Читать книгу Romantic Getaways Collection - Liz Fielding, Christy McKellen - Страница 13
ОглавлениеTHE MEMORY OF Elena’s captivating ice-blue eyes and her long slender legs with their dirty, scuffed up knees remained stubbornly imprinted in Caleb’s mind as he lay back in bed and waited impatiently for her to return.
Just friends, huh? What on earth had stopped him from pursuing more than friendship with her? He’d very much like to know that. He found her intensely attractive and she was clearly a smart, compassionate person—qualities he valued highly.
An English rose.
The phrase floated into his mind. Yes, that summed her up perfectly.
A moment later the door opened and she strode back into the room with a tall dark-haired woman following closely behind her.
‘Sorry I was away for so long; I bumped into your PA out there—she said to tell you she hopes you feel better soon and that she’s got everything under control at work so you can rest without worrying—and then it took me a while to locate your doctor.’ She gestured towards the woman she’d entered with.
‘Señor Araya,’ the doctor said, walking over to his bed and picking up the clipboard that hung at the end of it, ‘how are you feeling?’ She scanned the paperwork quickly before replacing the clipboard.
‘I feel fine,’ he said confidently. He didn’t want to give her any reason to keep him here unnecessarily. He was uncomfortable with being in hospital; it made him feel vulnerable and edgy for some reason. He’d be much better off in his own home with his things around him. Maybe then his memory would come back.
The doctor pressed her lips together. ‘So it seems you have a cracked rib and a bump on your head, but apart from that you got off pretty lightly, considering you were hit by a motorbike travelling at speed.’
‘Can you speak English so Elena can understand?’ he snapped, riled by the doctor’s officious manner and not wanting Elena to feel ignored when she’d been good enough to stay and check on him. Unlike his PA.
‘Yes, of course,’ the doctor said, switching easily to English and giving Elena an indulgent smile before turning back to fix her scrutinising gaze on him again.
‘I’d like you to stay here tonight. Head injuries can be serious and I’d like to keep you under observation for a while longer to make sure you’re okay.’
The thought of staying here any longer filled him with a sinking dread. ‘No,’ he stated firmly. ‘I want to go home. Now.’
‘I don’t think that’s advisable—’ the doctor began, a concerned frown pinching her brow.
‘I feel fine. I don’t want to take up a bed unnecessarily when someone who’s really sick could use it. I’ll be okay at home,’ Caleb said gruffly. He wasn’t used to people telling him what he could and couldn’t do and it rankled.
‘I really don’t think—’
‘I don’t care what you think. I’m going home,’ he said, levering himself up and readying himself to swing his legs out of bed.
The only way he was staying here was if they called Security and tied him down.
The doctor sighed as if she’d seen this scenario before and knew there was no way to stop someone like this once they’d made up their mind.
‘I can’t prevent you from leaving, Señor Araya, but I must insist you don’t go home on your own,’ she said sternly. ‘You’ll need someone responsible there to keep an eye on you in case there are any after-effects from the head injury. The CAT scan we gave you didn’t show up anything worrying, but it’s better to be safe.’
Frustration rattled through him. He just wanted to be at home now, without people fussing over him any more.
‘I’ll be fine. I can call my GP if I start to feel ill,’ he bit out.
The doctor shook her head. ‘That’s not good enough. You need someone there with you full-time for the next forty-eight hours at least.’
Elena must have sensed his unease because she stepped forwards and said, ‘I can stay with him, at his home.’
The doctor studied her for a moment. ‘Are you his partner?’
There was an infinitesimal pause before Elena said, ‘Yes.’
He glanced at her in surprise but she didn’t turn to catch his eye, just kept her steady, confident gaze trained on the doctor.
The doctor nodded, seeming to decide that Elena was a sensible and trustworthy sort of person.
He could see why. She certainly gave that impression. Caleb really liked that about her. She was no-nonsense, just the kind of person he liked to have around. He couldn’t do with women who simpered and flapped about ineffectually. Having her at home with him for a short while would be fine by him. It might even give him more time to try and figure out the real state of their relationship. He was positive there had to be more to it than ‘just friends’, as she’d claimed.
Turning back to Caleb now and fixing him with a steely stare, the doctor asked, ‘Have you been sick since you woke up or had any dizziness? Any memory loss?’
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Elena stiffen and waited for her to tell the doctor about his elusive memory, preparing himself for a fight, but when he turned to look directly at her she just gazed back at him with those bright, intelligent eyes of hers, her mouth firmly shut. A strange kind of unspoken agreement seemed to pass between them and he realised she was letting him know that she was on his side.
She wasn’t going to give him up.
Well, that proved something at least; she must care about him if she was willing to twist the truth to help him get out of here. The thought warmed him.
‘No, I feel fine,’ he said, tearing his gaze away from her to look at the doctor again, feeling the weight of anxiety begin to lift from his chest.
The doctor nodded, apparently convinced that he was telling the truth. ‘Okay then, I’ll go and fill out the paperwork. You’ll need to come in next week for further tests though, Señor Araya, to make sure we haven’t missed anything.’
Caleb nodded but didn’t say anything. He’d deal with all that later. He just wanted to get out of here now.
‘I’ll let you get dressed then. Your clothes and personal effects will be in the cupboard at the side of your bed,’ the doctor said, moving towards the door. ‘You might need a bit of help getting dressed because of the pain in your rib. I can call a nurse if you like,’ she said, turning back with an expectant look on her face.
‘I don’t need a nurse,’ he said dismissively.
‘I can help him if he needs me to,’ Elena chimed in, throwing him a chiding look.
The doctor just nodded briskly.
‘Thank you, Doctor,’ Elena added, giving the woman a warm smile.
Once the doctor had left the room, Elena busied herself by pulling all his things out of the bedside cabinet and laying them out on the bed. Picking up his shirt, she looked at it with her nose wrinkled. ‘I’m afraid there’s some blood on this from where you cut your head.’
‘I don’t care about that. Pass it to me, will you,’ he said, reaching out for the clothing and wincing as his cracked rib made itself known.
She batted his hand away, frowning. ‘I’ll do it. If you can just sit up a bit more—’
Ignoring his huff of frustration, she put one hand carefully behind each shoulder and pulled gently, forcing him to sit up enough so she could slip the shirt around his back and hold it out for him to slide his arms into the sleeves.
Her hands had been cool and the sensation of her skin on his hot flesh lingered there while she leant in to do the buttons up for him.
Her nearness made him want to pull her in for another kiss but, despite his still rather woolly-headed state, he was aware that it would be a highly inappropriate thing to do.
He growled with irritation, hating how weak and vulnerable he must appear to her right now. ‘This is ridiculous. I’m not a child. I can do my own buttons up!’
A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth and she raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Stop being so proud and let me help. If you won’t let me take care of you I’m going to have to tell the doctor that I can’t go home with you after all and you’ll have to stay in the hospital with the nurses fussing around you instead.’
He let out a harrumphing noise, but let her do the rest of the buttons up. Despite feeling annoyed that she was using his injuries against him, he was impressed that she hadn’t been upset by his shortness and obviously wasn’t about to let it put her off coming home with him.
Most women would have let him have his way and backed off, but it seemed that Elena wasn’t most women.
He drew the line though when she tried to help him get out of bed and firmly batted her outstretched hand away as he swung his legs out. He pulled on his suit trousers over the boxers he was mercifully still wearing, managing after a moment or two of pained fumbling to pull the zip up and hook the fastener, then sat for a moment to catch his breath.
‘Is this your address?’ Elena asked as he slowly levered himself up off the bed, fighting back a wave of nausea as he stood up and felt a heavy weight of darkness pressing down on his head.
He must have moved too quickly.
Blinking hard to clear his vision, he stared at the driving licence she was holding up, which was sandwiched behind a clear plastic window in his wallet.
‘That’s it,’ he said, taking a long breath to steady himself.
‘Okay, I’ll go and arrange for a taxi to take us home,’ she said, giving him a pointed glance that said, Take it easy until I get back.
He got the distinct feeling that this was only the beginning of his time being ordered around by this woman.
To his surprise, he found he didn’t entirely hate the idea.
* * *
The cab drew up in front of the building where Caleb lived and Elena swallowed hard, her stomach doing a slow somersault now they’d reached their destination.
It had been fine in the hospital while she was distracted by the practical aspects of getting Caleb home, but now they were finally here, and were going to be totally alone for the first time since the disastrous meeting this morning—where she’d had a worrying amount of trouble keeping her emotions under wraps—she was beginning to regret her rash promise to look after him for the next couple of days.
She was determined to follow it through though—because she owed him. If it hadn’t been for her he never would have had the accident in the first place.
The moment she’d sensed how determined he was to get out of hospital she’d made a snap decision. Not calling out his lie to the doctor about his memory being sound had almost been a step too far for her, but she’d told herself that if she stuck with him around the clock she’d be able to alert the doctors the moment he seemed to be even vaguely struggling. In the busy hospital he could have been left alone for long periods of time, but here in his house she’d be there to keep an eye on him every second of the day.
Unless he suddenly remembered that he hated her and sent her away, of course.
Her stomach did another sickening flip.
If that happened he’d be left alone in his apartment without anyone there to look out for him. And what if he passed out or fell and hurt himself once she’d gone?
She took a steadying breath then blew it out towards the sky, imagining it was her fears she was expelling as they exploded into a million pieces in her mind.
No. She wasn’t going to worry about that right now. Hopefully, if he did remember what had happened between them, the fact that she’d helped bail him out of hospital and offered to stick around to take care of him would at least make him pause before chucking her out. If she was really lucky, her presence here might even prove to him that she was genuinely sorry for what had happened in the past and that she was serious about wanting to make amends for hurting him.
That she still cared about him.
Not that she’d ever really stopped, even when she’d pushed him away.
‘Elena?’ Caleb said beside her and she could tell from the tone of his voice that he was wondering what the heck she was doing, still sitting here like a lemon when they’d reached their destination.
‘Are you sure you want to come in with me?’ he asked brusquely. ‘You don’t have to, you know. I can take care of myself from here.’
She turned to fix him with a stern glare. ‘No, you can’t, Caleb; you heard what the doctor said. You need someone around, especially if you’re still feeling a bit confused.’
He shrugged as if it was neither here nor there to him whether she stayed or not, but she could have sworn she saw a flash of a smile in his eyes.
‘Okay, let’s go,’ she said, opening the cab door and telling herself that the best thing all round was just to take one step at a time and deal with any consequences as and when they came.
Caleb’s penthouse apartment was breathtaking, and exactly the sort of place she would have expected him to choose to live. Light poured in through the large warehouse-style windows, bathing the stylish but comfortable-looking furniture in soft spring sunlight. The colours he’d chosen to furnish the place were earthy and muted in a warm and comforting way, with terracotta tiles on the floor and dark tan leather and stained wood sofas and tables gathered in the middle of the vast space. It was a really restful room to be in and Elena let out a breath as she felt herself relax a little.
She was still acutely aware that she was here under false pretences, but she reassured herself that this was about making sure Caleb was safe and cared for; it had nothing whatsoever to do with her trying to persuade him to listen to her business proposal. She’d deal with all that once he was fully well again. There was no way she’d take advantage of his lapse in memory.
She was here as his friend, nothing more.
His only friend, by the sounds of it.
Judging by the fact he didn’t have anyone obvious to call upon when he was in the hospital, she guessed she wasn’t the only one he’d kept at arm’s length.
The thought of how alone he was made sorrow well heavily in her gut.
She knew she should have sought him out before now. She’d wanted to, had for years, but she’d never quite plucked up the courage to face him again—until it had been absolutely essential. That made her a coward, she knew that, but she’d always been afraid of how out of control Caleb made her feel and she’d needed every ounce of strength over the intervening years to build a successful career for herself. It wasn’t easy being a woman in a male-dominated arena.
At least that was what she was telling herself.
The passion of his kiss earlier came back to haunt her as he walked past her into the living area and she caught the unique scent of him in the air.
Moving quickly away from him, she marched into the kitchen diner at the other end of the large room, aware that her heart was racing, and pretended to be admiring the high-tech gadgets he had in there to give herself a moment to pull herself together.
‘Can I make you something to eat? Or drink?’ she asked, turning back to look at him. He was standing by the largest sofa, watching her with a perplexed sort of frown.
‘You don’t need to mollycoddle me, Elena—I can fix my own food. In fact, I should be cooking for you to say thanks for bailing me out at the hospital.’
She held up a hand. ‘Not a chance. Unless your cooking skills have improved since university?’ she said with a slow grin.
He threw her a look of mock offence. ‘Was it that bad?’ He frowned. ‘I don’t remember.’
‘It was passable,’ she said, her mouth still twitching with mirth at the memory of it.
In truth, it had been terrible. The one time he’d cooked for her, when she’d gone over to his place to study for an exam, she’d pulled such a face after the first mouthful that Caleb had scraped the lot into the bin and called for takeout pizza instead.
‘Well, like I said earlier, you don’t have to stay here with me; I’ll be fine,’ he said, sitting down carefully on the sofa and wincing a little as his rib appeared to give him trouble.
She folded her arms. ‘Like I said, there’s no way I’m leaving you alone.’
She’d always stood up to him like this, refusing to be intimidated by his gruff demeanour, but deep down his dominating personality had twisted her into knots, threatening her carefully constructed cool.
Fifteen years ago he’d made her question everything she’d thought she wanted in a man. He was bold and charismatic, but he also seemed exactly the sort to smash her heart to pieces should things go wrong between them. At the time she wasn’t prepared to put herself in danger of that happening, not after working so hard to get into her first choice of university and make her first move towards the kind of life she’d always dreamed of building for herself.
But she hadn’t been able to stay away from him.
Struggling to keep her feelings under control, she’d found the safest thing had been to pretend that they didn’t exist. It had been the only way to protect herself.
Except that somewhere along the line that had stopped working.
* * *
Caleb could sense that Elena wasn’t altogether comfortable being here in his apartment with him and he wondered again what it was she wasn’t telling him.
‘If you’re worried about where you’re going to sleep, you’re welcome to take one of the guest rooms.’ He pointed towards a door that led to the corridor of four bedrooms.
‘Okay, thank you,’ she said a little distractedly.
‘Is there somewhere else you need to be today?’ he asked, concerned now that he was keeping her from something important. The last thing he wanted was to be a burden to her.
‘No, nowhere,’ she answered, coming to sit down on an armchair opposite where he sat, finally giving him her full attention.
A sense of relief took him by surprise. He was still feeling pretty woozy and disorientated and it was soothing to know she’d be staying there with him for a while. Even if she did feel like a total stranger to him at the moment.
‘So, friend, I guess I need to get to know you all over again. Do you have a partner? Husband? Boyfriend in England?’ he asked.
She recoiled a little, as if the question had caught her by surprise. ‘Not at the moment. I’ve been too busy recently with work to hold down a serious relationship.’
‘When you say recently—?’
She flashed him a self-conscious smile. ‘For the last few years.’
‘You haven’t had a serious relationship for a few years?’
She shrugged as she smoothed her hands down the sides of her skirt. ‘I’ve dated, but I’ve not clicked with anyone.’
‘I find that hard to believe.’
The air between them seemed to throb with tension and she gave him a strained smile, then glanced away.
He was making her uncomfortable. But why?
‘Elena?’
She looked back at him, her expression now impassive, as if she’d pulled a mask back into place. ‘Do you mind if I make myself a drink?’ she said suddenly, slapping her hands onto her knees. ‘I’m dying for a cup of tea.’
He frowned at the sudden change of subject but didn’t press her on the reason for it. Perhaps she was just tired after the stress and strain of the day. He was pretty tired himself now, even though he’d slept for a lot of it. ‘Sure, help yourself,’ he said.
She got up and walked over to the kitchen. ‘Would you like one?’ she asked, reaching for the kettle on the work surface.
‘No, thanks.’ He sat forward in his seat. ‘I should take a shower.’ He sniffed at his shirt, inhaling the institutional smell of stringent cleaning fluid and decay and, just like that, a memory flew to the front of his mind and he knew why he’d wanted to get out of that hospital so quickly.
His anguish must have shown on his face because Elena said, ‘Caleb? Is everything okay? Did you remember something?’ her voice sounding breathy with concern.
‘Just why I wanted to leave the hospital. My mother died about six months ago and I spent an awful lot of time visiting her in one.’
The expression on her face changed from worry to one of sympathy. ‘Your PA told me. I’m so sorry for your loss,’ she said, her bright blue eyes soft with compassion.
He nodded, accepting her condolences, and ran a hand over his face, feeling stubble rasp at his palm.
There was something more to the memory of losing his mother but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. Some kind of underlying emotion bubbling under the surface, not quite clear enough for him to fully grasp.
‘I don’t seem to be able to remember a lot about her at the moment. I know the time I spent with her at the end of her life was...difficult...but I’m not entirely sure why.’
Elena folded her arms and leant against the counter top. ‘From what you’ve told me about her, I don’t think you were particularly close, at least not when you were younger. You were keen to move away from the place where you grew up and she didn’t want you to.’
She looked at him, as if expecting this to jog his memory, but nothing new came to him.
Sadness swelled in his chest.
What was wrong with him? Why was he getting maudlin all of a sudden? Perhaps the trauma to his head was somehow affecting his emotional state. That had to be it. He knew it wasn’t his usual way to discuss how he was feeling with anyone, particularly not a woman. It was one of the things that had contributed to destroying his relationship with his ex-fiancée. Her constant need to try and get into his head and fix him had caused him to feel both hounded and suffocated.
There was something about Elena that invited confidences though.
But what was it?
A half-formed answer flitted around the edges of his mind, just out of reach, and he pushed an unnerving resurgence of panic away, telling himself there was no point in trying to force his memory to come back; it would reappear in its own good time. Perhaps after he’d had a good night’s sleep in his own bed.
He stood up carefully, relieved to find his dizziness had subsided, and started to make his way towards the door to the corridor that led through to his bedroom and en suite bathroom.
‘Where are you going?’ Elena asked, dashing out of the kitchen to intercept him.
He bristled at her bossy tone. ‘I told you, I need a shower.’
‘Not on your own. What if you get dizzy and fall?’
‘Are you offering to join me?’ he asked with a teasing smile, feeling his pulse pick up at the thought of it.
She visibly tensed, then shot him a cool, reproving smile. ‘I’ll wait in your bedroom, just in case you need me,’ she said, turning on the spot and striding away from him, her body language looking a little stiff and awkward now.
He wanted to call after her that he wouldn’t need her, that he didn’t need anybody, that he was fine on his own. But he had the oddest feeling that that wasn’t the case at all.
