LITMIR.BIZ

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at a very tall, newly familiar man. It was the driver of the Porsche!

      He stood, hands on his hips, his eyes glancing over to the just washed plates and then back again, his height seeming to fill the small kitchen. She had never felt so unwelcome in her entire life.

      ‘What the hell are you doing in here?’ he demanded in disbelief, looking at her as though she had broken into the place.

      ‘You’ve got eyes in your head, haven’t you?’ she snapped back at him. ‘What do you think I’m doing? It’s called washing-up!’

      There was something about him which was making all her hackles rise. It wasn’t just his earlier rudeness or the way he was regarding her, although that was irritating enough. It went much deeper than that. It was something about being at such close quarters to a man again—and a man who seemed to exude such a raw masculine sensuality from every pore—which made her want to run away from him. As if his very proximity could do her harm.

      ‘And anyway——’ she stuck her small chin out belligerently ‘—I’d like to know what you’re doing here, if it comes to that.’

      A look of intense irritation flashed across his face. ‘I’ll give you three guesses,’ he said silkily.

      That was easy enough.

      ‘I assume,’ she replied tartly, her words measured, trying hard to keep the bitterness out of them, ‘I assume that you are the boyfriend of the occupant of this flat, a contributor to the messy plates I’ve just cleared away, and that you have your own key to come and go as you please.’ Something which will have to stop now that I’m here, she wanted to add—but didn’t quite have the courage to do so.

      They stood facing one another and she noticed for the first time what an unusual colour his eyes were—an extraordinary shade of icy turquoise—the colour of a swimming pool on a sunny day. Film star eyes. Again came the niggling thought that she was sure she knew his face.

      His words, too, were measured, sounding like those of someone who was holding on to his temper with extreme difficulty. ‘Then your assumption is incorrect.’ His voice was dangerously soft. ‘I am not the occupant’s “boyfriend”, to use your rather schoolgirlish vernacular—this happens to be my flat. Yes, indeed.’ He had noticed her start. ‘And now that we’ve established that my credentials are perfectly bona fide—I’ll repeat my question and ask again what you’re doing here?’

      ‘I live here, too. Or rather I did from about one hour ago,’ she replied evenly, her mind racing to try to grasp the situation.

      Now it was his turn to look surprised.

      ‘Don’t be ridiculous! What are you talking about? You’ve obviously been given the wrong keys—you’re a nurse, for goodness’ sake!’

      She gave him a superior smile. ‘It seems that I’m not the only one to make assumptions, doesn’t it? I am not a nurse, and I never have been.’

      ‘But you said——’

      ‘I said nothing,’ she interrupted coldly. ‘I agreed that I was new here and you took that to mean that I was a nurse. Presumably,’ she added, ‘because I’m female.’

      The turquoise eyes had narrowed and he was staring at her consideringly, comprehension beginning to dawn.

      ‘You mean—that you’re a doctor, too?’

      ‘Ten out of ten for perception,’ she replied sarcastically, pleased to see him at a disadvantage at last.

      He didn’t remain at a disadvantage for long, however; he glowered at her and marched out of the kitchen into the hall, where she heard him pick up a telephone. She followed in his wake slowly, drying her hands on the tea-towel, amused to hear what would now transpire.

      He glanced up at her briefly, then away, ignoring her completely.

      ‘Mrs Jefferson, please,’ he said shortly into the receiver. There was a pause. ‘Adam Forrester.’

      She looked up in surprise. So that was it! No wonder she had thought she had known him—who, both in and outside the medical profession, hadn’t heard of Dr Adam Forrester?

      He’d been considered a prodigy, mainly because he’d written a book while still at medical school which had become required reading for all students—she’d read it herself.

      But it had been work done during research for his thesis which had aroused the interest of the general public. He had fed some laboratory mice some of his watercress salad and had discovered that it had made them sexually more active. The tabloid press had had a field-day—the News of the World had run a full-page story with banner headlines claiming ‘Doc says watercress makes you sexy!’ Watercress sales had soared; he had been invited on to a chat show and had proved so popular that a television series had followed.

      Here’s Health had run for almost two years, a popular and light-hearted Sunday evening show—and then it had suddenly stopped, at the height of its popularity, and Adam Forrester had disappeared from view.

      Louisa surreptitiously glanced around the walls of the hall they stood in. What on earth was he doing living in a place like this? It was bright enough, with pale magnolia walls, but they were bare of adornment. It was just not the kind of place you imagined a wealthy and successful doctor living—he looked to be in his mid-thirties, so why wasn’t he residing in some stone-built mansion in the countryside?

      ‘I don’t care that it’s Sunday evening,’ he was saying. ‘I need to speak to her now.’

      It was the kind of tone which did not invite argument, and she could just imagine a flummoxed telephonist agreeing to his request.

      He looked up again. ‘There’s no need for you to hang around,’ he told her. ‘I can sort this out.’

      ‘Oh, but I’d like to listen,’ she said sweetly. ‘If that’s all right with you?’

      Clearly, it was not all right with him, but as he couldn’t actually eject her physically, especially while talking into the phone, he was forced to content himself with an exaggeratedly loud sigh.

      After a couple of minutes of silence he was connected.

      ‘Mrs Jefferson?’ he barked. ‘It’s Adam Forrester here.’ He listened for a moment. ‘Yes, of course I realise it’s a Sunday evening,’ he exploded. ‘And if you’re trying to make a point about being disturbed, don’t bother—it’s about time you administrators sorted out a legitimate problem, instead of trying to disrupt the running of the wards!’

      Louisa could hear an indignant reply.

      ‘I’d like to know just why I happen to have a woman doctor sharing my flat with me?’ He spat the word out as though it were poison.

      The expression on his face as he listened to the reply was almost comical.

      ‘I see,’ he said coldly. ‘I must say that I have never heard such a load of pretentious old claptrap in my life!’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Perhaps it is too late to do anything about it this evening, but you can be sure that first thing in the morning—I want this thing sorted out!’

      He slammed the receiver back into its hook, so that the whole phone shook, and turned to face Louisa.

      ‘It seems,’ he said heavily, ‘that some of your more eloquent predecessors are responsible for your being here.’

      ‘What are you talking about?’

      ‘I’m talking about a group of female doctors who took it upon themselves to complain about being given flats in the Nurses’ Home, on the grounds of sexual discrimination. When it was pointed out to them that this might mean sharing flats with the male doctors—they apparently replied that this was how it should be. That they were not helpless maidens who needed protecting, and did not expect to be treated any differently from their male counterparts. Typical!’ he finished disgustedly.

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