LONDON’S MOST DESIRABLE DOCS

Heroes, heartbreakers … and husbands?

Amongst the glittering lights of London the hard-working doctors and nurses at The Royal are the talk of the town—and none more so than Hugh and Anton!

Passionate and dedicated, these brilliant docs spend all day saving lives and all night breaking hearts. Their own hearts are kept under lock and key … until two sexy single ladies turn their lives upside-down and force them to question everything they ever believed in!

CAROL MARINELLI recently filled in a form where she was asked for her job title and was thrilled, after all these years, to be able to put down her answer as ‘writer’. Then it asked what Carol did for relaxation. After chewing her pen for a moment Carol put down the truth—’writing’. The third question asked: ‘What are your hobbies?’ Well, not wanting to look obsessed or, worse still, boring, she crossed the fingers on her free hand and answered ‘swimming and tennis’. But, given that the chlorine in the pool does terrible things to her highlights, and the closest she’s got to a tennis racket in the last couple of years is watching the Australian Open, I’m sure you can guess the real answer!

Playing the Playboy’s Sweetheart
Carol Marinelli

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dear Reader

I have especially enjoyed writing these two stories, because the first is set in summer and it’s rather lovely to watch as Emily’s little holiday break becomes rather more complicated—thanks to the very charming, very blond Hugh.

Then I got to take myself straight into winter and a lovely English Christmas, with Louise determined to enjoy it this year. She’s rather cheeky, very flirty, and absolutely the last thing that brooding, incredibly sexy Anton needs right now.

Ho, ho, ho!

And in the midst of all that along came Alex and Jennifer, tap-dancing across the stage as I tried to write—more about them later!

I love my job!

Happy reading

Carol x

Table of Contents

Cover

About the Author

Title Page

Dear Reader

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Copyright

PROLOGUE

HUGH LINTON CAME with a warning attached.

Emily hadn’t even put on her scrubs for her first shift as theatre nurse at The Royal—a busy London hospital—before being told by Louise, one of the other nurses, that the surgical registrar who was operating this Monday morning was, by anyone’s standards, a heartbreaker.

‘Is Candy very upset?’ Louise asked a colleague as she tucked her long blonde hair into her hat.

‘What do you think?’ came the response. ‘I just saw her in the canteen, crying her eyes out with a little crowd gathered!’ She smiled at Emily. ‘I’m Annie.’

‘Hi, Annie,’ Emily said, but Annie was already back talking to Louise.

‘Mind you,’ Annie continued, ‘I don’t get why she’s carrying on so much—surely everyone should know that if you go into any sort of a relationship with Hugh it’s going to be fleeting at best, heartbreak at worst.’

‘Watch yourself.’ Louise winked at Emily.

‘No need to,’ Emily said, ‘because he shan’t be breaking mine!’ But though she had laughed as she’d said it, in fact she wasn’t joking.

Emily loathed anything remotely fleeting and no one would get close enough to break her heart. She had decided that many, many years ago.

Still, she was somewhat sideswiped by Hugh Linton’s exceedingly good looks because when he first walked into the operating theatre Emily found out first-hand what the word ‘presence’ meant.

He was very tall and his hair was as blond as Emily’s was dark. He had the greenest eyes that she had ever seen and his voice was deep and clear, the type who rarely needed to repeat themselves. His smile, as he chatted with Louise and then caught Emily’s eye, did make a slight blush spread across Emily’s cheeks and confirmed what she already knew—Hugh Linton was far from her ideal man!

‘Morning, everyone!’ Alex, the senior consultant, came in, having just been in to have a last word with the patient before surgery. ‘It’s going to be a long one,’ he warned as he went off to scrub.

The operation was for the removal of an abdominal tumour in a twenty-six-year-old man. It was a complex tumour and before the operation commenced and the patient was brought in, Alex explained why he was doing open surgery as opposed to keyhole, which was his speciality. Then there was time for a little chat.

‘I’ve already heard about your weekend, Hugh,’ Alex said, as he was helped into his gown and gloves. ‘I’ve heard about it from several sources, in fact, and so I don’t need to hear it again.’

Hugh just grinned.

All joking was cast aside, however, when the patient was opened up and the tumour was found to be worse than Alex had been expecting.

Emily was, this morning, the circulation nurse, a part of which meant ensuring the operating field was uncontaminated as well as accounting for equipment. Emily loved most roles in Theatre but circulation or scrub nurse were her two favourites and today it was nice to watch how the surgeons worked from a distance, so she could know their nuances when she scrubbed in.

‘Not good,’ Alex said, once he had opened the patient and taken a good look around. ‘We’re going to be here for a few hours, Rory,’ he said to the anaesthetist.

It was a very long and intricate operation but it went very smoothly, even with a difficult turn of events—though not for the patient. Instead, there was unexpected news for the chief surgeon.

‘Alex, Jennifer is on the phone,’ Louise said, and Emily watched as Alex paused and frowned.

‘Bring the phone over to me.’

Louise held the phone to Alex’s ear and Emily glanced over at Hugh, who was looking at his boss as he spoke to his wife—she had clearly asked not to be put through.

‘Well, they’re under my instructions to put you through if you call,’ Alex said, and then listened for a moment. ‘I’m here for a couple more hours at least,’ Alex said, and then listened some more. ‘Okay, darling, please keep me informed. I love you.’

When Louise turned off the phone Alex was quiet for a moment before revealing his news. ‘Jennifer’s up on the delivery ward.’

‘When is she due?’ Hugh asked.

‘Not for another six weeks.’ He carried on working. ‘How long do fourth babies take, Louise?’ he tossed out to the runner. ‘Small ones?’

‘Hopefully more than two hours.’ Louise answered his black humour with her own. ‘I’m a midwife as well,’ she explained to Emily.

Theatre was an intricate and complicated world.

Every swab was counted, every pause noted, every instrument’s date of sterilisation checked, not a single blade or needle went unnoted—a seemingly seamless task but it was the black box of surgery and one that required a whole lot of effort from the first to the last in the room.

A small pause in proceedings ensued as Alex and Hugh had a drink of water and then re-gloved then they got back to work and Alex somehow did what he had to and concentrated on the patient.

There was no rushing.

For the young man on the table Alex Hadfield’s work was his very best chance at life. Emily watched as Alex explained things to Hugh and carried on as if his wife wasn’t in premature labour halfway down the corridor, but close to midday he looked over at Hugh.

‘I can take it from here,’ Hugh said, as Louise took a phone call.

‘I have your wife on the phone,’ Louise said, and Alex pulled of his gloves and took the phone and told Jennifer that he was on his way.

‘Oi,’ called Hugh as Alex walked off. ‘Don’t we get to know?’

But Alex was gone.

Hugh asked for a swab count before he closed, as was procedure.

Then he asked for another one.

Emily took no offence.

The operation had been interrupted, and she was also new.

Emily took absolutely no offence and counted again all the swabs and the instruments carefully.

It was her job to do so.

‘Thanks,’ Hugh said as, satisfied nothing was amiss, he started to close.

Lunch was very welcome but Emily found herself concentrating on more than her food when Hugh took a seat near her.

He smelt fantastic—somehow crisp even after hours spent operating—and his long outstretched legs were far too easy on the eye.

Oh, he was so far from ideal!

Emily’s ideal man came with some very specific prerequisites—looks didn’t matter, she would prefer that he was serious and that he didn’t make her laugh too much.

Neither must Emily’s perfect man imbue in her a sudden desire to get naked.

No, Emily’s perfect man was perfectly nice if somewhat staid.

In her ideal world they would have sex on Saturdays, more out of obligation than necessity—occasionally on Tuesday if Emily was on a late shift the next day and there was nothing good on television.

‘You’re new?’ Hugh said.

‘Emily has been working here for a year now!’ Louise, the nurse who had warned Emily about him in the changing room, quipped. ‘How rude that you haven’t noticed her before.’

It was just a small exchange, a teeny bit of fun, but Emily felt a slight flutter of unease as his green eyes told her that he certainly had noticed!

‘Emily Jackson,’ she said.

Hugh certainly had noticed her—from her pale blue eyes to her creamy skin. He wanted to know if the dark curl that peeked from beneath her theatre hat came from long or short hair and Emily’s soft Scottish accent also had him curious.

‘How long have you been in London?’ Hugh asked. ‘It can be a bit daunting at first.’ He was about to suggest that he could show her around perhaps when she interrupted him with a slightly wry smile.

‘I guess it was at first but I’ve been living here for years now, so I’m completely undaunted.’

She had meant to shut him down but Hugh had merely smiled. ‘Really?’

Let the flirting begin, his eyes said.

Except Emily refused to go there.

Quite simply, he daunted her.

Hugh took a phone call and his face broke into a smile. He offered his congratulations and then told everyone the good news. ‘It’s a little girl and her name is Josie and she’s doing very well.’

‘How much did she weigh?’ Louise asked.

‘I forgot to ask,’ Hugh admitted, and then stood. ‘I’d better go—a hernia repair awaits me.’ He turned and smiled at Emily. ‘It was nice to meet you.’

‘Same,’ Emily said, and she smiled but, and Hugh couldn’t quite get it, there was something about her smile that he could not put his finger on. It was pleasant, friendly even and yet … he could not find the word.

The afternoon list flew by and Hugh was just about to head up to the wards to check on his postoperative patients when he found out about the hair beneath her theatre cap.

Emily’s hair was long, thick, dark and curly. Without the shapeless theatre scrubs Hugh also noticed a curvy figure dressed in jeans, a heavy jacket and long boots.

‘See you,’ Hugh said.

‘Have a good night.’ There was that smile again and Hugh found the word he was looking for.

Sparing.

It was an incredibly cost-effective smile—it did its job but no more than that.

Already he wanted more.

No doubt Emily had been warned about him, Hugh reasoned, because he had felt the coolness of her brushoff. Or perhaps she was already involved with someone?

Still, even with Emily’s best efforts to deny that he moved her, the sparks flew between them whenever they were in Theatre together. So much so that at a Christmas work party a few weeks later Emily was relieved when Gina, an anaesthetist, offered her a lift back to her flat from the party, though she warned Emily that she was leaving in fifteen minutes.

With that deadline in mind, knowing she had a legitimate reason to leave soon, when Hugh offered to get Emily a drink she didn’t refuse.

‘Just a small one,’ Emily said, handing him her glass. ‘I’m going soon and I don’t want to miss my lift.’

Hugh returned with her drink a short while later and an offer too. ‘I can give you a lift if you want to stay a bit longer.’

Emily shook her head. ‘I have to be up early—I’m going up to Scotland tomorrow.’

‘Have you got family there?’

‘My mum.’ Emily nodded. ‘And quite a bit of extended family too.’

‘Do you have family here in London?’

Emily nodded again. ‘When my parents broke up my dad moved to England …’ Emily hesitated; she didn’t want to remember that time, moving in with dad’s girlfriend Katrina and her daughter Jessica. It actually hurt to recall those events so she hurriedly glossed over them. ‘I used to come down a lot to visit.’

‘How much?’

‘Half the school holidays, but when I left school I moved permanently down here to do nursing.’

‘I see.’

‘You don’t!’ Emily rolled her eyes. ‘Honestly, we’d be here till next week if I tried to explain it.’

‘I’m fine with that.’

There was a sudden plummet in Emily’s stomach as they moved deeper into conversation; she looked into very green eyes that, though smiling, for Emily spelt danger.

‘So,’ Hugh asked, ‘will you be in Scotland for Christmas?’

‘No.’ Emily shook her head. ‘I’m working, new girl and all that.’

She chose not to tell him that she preferred to work at Christmas. It was always a painful time. Whether she spent it at her mother’s or father’s, Emily always felt like a bit of a spare wheel. Her mum and second husband doted on Abby, their daughter together. As for her dad, he was now married to his latest—Donna—and was a father to one-year-old twins.

Yes, it was far too complicated to explain it all to Hugh.

‘So what are you doing for Christmas?’ Emily asked instead.

‘I’ll be at my parents’,’ Hugh said. ‘My sister has just had a baby, first grandchild …’ He gave a teeny eye-roll. ‘I’m to be on my best behaviour and not upset Kate.’

‘Your sister?’

‘Yep,’ Hugh said.

‘You don’t get on?’

‘We do get on,’ Hugh corrected, ‘usually.’

He was the easiest person she had ever spoken to and for Hugh it was the same. He had tried to talk to Alex yesterday about his sister Kate and had asked how Jennifer was doing, given that their babies had been born around the same time. Hugh had been told that Jennifer was coping beautifully, despite Josie being her fourth and prem.

Hugh had said nothing then about his concerns for his sister, though he voiced them easily now.

‘I think she’s got postnatal depression.’ Hugh said to Emily what he hadn’t to his boss. ‘But I have no idea apparently.’ Hugh sighed. ‘At least, according to my mother, my father, my brother-in-law, oh, and Kate too.’

‘It’s difficult,’ Emily said. ‘I remember when Donna had the twins …’ She faltered and Hugh noticed.

‘Donna?’

‘My dad’s second wife.’

She had tried so hard not to go there but now that she had she told him a bit more. ‘When they were born I had to help out a lot. I was ever so worried.’ She thought for a moment about Hugh’s situation. ‘Can you try talking to her husband again?’

‘I might.’ Hugh nodded. ‘What did your dad do?’

‘Not much.’ Emily gave a tight smile. She could hardly tell Hugh she had been worried that if things didn’t improve, and quickly, that her dad would have been out of the door.

‘So, what did you do?’

‘I took her to see her GP,’ Emily said. ‘I rang them and explained my concerns and then made the appointment for her and took her. Things did pick up. It took a while, but they did.’

Yes, things had picked up. Emily had done everything she could to not fall in love with her two half-brothers, but getting up at night, bathing them, feeding them, of course she had.

‘How is she now?’

Emily chose not to answer.

‘I’d better go.’

‘Emily?’

She didn’t want to answer, she didn’t want to say that, yes, while Donna was fine now, she wasn’t so sure that the marriage was.

‘Stay for a bit longer,’ Hugh pushed.

She didn’t want to, though, because she opened up too easily to him.

Fleeting.

She recalled Annie’s words.

Heartbreak.

Neither of those did she need.

She wanted her perfect man—one that meant she could hold onto her heart.

Right now that heart was hammering in her chest and very possibly about to be set free if that lovely, sexy mouth moved just a few inches closer, which it was possibly about to do.

‘I really do have to go …’ Emily chose to play it safe.

‘Why?’

‘I told you—I don’t want to miss my lift.’

‘And I told you—I’m very happy to drive you home.’

Hugh had more than noticed Emily and had hoped to get to know her some more tonight.

In the weeks she had been at The Royal she had intrigued him—Emily was friendly yet distant at the same time, and not just with him. Yes, she chatted easily with her colleagues and there was no doubt she was an extremely efficient nurse yet, and Hugh couldn’t quite put his finger on it, she held back, really revealing nothing.

Until tonight.

That small sliver of information about her parents had Hugh wanting to know more about Emily.

She was a curious girl, Hugh thought.

Something told him there was a lot more going on in that sensible head of hers and her cool exterior told Hugh that the full force of his charm would not be welcomed just yet.

Yes, his intention had been to take things very slowly until Gina called Emily’s name.

‘Emily!’

Hugh watched as she turned to the sound of her name but this time it was Hugh’s stomach that plummeted as he realised that it was Gina who would be driving Emily home.

Just yesterday Hugh had voiced his concerns about Gina to Alex and then Mr Eccleston, the head of anaesthetics. The decision as to whether or not to speak with Gina’s boss had been eating at him for weeks. Hugh had been through medical school with Gina—they were good friends and he had always looked out for her.

But he had to look out for the patients first.

He could not turn his back so had voiced his concerns and the truth was tonight he wasn’t sure that Gina hadn’t been drinking, or even if she was on something else.

All he knew now was that he could not let Emily get into a car with Gina and, given the delicate nature of his complaint, neither could he share his concerns with Emily. He instead chose to act on the undeniable sexual tension between them.

‘I’m taking you home.’

His words were very decisive and Emily looked back at him. An alarm was ringing in her head, warning her to just walk away now, except there was something else signalling louder.

Instinct.

She had never been more aware of it. Simply, her instinct told her to accept the kiss that was nearing.

‘Emily!’ They could both hear Gina calling her name again, but this time it seemed to be coming from a very long way off.

She caught the fresh tang of him, a scent that had remained trapped in her senses since the first day they had met. Oh, where was her perfect man when she needed him? The one that didn’t move her so.

Hugh lowered his head and his mouth brushed hers. Soft and warm, it made her own lips want to part like the Red Sea but she somehow held them closed. Except that meant she inhaled his scent, and the scent of Hugh was possibly more potent so she borrowed the wall behind her to lean on. His lips were more insistent now, nudging hers as his hands held her face, and finally their mouths commenced their first dance—a gentle dance at first to accustom themselves, then a playful dance that began to tease, but when their tongues met it was like an accelerant.

Hugh actually felt the shift. One minute they were kissing and the next their mouths belonged to each other. The party disappeared, the only noise was them—cool to his words she was hot to his mouth, Hugh felt as if he’d tripped and found a portal as he held the passion that burned in his arms. His hands left her face and moved to her hips without thought and were made very welcome for her bottom left the wall and the press of her body was as suggestive as his.

He pulled back but only because to continue would have them on the edge of indecent. Emily could taste his breath, see his lips wet from hers and she wanted to be back there now, yet she resisted the call of her body and moved her hips away from him.

Oh, it wasn’t that Hugh was bad that terrified her, it was that he was so, so good.

‘I really do have to go.’

She moved to the side and slipped past, and Hugh watched as she walked off, both trying to get his breath back and trying to ignore the fact he had been dismissed. Then he smothered the smile that came to his lips when Louise told Emily that Gina had just gone. ‘She said you looked busy.’

There was a flush on Emily’s cheeks but it wasn’t from embarrassment, it was from arousal by the man who was now by her side.

‘Let’s go.’

It could have been an awkward ride home except Emily knew that she was possibly approaching the ride of her life.

Never, in all her twenty-three years had a man detonated her the way Hugh had.

His hand was on her thigh as they drove and she took no offence for hers was on his and it was suggestive down to her fingernails in a way she had never been before. The relief when he turned off the engine at the same time as he pulled up the handbrake had her snap off her seat belt in haste to return to his mouth.

‘Emily …’ His hand was up her skirt like two out-of-control teenagers and the spinning wheels in her head slowed as he halted. ‘Not here.’

She was going to ask him in.

Sex.

Brilliant, sex and, and …

Emily pulled back her head and denied instinct.

‘I’m going in …’

‘Sure.’ Hugh would, of course, rather she asked him in too but, well, this would be so worth the wait.

She watched his mouth move and offer dinner, a catch-up next week, though his hand between her thighs told her it would definitely end in bed and it was time to bring things to a halt.

‘Hugh.’ She let out a breath. ‘I don’t know …’ She changed tack. ‘It’s just …’ How could she deny the want that thrummed between them? For Emily there was but one thing left to do so she came up with a rapid lie. ‘I’m seeing someone.’

‘Oh.’

‘Gregory.’

‘It’s fine, I get it …’ Though he didn’t. Poor Gregory, Hugh thought as he reclaimed his hand, because five minutes from now he’d have had her knickers off.

‘He’s in Scotland, so we don’t see each other as much as—’

‘You really don’t need to explain.’

And so the phantom Gregory was born.

When her father and Donna broke up in the New Year it was to Gregory she turned, rather than Hugh, though they did touch on it once, because Hugh came into the staffroom when Emily was on the phone.

‘Donna, I get it that you have issues with my father but I don’t understand what that has to do with me. If you don’t want to see me that’s fine but can I just take the twins to the park or for an ice cream every now and then …?’ She turned in her chair and saw that Hugh had come in just as Donna told her that, no, she’d prefer Emily didn’t have extra contact with the twins—she could see them when her father bothered to.

‘Is she not letting you see the twins?’ Hugh asked when she came off the phone.

‘I can see them when they’re with my dad, which isn’t very often. I asked if I could take them out at the weekend but it unsettles them apparently.’

‘Can she do that?’

‘Of course she can.’ Emily stood and went to walk past but Hugh caught her arm.

‘Emily?’

‘What?’

‘Do you want …?’ Hugh didn’t really know what he was offering.

Emily did.

Yes, she did want.

She wanted to burst into tears, she wanted him to take her out and not cheer her up, just share …

She wanted to share with him.

Emily looked down at the fingers that still held her wrist.

Oh, he could hurt her, Emily thought, and then looked up to his eyes. He could really, really hurt her.

‘I’ll sort it out,’ Emily said. ‘Gregory is going to try and speak with her.’

At the mention of Gregory his hand disengaged from her arm.

For the next three months, every time Emily went to visit her mother Hugh was brought up to speed through vague conversations. However, just as he was starting to wonder about the fact that Gregory never seemed to come down to London, Emily actually found her perfect guy for real, so Gregory was swiftly dumped.

Marcus was perfect.

Dark haired, terribly serious, he was a social worker at the hospital and liked to hike at weekends. Sex happened on Saturdays, occasional Tuesdays, and Emily developed solid calf muscles from trips up hillsides.

It was perfect for close to two years when the breaking news arrow shot across the hospital grapevine that Marcus had been found in a compromising position in the X-ray department with Heidi, the Swedish radiographer.

Hugh, now a senior registrar and going out with Olivia by then, expected tears in the staffroom, blushes and drama—the usual type of thing that happened with a very public break-up. With Emily that didn’t happen, though …

Oh, she was a curious thing.

Emily just shrugged it off and got on with work.

The very next Monday they stood in Theatre and Emily glanced up as the alarm went off on the cardiac monitor when the anaesthetised patient kicked off a few ectopic heartbeats.

‘All fine,’ Rory, the anaesthetist, called as the patient’s heart steadied back into a regular rhythm.

There were no flashing lights, no drama—it was hardly an event really.

And that was just how Emily liked things.

It was how she kept control.

CHAPTER ONE

‘I DON’T WANT to work there.’

It was, for Emily, as simple as that.

She and Hugh had been working together for close to three years now and often caught up on a Monday. Now, in their lunch break, they sat in the staffroom at their favourite table, putting the world to rights.

‘I think you’d be very good in Accident and Emergency,’ Hugh said. ‘Anyway, it’s only for three months.’

‘Well, why don’t you go and work in Labour and Delivery for three months and then get back to me with that statement.’

‘Fair point,’ Hugh conceded.

‘I’m going to speak to Miriam today and see if there’s any way I can get out of doing it.’

Miriam, the head of Critical Nursing, had, last year, decided to rotate the staff on the units. Emily had reluctantly done a three-month stint in ICU and had thought that would be the end of it, but Miriam had decided to press on with internally rotating the staff. Emily had been told that in June she would be commencing a term in Accident and Emergency.

Theatre was Emily’s stomping ground. The thought of working in Emergency was unsettling—the drama of it, the emotion, the constant loaning out of your heart if you chose to empathise, or the burn-out that left you a tough bitch. Emily couldn’t decide what was worse. She had no intention of revealing to Hugh the real reasons she was so opposed to the idea, so instead she changed the subject.

‘So, is it true?’ Hugh didn’t reply to her question but Emily pushed on. ‘Have you and Olivia broken up?’

‘Yep.’

‘I thought you two were happy.’

‘We were,’ Hugh said. ‘When we were together.’

‘What do you mean?’

It was Hugh who sat silent for a moment now. He and Olivia had been happy. Everyone had said how suited they were and, yes, their relationship had ticked most boxes.

Two boxes had been missing, though.

Olivia’s jealousy and trust issues were one and as for the other …

He looked across the table to where Emily was peeling open her croissant and sprinkling more black pepper onto the cheese and tomato that filled it. She loved black pepper—there were always a couple of sachets in the pocket of her scrubs.

He knew a lot more about her than he had three years ago.

Just not enough.

‘I don’t know how to explain it, Em,’ Hugh admitted. ‘I don’t know why Olivia felt that every time I was late home or out on a work do that there had to be more to it …’

‘You do have a reputation,’ Emily pointed out. As much as she liked catching up with Hugh, she loathed hearing about his life, his girlfriends, the wild parties and frequent holidays and weekends away.

Mondays were sometimes torture.

In fact, sometimes Emily dreaded them.

‘Perhaps I do have a reputation around the hospital but I’ve never cheated when I’m seeing someone …’ Hugh chose to go back a few years and watched a dull blush spread on her neck. ‘If I am then I wouldn’t so much as kiss another person.’

‘Well …’ Emily flustered a little. It was far too late, all these years on, to tell him there had never been a Gregory. It was far safer not to—that little black mark against her name was one she would happily wear if it kept her at a distance from Hugh. ‘So what brought it to a head?’

‘There’s a conference coming up in a couple of months that Hadfield wants me to go on. I only mentioned it in passing but … The thing is, if I’m going to stand any chance of getting the consultancy then I really ought to go and concentrate—but Olivia seemed to think it was a good chance to have a couple of days’ holiday, then she couldn’t fathom why I might not want her to go with me …’ His green eyes met Emily’s. ‘If I do get the consultancy position, things are only going to get busier for me. Call me selfish but I want to focus on my career and that means I can’t be checking in every five minutes and reassuring someone that I’m behaving …’ Hugh shook his head. ‘Am I unreasonable?’

‘No.’ Emily fully agreed and she genuinely meant her words. She had long ago learnt from her parents that a million phone calls and texts meant little. ‘If someone’s going to cheat, they will.’

Hugh rolled his eyes. ‘The point is, Em, I don’t cheat. More to the point right now, Alex is pretty angry that I’ve broken up with Olivia and I want that promotion.’ Hugh brooded for a moment. ‘I got turned down last year.’

‘Ouch,’ Emily said.

‘I get it that I perhaps wasn’t ready then but I am ready now.’

‘He can’t judge whether or not you get the role on that.’

‘I’m sure he wouldn’t admit to it, but he’s of the opinion that behind every great surgeon is a stable home life …’ Hugh rolled his eyes and Emily laughed. ‘I want that role,’ Hugh said. Alex was a professor now and a consultancy position had officially opened up and Hugh could think of no one that he wanted to work alongside more. Alex was an amazing mentor. His technique and studies into laparoscopic surgery were right at the front of the game and every hour of every day Alex taught him something new.

‘Behave for a few months, then!’ Emily said. ‘It really isn’t that difficult.’

‘Oh, but it is when you find yourself suddenly single.’ Hugh drained his cup and then headed back to work. Emily sat alone for a while, pondering a suddenly single Hugh.

It was the time she loathed him most.

Or rather the time she loathed most.

Hugh worked hard and partied the same way. If she didn’t have to hear it on Monday in Theatre then it was all over bloody Facebook.

She had the next hour at the computer to work on the off-duty roster then she was down to scrub for Alex, but instead of heading to tackle the roster Emily looked over at Miriam, who was just heading out of the staffroom.

Instead of rinsing her cup and plate, Emily put them in the sink and caught up with her. ‘Miriam, I wondered if I could have a word.’

‘Now?’ Miriam checked, and Emily nodded.

This needed to be done.

They stepped into Miriam’s office and Emily took a seat as Miriam gave her a thin smile. ‘I can guess what this is about. I know that you’re not keen to go to A and E.’

‘Because I’m happy here,’ Emily said.

‘Emily, rotating the critical care staff has proved a success. Handovers are smoother, we’re all more aware of the other departments’ procedures …’

‘I understand that,’ Emily said, ‘but I chose to be a theatre nurse.’

‘And you’re a very good one,’ Miriam said. ‘One who I hope will go far …’ She left the rest unsaid but to Emily it was clear that if she wanted to go further in her career here, which she did, then she would have to comply. ‘It’s a couple of months away,’ Miriam added. ‘There’s plenty of time to get used to the idea.’

Emily didn’t want to get used to the idea, she liked being used to here!

‘Any luck with Miriam?’ Hugh asked at the end of the day as Emily came out of the changing room dressed for the outside world. Hugh was looking pretty drained—he’d been operating since eight a.m. and now would be heading up to the wards to check on his post-operative patients.

‘Nope.’ Emily’s jaw tensed and she let out a tense breath. ‘If I want to get on—’

‘Ha,’ Hugh interrupted. ‘Don’t complain about that to me—at least you don’t have Alex as your boss. I need a wife if I want to get on.’

‘When we’re in charge we’ll change the world,’ Emily said as they walked together. Hugh was heading up to ICU, Emily for home, and it felt like a long time till next Monday for Hugh.

Hugh was possibly the one person who did like Mondays. Sure, he and Emily caught up during the week at various times but Monday was Alex’s rostered operating day and on the days that Emily wasn’t there he missed her.

Yes, Hugh wanted to finally move things on between them and give this almost romance its wings. He wanted a nice table between them and a waiter whose arm would probably drop off as he cracked enough pepper to satisfy Emily.

Okay, Hugh decided as they walked down the long corridor, whatever happened, he would not let it affect their friendship.

‘You do realise,’ Hugh said as they reached the swing doors that would take them out of Theatre and to their separate destinations, ‘that this is the first time in three years that we’ve both been single at the same time.’

Nice opening! Hugh was just silently congratulating himself when Emily delivered her response.

‘Well, I don’t know about you but I’m staying that way,’ Emily said, shutting down the conversation as firmly as the black doors swung closed behind them. ‘’Night, Hugh, it was nice working with you today.’

Was he missing something?

Hugh just watched as she walked off.

Did he have body odour that only Emily could smell?

They liked each other!

They fancied each other!

He could taste it.

If only she’d let him.

‘Problem?’ Alex asked, as he came out and saw his junior standing with a puzzled frown on his face.

‘More a mystery,’ Hugh said. ‘One I intend to work out.’

He couldn’t, though.

It would seem Emily was serious about staying single and for two whole months she did just that.

Till Hugh decided they might need a little helping hand.

CHAPTER TWO

‘ARE YOU COMING to Emily’s leaving do on Friday?’ Louise asked Hugh, and Emily rather hoped the answer would be no—a meal at Imelda’s and a few drinks afterwards would probably be a bit tame for Hugh.

‘Can we do the swab count before I start to close?’ Hugh said, instead of answering.

Nothing distracted him, Emily noted.

It was the mark of a brilliant surgeon.

Hugh chatted and joked but when it mattered he concentrated totally. As boring as the swab count and equipment check might be, it was necessary to ensure that nothing was left inside the patient before the surgeon closed, and Hugh took it seriously.

The counts all tallied.

‘It isn’t Emily’s leaving do,’ Hugh said, as he started to close the incision. ‘She’s only going to be working in A and E for three months but, yes, I’ll be there. Actually, Alex and his wife are coming too, if they can get a babysitter.’

‘It’s just a few drinks …’ Emily frowned because why the hell was Alex coming, let alone his wife? ‘As you said, it’s not even a leaving do.’

Except, unbeknown to anyone but Emily, it very possibly was her leaving do.

Emily hadn’t yet handed in her notice but next Wednesday she was going to Cornwall for a week and had decided if, after a break, she still felt the same way about working in A and E, then that was what she would do.

‘You’re going to be missed,’ Hugh said. Emily saw his lovely green eyes over the mask and, yes, he was speaking the truth both personally and professionally. Emily was efficient, incredibly efficient, some might say pedantic and others set in her ways, but Theatre worked well with pedantic nurses. ‘Mondays won’t be the same.’

‘Actually, they shall, for a little while at least,’ Emily said. ‘I’m back working here on Monday as an extra shift—they haven’t found my replacement yet. The nurse who was coming here from A and E resigned.’

‘When do you go on holiday?’ Louise asked.

‘Next Wednesday,’ Emily answered. ‘A whole week of doing nothing but walking and reading. I can’t wait.’

‘There’s some nice weather predicted …’ Louise smiled.

‘Which means it will rain!’ Hugh’s comment was dry.

‘I don’t care,’ Emily said. ‘I just want to read and walk on the beach and relax.’

‘Well, you’ll need it before you go to A and E,’ Louise said.

‘How are we doing, Rory?’ Hugh glanced over at the anaesthetist as a couple of alarms started to sound.

‘All good. How much longer?’

‘Done,’ Hugh said.

Yes, it was a very small world in Theatre. Emily headed to the large staffroom. She was the first there but everyone would soon come in. Rarely did anyone go to the canteen—it was too much trouble to change shoes and things. She turned and gave a brief smile as Hugh came in and she got out her lunch from the fridge but, as they sat down, instead of their usual catch-up Hugh got paged to go up to a ward.

‘Damn,’ Hugh said. ‘I wanted to talk to you.’

‘I’m sure it will keep.’

Hugh thought for a moment as he answered his page. Emily was right, it would keep and what he had to ask her would probably go better with wine!

‘Can I borrow you for ten minutes on Friday night?’

‘Borrow me?’

‘Well, I know you’ll be busy but there’s something that I want to ask you away from everyone else.’

‘Like what?’

‘Not here.’

‘Have you got another rash?’ Emily smirked.

‘Ha-ha.’

They both smiled as they remembered the day when Hugh, for once, had struggled to focus. Emily had been scrub nurse and had frowned as a usually together Hugh had breathed loudly beside her, sweat beading on his forehead as he kept moving from one foot to the other. The second the operation had been over he had fled and, walking past the male changing rooms on the way to the staffroom, Emily had seen his frantic face peer out.

‘Emily …’ he’d hissed. ‘I need some antihistamine.’

‘What?’

‘Now. IM …’

‘An injection?’

Hugh let the towel slip a fraction and Emily’s eyes widened at the sight of the angry red welts and urticarial rash spreading down his buttocks.

‘Believe me, Emily, that’s not the worst of it …’

‘I don’t want to see the rest.’

Oh, my!

Emily had returned with the injection and some hydrocortisone cream for Hugh to put on himself and had happily stabbed him.

‘Maybe it was the shaving cream …’

She didn’t want to know that he’d shaved, or that she, whoever she was this week, had shaved him. Emily was tired of the glimpses into his love life.

‘Have you changed your washing powder?’ Emily asked instead.

‘No.’ Hugh shook his head and thought for a moment. ‘Though I did buy the liquid one.’

As it turned out, he had bought the triple-strength liquid one!

Happily, his reaction had calmed and the theatre list had gone ahead, Emily trying and failing not to dwell on the fact that he was naked and bald beneath his scrubs.

‘What will I do without you?’ Hugh asked, still smiling as he recalled that day.

‘Inject your own antihistamine!’

‘That was a long time ago, Emily.’

Yet she remembered it like it was yesterday.

The hurt, the jealousy, the itch of her own that she simply refused to scratch.

‘If I don’t catch up with you properly,’ Hugh said, ‘then I’ll see you Friday.’

‘Okay.’

Friday found her in the staff changing room, getting ready to go to Imelda’s, a nice casual bar that did amazing food and, on weekends, had a band.

Emily was tired before the night had even started but, given it was her leaving do, she did her best not to show it.

Louise and she changed at work. Emily into a tube skirt and top, Louise into the tightest red dress and high heels. They were close friends now.

Louise looked stunning, especially when she topped it off with dark red lipstick.

‘Tart,’ Emily said.

‘A happy tart, though.’ Louise smiled.

‘Are you?’ Emily checked. Louise was coming out of a terrible break up and had been very subdued but finally she seemed to be finding herself again.

‘I’m getting there,’ Louise said. ‘Come on.’

They walked out of Theatre and down the corridor and there, coming towards them, was Anton, the new Italian obstetrician who had hearts thumping everywhere.

‘Hi, Anton.’ Louise smiled.

‘Evening.’

‘We’re heading over to Imelda’s—there will be quite a few of us.’ Louise gave a smile that could be described as sweet were it not for the wanton red lips, but it was barely returned.

‘I’m working,’ Anton said, and strode off.

‘You’re subtle,’ Emily commented.

‘He’s fresh off the plane,’ Louise said. ‘I was just doing my social duty. God, don’t you want to just grab him by the stethoscope and climb up it?’

‘No.’ Emily laughed. ‘Not in the least, he’s far too moody for me.’

They had booked a room at the back of the restaurant and it was actually really nice to be among friends and colleagues. Hugh hadn’t arrived but that was possibly a good thing as Emily didn’t really want to meet whomever it was that he was dating now.

Surely he was seeing someone.

Two months single for Hugh would be a record.

Or maybe he was just enjoying the off-season and sleeping around, though, for once, Emily had heard nothing on the grapevine about him.

Emily sat between Louise and Alex’s wife Jennifer and, as it turned out, Louise had news of her own.

‘It will be my leaving do next,’ Louise said.

‘You’ve just done your internal rotation.’ Emily frowned.

‘No, mine will be for real.’ Louise’s blue eyes were shining. ‘I’m going to work in Maternity.’

‘When did you decide that?’

‘It’s been brewing for a while,’ Louise admitted. ‘I can’t wait to get back there.’

‘It wouldn’t have anything to do with Anton?’ Emily teased.

‘God, no! I’m not that shallow,’ Louise said, because despite walking a little on the wild side she took her work seriously. ‘I’m just ready for a change. I love the Caesareans we have in Theatre and lately it’s just not been enough for me. I want to be more involved with the mothers and babies.’ She smiled at Emily. ‘You like the cool of Theatre, don’t you?’

‘I do,’ Emily said.

‘I just want back out there …’ Louise admitted.

‘Have you told Miriam?’

‘Not yet.’ Louise winced at the very thought. ‘I haven’t actually applied for a position yet, I’m just putting out feelers, but I don’t think Miriam will be very pleased—a lot of staff have left recently.’

‘Well, she should have thought of that before she moved the goalposts for getting a promotion,’ Emily said, but as Louise went to open her mouth to respond she stopped her. ‘If another person tells me I’ll be great and that it will fly by, I won’t be responsible for my response.’

‘I’ll say nothing, then.’ Louise smiled. ‘I’ll get you a drink instead.’

Hugh arrived just as dessert was being served. Emily was sitting chatting to Alex and Jennifer when Hugh came over. He gave her a kiss on the cheek, which was a bit uncalled for, but, yes, at the time Emily put it down to the fact that it was her leaving do.

‘Sorry, I tried to get here earlier …’ Hugh said.

‘It’s fine.’

‘I got stuck up on ICU …’

‘Really, Hugh, it’s fine,’ Emily said. She had no idea why he was making such a fuss about not getting here on time—a lot of her colleagues were only dropping in for a drink after all.

‘I’ll get you a drink,’ Hugh offered.

‘I don’t want one …’ Emily said, only Hugh wasn’t listening. He headed off to the bar and returned with something very icy and bubbly and so not what Emily wanted. She’d had a bit too much icy and bubbly and she wasn’t a big drinker at the best of times but everyone seemed determined to buy her one tonight.

‘You’ll be dancing on the tables in a few weeks,’ Hugh said, squeezing a chair into the tiny gap between herself and Louise.

‘Why?’

‘I’m here tomorrow night with the emergency mob for Gina’s thirtieth—believe me, the theatre staff’s nights outs are very civilised in comparison to that lot.’

Emily went over to speak with Connor, another theatre nurse, but Hugh was like an annoying wasp and hanging around her like some lovesick teenager. Frankly, he was starting to really annoy her.

‘What?’ Emily snapped, when still Hugh hovered. ‘What’s going on, Hugh?’

‘Can I have that ten minutes now?’

‘Fine,’ Emily sighed, and turned to him.

‘Outside.’

‘Hugh, it’s my leaving do, I’m not going to—’

‘Ten minutes.’

Emily headed outside.

‘I want to ask you something. You know what I said about us still being single—do you want to give us a try?’

Emily was taken aback by his directness.

‘No.’

‘Can I ask why?’

‘I don’t need to give a reason.’ She went to head back but Hugh caught her arm.

‘I’ve still got nine minutes of your time left.’

‘Use them wisely, then,’ Emily said.

‘Okay.’ Hugh took a breath. ‘Second question. Would you consider pretending to go out with me?’

‘Pretend?’

‘I want the consultancy. Alex likes you …’

‘That’s the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard. He’d soon find out you were lying.’

‘Not if we’re clever about it.’

‘No.’

‘Give me one good reason why not,’ Hugh said.

She looked at Hugh, his hair flopping over his eyes, his green eyes smiling, and he was just so cocky and assured, so utterly at ease with himself that Emily could tell he was a touch taken back that she hadn’t jumped at the chance to be his fake girlfriend.

‘You know what Alex is like,’ Hugh persisted. ‘He hasn’t come right out and said it but the writing’s on the wall—he wants to know that my party days are over before he’ll give me the consultancy.’

‘But they’re not over,’ Emily pointed out.

‘They could be for the next couple of months.’

‘I’m not handing over two months of my life to be your fake girlfriend—’

‘No,’ Hugh interrupted. ‘I’m not asking for two months, I’m asking for a couple of Saturday nights and the occasional wedding. I could come down to Cornwall at the weekend and kick things off with a few photos. You’re not seeing anyone and surely …’ He hesitated.

‘Go on.’

‘It will be exciting.’

‘Really!’ Emily was having trouble keeping an incredulous smile from her lips. ‘Tell me how.’

‘Well …’ Hugh actually had the decency to look a touch uncomfortable. ‘You said that your holiday was going to be a bit boring …’

‘No, I didn’t,’ Emily corrected him. ‘I said my holiday was going to be very quiet, which, somewhere between here …’ she tapped her lips ‘… and there …’ she tapped his forehead ‘… you translated as boring. A week in a cottage, doing nothing, isn’t boring, Hugh.’

‘It certainly wouldn’t be if I came along.’ Hugh grinned.

‘Would I have to sleep with you?’ Emily asked. ‘In this little charade of yours, would sex be on the books?’

‘If you want to,’ Hugh said, mildly surprised that Emily had so readily brought it up. ‘If you’re saddled with being my girlfriend, there would have to be perks …’

‘Your ego knows no bounds.’

‘Think about it,’ Hugh said.

‘I have,’ Emily said, and started to walk back inside, ‘and the answer’s no.’

‘Come on, Emily …’

‘Was that the reason for the kisses and the “Sorry I couldn’t get here earlier” and following me about?’

‘Yep.’

‘I tell you one thing,’ Emily said, ‘if we were going out then we wouldn’t be for long if you followed me about like that.’

‘I know.’ Hugh laughed. ‘I was just trying to get Alex used to the possibility that we were on with each other … I was actually starting to annoy myself.’

Had he left it at that, all would have been okay.

If a glass of champagne hadn’t been thrust into her hand by Louise then possibly things wouldn’t have unravelled but, unknown to anyone, she was battling tears.

His fake girlfriend.

Bloody cheek, Emily thought.

She wanted to be his real one.

So why hadn’t she simply said yes when he’d asked to give them a try? Or had that been just a ruse for Alex’s benefit too?

Damn you, Hugh!

Emily knew she was being contrary, she knew that over the years Hugh must at times have felt like some baffled semaphore signaller as she’d flirted and waved red flags while her mouth had done its best to refute what her body said.

After the break-up with Marcus it had been relatively easy to move on, but getting over Hugh … Emily tried to imagine working alongside him when she had been relegated to being his ex and—fake girlfriend or real one—she knew that one day the inevitable would happen.

But if she wasn’t working there …

Stop it, Emily told herself, determined not to go there. It was a relief when people started to leave and Emily could go and retrieve her bag. Hugh’s strange offer had left her all unsettled and quite simply she wanted home.

Only Hugh had other ideas.

As she stepped out onto the street she heard him call her name.

‘Emily …’ Hugh caught her arm. ‘Have you thought about it?’

‘Sorry?’

‘You know …’ Hugh said, moving her into the shadows, ‘what we were talking about before.’

‘I’ve already given you my answer.’

‘Oh, come on, Emily, it would be fun.’

‘How?’

Emily stood there. A taxi was approaching and her friends were calling for her to join them and there was Alex and his wife Jennifer leaving.

She knew that because Hugh chose his moment and started kissing her neck.

‘Foreshadowing,’ Hugh said, in between kisses.

‘Or just adding to your reputation,’ Emily said, trying to ignore the sensations his lips were delivering, trying not to be moved by the feel of Hugh’s hands on her waist.

Little butterfly kisses were being delivered to her cheeks and her lips were starting to thrum hungrily in anticipation as, three years on, the master picked up the lead and offered a decadent walk. And just as she had when last they’d kissed, Emily had to come up with a rapid reason why it wouldn’t work.

Before lips met she had to come up with a reason or she’d be dragging him by the hair to the taxi and up the stairs to her bed.

Or would she let him drag her.

Oh, my!

She was again starting to consider the possibilities, just tossing all warnings aside and going along with his ridiculous plan. It was the feeling of suddenly wavering that had Emily pull back.

‘I can’t do it.’

‘I’m waiting for the reason.’

‘I can’t do it because …’ Come on, think, Emily, she told herself, come up with one very good reason why it would be an impossible idea. And then her champagne- and Hugh-befuddled brain found a solution. ‘Because I don’t like you,’ Emily said. Hugh just grinned.

‘No, I mean it, I don’t really enjoy your company so …’ Shut up, Emily, her mind said, but she simply couldn’t stop. Emily could actually see the frown between his eyes as the words hit. ‘I put up with you at work, of course, it’s part of my job, but …’

‘Okay.’ He stepped back.

‘You asked why not,’ Emily said. ‘You asked for one good reason …’

‘I get the message,’ Hugh said. ‘Finally.’

Emily closed her eyes, very aware that she had handled that terribly, then she forced them open and took a breath, knowing that she had to apologise.

But how?

How could she explain that she didn’t like his company at times because it ate her up inside? How could she explain when he was inches from her mouth that her feelings for him terrified her?

‘Hugh …’

‘Let’s just leave it.’

They walked over to the line of taxis and Hugh opened the door of one for her.

‘Hugh …’ Emily said as she got in.

‘’Night, Emily.’ He closed the door.

All the way home Emily kicked herself. She couldn’t have handled that more badly if she had tried but the near kiss had actually caused her to panic.

Get over yourself.

Maybe it was time to, Emily thought. Perhaps she could apologise properly on Monday.

Maybe even explain how she felt?

That she was actually terrified to get close to anyone.

She paid the taxi driver and headed to her home, and for the first time her resolution wavered, the cloak of self-preservation almost slid off, for she wanted the feelings Hugh triggered and yet she knew, from his undeniable track record, that soon they’d be done.

Time to take a risk, Emily.

In fact, it was long overdue that she did.

She was just pulling him up on her computer, just trying to convince herself to wait till tomorrow to attempt contact because she’d made enough of a mess of things tonight already.

Then she saw that she had a message.

From her dad.

Emily, I tried to call.

I’ve got some good news, two bits of good news actually.

Emily read the message, her eyes filling with tears as she heard that her dad was marrying again and soon, because—guess what—Cathy was pregnant!

A little brother or sister for you, her dad tossed in, and she was very glad she’d missed his call because she felt like screaming.

Would it be like it had been with the twins all over again?

She actually ached to see them but it wasn’t just the blood relations that hurt. There had been so many girlfriends and along with them their children, and it was much the same with her mum.

‘I don’t want to go to your wedding.’ Emily said it out loud as she stared at the screen, though she knew she’d do the right thing and be there, more in the hope of seeing the twins, though.

If Donna let them attend.

That was why she was like this, Emily reminded herself. That was why she let no one in.

She checked her reminders. It was her half-sister Abby’s birthday tomorrow and though she had sent a gift in the post Emily posted a message on her mum’s timeline.

She flicked through some images; saw Abby smiling with her own dad’s children from a previous relationship.

There wasn’t enough wood in a forest to map Emily’s family tree.

It was always the one, her parents told her when they met the latest love of their life.

This time they were sure.

Until it was over.

Emily allowed herself one look at the smiling image of Hugh on her screen and then clicked off.

Hugh was a sure-fire recipe for disaster.

She was right to refuse herself a taste.

CHAPTER THREE

FOR ONCE HUGH wasn’t looking forward to Monday.

And it wasn’t just Emily’s revelation that had soured the weekend!

The accident and emergency do had been a little wild and Hugh had again had to put out an increasingly regular fire named Gina.

He’d gone round yesterday to speak to her and she’d done her best to convince him it had just been a one-off, that she hadn’t been the only one who’d had too much to drink.

True.

And, yes, it had been her thirtieth birthday after all.

Yet Hugh wasn’t so sure it was just the drinking that was the problem.

Three years ago when he’d voiced his concerns first to Alex and then to Mr Eccleston, the head of Anaesthetics, he had been taken seriously. Gina had actually cried on him about the unknown person who had threatened her career.

It had all come to nothing and it had eaten Hugh up since then that possibly he had jumped the gun because Gina really was an amazing doctor and she had proved it over and over.

Just lately, though, Hugh felt that things were sliding again.

Driving to work, he took a call from his sister. ‘Is everything okay?’ Hugh instantly checked.

‘Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?’ Kate answered.

‘It’s not even seven a.m.’

‘Well, I knew you’d be on your way to work and I don’t like to trouble you there.’

‘You can call me any time, Kate.’

‘Hugh, can you take your social-worker voice off? Just because I’ve had a baby it doesn’t mean that there has to be a problem.’

Easy for you to say, Hugh thought, pulling up at traffic lights. Three years ago Hugh had taken Emily’s advice and practically frogmarched Kate to her doctor, and still, all these years on, what had happened in Kate’s dark teenage years ate at him.

‘So, what are you calling for?’ Hugh asked instead.