Doctor Knows Best (21 page)

Megan sank back among the pillows, her eyes filled with tears. “Yes, thank you,” she whispered. “I couldn't have borne it if anything had happened to her. I promised Mr. Jackson I would look after her and he would be so alone without her.” She shuddered at the memory of that ghastly floundering journey through the black smoke. “I don't remember walking out,” she said.

“You didn't,” said Giles grimly. “A fireman and I got you out just in time. You had fallen unconscious, overcome by smoke. What on earth possessed you to go without a mask at least?”

“The dog needed it,” said Megan. “Her lungs are smaller than mine and I thought she would suffocate first.”

Giles sighed. “That was an incredibly stupid thing to do,” he said. Then his grim mouth relaxed a little. “But an incredibly brave thing too, and unselfish. Perhaps you're not the hard woman you've tried to convince me you were.”

Megan looked at him sitting there on the edge of her bed. She felt more awake now—awake enough to know she was wearing a flimsy cotton hospital nightgown which clung to the firm contours of her young body. Self-consciously she tugged the sheets up around her shoulders. “How long have I been here?” she asked, her voice faltering.

“Twenty-four hours,” said Giles huskily. “Twenty-four hours in which I've had plenty of time to think.”

“Oh,” said Megan uncertainly, the look in his blue eyes sending prickles of apprehension up and down her spine. “What have you been thinking about?” she whispered.

“Us,” he said quietly. Then his sculptured lips relaxed and curved into a tender smile as he bent towards her. He lifted her, unresisting, from the austere hospital bed and cradled her in his arms, sliding his warm hands beneath the straps of the hospital gown until they rested possessively against her soft flesh.

“When you were in that burning building I thought I'd never see you again,” he whispered against her hair. “I knew what I've been trying to deny to myself ever since I first met you. I knew that I loved you, and that I can't live without you.” He shuddered suddenly and held her closer. “And I almost lost you.”

Megan pushed him away a little to look at him, then she grinned impishly. “You couldn't lose someone like me,” she said. “I'll always turn up like the proverbial bad penny.”

“Oh, Megan,” he whispered, “you are my
good
penny. Tell me that you care for me, just a little.”

For an answer Megan linked her arms around his head and drew his face down to hers. Eagerly her soft, trembling mouth sought out his and eagerly too he responded, his warm lips moving persuasively over hers. She kissed him back passionately, impulsively, all the pent-up feelings of the last few months released at last. Finally Giles pulled away from her and his lips tingled a path down her throat towards the madly pulsating hollow of her throat.

“Say it,” he commanded, his voice hoarse with emotion.

“What do you want me to say?” whispered Megan.

“Just three little words will do for a start,” he said. “I love you.”

“I love you,” whispered back Megan dutifully. Then she confessed, “I've loved you for a long time, but I thought…” Her voice trailed away. It seemed silly to mention it now.

“I know, Joanna told me. You thought I was enamoured or attached in some way to Fiona,” he said. Then he raised he head and gazed down at Megan with his brilliant blue eyes. “I was married when I was very young. It was disastrous from the very beginning and the only good thing that came out of the union was Joanna. If it hadn't been for her I would never have had to have stayed in close contact with Fiona.” He sighed. “I've got to explain this to you—I don't want any misunderstandings. Fiona and I agreed that we would meet every year until Joanna was sixteen; then Joanna would go and live with her for two years until she was eighteen. We had to do this because of a trust fund which we had to administer jointly for Joanna. I'm afraid Fiona and I never agreed on how it should be administered, but now at last we have come to an amicable agreement and everything has been sorted out. Joanna will stay here, the money will be inherited by her when she is eighteen, and I need never see Fiona again.”

He drew Megan to him tightly. “Now that at last everything has been sorted out, I feel free to ask you the most important thing of all.”

“What is that?” whispered Megan against the warmth of his neck.

“Will you marry me? I think it should be as soon as possible, I need to be put out of my misery.”

“But are you sure this is the right thing to do?” Megan half teased. “Don't you think we should give ourselves more time?”

“I certainly do not think time is indicated,” said Giles as his mouth came down on hers with unrelenting passion. “And remember, Doctor knows best!”

When at last she surfaced from his passionate onslaught Megan just had the strength to whisper contentedly, “Yes, Doctor.”

“You won't change your mind and decide your career is more important, and that I would be standing in your way?” he demanded.

“You can stand in my way any time,” breathed Megan, drawing his face closer to hers.

“I warn you,” said Giles, the weight of his body pressing her back among the pillows, “I shall be there all the time.”

About the Author

Ann Jennings was born and still lives in Hampshire, and has been a published romance author since 1984. She's had a varied career, a verbatim shorthand writer, a cabaret singer, a teacher, a hospital administrator and finally a full-time writer.

She has also written for and directed musicals and plays for the local theatre. She has always enjoyed travelling, and loved visiting New England, USA but now mostly travels to the family house in southern Tuscany in Italy, a country dear to her heart.

Look for these titles by Ann Jennings

Now Available:

Headlong Into Love

Intensive Affair

Writing as Angela Arney

Cast the First Stone

Coming Soon:

Nurse on Neuro

Runaway Sister

Doctor's Orders

Sold to the Surgeon

Nurse on Loan

Surgeon Ashore

New Beginnings

Really, Doctor!

Santa Lucia

A doctor who gets what he wants and a stubborn nurse determined to resist him…

Intensive Affair

© 2014 Ann Jennings

Richard West is a demanding doctor who knows just how to get what he wants. In fact, the intensive care unit he runs is the best equipped in the county, due to his aggressive demands and fundraising. After all, who can resist such a smart, persuasive and handsome man?

Nurse Charmain Williams has seen that charm and drive up close and personal. And when Dr. West turns it on her, she tries to resist. Because Charmain knows that once Dr. West gets what he wants, he soon loses interest…

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Intensive Affair:

The familiar antiseptic smell of the hospital which, mixed with the smell of cooking from the canteen, drifted in through an open window, did little to reassure Charmian. She walked slowly down the hospital corridor, delaying the moment when she knew she had to sit in the waiting room before the interview. She was feeling very nervous and wondered whether she had made herself look old enough for the sister's job she was applying for. Although she was twenty-five she was always being accused of looking seventeen, so today she had pulled her silvery hair into a severe knot on the top of her head and secured it firmly with a wooden pin. Her hair was naturally very fair but she had dark, arched brows and a delicate olive-coloured skin which made the startling ultramarine of her eyes, fringed with thick dark lashes, the first thing most people noticed. This morning, like every other morning, she wore no makeup except for a translucent pale pink lipstick, which subtly accentuated the sensuous curve of her wide mouth.

In spite of her enforced leisurely pace she was unable to delay the moment of arrival any longer and at last she was there. Taking a deep breath, so as not to appear nervous, she knocked on the door of the appointed room and walked swiftly in. Her quick gaze took in the occupants and she saw that there were three other women waiting. She noticed with slight dismay that they all seemed to be at least ten years older than herself!

After giving her name to the secretary at the desk she joined the other three, who were all in uniform. She suddenly wondered if she should have worn her own uniform instead of the dress she had chosen, but her worry was short-lived, for she had only time to cross her slim legs when the door to the adjoining room opened.

“Miss Williams! Please come in now.”

Startled, Charmian stood up. She hadn't realised that the interviews would start so soon. Hastily she smoothed her skirt and brushed an imaginary hair into place. She felt flustered and nervous but she gave no outward sign of it as she walked with lissome grace into the room.

Within, there were four people sitting behind two large desks, and placed strategically in front of them was a single chair. A pleasant nondescript-looking young man was sitting at one of the desks and he got up as Charmian entered the room.

“Miss Williams?” he said with a slight inflexion in his voice.

Charmian nodded and was about to reply when another voice cut sarcastically across, a deep voice with a faint Scots twang to it.

“I hope the whole interview won't be conducted in mime.”

Charmian drew in her breath with a sharp anger. “I've hardly had time to open my mouth yet,” she retorted, “but I can assure you that I am quite capable of speech.” She turned her head as she spoke and looked into a pair of dark brown, unfathomable eyes.

Never taking his eyes off her he lazily unfurled his tall frame and stood up, extending his hand in greeting. “I'm Dr. West, Richard West, consultant in charge of Intensive Care,” he said evenly. “So you see, I am very interested in your reactions.”

He was tall, taller than most men, Charmian realised as he towered over her, and was dark with a lean, intelligent face. He surveyed her with just the faintest hint of mockery. She felt the blood rushing to her cheeks and her heart thumped in her breast so loudly she thought the whole room must hear it. Trembling slightly as she politely put her slim hand in his, she was surprised that he clasped it so firmly and felt annoyed that her pulse was racing uncontrollably, much faster than she had ever known before. Coolly, she removed her hand and looked back defiantly into his dark veiled eyes.

“How do you do,” she said and, taking a step backwards, sat down carefully in the chair being proffered by the young man who had first spoken to her.

“May I take your coat?” he asked. “It is rather stuffy in here.”

As she handed him her short cream jacket she wished she hadn't decided on the navy-blue jersey dress but had stuck instead to her uniform. At the time it had seemed businesslike but now, under the penetrating gaze of Richard West, she was only too well aware that it clung to the curves of her body and accentuated rather than disguised her shapely hips and long elegant thighs. Richard West's eyes slid in an appreciative gaze slowly and sensually down her body. Charmian felt her cheeks beginning to burn beneath his all-seeing gaze, and began to feel embarrassed and angry. How dare this man unnerve her like this! She caught his glance as his eyes came back to her face and held there defiantly.

“You are aware that we are looking for a
senior
sister for the Intensive Care Unit?” he asked in a derisive tone of voice.

The stress on the word senior made Charmian realise that even with her hair scraped up in such a severe style she didn't look very old. He was making it quite obvious that he didn't think she was old enough, or that she could possibly be experienced enough for the post.

“I am well aware of that fact,” she replied, matching the tone of his voice with ice in her own and trying not to let the turbulent feelings within her show in her voice. “I would not have applied for the post had I not felt sure that I was capable of doing the job.” In fact she spoke with a confidence she didn't possess, but by now her blood was up and any doubts she may have had were swept away by anger.

He made no answer but she was sure the defiant tone of her voice annoyed him from the way his eyes glinted and he leaned slowly forward to write something on the pad in front of him. She was very aware of his hand, huge, with long, strong, sensitive fingers. It was with difficulty that she concentrated on the questions now being asked of her by the Senior Nursing Officer and the other woman who was the District Nursing Officer.

The young man at the desk, whose name was Clarke Thomas, asked her a lot of routine questions. He was the hospital's Personnel Officer and Charmian tried to concentrate on making all her answers businesslike and pleasant. At the end of the interview she stood up and shook hands with the two nursing officers first, then with Clarke Thomas, who clasped her land warmly and smiled encouragingly at her. She turned stiffly to Richard West and against her will found her eyes hypnotically drawn to his. She had regained her composure by now, but as her fingers were gripped by his she felt unable to draw her eyes away from his face, and her breath caught suffocatingly in her throat. The warmth from his hand seemed to flow straight into her veins like fire, liquid tendrils reaching into her heart to make it pound uncontrollably. His eyes were amused and knowing, and a slight smile curved the edge of his hard mouth.

“If you will wait outside, Miss Williams,” his voice seemed cold to her, “we will let you know at the end of the interview who will be offered the post.”

Withdrawing her hand from his, Charmian tipped her chin forward slightly, giving her a provocative air of confidence which in reality at that moment she didn't possess.

“Thank you,” she replied coolly. “Good morning, everyone.”

Clarke Thomas came across and handed her the cream jacket, which she folded over her arm with a natural grace. Then she walked silently out of the room.

Once outside she drew her breath in angrily. She had wanted this job so much, and now that wretched, arrogant, overbearing man had made her lose her cool. What was the matter with her? She was well-qualified, she was intelligent! And she was used to men looking at her with appraising eyes. Because of her striking good looks, plenty of men made passes at her and she had always handled them without difficulty. She had never met a man who could make her feel so…
so
, what was it? So vulnerable, yes that was it, she thought restlessly. Vulnerable, unsure of herself, like a jittery schoolgirl. She wasn't used to feeling uncomfortable, she wasn't used to feeling out of control and she didn't like it.
No
, she decided quite emphatically,
I do not like it at all!