LITMIR.BIZ

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blow up again. It would go on and on and on.

      She could see the headlines now. DR LOVE-AK DUMPS PRINCESS

      About the only people who’d be pleased about it were her parents.

      But it didn’t change things. Even if Dragan didn’t want her, she still had a life here in Cornwall. And she wasn’t going back to rule Contarini.

      ‘Backbone,’ she reminded herself. ‘Keep it straight.’ Like a princess. And she was well aware of the irony.

      She picked up the phone and dialled her boss. This was another call that was way overdue. Someone else she’d lied to by omission. ‘George? It’s Melinda.’

      ‘How are you, love?’ he asked.

      My heart’s just cracked right down the middle. ‘I’m fine,’ she lied. How could he be so nice to her when she’d behaved so badly? ‘And, George, I’m really sorry that you’ve had a hard time from the press.’

      He laughed. ‘Once they realised that the only time I’d talk to them was with my arm up a cow’s backside and plenty of manure around, it rather put them off.’

      ‘Even so. I’m sorry. I really should have told you who I was. As my boss, you had a right to know.’

      ‘You had your reasons.’

      She had.

      Her boss was a damn sight more understanding about it than the love of her life had been. But, please, don’t let this princess business have wrecked her job, the way it had wrecked her relationship with Dragan. Dragan hadn’t even been able to look at her; he’d never be able to forgive her for hiding the truth from him. For not trusting him when she should have done. ‘Do I still have a job?’ she asked in a small voice.

      ‘Of course you do. Being a princess doesn’t get you out of your job without at least a month’s notice, you know.’

      His tone was light and teasing, but she could hear the warmth and concern in his voice and it hurt. Because right now she felt so alone. So isolated. So empty.

      ‘Then I can come back to the surgery tomorrow morning?’

      ‘Bright and early, usual time,’ he said. ‘You’ll be pleased to know Cassidy’s ready to go home tomorrow and he’s back on his usual diet. We had a bit of a scare with him while you were away, but Jake sorted us out. He’s a good contact to have for exotics. Well done, you.’

      ‘I didn’t exactly do much.’ She’d brought the parrot into the surgery—and then she’d abandoned him along with the rest of her job and caught the next flight to London. Some vet she was.

      ‘You treated the bird before he was too far gone to help. If you’d left it until the morning, he wouldn’t have made it and Violet would have a broken heart. Don’t do yourself down, love.’ He paused. ‘Or should I call you Your Highness from now on?’

      She strove for lightness. ‘Melinda will do just fine.’

      ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, then, love.’

      ‘See you tomorrow, George. And thank you.’ She cut the connection, replaced the phone, took an apple from her fruitbowl and headed down into the practice.

      Cassidy perked up as soon as he saw her. ‘’Ow do, m’dear?’

      ‘Pretty rubbish, actually,’ she told him.

      The parrot swore a blue streak, and she smiled wryly. ‘Saves me doing it, I suppose. But I was meant to be teaching you something nice.’ She made a kissing noise. ‘Ti amo, tesoro.’

      The bird responded with something pithy.

      She cut him a piece of apple with a scalpel and fed it to him. ‘Ti amo, tesoro.’

      This time there was no response at all.

      She checked that he had enough water, scratched his poll just the way he liked it—and clearly he’d picked how to purr like a cat since he’d been in the surgery—then walked out of the room. As she turned off the light, she heard a very quiet kissing sound. ‘Ti amo, tesoro,’ Cassidy informed her.

      Something Dragan would never say to her again.

      And somehow she had to learn to live with it.

      Kate walked through the door of the practice a moment after Dragan the following morning. She looked hot and bothered, although she didn’t appear to be out of breath; he had a feeling that her high colour was due to anger rather than rushing. ‘What’s up, Kate?’ he asked.

      Kate pulled a face. ‘Nick and that wretched clippy-clop woman.’

      ‘Clippy-clop?’ Dragan asked, mystified.

      ‘The one who thinks it’s practical to wear high-heeled mules in a Cornish seaside village.’ Her scowl deepened. ‘Horrible woman. She dresses at least fifteen years too young, too. Nick must be going through the male menopause to think it makes him look young, having her on his arm. Maybe she looks young from a distance—but up close you can see she’s trowelled on her make-up to cover up the lines.’

      Nick had never, ever heard Kate make a bitchy remark about anyone; their former practice manager, who’d recently done a refresher course and returned to the practice as a midwife, was always calm and unflappable and friendly. He stared at her in surprise. ‘What did she do?’

      ‘Oh, nothing. Just made some stupid remark about Jem’s name, and I shouldn’t let her get to me.’ She flapped a hand. ‘I was just taking Jem to meet Mum in the café—it’s the school holidays and she’s looking after him while I’m here this morning—when we bumped into them outside the post office. She couldn’t have got much closer to Nick if she’d stripped off the little she was wearing.’

      Kate wasn’t normally that vehement or judgemental; then again, she was very protective of her son. Which didn’t surprise Dragan that much, as she was a single parent and Jem was all she had. ‘Natasha’s staying in the holiday cottage next to me,’ he remarked.

      Kate rolled her eyes. ‘Oh, don’t tell me you think she’s gorgeous, too.’

      ‘No,’ Dragan said mildly.

      ‘Good. At least one of the men around here has some common sense, then.’

      ‘Don’t be too hard on Nick. He has his faults but he has a good heart.’

      Kate pulled a face. ‘Well, at the moment he’s acting like an idiot.’

      There was much more to this than met the eye, Dragan was sure, but he didn’t push it. He hated people interfering in his life, so he’d give Kate the space she clearly needed.

      Kate grimaced again. ‘Hazel, I’m sorry I’m late. Give me three minutes and I’ll be ready.’ She patted Dragan’s arm. ‘Sorry for being grouchy. Are you all right? Those photographers must be making your life hell.’

      He shrugged. ‘I’ll survive.’

      ‘Well, if you need to escape, you know where I am.’

      He smiled ruefully. ‘And then the headlines will no doubt claim I’m cheating on Melinda with you. Thanks for the support, Kate, and I really appreciate the offer—but I’m not going to put you or Jem through that.’

      ‘With any luck they’ll find someone else to bother soon.’

      ‘With any luck,’ he agreed. But he knew it was going to run for a bit longer yet—and either way he was going to come out of this badly. Either the papers would denounce him as the love rat who’d dumped the princess, or they’d denounce him as the loser who wasn’t good enough for the princess and she’d dumped him.

      He managed to get through the morning’s calls, deflecting all speculation and questions with a smile and bringing the conversations right back to his patients’ health worries, but

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