‘Oh, no, I—’
But the woman was insistent and, while Sophie was hesitating, Xavier came to a halt and swung around.
‘Well, Dr Ford?’ he demanded impatiently. ‘Are you thinking of joining me any time today? Or do you take your medical duties as lightly as your personal responsibilities?’
Sophie bit down on the angry words that sprang to her lips. The child’s mother was standing right next to her. It left her with little option when the older woman gave her an encouraging nudge in Xavier’s direction.
As Xavier gunned the engine into life, Sophie steadied herself with her hand against the door. Without that mention of her medical duties she wouldn’t have agreed to accompany him, and when he made no attempt to explain where they were going she asked him outright.
‘Some of the areas we service are inaccessible by road,’ he revealed tersely. ‘There’s a pick-up point. You need to know about it.’
So there was a drive, and then a journey on foot. Inevitably, they would spend quite a bit of time together—time she didn’t intend to pass with the subject of Henry hanging over her head like the sword of Damocles. ‘About Henry—’
‘Not now.’
‘It’s as good a time as any.’
‘I’m not prepared to discuss personal matters on my time,’ Xavier said pointedly.
Bringing personal matters into the workplace had never been her way—but this was different; the lines were blurred.
‘I didn’t believe him at first—’
The cruel edge in Xavier’s voice broke into Sophie’s introspection. She watched as he turned in his seat to drag out her jacket from the back.
‘So I went looking for proof.’
‘I don’t know what Henry could possibly have told you.’
‘Oh, really?’ Xavier stopped without warning at the side of the road. ‘Well, I think you’re a lying little—’
‘Stop it!’ Sophie exclaimed angrily, shocked by the sudden halt. ‘There’s no need to frighten me to death with bad driving—just explain what you mean. If you give me a chance, I’ll tell you about Henry—and then you can apologise.’
‘This time you’re the one who has to apologise,’ Xavier cut in. Holding her gaze, he undid the button on the top pocket of her jacket, pulling out the antique amethyst ring Henry Whitland had given to Sophie before she left England.
She was her father’s daughter all right, he thought, as he watched Sophie’s reaction. She didn’t cry and wail and beg him to forgive her. She thought it all through while she worked out her next move. She was playing for a lot more than just an amethyst ring, after all, he mused cynically. The Martinez Bordiu fortune was well worth a wager. ‘Playing for bigger stakes than this now, aren’t you?’ he suggested derisively, brandishing the ring in front of her face.
‘That’s not worthy of you, Xavier—and neither is going through my things.’
His pride took a direct hit. But he was still going to get that explanation. ‘Henry said he gave you this ring. I didn’t have far to look. Here—you’d better keep it safe; it must mean a lot to you.’
‘It’s a friendship ring, nothing more,’ Sophie said firmly. ‘And if you’ll let me, I’ll tell you about Henry.’
‘Save it,’ Xavier said tersely. ‘Your private life’s your own business. I’m only interested in how you perform as a doctor.’ And that was the only way to think of her, Xavier warned himself fiercely. Anything else had been madness from the start.
‘I’m going to tell you about Henry one way or the other,’ Sophie insisted calmly. ‘So why don’t you just drive, and I’ll tell you about him as we go? And then,’ she added with steel in her voice, ‘you can apologise.’
She had nerve, Xavier reflected grimly. But he wouldn’t fall for her so-convincing act again. To think that he, who never let anyone in, had so nearly made an exception for Sophie Ford!
‘If I can’t talk to you, then I don’t think we can work together,’ Sophie continued evenly, ‘and you need me here at least until the new doctors arrive.’
Xavier ground his jaws together. Not only did she have nerve, she had an unerring aim when it came to his Achilles’ heel. Unfortunately, she was right. Until more medical staff arrived from Europe the project was in danger of being seriously understaffed.
‘Henry and I have a very open relationship,’ Sophie began evenly.
An open relationship? What was that supposed to mean? His senses wanted it to mean one thing while reason told him her use of the phrase was misleading. Either way, it suggested her supposed fear of men wasn’t as strong as she had led him to believe. And that meant the chase was back on. ‘I don’t want to hear,’ he said impatiently, starting the engine up.
‘Tough,’ Sophie said, forcing a level stare on Xavier’s fierce features, ‘because you’re going to hear what I have to say, whether you want to or not. The arrangement I have with Henry isn’t as strange as you think. It’s a fact I don’t know what is going to happen between us in the long term—’
‘And while you both make your minds up,’ Xavier said scathingly, ‘he allows you to travel to Peru and spend all your time with another man.’ He made a typically Latin sound of contempt—a sound that, in spite of everything, brought a wry smile to Sophie’s lips.
‘How can you smile?’ Xavier demanded incredulously. ‘Henry might permit this—’
‘Henry doesn’t permit anything,’ Sophie pointed out. ‘I chart my own course—’
‘On to the rocks?’ Xavier demanded, embroidering his metaphor with some choice Spanish curses.
‘I came to Peru to work as a doctor,’ Sophie pointed out, ‘in case you had forgotten. Why should Henry have any concerns? Forging a personal relationship with anyone here has never been on my agenda.’
‘Well, that’s great. I’m happy for you,’ Xavier said sardonically, drawing to an abrupt halt so that they both jolted forward in their seats.
‘Is this it?’ Sophie said, apprehensively glancing about, wondering if she should get out.
‘It’s as far as I go,’ Xavier said, resting his hands on the wheel as he turned to level a stare on her face.
Sophie felt there was more to his comment than simply an indication that their journey by truck had come to an end.
‘Well?’ he demanded impatiently. ‘Are you going to get out? Or do you intend to sit there all day? And take something with you,’ he added, making a curt gesture with his chin towards the bulging rucksacks in the back. Grabbing one, he swung out of the cab and started off without her in the direction of a natural stone staircase that Sophie guessed time and erosion had carved into the towering cliff a short distance from where they were parked.
‘I’m still waiting for an apology,’ she reminded him when she caught him up. The pack was heavy and unwieldy on her back, but she had no intention of showing the slightest sign of weakness—in any direction.
‘An apology?’ It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her where she could stick her apology, but when she looked at him like that, with the light of battle burning so strong in her eyes, all Xavier remembered was that the chase was back on. Under the circumstances, he could afford to be magnanimous. ‘I’ll agree to a truce,’ he conceded. ‘For now.’
‘You’re so gracious.’
‘Aren’t I?’ he growled. ‘Give me your pack, and I’ll—’
‘Thank you, I can manage,’ Sophie said with determination.
Xavier headed off without so much as a glance over his shoulder to see if she was following him or not. Picking up speed, she managed to move ahead of him on the shallower part of the climb. But the rock face was far steeper than she had anticipated. Each foothold had to be chosen with care, and the pack was holding her back. She was soon forced to pause with her hands resting on her knees and watch him go past.
‘Let me know if you need my help, won’t you?’ Xavier challenged sardonically before attacking the next challenge.
‘Oh, don’t worry, I will,’ Sophie assured
him as she caught her breath.
‘Are you OK?’ he said, peering down as he clung on to an overhanging ledge.
‘I’m fine—thank you for asking.’ And that rear view was spectacularly good, Sophie thought, admiring Xavier’s tight, muscular frame. She was in no hurry to overtake him now.
‘Are you going to join me? If it’s too much for you—’ He shrugged.
Sophie gasped. Xavier was lying flat on the ledge above her head, hanging over it, and their faces were almost touching. She had only lost concentration for a moment or two, but long enough for him to know she’d been staring at him.