Читать книгу Midwives On-Call - Алисон Робертс - Страница 12

ISLA GOT CAUGHT up in a delivery and didn’t make it home until well after six, but Darcie was up and it was actually nice not to come back to an empty flat but share in a glass of wine as they got ready.

‘Can I borrow your hair dryer?’ Darcie asked. ‘The adapter that I brought isn’t working.’

‘Sure,’ Isla said, and went and got it. ‘I’ll just text Rupert and let him know that I’m running a bit late and to meet us there.’

‘Oh, so you’re still seeing each—’ Darcie abruptly halted whatever it was she’d been about to say. ‘I’m so sorry, Isla. That is absolutely none of my business. I think I must have left my manners in England!’

‘It’s fine.’ Isla shrugged. ‘My sister said pretty much the same thing this morning. Look, it really isn’t awkward. I don’t get upset by what’s said in the magazines, they’re full of rubbish and lies …’

‘Of course they are. It’s nice that you can trust him.’ Darcie smiled but Isla could see a small flicker of pity in her eyes and knew that Darcie, like everybody else, assumed that Isla was being taken for a fool.

Isla went to have a very quick shower, though perhaps it wasn’t quite as quick as the one she had intended to have.

New Year, new start, Isla decided as she soaped up.

She was going to break up with Rupert.

Isla already knew that she had to stop hiding behind him and certainly she didn’t like it that people thought she was somehow standing by her man as Rupert seemingly made a fool of her.

Rupert had rung and explained what had happened before the news had hit. The actress had the same agent as Rupert and the supposed tell-all had been at the agent’s direction. Only when the exposé had happened had Rupert found out it had been planned.

‘Not good enough,’ Isla had said. Still, she found it hard to be cross with him—after all, she knew that what had been said in the article was all lies.

Isla was determined to end it, though she was tempted to put off the break-up. She had asked Rupert to stick close to her tonight and she was nervous about the charity ball coming up in a couple of weeks. Alessi’s award meant that he would be sitting at the same table as her father—the same table as her!

Yet things had seemed better when they’d spoken today, Isla thought, recalling the smile he had given as she’d come out from behind Christine’s curtain. She closed her eyes for a moment and remembered their kiss that night and just how nice it had been to briefly be in his arms. She stood in the shower, the water cascading over her, as she returned to the blissful memory. Her hands moved over her hips as she remembered his there, and then her eyes snapped open as one hand started to move down of its own accord as she ached, honestly ached to return to the memory and bring it to a more fitting conclusion. She wanted to know what might have happened had she not said no. She wanted to explore the possibilities, her body was almost begging her to.

Isla stood, stunned by her own arousal.

She had buried her sexuality completely.

Since the night she’d delivered Isabel’s baby she’d just quashed that side of herself.

Now, though, her breasts felt so heavy she was fighting herself not to touch them and the intense ache between her legs refused to recede. For the first time she wanted to explore her own body.

Shocked, Isla turned off the shower taps and stepped out. She quickly dried herself and pulled on some underwear and dressed. She wore a very pale green summer dress that did nothing to reduce the flush on her cheeks. She simply couldn’t stop thinking about Alessi and that he’d be there tonight and so, too, that smile.

And the memory of that kiss.

He’d use you, Isla reminded herself as she put on lip gloss. The same way he’d worked his way through half of MMU.

Not that any of the staff seemed to regret their flings with Alessi.

Would she regret one?

Isla snapped herself out of it.

There was no way she was going to do anything about the reluctant torch she carried for Alessi. She could actually picture his incredulous smile if she told him her truth. Scrap that, incredulous laughter, she amended, and then headed out to the lounge.

‘You look great.’ Darcie smiled. ‘I’m actually nervous about meeting everyone.’

‘Well, don’t be,’ Isla said. ‘They’re a friendly bunch.’

It was a warm, sultry night and they took a tram for a couple of stops and then arrived at the bar and, as promised, everybody was incredibly friendly and pleased to meet the new obstetrician.

‘This is Lucas,’ Isla introduced them. ‘He’s a senior midwife on the MMU …’

‘It’s nice to meet you,’ Darcie said with a smile, and Isla continued the introductions.

‘And this is Sophia, a community midwife …’ Thankfully, for Isla, Alessi wasn’t there, and she allowed herself to relax. She went and bought some drinks and ordered a couple of bottles for the table but as she walked back she saw Alessi had just arrived. What gnawed at Isla was that he was there with Amber.

‘This is Alessi.’ Isla pushed out a smile. ‘He’s a neonatologist. Alessi, this is Darcie …’ She watched as he smiled his killer smile at Darcie and then Isla continued. ‘And this Amber, a student midwife …’ Isla almost winced as she heard the tart note to her voice and she caught Alessi’s eye. She wasn’t jealous that he was dating her student; she wanted to tell him instead that she was cross.

‘Hi, there.’ Isla jumped as she heard Rupert’s voice and felt his arm come around her waist. ‘Sorry if I’m a bit late.’

‘It’s fine.’ Isla had never been more pleased to see him and gave him a kiss—the practised kiss that they were both used to. What she wasn’t so used to was turning back to the table and the black look Alessi was throwing in Rupert’s direction.

He looked then at Isla and gave the smallest shake of his head.

All evening she found herself aware of his disapproval.

Well, she very much disapproved of who Alessi was dating, too.

Her skin prickled when he spoke with Amber. Her usually cool edge seemed to be melting and though the conversation flowed at the table, for once Isla wasn’t the perfect hostess. Thankfully everybody was keen to hear about how things worked in Cambridge, where Darcie was from and where Isabel would now be working. No one, apart from Rupert and Alessi, seemed to notice her tension.

‘Take it easy,’ Rupert said, because Isla was again topping up her glass. Isla rarely drank more than one glass of champagne but tonight she was rather grateful for the wine, and Rupert, who could sense her volatility, was right to warn her.

Not that Alessi approved of Rupert telling her what to do—Isla saw the sharp rise of his eyebrows at Rupert’s words.

Alessi didn’t like it that Rupert, given what he was putting her through, had just warned Isla to slow down. He didn’t like it that Rupert was here in the least. Alessi was, in fact, having an extremely uncomfortable evening, though it wasn’t Isla that he felt bad for, but Amber. Alessi, even if his relationships didn’t last very long, would never cheat or flirt with another woman, except his mind was fighting not to do just that.

It felt wrong to be sitting with Amber while Isla was there.

He was very aware that he was sitting next to the wrong woman.

‘I’m just going to go to the loo,’ Isla said, and as she got up to leave, Alessi made himself sit there, though the temptation was to follow her.

The restrooms were located right on the other side of the bar and Isla headed off. She knew she had maybe had a little bit too much to drink and was glad of the chance to just take a breath.

No one had said a word about Rupert. They were all used to Isla bringing him along but she was aware of slight pity in her colleagues’ eyes and Isla loathed it.

Tonight she was ending it, which left her without a safety net, and as she walked out of the loos and straight into Alessi the Rupert-free tightrope got its first wobble, the first inkling of what was to come.

‘Everything okay?’ Alessi asked, because the look that she gave him was less than pleasant.

‘Actually, no,’ Isla said. ‘What are you doing, dating one of my students?’

‘Excuse me?’

‘You heard.’

‘She isn’t my student,’ Alessi pointed out. ‘You’re talking as if Amber’s eighteen when, in fact, she’s a thirty-two-year-old single mother of two. I’m hardly leading her astray—’

‘I don’t like the way you flirt with my midwives,’ Isla interrupted, and Alessi gave her a slow smile, though his eyes told her he was less than impressed with what she was saying.

‘Have there been any complaints?’

‘Of course not.’

‘Any hint as to inappropriateness on my part?’ Alessi checked, and watched Isla’s cheeks turn to fire as she shook her head. ‘Then I’d tread very carefully here if I were you, Isla,’ he said. ‘The staff don’t have an issue?’ He raised an eyebrow and Isla gave a terse shake of her head. ‘And I don’t have an issue,’ he drawled. ‘So, in fact, the only person who has a problem with my dating Amber is you. I wonder why that is?’

Isla stood, her face flaming. She knew that she shouldn’t have said anything, especially not tonight, but now that she had it was impossible to take it back. ‘I’m just letting you know how I feel about the issue.’

‘What issue?’

Isla licked her tense lips as he backed her to the wall but her lack of response didn’t end the conversation.

‘I flirt, Isla. I date. I enjoy women but only women who get that it’s only ever going to be short-term …’

‘Why?’

The question was out before she considered it but it was pertinent enough to halt Alessi in his tracks.

Why?

It was a question few, outside the family, asked him. A question he had never truthfully answered and he had no intention of doing so now.

‘Because that is how I choose to live my life. I don’t need your approval, or you to rubber-stamp who I date from MMU, but I can tell you now I have never once cheated on anyone. I don’t have to make up lies or excuses about what’s been said or where I’ve been …’

‘I need to get back,’ Isla said, not liking where this conversation was leading, but Alessi wouldn’t let her off the hook.

‘We’ve only just started talking,’ he said. ‘And given you’re so inclined to discuss my sex life, I’m sure you won’t mind if I share my feelings about yours. Have some respect for yourself …’ He met her eyes and Isla took a sharp breath as he now voiced what nobody else had had the guts to. ‘What are you with him for, Isla? It’s all over the internet and plastered across every magazine that he’s screwing around and yet you’re carrying on as if nothing’s happened.’

‘It’s none of your business.’

‘Well, I’m making it mine,’ Alessi said. ‘Why would you let him treat you like that?’ He looked over as Rupert came around the corner and stood for a moment as he witnessed the angry confrontation.

‘There you are,’ Rupert said, and, having been instructed by Isla to stay close, he came and put an arm around her waist, dropping a kiss on her head. ‘Darcie is starting to droop. I think she might need to go home.’

‘Sure,’ Isla said as Alessi just stood there, staring at Rupert with a challenge in his eyes. ‘If you can tell Darcie that I’ll be there in a few minutes, that would be great. I just need to discuss something with Alessi.’

As Rupert walked off Alessi’s angry eyes met Isla’s. ‘He’s got a nerve,’ Alessi said, ‘telling you that you’ve had too much wine and coming to check up on you, yet he gets to carry on exactly as he chooses …’

‘Our relationship is not your concern,’ Isla said, her voice shaking. There was no doubt about the sudden flare of possessiveness in Alessi’s voice. ‘Anyway, you flirt, you …’ She tripped over her words, not quite sure of the point she was trying to make. ‘You’re such a chauvinist.’

‘It’s the Greek in me.’

They stood angry and frustrated. A kiss was there but not happening. They were back to where they had been a year ago, only the stakes were much higher now. Alessi looked at her full mouth and noticed that she ran a very pink tongue over her lips as if to tempt him.

And tempt him it did.

Isla was looking at his mouth. She was back to how she’d felt in the shower, only now Alessi was less than a step away. Her body was on fire, there was sex in the air, and when walking away might be safer, because it was Alessi, he forced the issue, voiced the truth, stated what was. ‘I could kiss you now.’

Isla lifted her eyes to his and saw that the lust and the want in his matched hers. ‘You could,’ she invited.

She wanted his kiss. The world had disappeared and she had no thought about anything other than now and a kiss that was nearing, but she blinked at his caustic response to her provocative words.

‘But I won’t,’ Alessi said, distaste evident in his voice. ‘I happen to have respect for the person I’m with. I have no intention of getting mixed up in whatever twisted game it is that you’re playing.’

Isla stepped back, felt the wall behind her and wished it would swallow her up. Alessi was right. It was twisted. The wall would not give, though, and she had to stand there and take it as Alessi continued venting, eleven months of frustration contorting his lips savagely. ‘And there’s another reason that I shan’t kiss you—I won’t give you the chance to blow me off again, Isla. You’ll be the one to kiss me,’ he warned. ‘After you’ve suitably apologised.’

And with that he walked off, leaving Isla standing there, trying to think of an appropriate response to that most delicious threat.

‘Never,’ she called to his departing back.

‘We’ll see,’ Alessi called, without turning around.

He was furious. He flashed a look at Rupert as he left but what angered Alessi most was that to not kiss Isla had taken all the self-control he could muster. To not press her to the wall and angrily claim her mouth had taken every ounce of his resistance.

He wasn’t like that.

Yes, he might have dated an awful lot of women but he was always faithful.

This was why he ended things with Amber that night.

He wanted Isla.

He wanted her in a way he never had.

He wanted to see that snobby, derisive woman begging.

Yes, for the best part of a year he’d convinced himself otherwise but the truth remained—he wanted her.