He felt an unaccustomed twinge of guilt as he reflected on the way he’d treated her since she’d arrived in the department.
‘I took you along because I thought you might learn something and because every A and E doctor should have an idea of what the paramedics deal with on a daily basis.’ He saw her soft lips part and was suddenly glad that he was sitting behind the desk. At least she wouldn’t be aware of the effect she had on him. ‘You were there as an observer. I had no expectations of you as a doctor.’
She stood in silence, watching him warily. She was obviously still expecting an explosion. ‘I shouldn’t have reacted like that, but I just wasn’t prepared for how scary it would be, dealing with a patient at the scene of the accident. I’m used to having masses of medical back-up.’
She obviously felt she’d let herself down badly, which wasn’t true at all. He’d seen doctors with many more years’ experience than her suddenly freeze at the scene of a serious accident.
It was something to do with the almost overwhelming sense of responsibility that came with being first on the scene.
‘Just stick to A and E and don’t become a paramedic,’ he suggested dryly, and then turned back to his computer, hoping that she’d take the hint and leave him alone.
She didn’t. Instead, she took a deep breath, steeling herself to ask the question that had clearly been worrying her. ‘You said I ought to be a GP or go back to paediatrics. Do you still think I’ll make a bad A and E doctor?’
He felt another twinge of guilt. It was his fault that she was asking the question.
‘No. You’re a good A and E doctor.’
Surprisingly good.
‘But you said—’
‘I know what I said. I was angry with you.’
His blunt admission didn’t evoke the response he expected. Instead of signs of guilt, she looked confused and taken aback. As if he had no right to be angry.
He had to hand it to her, she was an excellent actress.
She was starting to make him feel guilty.
Her blue eyes were suddenly huge and she looked more like a little girl than a fully qualified doctor. ‘Why were you angry with me? Because of our…relationship?’ She stumbled over the word, looking bemused, and Jago’s lean hands curled into fists.
‘I thought I had already made it clear that the past is history.’
‘But it isn’t, is it, Jago? It’s there between us the whole time.’
‘Let’s just say that I have a long memory for certain events.’ His tone lethally smooth, he leaned back in his chair and surveyed her with the cool intent of a predator poised for the kill. It really was time for her to drop the innocent act. At least then they’d both know where they stood.
‘It must have been extremely challenging for you to keep two men running at the same time with such a limited amount of experience on your part. You must have been very nervous that one of us would find out about the other, and yet it never showed,’ he mused, his dark eyes resting on her soft mouth. ‘I’m filled with admiration as to how you managed it so skilfully. Tell me, Katy, did you tell him that you loved him, too?’
The air around them throbbed and she stood, frozen to the spot, staring at him with a blank expression.
‘I really have no idea what you’re talking about.’
She was incredibly beautiful and incredibly dignified. If he hadn’t seen the evidence with his own eyes it would have been so easy to believe in her innocence.
‘Let’s just say that when I enjoy a relationship with a woman, my absolute minimum requirement is fidelity,’ he informed her, wondering how she’d cope with being forced to confront her sins. Because he’d made up his mind that she was going to confront them. ‘Foolishly, I assumed that as I was your first lover, I didn’t need to explain that fact.’
She was still staring at him. ‘I still don’t know what you mean.’
His gaze hardened. ‘I mean that, having been introduced to the joys of sex, you then couldn’t wait to spread your wings and sample variety. So tell me, querida, was it different with him? Was it wor
th it?’
She looked startled at his words, hot colour touching her beautiful heart-shaped face, and he was reminded of just how shy she’d been about sex. The product of strict parents and a single-sex school, until she’d met him she’d had virtually no experience of men. He gritted his teeth. Something she’d corrected as quickly as possible.
‘Are you saying what I think you’re saying? You think that I—’ She broke off, her colour deepening, and he gave a wry smile.
‘Perhaps you should drop the innocent virgin act now,’ he advised. ‘I think we’ve both moved beyond that.’