to the most important part. He’d just separated the epidermis and part of the dermis layer ready to transfer to the face. His first surgical steps had been to remove the cancer thoroughly, ensuring margins wide enough to capture all the cells but small enough to allow the best outcome for the patient. Stitching the graft into place required steady hands, tiny stitches and intense concentration.
Concentration had never been a problem for Iain before. But then again he’d never been in a relationship with Lexi Robbins before.
And something was bothering him. Even though he’d almost been upfront and honest with her, something wasn’t right with Lexi.
She was busy doing her job and flying around the world, drumming up publicity for the clinic and the charities. He’d taken her back to Frank’s twice and she’d enjoyed it just as much as the first time.
But something was still wrong. He could sense it. He could feel it.
But it had been so long since he’d felt something, he couldn’t rely on his instincts.
It didn’t matter that he did his best to try and build Lexi’s confidence. It didn’t matter that she seemed happy at work and happy in his company. There was still just something.
And he didn’t know what.
But what made matters worse was that he had no idea why this bothered him so much. Lexi was getting under his skin. He’d told her right from the start that he didn’t think he had anything to offer her. But even as he’d said the words he’d felt conflicted. He’d wanted to give her an out. A way to walk away with no commitment. But he wasn’t that type of guy. And Lexi wasn’t that type of woman.
He snapped his attention back to his work. What was wrong with him? He never lost focus.
Twittering. The registrar was twittering in his ear again. He honestly couldn’t stand it.
He turned to face her. ‘What is it exactly that you don’t understand now? Because right now I’m busy. Right now I’m trying my hardest to make sure I line up the skin edges perfectly to give the best possible outcome for this patient. If I make a mess of this, she’ll be left with permanent scarring on her face. If I do it well, after a few months the scars will fade and although they won’t be invisible they won’t be very noticeable to the average person. So what do you suggest I do? Should I allow myself to be distracted by you? To answer every question that you should have researched before you set foot in my theatre? Or should I just ignore you and get on with the job?’
Even beneath the mask he could see her mouth was hanging open. He waited for a noise, a loud clearing of the throat from the anaesthetist or the theatre sister. That was the general sign from them that it was time for him to wind it back in.
But no. There was nothing. They were obviously as fed up with the registrar as he was. She started to speak—to splutter behind her mask. ‘But I’m here to—’
‘No.’ Iain held up the needle and suture that was in his hand. He shook his head. ‘Just no.’ He pointed towards the door and after a few seconds she stormed out in a huff.
There was nothing ominous about the silence that fell in the theatre. He could almost hear the collective sigh of relief.
Most of the time he was criticised for his directness. Today wasn’t going to be one of those days.
He gave a smile as he looked over at the theatre sister. ‘Now, where were we?’
She gave an almost approving nod. ‘We were about to make Mrs Abbott look beautiful again, Iain. So let’s get on with it.’
With the theatre quiet, he finished within an hour. He nodded at the theatre sister. ‘The notes I write will be pretty extensive. I want to take these stitches out myself. I also want the dressing left in place until tomorrow and I want to be there when it comes off. I think Mrs Abbott will be a bit shocked and I want a bit of time to reassure her.’
‘No problem, Iain. I’ll pass that on to the ward staff. What’s wrong with you these days?’ She gave him a teasing smile. ‘I thought you were returning to form earlier, but it seems someone has affected your bedside manner.’ She was in her late fifties and had worked with Iain for the past two years. She was one of the few who could get away with saying that.
He peeled off his mask, gown and gloves, ignoring her last statement. ‘I’m also going to write up some notes about moisturiser and massage for Mrs Abbott’s post-op recovery treatment. Can you give me five minutes?’
But the theatre sister wasn’t finished with Iain. She brushed past him, peeling off her own mask with a big smile on her face. ‘So, are you going to tell me her name?’
On one hand he was amused, but this kind of light-hearted banter wasn’t normal for Iain in Theatre. He knew that they called him the grizzly bear behind his back.
‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.’ He smiled. Then leaned over as he started to rescrub his hands. ‘And if I catch you speculating about me you’ll get a whiff of anaesthetic gas,’ he added wickedly.
‘I think after all these years I’m probably immune. But do your worst, Iain. I’ll find out.’ She tapped the side of her nose. ‘I always do.’
Iain finished washing and walked through to the changing rooms, dumping his scrubs and pulling his suit out of the locker. He was due back at Harley Street within an hour.
Was he really worried about anyone finding out about him and Lexi?
He wasn’t sure. It wasn’t a position he’d been in before. And he hadn’t even d
iscussed it with Lexi. He wasn’t sure how she would feel about other people knowing about their relationship. It wouldn’t make much difference to the staff at Kate’s—most of them didn’t know Lexi well. But the staff at the Hunter Clinic? That could be different. He would have to talk to her about it.
His pager went off as he fastened his tie. He frowned as he glanced at the number. His secretary rarely paged him unless it was an emergency. Carol Kennedy, the television presenter he’d performed surgery on a few weeks ago. Everything had been going so well. Lexi had even interviewed her again as she’d recovered. Carol wanted to use the film to show people what she’d been through and that there was light at the end of the tunnel.
Iain headed over to the nearest phone. If something was wrong with Carol he wanted to deal with it straight away. He never left his patients waiting. Never.
CHAPTER TEN
LEXI LOOKED AT her phone for the third time. Need to talk to you later.
What did that mean? Her stomach had been churning ever since Iain had sent the message late that afternoon. She’d tried to call him back but he hadn’t been answering his phone and his grim secretary had only told her that there was an emergency with a patient.
It was after eight now. Surely he would be home by now? She rang the doorbell and let her stomach do some flip-flops while she waited for an answer.
Iain answered the door. He hadn’t had time to change out of his suit. He looked tired, but smiled when he saw her.
‘Hey, Lexi, I was just about to call you.’ She felt a little surge of relief. ‘What happened?’ He held open the door and gestured for her to come inside.
Lexi stepped into his house. ‘Is it someone I know?’
He nodded. ‘It’s Carol Kennedy. She had some haemorrhaging. I had to take her back to Theatre.’
‘Oh, no. What happened?’ She walked through to the kitchen and started emptying the bag on the kitchen table.
Iain gave a rueful smile as he picked up the crusty loaf she’d just unpacked. ‘One of these. Or something similar.’ He shook his head. ‘She’d been warned about what to eat but thought she was doing better and could manage something she enjoyed. Unfortunately her throat wasn’t completely healed.’
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