‘Drowning yourself?’
She reached for the towel, dried her face and turned slowly. ‘Just answer me that one question, McKenna. Why? Why did you come here? We both know that a GP practice in Cornwall isn’t where you see your future. So why are you here? Or have they run out of women in London?’
He strolled into the room and leaned narrow hips against her desk, wickedly handsome and altogether too dangerous for words. ‘You know the answer to that. I’m here because Dad asked me to come. And because Cornwall isn’t a bad place in the summer.’
He was winding her up and she knew it. Even he couldn’t fail to like Cornwall in the summer. Especially as being here would undoubtedly allow him to indulge in his favourite sports. She knew he’d be kite-surfing and windsurfing the moment he’d unpacked his suitcase.
‘So this is a free holiday.’ She ground her teeth. ‘You could have said no. You should have said no.’
He raised a dark eyebrow. ‘Why?’
‘Because you know this isn’t going to work, that’s why.’
‘I hate to disappoint you but saying no to a sick man, especially when that sick man is my father, isn’t exactly my forte.’ He gazed at one of the photographs on her wall and Anna bit her lip, hating the intrusion into her personal space. ‘That’s nice. Bedruthan steps. Do you remember that time we were almost cut off by the tide? You always loved that beach when we were kids.’
‘Stop changing the subject. You could have pretended you couldn’t get away. You could have encouraged him to arrange a locum.’
‘He did arrange a locum. Me.’ Sam ran a hand over the back of his neck and shot her an impatient look. ‘All right, you tell me how I was supposed to say no. With Dad so ill and Mum so worried, how was I supposed to say no?’
‘You’ve said no before, lots of times.’
‘When he’s asked me to join the practice, to be part of the family firm,’ Sam agreed. ‘This is different. This is an emergency. I don’t say no to emergencies.’
‘Just to commitment.’ The words were out before she could stop them and even before she saw the narrowing of his eyes she regretted them. ‘Forget I said that. The way you run your life is none of my business.’
‘No, it isn’t.’ He folded his arms across his chest, his gaze fixed on hers. ‘But the way I run my life clearly bothers you.’
Suddenly the room felt unusually warm. ‘It doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is that you’re going to swan in here for a few weeks or until you get bored then leave us in the lurch.’
‘No, that isn’t what bothers you.’ His gaze didn’t shift. ‘What really bothers you is the fact that you haven’t planned this and we both know that you have to plan everything. You think you have your whole life sorted, don’t you, Riggs?’
‘There’s nothing wrong with planning.’ She wondered why she was defending herself to someone she didn’t even like.
‘Except that life has a way of throwing you surprises. And it’s harder to cope with surprises if you’re inflexible.’
‘I’m not inflexible. And you’re not a surprise, McKenna. You’re a nightmare.’
‘I promised my father I’d stay for the summer and that’s what I intend to do.’
‘Along with your film crew.’
He shrugged. ‘Life goes on. When I return to London in the autumn I’ll want to pick up where I left off. The film crew is part of my life.’
Anna shook her head. ‘It isn’t going to work, McKenna.’
‘It’ll work if you don’t get all high and mighty on me. Why shouldn’t it?’ He was as direct as she was, hard and uncompromising in his approach to life. ‘Because I’m the only person you can’t control, Riggs? Because I don’t fit your image of a doctor? Because I don’t do things the way you do them?’
She tilted her head, her gaze cool. ‘Because you drive me nuts.’
‘Likewise.’
Their eyes locked in combat for endless minutes and then she gave a sigh. ‘All right. Let’s look at the facts here. I need help and I don’t have time to look for a new locum. You’re here. You can stay until I find a suitable replacement. But there are rules.’
‘You amaze me.’ He folded his arms across his broad chest. ‘And there I was thinking you were such a relaxed, laid-back person. Always willing to go with the flow.’
She chose to ignore his sarcasm. ‘No filming without my permission, and the patients’ permission, and if it interferes with your workload then it stops.’
His eyes glittered dangerously. ‘Anything else?’
‘Yes, actually.’ Her tone was businesslike with just a touch of frost around the edges. ‘I’m the partner in this practice, you’re the locum. You do things my way. If you disagree, we still do things my way.’
‘What if my way’s better?’
She gritted her teeth. He was doing it on purpose, of course. Annoying her. Irritating her. Winding her up so tightly that she was ready to explode. ‘It won’t be. You don’t have any experience of primary care. And even if you did, why would you even care about changing things? We both know you won’t be hanging around long enough to make an impact.’
He studied her carefully. ‘Unfortunately, Riggs, your rules don’t work for me. If I see something that I think needs changing I’m going to say so and we’re going to talk about it. I may be the locum but I still have an opinion on how the practice is run and you’re going to listen to it. Starting with Glenda.’
Anna stared at him. ‘What about Glenda?’
‘What do you know about her home life?’
Anna frowned, thrown by the sudden shift in the conversation. ‘Well, I know she lives with her elderly mother in a cottage down by the harbour. Her mother is your father’s patient and to be honest I haven’t seen much of her for the past few years so I can’t honestly say I know her. She doesn’t go out much. Why?’
‘Because her mother is the reason Glenda was late this morning. She had her buttons done up in the wrong holes,’ Sam said calmly. ‘She hasn’t told me much yet but she hinted that her mother isn’t herself.’
‘I didn’t know that. Your father hasn’t said anything.’ Anna felt a twinge of guilt that she hadn’t found the time to question Glenda’s lateness herself. If she was honest, she’d found it more annoying than concerning. It hadn’t occurred to her that something might be wrong. She bit her lip. She was the doctor, for goodness’ sake. She should have noticed that Glenda was upset about something.
It annoyed her that Sam had spotted it first and it made her feel guilty.
Resolving to talk to the receptionist immediately, Anna poured herself a glass of water and took a few sips.
‘This practice is stretched to the limit,’ Sam said grimly, ‘and we need efficient staff. If Glenda can’t perform the role then we need to get someone in who can.’
Anna slammed the glass down on the table. ‘And what are you proposing to do with Glenda?’ Her eyes sparked into his. ‘Fire her?’
‘No, actually.’ He stood in the centre of her consulting room, legs planted firmly apart, totally comfortable and maddeningly sure of himself.