He sat down on the seat as he was instructed to do because it wouldn’t achieve anything to argue with them. However, he found it difficult to believe that she’d pulled the same stunt on him again. By the time the van drew up in front of the headquarters of the security firm, he was beside himself with fury and it didn’t help when he was brusquely informed that Miss Palmer had telephoned to say that, as she didn’t intend to press charges, he was free to leave.
Rafferty went back to his flat and made straight for his bedroom, where he took a suitcase out of the cupboard. He’d arranged to take some leave after he’d returned from Guatemala so he wasn’t due back at the hospital until the end of the month. Although he hadn’t planned on going away, a break would do him good. A few days’ R & R might help to restore some order to his life…
And what about Natalie? a small voice taunted. Was he going to give up at the first hurdle, or was he going to do what he’d set out to do and get her back to nursing? When push came to shove, was he a man or a mouse?
His mouth compressed because he’d never considered himself to be a coward before. However, cowardice came in many different guises and he couldn’t deny that he was terrified of getting hurt. He had always guarded his emotions but he must put aside his fears if he was to achieve his objective. Natalie was a superb nurse and he had to convince her that she was wasting her talents. Just because he couldn’t handle the thought of her being with another man, that wasn’t a good enough reason to give up and he would bitterly regret it in years to come. He owed it to the rest of the Worlds Together team to bring her back into the fold.
He shoved the suitcase back into the cupboard and slammed the door. If Natalie thought she’d got rid of him then she was in for a shock!
‘THERE’S a board meeting at two so I’ll take an early lunch today. Can you make sure that everyone has a copy of that report I prepared, please, Janet?’
Natalie sighed as her secretary assured her it would be done and hurried away. It had been difficult to concentrate on work since she’d arrived at the office. She kept thinking about what had happened that morning and the awful things Rafferty had said to her. How could he believe that she’d slept with someone else? Didn’t he know that she loved him and that the thought of sleeping with someone else was totally abhorrent? Or was he judging her by his own actions perhaps?
She got up and went to the window, too on edge to sit while thoughts like that plagued her. It was a beautiful day yet she could derive none of her usual pleasure from the view over the river. Had Rafferty slept with someone else since they’d parted, and was that why he’d leapt to such a conclusion that morning?
She didn’t want to believe it but neither could she dismiss the idea out of hand. After all, Rafferty was a very attractive man and there would be no shortage of volunteers if he needed company. Had he found solace after their break-up in some other woman’s arms?
‘Sorry I’m late. I got held up but I’ll make sure I’m here on time in future.’
Natalie swung round when Rafferty suddenly appeared in her office. She’d never expected him to turn up after the latest stunt she’d pulled and it was hard to hide her consternation as he came towards her.
‘You were expecting me, I hope?’ he said smoothly, one dark brow arching. ‘There haven’t been any changes made to our arrangements?’
‘I…um…no. Of course not,’ she replied testily, immediately on the defensive.
‘Good.’ He stopped in front of her, smiling as he fingered the badge pinned to the lapel of his suit jacket. ‘I see I’ve been awarded top-level security clearance. I’m flattered by your faith in my integrity.’
‘You’ll need full clearance if you’re going to complete this challenge I’ve set you,’ she informed him curtly. She went back to her desk and sat down, riffling through the letters Janet had left for her to sign while she tried to get herself under control. If Rafferty could handle this situation, so could she.
‘So what’s on the agenda today?’
He pulled up a chair and sat down opposite her, his face betraying nothing more than friendly interest, and Natalie frowned. It was completely out of character for him to take this relaxed approach after what she’d done, so it was hard to know how to respond.
‘There’s a board meeting this afternoon,’ she explained, deciding it was easier to follow his lead and behave as though nothing had happened.
‘Something to look forward to,’ he observed dryly, crossing one long leg over the other and treating her to a condescending smile.
‘It should be interesting,’ she said evenly, refusing to rise to the bait.
‘Hmm, I suppose it depends what you consider interesting.’
Natalie bit back her sharp retort although she knew the meeting was going to be a difficult one. It had been called by a member of the board who was strongly opposed to the support Palmer’s gave to Worlds Together as well as their other charitable ventures. It would need careful handling to convince everyone to continue funding the projects but she didn’t intend to explain that to him.
‘It does indeed. However, the board meeting isn’t until two o’clock so this morning I was planning on visiting the research lab. We may as well go straight up there now, in fact.’
‘I didn’t realise there was a laboratory in the building,’ he said in surprise as she stood up.
‘We do most of our major research here, although we do have other laboratories, of course. They’re used mainly for testing the various products we manufacture.’
She led the way from the office and went straight to the lift. ‘Security is always a major issue when you’re developing a new drug and we’ve found it best to keep everything under one roof. There’s less risk of any information leaking out this way.’
‘It makes sense. Are you working on something new at the moment?’ he asked, and she smiled faintly when she heard the curiosity in his voice. Despite his determination to view Palmer’s in the worst possible light, he couldn’t help being interested.
‘We’re developing a new drug to treat Hansen’s disease.’ The lift arrived and she stepped inside, pressing the button for the sixth floor, which was where the research laboratory was sited.
‘Because of the increased resistance to dapsone?’ he queried, and she nodded.
‘Yes. A lot of people don’t realise that leprosy is still a major health issue in many parts of the world, like Africa and Asia. They assume it was eradicated centuries ago but, sadly, that isn’t the case. As you know, the bacteria that cause the disease have become increasingly resistant to dapsone and it’s been standard practice for a number of years to prescribe a combination of dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine to treat the disease. Obviously, this increases the treatment cost per patient quite considerably and in turn puts an added burden on the health-care budgets of the countries involved. We’re hoping this new drug we’re developing will do the job on its own and cut costs.’
‘It would be a step in the right direction if it works, but surely it’s an extremely costly undertaking to develop a new drug? Clinical trials alone must cost a fortune and I can’t see Palmer’s or any other pharmaceutical company wanting to spend millions developing a product which might take years to pay for itself. Leprosy is a disease of the developing world so sales of the drug will be restricted to some of the poorest countries.’
‘It’s part of our charitable programme,’ she explained, exiting the lift when they reached their floor. She led him along the corridor and stopped outside the door to the lab, placing