‘Oh, please!’ Lisa uncurled her long legs from the depths of the armchair and reached for her shoes. ‘I’m sure David James isn’t remotely interested in my love life, Mike.’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t say that,’ David murmured. He watched appreciatively as Lisa eased on her narrow, heeled black shoes. Very elegant footwear, he concluded. And a perfect match for the rest of her outfit.
‘Well, I’m not remotely interested in sharing it.’ Lisa stood up gracefully. With her heeled shoes she was only an inch or two shorter than David’s height of six feet.
Mike laughed. ‘That’s the problem, isn’t it? You’d better watch out, though. You’ll probably be well up on David’s required reading list.’
Lisa deposited her mug into the sink, turned and met David’s eyes with a direct stare.
‘My collection doesn’t include paperbacks, sorry. Or over-popular fiction. I prefer something with a bit more quality…and durability.’
Mike’s exaggerated indrawn breath feigned fear at Lisa’s attack beautifully. Much to David’s relief, it was enough to break the hold that Lisa’s eye contact was having. Her short chuckle was dismissive. ‘See you later, Mike. Some of us have work to do.’
David wasn’t included in the farewell. Something flicked off at the dismissal and David was acutely aware of an emotional U-turn. OK, he’d been attracted but now he’d come to his senses. He’d been wrong in his assumption that the woman was attached and now he could see why. With blinding clarity. She was rude, snooty and totally unapproachable. And as for her attitude towards surgeons! Well, David James knew where he wasn’t welcome and he certainly wasn’t going to waste any more time trying. Lisa Kennedy wasn’t going to be on any list as far as he was concerned.
Mike hadn’t failed to notice the line of David’s intense stare.
‘Gorgeous, isn’t she?’
‘Mmm.’ David’s tone was carefully noncommittal. ‘Shame about the personality.’
CHAPTER TWO
PERHAPS it wasn’t so great to be back after all.
Feeling out of sorts was such an infrequent experience that David was seriously disturbed. Lack of sleep hadn’t helped. Had it been a medical emergency that had kept him awake most of the night he wouldn’t have thought twice about it. In fact, the adrenaline would still be running and he’d be in top form for at least another twelve hours. It was his accommodation that was problematic. The temporary arrangement for the room in the staff quarters had seemed perfect, but the walls were thin and the young medic next door had clearly scored in a big way with a woman who seemed to find the whole business excruciatingly funny. A pneumatic drill would have been much less disruptive than her giggles. Even when he’d finally managed to fall asleep the experience had been less than restful.
‘It was a nightmare,’ he related solemnly to Mike Foster. ‘Crushing chest pain, electrodes plastered all over me and Lisa Kennedy standing at the end of the bed…Smiling.’ He punctuated his tale with a woeful groan.
Mike grinned. ‘Lisa’s OK. Don’t judge her on the basis of one bad day.’ He pointed to a fire-stop door coming up on their right. ‘Let’s take a short cut.’ Mike led the way up the stairs. ‘If anybody’s kept me sane over the last year it’s been Lisa.’ He shot his companion a quizzical glance. ‘In fact, she’s a lot like you.’
‘What a ghastly thought!’
‘She works bloody hard, plays just as hard, great sense of humour…’ Mike was sounding breathless. ‘And a body to die for.’
‘I plan to keep living,’ David muttered.
‘You’d be perfect for each other.’
‘I doubt it. She thinks I’m a glorified plumber. A knife-wielding technician with a God complex. Surgeons suck.’
‘Ah! Well, there’s a bit of a history there.’
‘Oh, yeah?’ Despite himself David felt curious. By tacit agreement the two men paused at the top of the stairs, screened from the corridor by another set of fire-stop doors. ‘Perhaps you’d better fill me in.’
‘Have you met Lewis Tanner yet?’
David shook his head. The hospital’s third cardiothoracic surgeon had not put in an appearance during his tour of introduction yesterday.
‘Lewis arrived about eighteen months ago—about the same time Lisa started here. ‘‘Sex on wheels’’, as one nurse was heard to report. Wealthy, confident, charming and…single.’
‘And Dr Kennedy fell for him.’ David nodded, feeling somehow disappointed.
‘Not exactly. He fell for Lisa—in a big way. She did go out with him a few times.’
‘And?’
Mike glanced around them and lowered his voice. ‘Lewis presented her with an engagement ring. A rock that could have given her carpal tunnel syndrome if she’d worn it for any length of time.’
‘A generous man.’
‘Mmm.’ Mike bit back a smile. ‘Unfortunately he was overheard by a secretary telling your predecessor that he had no intention of marrying Lisa. The engagement seemed to be the price he’d have to pay to get her into the sack, so he was happy to fork out and with a bit of luck he might even get the ring back later.’ Mike cleared his throat expressively. ‘Word got around, you know?’
‘I know.’ David smiled wryly. He looked at Mike curiously. ‘So Lisa knew what was going on, then? I take it she didn’t accept?’
‘Oh, she accepted it. She returned it a day or two later. Lewis was not impressed.’
David said nothing. He had a feeling there was more to the story. Sure enough, Mike laughed quietly but gleefully as he gave another quick glance over his shoulder.
‘Lisa had the ring valued. She put it in a clear plastic envelope with the formal valuation. She also put in an address of a local house of pleasure with a suggested list of services—all couched in the most tasteful euphemisms—that added up to the exact worth of the ring. Then she posted it in the internal mail system.’
David whistled silently. Half the hospital had probably seen it before it arrived at its destination. And the other half would have heard about it.
‘Photocopies of the list still surface occasionally,’ Mike added wonderingly. ‘It was a major form of entertainment for months, trying to guess what some of those services might actually be. Even Lewis came to see the funny side—or pretended he did. I suspect it bumped up his estimation of Lisa Kennedy no end but he had no show after that.’
‘I’ll bet.’ David shook his head. ‘No wonder she’s not too keen on surgeons.’
‘Don’t take it personally.’
‘Funny, that’s what she said.’
‘She goes out with Alan Bennett now.’
‘What?’ David was appalled. ‘He’s old enough to be her father.’
‘It’s a convenient arrangement. They accompany each other to medical functions. Lisa’s great company.’
‘So it would seem.’ David’s tone was ironic. ‘Is there anyone she doesn’t go out with?’
Mike laughed again. ‘Yeah—Lewis Tanner.’
‘Can’t wait to meet the guy.’
‘You don’t have to wait,’ Mike promised. He pushed the door open. ‘Let’s go and see if he’s putting in an appearance at this meeting for once.’
Lewis