‘Really? You expect me to believe that?’
‘I don’t expect you to do anything. But you asked, and I answered. I’ve never brought any date here. Save for the Captain once, a year ago, I’ve never brought anyone here.’
Nikhil bit down on his tongue, but it was too late. The admission was out there, although, judging by the look of disbelief on Isla’s face, she didn’t believe him anyway.
And that was a good thing, he told himself.
He had no idea what the heck it was about this woman that was so compelling, but he needed to work it out as soon as possible. She was like a puzzle, and he hated puzzles.
No, more accurately, he enjoyed puzzles; he just hated an unsolved one. And the brain-teaser that was Doc Isla was taking up far too much of his time.
So, as far as Nikhil was concerned, the sooner he solved it—her—the sooner normal life could resume.
CHAPTER THREE
ISLA SWALLOWED AGAIN. She wanted to show him that she didn’t believe that he hadn’t brought any other date here. More to the point, that it didn’t matter to her even if he had.
The problem was that it did matter to her.
Rather too much.
An uninvited thrill rippled through her as she thought back to the look of surprise on Hernandez’ face when he’d realised Nikhil had brought her as a date. That unspoken communication that had travelled between the two of them supported Nikhil’s claim, and therefore made her feel all the more special.
Just like Bradley had.
Pretending that he’d cared for her, and that her money, her connections, her social standing, didn’t enter into it. Briefly, she wondered if Nikhil was as straight-talking as he appeared, or if he was also the kind of man to lie, and pretend he loved a woman.
She shook the thoughts from her head irritably. Why did everything have to lead back to Bradley? Even now, months and months later, she was still giving him the power to dominate her thoughts, her actions. And she was furious with herself for doing so.
He was in her past.
Gone.
She didn’t want to think about him any more.
‘You said the Hestia was to be your first cruise?’
Isla blinked and looked up to realise that they’d been sitting in silence for so long she’d finished her course without even realising it.
‘I’ve been a doctor for ten years, but this will be the first time I’ve been a doctor for a cruise ship,’ she offered eventually.
‘Ten years?’ He didn’t look convinced. ‘Doctors are qualifying in their teens now, Little Doc?’
‘I’m thirty-two.’ She fought to keep her voice even.
She’d faced bigger slights than that. There was no reason for it to cut any deeper simply because it came from this man.
‘I didn’t realise.’ His expression changed. ‘Still, you must have worked hard to graduate at twenty-two.’
/> She had—not least because people had wanted to doubt her. Because of her age. And because of who her previous stepfather had been.
But although Stefan Claybourne had been one of the best stepfathers she’d ever known, and he’d certainly encouraged her dream to become a doctor, his kindness and support hadn’t been a substitute for her own hard work.
‘Being a doctor is all I’ve ever wanted to do.’ She shrugged instead. ‘Even as a child, I dreamed of it when other kids were dreaming of being princesses or pirates.’
‘Doesn’t make the work any easier.’
‘No,’ she conceded, ‘it doesn’t. But it does mean that the hard work has always been worth it. Then again, you must know that. You don’t get to First Officer on a line like the Queen Cassiopeia without being equally dedicated to what you do.’