Private Partners (Doctors in Training 2)

She nodded. “We’re meeting at one. We’ll probably work five or six hours, but I can get away early if…”

“No,” he interrupted firmly. “You won’t change one minute of your schedule for my sake. If I see you only ten minutes a day, I’ll be content with that. I promise you, Annie, you aren’t going to regret agreeing to this plan. In fact, you’re going to like it so much you’re never going to want me to leave.”

Which only gave her something else to worry about, she decided immediately.

“Will your neighbors be a problem? Do I need to try to sneak in and out of your apartment while you’re gone?”

She shook her head. “The apartment on the right, the one that shares my landing, has been empty for a few weeks. I think it’s being repainted or something. The neighbor on the left works nights and sleeps days, so I almost never see him. He wouldn’t notice if a whole family moved in with me, as long as we’re relatively quiet while he’s sleeping.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He moved toward the doorway. “I’m going down to get the rest of my things out of my car. Then I’ll find a place for everything so my stuff won’t be in your way.”

“I can help you.”

“Nope. I can handle it. You study or whatever you need to do this morning.”

Hoping she would be able to concentrate with him moving around in the background, she nodded. They might as well get started on finding out if this impulsive scheme of his would work.

She wasn’t at all sure she wouldn’t have to ask him to leave eventually. The thought of doing so filled her with both dread and sadness that she pushed aside as she spread her books and her computer on the kitchen table.

Liam had seen Anne study before. Even on the few long weekends when she’d sneaked away to join him somewhere, she’d brought along her computer and notes. She’d always kept her books open and accessible even when she’d focused on him.

She’d studied at least a couple of hours a day when she was with him, and he had never complained, since he’d usually had responsibilities of his own to tend to. Both of them were much too busy to let an entire two or three days pass without at least part of that time being spent on their careers.

He needn’t have worried too much about disturbing her, he thought with a wry smile. Sitting at the table with her computer and her books and notes, she didn’t even seem to notice when he moved around in the kitchen at noon making lunches for them both. He set a plate holding a sandwich and a handful of raw baby carrots in front of her, and she blinked as if she’d forgotten he was even there.

“You need to eat before you leave to join your study group. This should hold you for a while.”

“You really don’t have to wait on me while you’re here,” she said, though she reached automatically for the sandwich. “I manage to feed myself on my own.”

Not as often as she should, he thought with a glance at her slender frame. He decided he’d better keep that comment to himself. “It wasn’t any trouble,” he assured her. “It’s just as easy to make two sandwiches as one.”

When she’d eaten enough to satisfy him, she began to gather her books in preparation to leave for her study session with her group. “Did you get your things put away this morning?”

“I did. My clothes are in your closet and I set up my computer on the desk in the office and stashed my files in that empty desk drawer on the right side. Everything fit nicely.”

“Good. You’ll be able to work in the office?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

He didn’t care for the politely formal tone of their conversation. This was one of the reasons he’d chosen to work here, from her apartment, for the next few weeks. If it was possible, he wanted to get back the intimacy they had shared that summer in Britain, before their separate career pursuits and her family had driven a wedge between them again.

“I’d better go,” she said, picking up her stuffed backpack. “The gang is expecting me at one.”

Even knowing she would be spending the next few hours studying with her friends, he still envied them the time with her. And even though she’d assured him they were only friends, he wasn’t too happy that the group included two single men. He knew better than to express that objection, of course.

At least he had the satisfaction of knowing she was his wife, and that she took those vows seriously—even if those other men were unaware of her status. During the past months, he had come to the uncomfortable realization that his impetuous proposal in Scotland had at least in part been based on a streak of masculine possessiveness he hadn’t realized had been such a part of him. He hadn’t wanted to let Anne out of his sight again without making sure she would be thinking of him when she met all those interesting young doctors-in-training.

It wasn’t a motivation he was proud of, and he certainly knew better than to mention that bit of insight to Anne. She would have his ego for dinner.

“How long do your study sessions usually last?” he asked, keeping his tone deliberately casual.

She shrugged. “Depends on what we need to accomplish and whether anyone has other plans. Most weekends, we usually study for three or four hours straight, take a break, then go another two or three hours. Sometimes more, as the tests get closer.”

He couldn’t help frowning. “Long hours.”

“Yes, well, we’ve already established that. As I’ve told you, I’m surviving.”

Maybe so, but he didn’t like the toll it was taking on her. Still, she looked a bit better this afternoon, he decided, studying her surreptitiously. She appeared more rested than she had when he’d arrived. There was a bit more color in her face now, and he liked to think he’d played some part in putting it there.