The Spanish Consultant (Westerling)

Katy finished filling out the notes and then glanced up, the colour fading from her cheeks as she saw Jago watching her.

Her stomach did a somersault.

‘Did you need me for something?’

His gaze never flickered from hers. ‘We have things to talk about.’

Just as Libby had predicted, he wasn’t prepared to leave things as they were.

She straightened. ‘We have absolutely nothing to talk about, Jago.’

‘I disagree.’

Her eyes slid self-consciously around her, checking that no one was within earshot. ‘It’s all history, Jago. In the past. Finished.’

‘We both know it’s far from finished,’ he said smoothly, and she tensed.

Surely he wasn’t suggesting…?

Just in case he was, she thought she’d better set him straight. ‘Jago, you thought I’d given my…’ She glanced furtively around again and lowered her voice to little more than a whisper. ‘Given my virginity to you and then slept with another man at the same time.’ She brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes with shaking fingers, totally unable to comprehend that he’d had such a low opinion of her. ‘You obviously didn’t know me at all.’

His wide shoulders stiffened defensively. ‘I thought I did but all the evidence pointed to the contrary. Surely you can see that.’

She shook her head. ‘Jago, I couldn’t ever be with a man who believed I was capable of that. I don’t know what sort of women you mix with normally but if that’s the sort of behaviour that you’ve come to expect then I feel sorry for you.’

Jago compressed his mouth. ‘It does happen.’

She shook her head in disbelief. ‘But not with me. I don’t do things like that,’ she said, hating the fact that there was a quiver in her voice. She wanted so badly to match his cool indifference. ‘You didn’t even have the decency to ask me about it.’

‘My only defence is that my pride was very hurt.’ He lifted his dark head and looked at her steadily. ‘After I left, why didn’t you try and contact me? To explain?’

She gaped at him. ‘Are you really trying to suggest that any of this is my fault? You left—and you didn’t even do me the courtesy of telling me you were going, let alone give me the reason for your sudden departure. I was so naïve that I actually believed that you’d come back. That there was nothing on earth that could keep us apart.’ She saw him flinch slightly and felt the anger burn inside her. ‘But you didn’t and I had no idea how to find you. All I knew was that you no longer worked for my father’s company. Even when I discovered that I was—’

She caught herself in time and broke off, heart thumping, horrified by what she’d so nearly revealed.

There was a pulsing silence.

‘What did you discover, Katy?’ He was suddenly incredibly still and his dark eyes were watchful.

‘Nothing.’ Her voice was a strangled croak and he muttered something in Spanish and moved towards her.

But whatever he’d intended to say, the opportunity was lost as the mother and toddler returned with their X-rays.

Filled with relief at the reprieve, Katy checked them carefully, aware that he was standing close behind her, feeling his warm breath on the back of her neck.

‘She’s fractured her radius.’ Trying to ignore the tense atmosphere, Katy squinted at the X-ray, visually tracing the cortex of each bone as she’d been taught, looking for irregularities. ‘There’s a slight displacement,’ she murmured, ‘but that shouldn’t matter in a child this young so I’ll just give her painkillers and immobilise it in a cast.’

Jago’s eyes flickered to the X-rays. ‘Have you checked for a second fracture?’

Katy frowned. Was he still trying to catch her out?

‘Yes.’

‘So what makes you so smart, Dr Westerling,’ he muttered under his breath, and she gave a slow smile, ridiculously pleased by the veiled praise.

‘I worked in paediatrics,’ she reminded him lightly, tugging the X-ray out of the light-box and returning it to the folder.

From a professional point of view, working with him was definitely getting easier. He no longer made her feel as though she should be back in medical school.