Rob came to her rescue again. Friendly, open and perfectly unmoved by the intensity of Adam’s voice. ‘Yeah. Fiery, eh, Jen? Doesn’t take any nonsense from anyone.’ He gave Adam a pointed look and held his hand out to Ellie. ‘Come on, then. If we’re going, let’s go.’
‘Flame-haired.’ Rob missed Adam’s quiet comment in the kerfuffle of getting Ellie out of the door and down the stairs, but Jenna caught it, as she guessed she had been meant to. She shot him a glare and he grinned innocently, as if he’d meant nothing by it. Maybe he hadn’t.
‘So what’s the story with Julie, then?’ Adam had waited until Rob had taken Ellie home and he and Jenna were sitting alone in the open-air enclosure on the pavement outside the restaurant.
‘Julie? You mean Julie Taylor?’
‘Yes. Her consultant, Iain Simms, emailed me on Friday evening, copying you in.’
‘Oh. I haven’t had time to look at my email for the last couple of days.’ He was making her feel self-conscious again. His eyes had wandered towards her far too many times already, cool, assessing, as if he was sizing her up, and Jenna couldn’t help wondering what he saw. Wishing that it wasn’t what she saw in the mirror. Pale limbs, untouched by the sun. A slim waist, but precious few curves. Red hair.
If he noticed her agitation, he paid no heed to it, leaning forward across the table towards her. ‘Too busy dragging furniture and boxes around, eh?’
Actually, yes. Those golden eyes were far too perceptive for Jenna’s liking. And she didn’t want him to see the effect they had on her when she met his gaze. ‘Shall we walk?’ Walking seemed a better option than sitting here, staring straight at him.
‘If you like.’ He stretched his arms, flexing his shoulder as if it was stiff, and signalled for the bill. ‘Along the river? Somehow the river always makes me feel as if I’m home again.’
Jenna nodded. The pavement to one side of them dipped and meandered its way down to the south bank of the Thames. Tower Bridge was in the distance to the right. The footbridge to their left, with a stream of Sunday afternoon day-trippers dawdling their way across the river. ‘I’ve never been away long enough to have that feeling of coming home. I’d like to travel. Learn a little about life.’
‘You don’t need a plane ticket to learn about life.’ His eyes focussed somewhere else for a moment, as if he was straining to catch a last glimpse of the place he had left behind. ‘Let’s walk. I’ll tell you what Iain’s email said.’
They strolled together down the broad steps that led to the river path. He was all sun-drenched charm, relaxed grace, and Jenna allowed herself to wonder what it would be like to walk arm in arm with him. She gave herself twenty seconds to feel the warmth of his body next to hers and then consigned the fantasy to the breeze that blew in from the river.
‘So I guess we’ll be working together on this one.’
‘Uh?’ If she’d been listening then she would know what they were working together on. ‘You mean you’re going to be working at the hospital? As well as lecturing?’
The slight twitch of his eyebrow told her that he’d already said that. ‘Yeah. Iain’s asked me to work with him on a few specific cases. I’m also working down in A and E for one or two days a week, while Dr Bryant’s on paternity leave. I’m hoping to get the chance to observe some of the techniques and practices you employ.’
‘And teach us a thing or two as well?’ The idea of being observed for any length of time by those amber eyes was … well, it would be interesting, if nothing else.
‘Yes. That too. I do have something to offer in return.’
‘I’m sure you do.’ Jenna wasn’t even going to think about what Adam had to offer. ‘So why your particular interest in Julie? We’re hoping that she won’t need much reconstructive surgery.’
‘It’s not all about surgery.’ He grinned down at Jenna. ‘Iain suggested that since you’ve been visiting her every day, I should speak to you about her.’
‘Well, I only really know about her case in a general sense. I saw Julie when she came into A and E after she was the victim of an acid attack. She saw it coming and shielded her face, but she has burns on her arm and shoulder. Iain and his team are dealing with that, though I’m really more concerned about her emotional state.’
‘Which is where I come in.’
Jenna turned to him in surprise. There was nothing in his face, no clue of what he was thinking. As she stared, a small muscle at the side of his jaw broke free of his control and began to flicker. ‘You know something about trauma?’
He knew something all right. That muscle was going crazy. ‘I do. Many of my patients are in the same position as Julie, and I try to deal with that as well as their physical needs.’
Jenna narrowed her eyes. ‘And there’s no counselling help? In Florida?’
He seemed to relax a little. ‘I work for a charity. We work all over South America, bringing medical aid and surgery to poor communities. Florida’s our home base. We have a facility there where patients who need specialised care are brought.’
‘So …’ Embarrassment trickled down the back of her neck and made her shiver. She’d misjudged Adam.
‘So what?’ It appeared he wasn’t going to let her off the hook.
‘I thought …’ She heaved a sigh. She might as well spit it out. ‘When you said plastic surgery and Florida, I thought you meant nip and tuck.’
‘Ah.’ Amusement sounded in his voice. ‘No, I mostly deal with cleft lips, cleft palates, facial tumours, injuries. Mostly children and teenagers, some adults. I imagine the rich and famous expect their surgeons to turn up to work in something other than ripped jeans and a T-shirt.’
Jenna swallowed hard. He would be eye-catching enough in pretty much anything, and she didn’t want to even think about ripped jeans. His neat chinos and plain, casual shirt were quite enough for the time being. ‘Then I owe you an apology. Your work sounds amazing.’
‘It has its rewards.’ The warmth in his face told Jenna that those rewards weren’t measured in pounds and pence. ‘Many of my patients are traumatised, either from their injuries or from having been mocked or shunned because of their appearance. I told Iain that I was especially interested in seeing how that was dealt with here.’
Jenna shrugged. ‘That’s just the trouble. Julie won’t see a counsellor.’
‘So I hear. I also hear that she trusts you and that you’ve been doing your best to fulfil that role for her.’ He fixed her with an enquiring look. ‘Not a particularly easy path to tread. Difficult not to become over-involved, I imagine.’
Jenna pressed her lips together and he shrugged as if he had already proved his point. ‘My lecture starts in an hour. Would you like to come?’
‘I might just do that. Were you thinking of covering trauma?’
‘I was considering touching on the fact that a small team with limited resources needs to take a more holistic approach.’
‘In other words you need to treat the person, not just the injury.’ It was a private dream of Jenna’s. Not just to be a doctor but to be a healer. ‘Difficult not to become over-involved, then.’
A smile spread slowly across his face. ‘I’m going to have to take the Fifth on that.’
‘If you do that, the jury’s going to assume that the answer’s yes.’
‘Nothing I can do about that. They can assume whatever they like.’ For a moment Jenna thought that she had broken through his reserve. Then the fire died in his eyes. ‘I’ll drop in and see Julie tomorrow.’