Читать книгу Falling for Her Impossible Boss - Алисон Робертс - Страница 7

‘BELLA!’ Lady Dorothy sounded delighted. ‘You’ve come to visit me? What a lovely surprise.’

‘You’re Bella?’ Oliver Dawson sounded distinctly less delighted. In fact, he used the hand that wasn’t holding the hamburger to cover his eyes as he rubbed his temples with his thumb and middle finger.

‘Have you got a headache, darling?’ Lady Dorothy asked.

‘No.’ The word was a growl.

Bella was still staring, dumbfounded. Oliver Dawson was sitting on a patient’s bed eating a cheeseburger. A patient who had called him ‘darling’, no less.

A ripped-open packet of very unhealthy French fries was lying on the bed beside him, the contents well depleted. What’s more, he had loosened his tie, undone the top button of his shirt and rolled the sleeves up. Even his hair looked slightly dishevelled. He looked …

Human.

And gorgeous. Gorgeous enough to make Bella’s heart skip a beat. And then another. Uh-oh! She recognised that symptom a little too well. It was closely followed, as usual, by that melting sensation deep in her belly that ended with a delicious tingle. The fact that it was Mr Oliver Dawson she was feeling attracted to was disturbing to say the least.

‘This is my son, Oliver,’ Lady Dorothy said. ‘Oliver, this is Bella. I was telling you about her, remember?’

When he took his hand off his eyes, Oliver nodded wearily. He also looked straight at Bella and she could swear his colour had heightened and he had a haunted look in his eyes. He was quite obviously excruciatingly embarrassed. Well, of course he was. Caught out looking human and eating junk food!

Ha. Finally, she had the advantage.

Sadly, the feeling of one-upmanship lasted precisely five seconds at which point a scratching noise could be clearly heard coming from the box in her arms. Scratching that was followed by a very plaintive miaow.

Lady Dorothy’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, my goodness … Did you bring Bib in to visit me?’

‘Um …’ Bella’s gaze slid away from Oliver’s but there was no getting out of this. A tiny paw had appeared in the centre hole where the flaps of the box didn’t quite meet, as though the kitten was putting her hand up to be noticed. ‘Yes.’

‘Show me.’ Lady Dorothy tried to shift the bag of French fries she had on her lap but she couldn’t hold it and it fell, spilling fries onto the floor. Before either her fumbled movement or the mess could even be commented on, Bella lifted the fluffy grey and white kitten from the box and deposited her on Lady Dorothy’s lap.

Bib, bless her, took one look at the old lady and stood up on her hind legs, stretching so that she could rub her head on Lady Dorothy’s jawbone. They could all hear the purring that filled the sudden silence in the room like a miniature chainsaw.

‘Oh … oh …’ Lady Dorothy’s voice had a noticeable wobble. ‘What a wee darling.’ She reached up and it didn’t seem to matter that she had to use the back of her hand to stroke the kitten. Bib nimbly climbed a little further, settled into a sphinx-like shape on the platform of a shoulder and started washing the nearest patch of skin she could find. Just beside the diamond stud twinkling in Lady Dorothy’s earlobe.

Lady Dorothy sniffed. And smiled, tilting her head to the side a little as a form of caress for the kitten.

Bella had to swallow a lump in her own throat as she observed the pleasure being taken on both sides of the newly formed friendship. When she heard the masculine throat being cleared behind her, she turned in astonishment. Was the poignancy of his mother’s joy enough to give him a lump in his throat? Maybe he was capable of caring about others.

Maybe she was going to have to readjust her opinion of him.

Oliver knew he had to say something but, for the life of him, he couldn’t think what.

He’d seen this nurse in pale green, shapeless theatre scrubs with a hat trying to cover her hair. He’d seen her in a dark blue, only slightly less shapeless nurse’s uniform, with her hair scraped back and tied into a semblance of submission. When she walked into his mother’s room, it was like seeing a totally different woman.

The oversized T-shirt had a neck big enough to have fallen over one shoulder to reveal a singlet top beneath. Long, long legs were encased in tight leggings and ended with shoes that had impossibly high heels. And the hair was loose. A glorious cascade of golden curls that went halfway down her back and would make any man’s fingers itch to bury themselves in its length.

Dear God, what was he thinking? This was the nurse who had elderly patients up line dancing. Who was breaking umpteen rules right now bringing an animal into a hospital ward. Who bumped into things and huffed germs all over Theatre because she was clearly distracted by more important things—like the next new pair of shoes, perhaps?

Except that right now she wasn’t thinking about shoes. And if she’d brought any germs into the room with that kitten, the risk was more than worth it because his mother had not only forgotten why she was here, she had tears of joy rolling down her cheeks and Oliver had never seen that before. Ever.

His mother was not the only one crying either. Bella had turned towards him when he’d cleared his throat a moment ago and those extraordinarily big, blue eyes were shining with moisture. Those full, soft-looking lips were curved into a smile, too. Not the mischievous type of grin they usually looked ready to impart. This was much softer. An expression of empathy and an invitation to share the gift of what was happening with his mother and the kitten.

He really ought to say something. He couldn’t sit here staring at her. Not when she was staring back at him and the eye contact had gone on just that shade too long.

An urge to say something about hospital regulations regarding the lack of visitation rights for pets sprang to mind as Oliver managed to break the eye contact but his gaze fell on the evidence of his appalling dinner still spread over the bed. If his colleagues heard about this, especially the cardiac surgeons, he’d be a laughing stock, and avoiding any such humiliation had always been inbred in any member of the Dawson family.

Oliver sucked in a breath as he looked back at the kitten and then at Bella.

‘Ah … could I suggest that whatever happens in Lady Dorothy’s room after hours stays in Lady Dorothy’s room?’

Relief flooded Bella’s face, which then lit up with precisely the kind of mischievous grin he knew she’d been capable of. Oddly, it had a glow that he hadn’t expected. One that crossed the room and made him feel … warm. Happy? Oliver couldn’t be sure because it was a very unfamiliar sensation. Definitely not unpleasant, however.

‘Sweet,’ Bella said. She cast a significant glance at the remnants of fast food and dimples flashed in her cheeks. She was obviously trying not to laugh.

Which was good because it annoyed Oliver and dispersed the strange effect of her smile.

‘I’d better go, though,’ she added. ‘I wouldn’t want to get caught by anyone else doing something so illegal.’

‘Don’t go,’ Lady Dorothy begged. ‘Not yet.’

‘I’ll be back tomorrow. I really should take Bib home.’

‘But …’ There was a vaguely desperate undertone in Lady Dorothy’s voice. Oliver found himself holding his breath. Judging by the sudden anxiety on Bella’s face, it looked as if she was doing the same thing.

‘What is it, Mother?’ Oliver prompted gently.

‘I … I need some help. To get ready for bed. And …’ Her lips were visibly trembling now but her face said it all. It was Bella who she trusted and wanted to help her.

Bella carefully lifted the kitten from where she’d climbed down to go to sleep on Lady Dorothy’s lap. ‘No worries.’ The tone was casual enough to make it seem like no big deal, which seemed to remove any of the embarrassment that was most likely causing his mother’s distress. ‘I’ll put Bib back in her box and then we’ll get you sorted.’

Oliver got to his feet. ‘I’ll get out of the way.’ He paused as he got near the door, having kissed his mother’s cheek and wished her a good night. He took a final glance at Bella.

What an extraordinary girl she was. Both intensely irritating and utterly remarkable. How did she know exactly what to do or say to make something that couldn’t possibly be all right at least acceptable? And how on earth could he thank her for what she’d already done for his mother? Something nobody else had been able to do. Something huge. As big as showing her that life was still worth living?

Something too big to put into words, anyway.

‘Thank you, Bella.’ The words were totally inadequate. Oliver could only hope that trying to convey his appreciation by holding her eye contact and smiling would be enough.

That look and that smile was still with Bella when she released Bib from the confines of the box, having arrived home at her aunt’s house again.

She had done something that Oliver Dawson approved of.

How amazing was that?

Not that she’d had any idea that Lady Dorothy was his mother. Just as well she hadn’t, really, or she wouldn’t have considered doing something as illegal as sneaking a kitten into the ward in a million years.

Right now, she couldn’t be more pleased that she’d taken that risk. For once, something had worked out even better than she’d planned and it felt so good. Doing something that had pleased Oliver Dawson also felt extraordinarily good. The buzz was making Bella feel unbelievably happy.

Or maybe it was that look from those dark, dark eyes. The look that said she was good enough. Special, even. That smile that had gone straight to a point deep in her body and tugged on it.

Oh, help … If she wasn’t careful, she’d fall for this surgeon, hook, line and sinker. Bella never had trouble falling in love. She fell out of it again just as easily. But something about that moment of connection felt different.

The waters she could be falling into there were a hell of a lot deeper than any she’d been near before.

Dangerous waters.

She could drown given that the possibility of the potential lifeboat of the attraction being reciprocated to an equal degree was non-existent.

‘A bit of fantasy couldn’t hurt, though, could it?’ she murmured to Bib as she cuddled the kitten for a moment before putting her down on the floor. ‘It’s no worse than having the hots for a movie star, is it?’

Bib flicked her pointy little tail and held it straight up like a flag as she trotted down the hallway. Bella looked into the guest suite that was her room. The solitude and opportunity to sit and dream for a while was very attractive but it would be rude not to go and talk to Aunty Kate. She could hear voices in the kitchen. Following them, she found her pathologist aunt barefoot and relaxed, indulging in her favourite pastime of cooking. Her fiancé, orthopaedic surgeon Connor Matthews, was standing behind Kate, his hands resting on her hips and his chin on her shoulder. He was, in fact, nuzzling her aunt’s neck.

And Kate was leaning back into the embrace, swaying gently. The pleasure they were both taking from simply being so close to each other was palpable.

Bella suddenly felt like she was intruding into a very private space. One that she couldn’t approve of more, given how much real joy Kate’s life had been missing before Connor had swept her off her feet and onto the back of his motorbike, but really she should back out and give them the chance to start their lives together without having to worry about an audience.

Connor was the first to notice Bella’s arrival.

‘Hey! How’s it going? Did you find what you’d left at work?’

‘Mmm.’

Kate spoke without looking away from the pot she was stirring. ‘Really, Bella. You’ve got to start looking after your stuff a bit more carefully. You’ll lose something important one of these days.’

So true. Like her heart, maybe?

Kate gave a squeak then, and looked down. Bib was trying to climb up her jeans. ‘Ouch … where did you spring from? I’ve been wondering where you’d got to.’ She prised the kitten away from her leg and handed her to Connor. ‘Could you feed her, please, hon? That way she won’t try and eat my leg.’ She turned further to smile at Bella. ‘You going to eat with us?’

Bella hesitated. ‘I don’t want to get in the way of you two lovebirds.’

‘Don’t be daft.’ But the look that Kate and Connor exchanged was lingering and very exclusive. Bella couldn’t help feeling left out. Lonely, almost.

‘How was work?’ Kate asked. ‘Did you get into any trouble?’

‘Almost. I got busted taking a line-dancing class by none other than Oliver Dawson.’

‘Uh-oh.’ Connor was grinning. ‘You really know how to push his buttons, don’t you?’

Oh … she wished. If Connor hadn’t been there, she might have blurted out the whole story to Kate but the fact that Oliver’s mother was an inpatient was being kept under wraps, wasn’t it? She’d told Sally she was capable of being discreet. With an enormous effort, Bella put a lid on her inside information.

‘What’s his deal?’ she asked Connor, who had finished scooping cat food into a saucer and had now turned his attention to a rather nice-looking bottle of red wine. ‘Why is he so … uptight?’

Connor shrugged. ‘Goes with the territory, I guess.’

‘What territory?’ Bella remembered that Kate had said something similar once about Oliver’s background—excusing him when he’d contributed to a bad day by telling her off in public—but she was curious to hear Connor’s take on the man. Oddly, she was suddenly aware of a very intense curiosity about anything to do with Oliver Dawson.

‘Being a pillar of society. Number one on the rich list. Following in the footsteps of Sir David Matthews can’t have been an easy road. Especially when he didn’t go into the family business.’

‘Which was?’

Connor pulled the cork from the bottle. ‘Something that made a serious amount of money. Too many companies to list, probably. Commercial stuff, anyway. I should think it was quite a rebellion to take up medicine.’

‘He died a while ago, didn’t he?’ Kate put in. ‘Sir David? I seem to remember that there was some big mystery about it all. Lady Dawson vanished from the social scene anyway and there was a rumour there was more to it than grief.’

‘Lady Dorothy.’ Bella couldn’t help the correction.

Kate raised her eyebrows. ‘How do you know her name?’

‘Must have heard it mentioned somewhere and remembered,’ Bella said vaguely. ‘Information is power and all that, you know.’

‘Mmm.’ Kate was trying not to smile. ‘Talking about information … shall we tell her, Connor?’

‘Might be a good idea,’ he said. ‘Seeing as she’s going to be chief bridesmaid.’

‘The only bridesmaid,’ Kate shot back. ‘This is going to be a quiet affair, remember?’

‘Oh, my God …’ Bella ran to hug her aunt. ‘You’ve set a date? For the wedding?’

Kate hugged her back, nodding happily. ‘In a month’s time. I didn’t want to risk you deciding to shoot off overseas early or something.’

‘Not much chance of that, the way my saving is going.’ But Bella shook off the depressing thought. ‘This is so cool. Where is it going to be?’

‘We’re thinking Piha beach.’

‘A beach wedding? Excellent. And are you having a honeymoon?’

‘For a few days maybe. At a beach where it’s a bit safer to swim. Rarotonga or Samoa. Would you be able to cat-sit if we were away?’

‘No worries. I’d love to. Ooh … what are you going to wear? Hey … what am I going to wear?’

‘I’m out of here,’ Connor groaned. ‘I’ll take my wine and go and sit in the garden while you two do the girly thing.’ He crossed the kitchen to hand Kate a glass of wine and plant a soft kiss on her lips. ‘Call me when dinner’s ready?’

Bella watched him go as she took a sip of her own wine. The countdown had really begun. No way could she still be living in this house when these guys came back from their honeymoon.

She’d have to find a flat to share and that meant she’d have to start paying rent. The delicious aroma coming from the pasta sauce Kate was currently creating reminded her that she would have to spend more on food than she was allowed to contribute here as well. If the money in her savings account was going up so slowly now, how much worse would it be when she had to factor in additional living costs? The dreams of going overseas to get her wanderlust out of her system before she settled down to get married and have babies was starting to look like a rather big ask.

Maybe she could get some extra shifts at work. Bella made a mental note to ask Sally about it tomorrow.

‘I’m sorry, Bella, as much as I’d like to cure my staffing problems this way, there are rules about how many hours you can do on the trot. Double shifts aren’t allowed.’

‘OK. It was worth a try.’

Sally sighed. ‘I can’t even use you on the ward this morning, so I’ll have to get a temp in.’

‘What?’ Bella bit her lip. ‘Have I done something wrong? Was it my line-dancing class?’ Or had Oliver dobbed her in about sneaking the kitten into the ward last night?

No. As much as she knew he might have liked to do the right thing about breaking such rules, Bella had complete confidence that a promise had been made that would be kept. What had gone on in that room would stay in that room. Maybe that went with all the privileged background stuff too. Bella was quite sure that Oliver Dawson was a man of his word.

Sally laughed. ‘Not at all. No … Lady Dorothy apparently pulled some strings and declared that she doesn’t want another nurse in her room. You’re it.’

‘Can she do that?’

‘When you come from a family that’s supported hospital fundraising to the extent the Dawsons have, I think you can pretty much call the shots. Do you mind?’

‘Not at all. I really like her. She reminds me of my nanna.’

‘That’s good. I get the impression that Lady Dorothy can be formidable if she doesn’t get what she’s set her heart on.’

What Lady Dorothy had really set her heart on became apparent a little later that morning, after Bella had helped her get dressed and sat with her while the physiotherapist put her through a range of exercises intended to keep her joints mobile. Bella went to fetch Lady Dorothy a cup of the Earl Grey tea she preferred when the session was finished and when she came back, she found that Oliver was visiting his mother.

They seemed to be finishing a rather intense conversation, in fact.

‘I can’t stop you,’ Oliver was saying in a low voice. ‘It’s your life and your house, after all, but I think it’s ill-advised.’ When he saw Bella enter the room, he turned away, walking two strides to the outside window where he stood staring at a view she knew was not that fascinating.

Bella had made the tea cool enough to be safe and it was in a cup with a straw.

‘Put it there, dear.’ Lady Dorothy waved at her bedside table. ‘There’s something I want to talk to you about.’

Bella set the cup of tea down and turned. She looked at Lady Dorothy sitting up quite straight in her chair. She was smiling. She looked at Oliver’s back. He was standing very straight. Bella had the distinct impression that if he turned around, he would not be smiling.

‘I want to go home,’ Lady Dorothy announced. ‘But I realise I’m going to need some help until I get better. Oliver suggested that I get a private nurse.’

‘That sounds like a very good idea,’ Bella said cautiously, not sure what this had to do with her.

Lady Dorothy beamed at her. ‘So you’ll take the job, then?’

Bella’s jaw dropped. ‘I’m not a private nurse. I work here, at St Patrick’s.’

‘That’s what I told you, Mother,’ Oliver said, without turning around. ‘Private nurses probably have specialised training.’

‘Nonsense,’ Lady Dorothy said. ‘A nurse is a nurse.’ She was still smiling at Bella. ‘What’s to stop you taking on a private job?’

‘Oh … no, I couldn’t.’ Bella was taken aback. ‘I’m only working until I can save enough money to go overseas.’

‘There you go,’ Oliver said. ‘You need someone who can commit to more long-term employment.’

‘I’d pay you very well, dear.’ Lady Oliver frowned at Oliver’s back. ‘And Oliver won’t be in the way. His wing of the house is quite separate, really.’

Bella couldn’t help sucking in an audible breath. His wing of the house? Her astonishment came out as a rather different query, however. ‘You live with your mother?’

The back stiffened further, quite visibly, and Oliver turned to face Bella directly. Oh … Lord … how could she have forgotten just how intimidating this man could be? Except … something about his face reminded her of how he’d looked when she’d caught him out with the fast food. Was he embarrassed by the fact that he still lived with his mother?

Even though the tiny hint of vulnerability was quite appealing, Bella knew it would be a big mistake to smile.

‘How long is it going to take for you to save up to go overseas?’ Lady Dorothy seemed undeterred.

‘Um … a wee while, I guess.’ Bella had to look away from the direct stare she was receiving from Oliver. He didn’t approve of what his mother was trying to do here. What was the problem? Did he think she wasn’t good enough to care for his mother without the kind of supervisory hierarchy a hospital provided? Of course she was. If she wanted to be a private nurse, she would be an excellent one. It was, in fact, the type of job she was considering doing when she went overseas because she’d heard that it paid very well.

‘Is that why you live with your aunt? To help you save money?’

‘Partly.’ Bella turned her attention back to Lady Dorothy who was, after all, a much more likeable person than her son. ‘She’s also my favourite person in the world. She’s not that much older than me and she lived with my family for a long time.’ Bella was happy to change the subject because the idea of a job that would pay well enough to speed up her saving was rather tempting.

She also had to admit that Oliver was right. They needed someone who could commit long term. It wouldn’t be fair to Lady Dorothy to take on a job as her private nurse and then disappear off overseas in a few months. ‘She’s getting married soon and I’m going to be her bridesmaid.’

‘How exciting. I love weddings. Have you decided what to give them for a gift?’

‘No …’ Bella hadn’t thought about that at all. She wasn’t given time to think about it now either because Oliver made a kind of huffing noise and muttered something about having to get back to his ward round.

‘I’ll see you later, Mother. When I get a chance I’ll ring an agency and make some enquiries about private nursing arrangements.’

He nodded at Bella as he left. The matter was ended.

Lady Dorothy left the subject alone for the moment as well, moving on to an animated discussion about potential wedding gifts. Bella’s head was whirling with suggestions by the time she headed for her lunch break. Of course she wanted to give Kate and Connor something special but that was going to be awfully expensive, wasn’t it?

Bella took a few minutes to surf the internet while she had a coffee to end her break. It seemed like a good idea to try to reconnect with her dreams of overseas travel. She looked at the cost of flights and what she might have to pay for even cheap accommodation in a place like London. She reminded herself that she would need to factor in the cost of eating at least occasionally and allow for it taking a bit of time to find a new job. Then she scribbled on a piece of paper, trying to decide how long it would take her to save enough to spread her wings.

The results were depressing. It might take her a lot longer than the six months she’d been counting on given her determination to get out of Kate and Connor’s way by the time they came back from their honeymoon.

She screwed up the piece of paper and threw it into the bin in the nurses’ station. When she went back to Lady Dorothy’s room, it seemed like salt was being rubbed into the wound to find her patient brandishing a very similar-looking piece of paper.

‘There …’ Lady Dorothy was having difficulty keeping hold of the paper but managed to push it towards Bella. ‘That’s how much I’ll pay you to come and be my nurse. I don’t care if it’s not for very long. I’m sure I’ll be much better by the time you want to leave and if I can’t manage by myself, I’ll come up with another plan.’

Bella took the piece of paper, mainly to save Lady Dorothy the embarrassment of having it fall from her stiff fingers. She caught sight of the amount written in wobbly figures on the paper, however, and her jaw dropped.

‘That’s ridiculous,’ she squeaked. ‘You could probably hire three nurses for that much.’

‘I don’t want three nurses,’ Lady Dorothy said firmly. ‘I only want one. You.’