‘I have no idea. But I’m sure you’re going to tell me.’ Ella tried to pull away, but Donato’s seemingly lazy hold kept her hard against him.
‘Now, Ella, there’s no need to get annoyed.’ His lips brushed her hair. ‘I hadn’t guessed but it makes sense.’
‘Do tell.’ She gritted her teeth. In her family circle, nurses didn’t exist. Careers were high profile or highly paid, preferably both. Emptying bedpans or cleaning wounds was just too nose-wrinklingly real.
‘You’re so assured. Nothing fazes you.’ He stroked a finger along one bare arm, drawing her skin into feathery lines of goose bumps. ‘You get angry and you’re deeply passionate, but I can’t imagine you panicking.’
‘Assured?’ Ella stared at the bright birds in the tree as if she’d never seen them before. She was competent and confident in her work but she didn’t feel assured with Donato. He kept her off balance.
A chuckle rose in his deep chest and vibrated through her. ‘Absolutely. You put me in my place from the first. But you weren’t patronising in that socially superior way. You weren’t a snob. You just said it like it was.’
‘I’m practical.’ Her father had used that word like an insult.
‘Just like every nurse I’ve met.’
‘You’ve met a few?’ She thought of that old scar on his cheek and the others on his ribs.
‘Enough. You’ve got that same air of straight talking, but with all the aplomb of a duchess.’ It didn’t sound like criticism. It sounded like a compliment. Ella felt a little fizz of pleasure.
‘Have you ever met a duchess?’
‘I have, as it happens. She was more pleasant and down-to-earth than some of the snobby society types I’ve met.’
‘I can imagine.’ Her father was one such snob. He’d forgive you anything so long as you were rich or socially superior.
‘So, what sort of nursing?’ Donato sounded genuinely interested.
‘Community care. I visit people in their homes, often the elderly or patients just released from hospital.’
‘In their homes? Do you work in pairs?’
‘I’m part of a team but I do my home visits solo.’
Donato’s arms tightened. ‘That’s dangerous. You don’t know what you could walk into.’
‘We’re fully trained. We have safety protocols in place. Anyway, most of my clients are frail.’
‘It’s not just your clients. Anyone could be there.’
‘I can look after myself, Donato.’ She turned in his arms and pressed a finger to his mouth before he could contradict her. ‘But I appreciate your concern.’
In all her years of nursing none of her family or friends had expressed concern for her safety. That must explain the strange melting sensation in her chest as she met his stare. She’d never had a protector. There’d been no one since her mother or Aunt Bea who worried about her. Fuzz and Rob saw her as capable and efficient, able to look after herself. And their father...he’d never cared enough to worry.
Crazy that the man logic told her not to trust was the one man who worried about her.
Crazier still that she liked it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
‘WELL, YOU COULD have knocked me down with a feather. Really!’ Samantha Raybourne’s laugh tinkled melodiously, turning heads in the packed theatre lounge. ‘I’d never thought of you marrying, Ella. Much less snaffling the most eligible man in the country.’
Ella’s smile froze. Why had she told Donato she wanted to see this play? She should have known opening night would attract people like the dreadful Samantha, who’d once made her life hell. She hated that she’d put herself in this position, an unwilling partner in a public charade. But the constraints had been too great, despite her misgivings.
‘What Sam means is congratulations.’ Samantha’s partner spoke. As compère of a reality television show he was adept at reading tension and knew when to intervene. ‘We hope you’ll both be very happy.’
Before Ella could respond Donato slipped his arm around her waist. His grip reminded her, as if she could forget, of the promise he’d extracted. He’d keep her father from badgering her daily about arrangements for the society wedding he planned and in return Ella would play along in public. Even though it meant maintaining the fiction that their relationship was permanent.