Buch lesen: «The Doctor's Diamond Proposal»

CHAPTER TWO

Time warp to the present day...

ALEXANDRA JACKSON WAS shaking as she walked across the large marble-clad reception area of the hotel. The receptionist gave her directions to the coffee lounge.

‘Oh, and where’s the ladies’ room, please?’ She still had ten minutes to spare, and her heart was beating like a hammer in her chest. She needed to calm down.

‘Through there...’

Alex followed the receptionist’s pointing finger, ending up in a tastefully decorated ante-room that was larger, and rather smarter, than her own lounge. Sitting down, she closed her eyes, concentrating on deep, slow breaths.

Leo Cross. She’d thought about him a lot in the last ten years, certainly more than one night in a coffee bar would warrant. Maybe because of what had happened on her way home. The car that had swerved across the road and hit her, after she’d got off the bus, had changed everything.

Alex had wondered whether, by some chance, he might be one of the unending stream of doctors who stopped by her hospital bed, but he never had. She’d lost her phone and when her parents brought her a new one the number was different. In any case, what would he want with her now?

All the same, the memories of Leo’s slightly awkward charm, the shining passion with which he’d talked about his ambition to become a doctor, had still lingered. Like a touchstone that stayed with her through the long months of convalescence, learning to walk again with a prosthetic leg, leaving home for university... Leo’s commitment, his absolute certainty that he had a calling in life, had spurred her on. If he could do it, then so could she.

She’d hung onto the dream as long as she could, imagining Leo as some kind of white knight, a public health crusader—a starship captain, even. Nothing less would have been enough for Leo. But then she’d been brought back to earth with a bump.

Seven years after the night she’d met him, she saw Leo’s name in the papers. Not believing it could be him, she’d searched the Internet for a picture. And there he was. The newest TV doctor, charming and urbane, who made an appearance at all the right parties. It seemed that the Leo she’d met had lost his ambition to change the world, and cashed in on his melting blue eyes and blond, handsome looks.

She’d thought about contacting him, but what would she say? That she’d held him in her heart for all these years until he became an ideal, rather than a blood and bone man? Perfect was best left where reality couldn’t tarnish it, in dreams and the imagination.

But now Leo Cross had something she wanted.

Alex zipped up her bag and stood, straightening her jacket and smoothing her trousers. He wouldn’t recognise her, nor would he remember. She could start again and pretend he was a completely different person from the one she’d met all those years ago.

* * *

As she walked into the coffee lounge she saw him immediately, sitting in one of the easy chairs grouped around each table. He still took her breath away. His hair was shorter and neater but still gave his face an almost angelic quality, even though the softness around his eyes had gone. He was dressed impeccably, a dark suit with an impossibly crisp white shirt and a subtly patterned, expensive-looking tie.

Everything about him screamed celebrity: the winter tan, the way the waiter knew exactly who he was and where he was sitting when Alex said who she was there to meet. She wondered whether the air of gravitas, lent by the pile of papers on his knee that were currently taking his full attention, was for her benefit and dismissed the thought. She was the one who needed to impress him, not the other way around.

He looked up as she approached, the sudden flash of uncertainty in his eyes giving way to recognition. Then he sprang to his feet, his papers dropping unheeded onto the carpet.

‘Lieutenant Tara!’ His smile was just as melting as it had ever been and the shock of being recognised and suddenly catapulted backwards in time left Alex momentarily at a loss. ‘As I live and breathe... How are you? What have you been up to?’

‘I think you know already. That’s my PR bundle you’ve just dropped on the floor.’

He put two and two together with creditable speed. ‘You’re Alexandra Jackson?’

‘Yes. Only I prefer Alex...’

‘Fewer syllables to contend with?’ Leo’s quiet, understated humour had remained intact, at least. She grinned up at him stupidly, a mixture of pleasure and panic rendering her silent.

‘Did you know it was me?’

It was somehow engaging that he could even entertain the notion that someone could forget his smile. ‘Yes. I didn’t think you’d remember me.’

‘Well, it’s good to see you. I’m afraid I haven’t had a chance to go through all the material you sent yet.’ He bent to pick up the papers, shuffling the disorderly pile and laying it on the table.

She’d read every word of his PR material. Top of his class at medical school, and now practising as a GP in central London. An advanced diploma in counselling, and membership of a long list of professional bodies. Co-hosting a radio phone-in had quickly led to his own show, which aired three evenings a week, and then TV appearances, a couple of bestselling books and patronage of various health initiatives. On its own that was impressive, but if his social life was even half as interesting as the papers would have everyone believe, it was practically superhuman.

‘So...’ He gestured her towards the armchair standing opposite his. ‘Shall we get down to business?’

‘Yes. That would be good.’ That was what she was here for. Not to spend the time gawping at Leo’s smile.

‘Right, then.’ He seemed impatient now to start and Alex dumped her coat and bag onto an empty chair, sitting down quickly. ‘I’d like to be honest with you about why you’re here.’

That would be good. Alex nodded dumbly.

‘Only I need your confirmation that this information will stay confidential. It’ll be public knowledge soon, but I’d prefer it didn’t come from anyone connected with us.’

‘I understand. I won’t say a word.’

‘Thank you.’ His stern look promised all kinds of retribution if she did. ‘As you know 2KZ, the radio station I work for, holds an annual charity spotlight during February. And your charity applied to participate in that.’

‘Yes. We were told before Christmas that our application wasn’t successful.’

‘It wasn’t.’ He paused to let that particular defeat sink in. ‘But the charity we chose has had difficulties. We stuck by them for as long as the allegations were unsubstantiated but, now that they are, we have little choice but to look elsewhere.’

‘And we have another chance?’ Alex wondered which charity it was, and what the allegations were, but Leo’s measured professionalism made it clear that he wasn’t about to divulge that information.

‘We considered abandoning our plans for this year completely, but we feel that a new charity, which we can investigate thoroughly for any sign of irregularity, would be an appropriate fallback position. The format would be slightly different—we’ll be doing informal phone-ins instead of a series of pre-recorded programmes, because of the time factor. Are you still interested?’

Alex swallowed. ‘This is a big project for us and it’ll take a good proportion of our resources if we get involved. Can you tell me how far down the list we were?’ Her feelings about being told that they were second best were irrelevant, even if Leo could have put it a little more tactfully. But she did need to know that 2KZ were interested enough to present her charity properly, and that they weren’t just filling a few spare hours in their programming schedule.

‘No. That would be inappropriate. But I can assure you that we’re fully committed to going ahead with this and that I believe you’re a good fit for the project. And I do need your answer now.’

In other words, she had to trust him. The old Leo would have been a lot easier to trust than this new one. But Alex knew she’d have to be crazy to pass up a chance like this.

‘Yes, we’re interested. Thank you. This is a wonderful opportunity for us.’

He dismissed her gratitude with a practised smile, a flip of his finger bringing a waiter over. ‘Shall we have some tea? The Darjeeling, I think...’ The waiter began to scribble on his pad.

She’d never been here before and had no idea what to order. All the same, Leo had left her to choose for herself at the coffee bar. Alex supposed that it had been a bit more straightforward then—coffee or tea, with or without milk. But it seemed that everything had been a bit more straightforward that night.

‘That sounds nice. But I’d prefer Lady Grey if they have it.’

The ghost of a smile flickered around his lips. ‘Lady Grey it is.’ He looked up at the waiter. ‘A pot for two, please.’

‘Sandwiches or cakes, sir?’ The waiter’s gaze turned to Alex as Leo deflected the question her way.

‘No, thank you. Not for me.’ Dealing with Leo was taking all of her concentration. She wasn’t sure she could manage cake crumbs as well.

Leo was shuffling through the papers in front of him on the table. ‘Right. So your charity is called Together Our Way?’

‘Yes.’

‘No acronyms? Something a bit more snappy?’

‘No.’ Defiance bloomed suddenly in her chest. If they were going to do this, she was going to have to learn to stand up to Leo’s steamroller tactics. ‘We like to be referred to by our full name because it’s the way we do things.’

‘Yeah, I got that. And you’re...’ He caught a sheet from the pile which Alex recognised as her own CV. ‘A qualified physiotherapist, and you founded Together Our Way to help young people with disabilities participate in sport.’

‘Yes. I’ve brought some photographs with me that I think best show...’

‘Later, maybe. I’d like to ask a bit about how the charity’s run first.’ He didn’t even look at the pile of photos that Alex had pulled from her bag. ‘From what I can see here, you’re managing on a shoestring. You work three days a week as a physiotherapist and you don’t take a salary from the charity. And you just have one part-time paid employee, who called me back yesterday to arrange this meeting. From what Rhona says, she seems to be doing rather more than I’d normally expect from a part-timer.’

‘When people give us money, they want to see it spent on our core aims, not our running costs. We have an arrangement with Rhona that suits us both—she has family commitments and we give her very flexible working hours, and in return she’s very committed to us. And we have a network of very enthusiastic supporters.’ Alex had photographs of them as well, but she doubted that Leo would want to see them.

He nodded. ‘And you have your own office?’

‘Yes. It’s a loft room. The law firm that owns the building wasn’t using it and they let us have it free of charge.’

‘That’s good of them. And what do you do for them in return?’ His eyes seemed to bore into her, both tempting and cajoling at the same time.

‘The senior partner’s son takes part in one of our training programmes.’

‘And this boy—he fulfils your standard criteria for this service?’

Anger seized hold of her. Alex knew the exact position of the photograph in the pile, and she snatched it out, dropping it onto the table in front of Leo. ‘He was born without the lower part of both legs. Like most five-year-olds, he loves running and playing football. His name is Sam.’

Leo glanced down at the photograph, his face suddenly softening. As he reached out to touch it with his fingertips, Alex saw the melting blue eyes of the young man she’d once met.

‘It looks as if Sam’s pretty good with that ball.’

‘He is. What he doesn’t have in speed, he makes up for with tactics.’

‘Well, I hope I’ll get a chance to see him play.’ It was just a glimpse of compassion—a brief acknowledgement that Leo really did understand what Together Our Way was all about. But it was enough to stop Alex from giving up on him completely and putting her involvement in this project up for review.

And then the moment was gone. The tea arrived, and Leo took that as a cue to resume his questioning. The way the charity was run. Exactly what they spent their money on. How many volunteers they had, how they dealt with Health and Safety. He was nothing if not thorough and, although Alex struggled to keep up with him, he seemed content with her answers.

‘And now that I know all about you—’ his smile became melting again ‘—it brings me to the question of 2KZ’s planned involvement.’

* * *

Maybe he’d been a little hard on her. There was actually no maybe about it, but Alex hadn’t let him walk all over her and Leo respected that. And the delicious surprise of seeing her again...

Had been shockingly tempered when he realised that she had been through so much in the last ten years. An accident, losing her leg. But she’d turned that around. And, out of respect for her, he’d concentrated on her achievements.

If it had been anyone else, he would have allowed the personal to oil the wheels of the professional. But Alex clearly didn’t want to put their relationship on that level. She hadn’t called him back ten years ago. And even though she’d known it was him, she’d left it to her assistant to call him and arrange this meeting. Leo wasn’t prone to holding grudges, but that looked like a pretty definite expression of intent.

He’d reacted like an iceman, shrinking from a flame. Ill-prepared, because of an emergency with one of the patients at his GP’s surgery, he’d asked the questions he needed to ask and kept his feelings to himself.

And his feelings weren’t a part of this equation. If Together Our Way was slightly amateurish in its approach, its heart was quite definitely in the right place. It was an organisation that his show could make a big difference to, and Leo seldom turned down a challenge.

‘As I said, the spotlight we’re proposing is a little different from the one first offered.’ This was the sticking point. ‘The intention now is that I’ll be hosting a representative from Together Our Way as a guest on my medical phone-in show, once a week during the whole of February. I’m assuming that it will be you?’

Panic flared in her eyes, and Leo felt another little piece of him melt in response. Clearly the idea that she’d be talking live on the radio hadn’t registered with Alex the first time he’d mentioned it.

But she rallied beautifully. ‘Yes. It’ll be me.’

‘I’m trying to get some ten or fifteen minute slots on our Community Affairs programme in addition to that. That’ll involve me spending some time with you, and seeing your work first-hand. I assume you have no objections to that?’