“But you won’t go out with me?” Title Page 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 Copyright

“But you won’t go out with me?”

“Jonathan.” Gaye seemed to be choosing her words carefully. “I’m not married. I’m not engaged. I’m not involved with anyone. Nor do I dislike you.”

“Then...”

“But neither am I in the market for the sort of frivolous, meaningless affair I’m sure you have in mind,” she stated firmly. “And despite what you may think to the contrary, I do not mean that insultingly.”

“You don’t?” Now he was the one having trouble holding back a smile; she certainly had him weighed up. Or, at least, she had, until now.... He couldn’t imagine indulging in a meaningless, frivolous affair with her, either. He wasn’t sure what he had in mind, but it wouldn’t be meaningless!

Jarrett, Jonathan and Jordan

are

Some men are meant to marry!

Meet three brothers: Jarrett is the eldest, Hunter

by name, hunter by nature. Jonathan’s in the

middle and a real charmer; there’s never been a

woman whom he wanted and couldn’t have.

Jordan is the youngest, and he’s devilishly

attractive, but he’s determined never to succumb

to emotional commitment.

These bachelor brothers appear to have it all—

looks, wealth, power...but what about love?

That’s where Abbie, Gaye and Stazy come in....

As Jarrett, Jonathan and Jordan are about to

discover—wanting a woman is one thing,

winning her heart is quite another!

Look out for Jordan’s story!

Coming next month in

To Be a Bridegroom

#2051

To Be a Husband

Carole Mortimer

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

GAYE looked up at the man as he walked nonchalantly down the corridor from the security desk toward the nurses’ station where she sat. He appeared in no hurry; in fact he strolled along as if he had all the time in the world. Which was unusual in this private maternity home; the men who visited were either new fathers already, or about to become so at any moment. In either case they were usually much more eager to be with their wives or partners at this time than this man appeared to be.

A reluctant father, Gaye decided ruefully. But his casual stroll down the hallway allowed her time to study him even as she waited for the telephone call she had made to be answered. And this man was definitely worth studying—even to Gaye’s jaundiced eye...

He was tall, well over six feet, with thick golden-blond hair that was inclined to curl, and a face so perfectly sculptured, he might have been too perfect if it weren’t for the fact that at some stage in his life his nose had been broken, leaving it slightly crooked, adding a certain arrogance to his aristocratic face. His dark suit, Gaye could see, no matter how easily he wore it, was tailor-made, and very expensive, the pristine white of the shirt he wore beneath it emphasising his deep mahogany tan.

That tan was even more noticeable as he reached her desk and smiled, his teeth very white and even. ‘Hello,’ he greeted warmly, laughter-lines crinkling beside the sensuality of his mouth, his gaze appreciative.

Those eyes held Gaye mesmerised as she put her hand over the receiver and looked up at him enquiringly, letting the phone carry on ringing at the other end; it remained unanswered—expectant fathers, despite their wives’ obvious condition, could sometimes be most difficult to contact!

But Gaye had never seen eyes the colour of this man’s before. A deep, beautiful gold—the colour of gold when it was melted down to liquid, variations of light and dark. Lion’s eyes. Amazing!

But as he looked to be in his mid-to-late thirties he was probably well aware of the effect his looks had on women, and Gaye made sure her voice sounded businesslike as she answered him. ‘Can I help you?’ she enquired.

That devastating smile remained. ‘I’m sure yon can, Nurse—Royal.’ He filled in her surname after a glance at the name-tag pinned to her uniform just above her left breast. ‘My name is Hunter, and—’

‘Hunter!’ she repeated sharply, putting down the telephone receiver to stand up abruptly. ‘I was just trying to contact you. We’ve been telephoning you for the last hour—’

‘You have?’ He frowned his puzzlement at her sudden urgency on hearing his name. ‘But, as I understood the situation, Abbie was only brought in a couple of hours ago—’

‘In the early stages of premature labour,’ Gaye confirmed, even as she spoke sizing him up for the gown he was shortly going to need. ‘Mrs Hunter is on her way to Theatre now. If we hurry, you can still be present for the birth.’ As her husband so rightly said, Abbie Hunter had only been admitted two hours ago; her onset of labour was only three weeks early, but there were other complications that had prompted the specialist to decide on an emergency Caesarean; that was the reason they had been trying so desperately to contact her husband. Thank God he had turned up; his wife had been distraught at the thought of him not being with her.

Obviously this man could have no idea of the urgency of his wife’s condition, but, even so, from the way he had strolled down the corridor minutes ago, he hadn’t been in too much of a hurry to get here, anyway! And his wife was lovely, absolutely beautiful, with a warm personality, and obviously so worried that something was going to go wrong during the birth of the baby she so much wanted.

Gaye’s eyes were coolly green as she looked across at the other woman’s husband. ‘It was my understanding that Mrs Hunter wanted you to be present at the birth.’ She quirked blond brows at his obvious reluctance to comply.

He swallowed hard, looking as if he had gone slightly pale beneath his tan. ‘She does?’

He was wasting precious time, deliberately so, Gaye felt sure. But it was the patient’s welfare that she was concerned with, not his—and Abbie Hunter wanted him with her at their child’s birth.

‘Come along with me,’ she told him briskly. ‘I’ll see you gowned up, and take you to Theatre myself.’ She strode ahead of him down the corridor, tall and loose-limbed, her blue uniform doing little to hide the perfect curves beneath.

Something Mr Hunter was all too aware of, Gaye realised with irritation as she turned back to check he was following her. Not only was he right behind her, but he was watching the gentle sway of her hips with obvious male appreciation! Her opinion of men wasn’t very high at the best of times, but really! This man’s wife was in labour, about to give birth to his child—and he was not only reluctant to be with her in Theatre, but was ogling the attributes of another woman. Typical!

Gaye’s manner was even more frosty as she provided them both with Theatre gowns. In all her years of nursing, latterly specialising in midwifery, she had never had a patient’s husband being openly flirtatious with her!

To make matters worse, once they were in Theatre, he took one look at his wife as she lay sleepily on the operating table, and went almost the same colour green as the gown he wore. Wonderful! They were going to have a faller... !

It happened, of course. Quite a lot of men found it difficult to cope with normal childbirth, let alone under these circumstances. But Mr Hunter had seemed such a self-confident individual, she would never have guessed he was squeamish. It showed you never could tell...

‘Talk to your wife,’ Gaye encouraged softly; if he fainted then the Theatre team would just work around him where he fell!

He frowned down at her. ‘My wife? But—’

‘She’s sleepy, but awake,’ Gaye assured him. ‘Talk to her. It will help.’ Both of them, she hoped—Abbie Hunter to remain calm, her husband to stop from collapsing at their feet!

Pleasure lit up the violet-blue eyes of the woman on the operating table as she looked up and saw him, although she frowned slightly. ‘Jonathan...?’

‘Jarrett is on his way, Abbie,’ Jonathan reassured her calmly—despite his chalk-white face!—as he stepped forward to her side. ‘He’ll be with us as soon as he can.’

Well, at least he was doing his bit now, Gaye acknowledged with satisfaction. If they could just stop him from fainting...!

‘Just keep talking to her,’ Gaye continued to encourage. ‘And your son will be with you both very shortly.’ It didn’t surprise her that this couple knew the sex of their child, or indeed that they had already named him; the Hunter family, like most of the couples who chose to give birth here, were rich and affluent, and it was easier, as regards decorating the nursery and choosing clothes, if they knew the sex of their child before it was born.

Mr Gilchrist had begun the operation now, and it was not the time for a tall, dark-haired man to come striding in, unannounced and ungowned, quickly followed by a protesting midwife. What on earth—?

‘Will someone kindly get him out of my Theatre?’ the surgeon snarled impatiently as he continued to concentrate on his patient. ‘Anyone would think this was a damned circus, not an operating Theatre!’ he added disgustedly.

‘I’m not about to go anywhere, James,’ the tall, dark-haired man informed him imperiously. ‘That’s my wife you have there.’ He nodded towards Abbie Hunter. ‘And I intend being with her during the birth of our child.’

His wife? His child...?

Gaye looked from the dark intruder to the man standing at Abbie Hunter’s side, holding her hand; if the newcomer was her husband, then who on earth was he? James Gilchrist was right; this was turning into a circus—and she was in the middle of it!

James Gilchrist straightened, looking frowningly at Abbie Hunter’s husband. ‘I realise who you are, Jarrett,’ he accepted dryly, turning to the man at Abbie’s other side. ‘And whoever you are I suggest you get out and let us get on with the birth of this baby,’ he rasped.

The blond man stepped back, taking off his gown and handing it to the dark-haired man who had now come fully into the room. ‘With pleasure,’ he agreed gratefully. ‘I’ll be waiting outside,’ he told the man called Jarrett—before beating a hasty retreat.

Gaye followed him. Somehow she had made the most terrible gaffe of her career, had taken the wrong man in to see the birth of a baby. But Jonathan Hunter had let her do it! Why on earth hadn’t he told her he wasn’t Abbie’s husband? She was never going to live this down. And as for Mr Gilchrist—!

‘Exactly who are you?’ Gaye demanded once the two of them were back outside in the corridor, her green eyes flashing like twin jewels.

The colour was slowly coming back into the man’s cheeks, the gleam of humour returning into his eyes too. ‘Jonathan Hunter,’ he supplied unhelpfully, head tilting to one side as she still looked up at him questioningly. ‘Uncle, not father, of the baby,’ he explained.

Jarrett Hunter’s brother. Abbie Hunter’s brother-in-law.

Gaye thought back to the dark man who had stridden so assuredly into the operating Theatre demanding to be at his wife’s side, realising now that he had those same unusual golden eyes. But other than that there were no similarities between the two to indicate their relationship, one so tall, dark, and commanding, the other tall and golden-blond, with a lazy ease of charm. Although she had a feeling Jonathan Hunter could be just as arrogant as his brother if the occasion arose...

She looked at him irritatedly. ‘Why on earth didn’t you tell me that in the beginning?’

He raised mocking blond brows. ‘As I recall, you hardly gave me a chance to explain anything!’

Colour suffused her cheeks as she remembered the way she had reacted on hearing his name; as he claimed, she hadn’t really given him a chance to explain his relationship to Abbie Hunter. Part of the reason for that, she knew, but would never admit to anyone but herself, was the fact that she had felt the pull of his magnetic attraction from the first. And she had been angry with herself, and him, before he’d even opened his mouth! Her behaviour towards him had been all the sharper because of that.

‘If it makes you feel any better,’ Jonathan Hunter continued, ‘if Jarrett hadn’t arrived when he did, he would have expected me to be in there with Abbie.’ He nodded in the direction of the operating Theatre they had just left. ‘He and Abbie have only been married a couple of years, and this is their first child together. It’s unfortunate it happened a little earlier than expected, otherwise I can assure you you would have had no trouble whatsoever contacting Jarrett—because he would already have been at Abbie’s side! He only went off to his meeting this morning because Abbie insisted she was fine. But I can also assure you, if he hadn’t got here, and I had merely sat outside while Abbie gave birth, Jarrett would have made mincemeat of me!’ He grimaced with feeling.

Although he didn’t look too bothered at the prospect... Gaye had a feeling very little ruffled his smooth charm. Except...

‘Even if it meant you ended up being carried from the operating Theatre unconscious?’ she derided.

He grimaced again. ‘That wasn’t kind, Nurse Royal,’ he chided softly.

He hadn’t needed to look at her name-tag this time, had obviously remembered her name. Which, for some reason, irritated Gaye too. She was going to have some explaining to do once the Hunter baby was born and Mr Gilchrist had a free moment!

‘But true,’ she said pointedly.

‘It was that obvious?’ he muttered self-derisively.

‘Let’s put it this way,’ she teased. ‘I don’t think green is your colour!’

‘But I bet it’s yours!’ he returned, easily meeting and holding her gaze, open admiration in those golden depths as they looked directly into her eyes.

He was flirting with her again! Okay, so she might now know that he wasn’t married to Abbie Hunter, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t married to someone else. In fact, the chances were that he definitely was attached: his age, his good looks, that charm... He might even have children too. Although, from his behaviour earlier, he definitely hadn’t been present at their births!

‘I’ll show you to the waiting room,’ she told him briskly. ‘As soon as there is any news, I’m sure your brother will—’

‘Uncle Jonathan!’ a child’s voice called out delightedly. Gaye turned just in time to see an adorable bundle launching herself into Jonathan Hunter’s arms. Following close behind her was another tall, good-looking man, with unruly dark hair and devilish golden-coloured eyes.

One more Hunter! This time Gaye was sure of exactly who he was, because where Jarrett and Jonathan, apart from those eyes, managed to look nothing alike, this third man somehow seemed to look like both his brothers.

He also had Jonathan Hunter’s way of running an assessing eye over a woman—and the mischievous smile he sent in Gaye’s direction, before turning his attention back to his brother and the little girl, told her he had liked what he saw!

‘She refused to stay at home,’ he explained apologetically to his brother. ‘And when Charlie makes up her mind—’

‘She can be as doggedly determined as her mother,’ Jonathan accepted affectionately. ‘And we’re all like butter in her hands!’

‘Has Mummy had the baby yet?’ the little girl asked excitedly—although Gaye hadn’t needed to hear her call Abbie Hunter ‘Mummy’ to know that this was the other woman’s daughter from her first marriage; Charlie had the same beauty as her mother—the long dark hair, and the same violet-blue eyes. It was easy to see how this little girl could wind the Hunter men around her little finger; she was adorable!

‘Not yet, poppet,’ Jonathan answered reassuringly. ‘But this nice nurse tells me it won’t be long now.’

Charlie looked up at Gaye shyly, a dimple appearing in her cheeks as she smiled. ‘Is Mummy having the baby now?’

Gaye could feel herself melting as she looked at this beautiful child. ‘She certainly is,’ she told her warmly. ‘Do you want a brother or sister?’

‘Daddy says he wants a little girl who looks just like me,’ Charlie told her seriously. ‘But I want a brother.’

‘Another male for her to charm!’ Jonathan groaned, shaking his head.

‘Uncle Jonathan says he’s going to marry me when I grow up,’ Charlie confided guilelessly to Gaye. ‘But Daddy says he’s too old for me.’

‘Far too old,’ the newly arrived Hunter agreed mischievously. ‘I’m much more your age.’

Charlie shook her head. ‘Daddy says you’re too old for me too, Uncle Jordan,’ she told him regretfully.

Jonathan. Jarrett. And Jordan. Gaye’s head was spinning with the three Hunter men. And not just with their names. What a formidable trio they were!

‘The waiting room is just down the corridor to your left.’ She pointed them in the right direction. ‘I’ll go and arrange a pot of coffee for you,’ she offered. ‘What would you like to drink, Charlie?’ Her voice noticeably softened as she spoke to the little girl. She had always loved children, and Charlie Hunter was gorgeous!

‘A glass of milk, please, Nurse,’ the little girl accepted shyly.

‘Nurse Royal,’ Jonathan Hunter prompted gently.

‘You can call me Gaye,’ she told Charlie warmly, pointedly omitting to give the two men present the same privilege before going off to the kitchen to get the coffee and milk.

She needed the respite, felt as if her world had suddenly been invaded by a plethora of Hunters. Hopefully, there weren’t any more of them. Although, of course, another was just being born. If he was a boy, no doubt his name would begin with a J too—just to add to the confusion!

‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ offered that smoothly familiar voice Gaye instantly recognised as Jonathan Hunter’s. ‘Or have I done enough already?’ he asked ruefully as he bent down to retrieve the spoon she had just dropped.

Gaye had turned quickly at the sound of his voice, dropping the spoon in her surprise at being interrupted in this way. Jonathan’s latter remark had been ambiguous to say the least. Had he done enough already by making her drop the spoon, or had he effectively—or very effectively!—let her make a complete idiot of herself in Theatre earlier?

She looked across at him exasperatedly, receiving a charming smile for her trouble—a smile, she was sure, that usually melted the heart of any female it was directed at. Except that her heart was impenetrable, to Jonathan Hunter’s, or indeed any other man’s, charm.

‘I can manage, thank you,’ she returned frostily.

‘I’m sure you can. Manage, I mean,’ he accepted lightly. ‘But I would like to help.’

Gaye looked at his expertly styled hair, his tailor-made suit, the silk shirt, the hand-made shoes—and seriously wondered if he knew one end of a coffee-pot from the other, let alone what you did with it! Somehow, she doubted it. No doubt the Hunter family had servants to do such menial tasks.

‘I really can manage,’ she told him sharply. ‘Would you please go back to the waiting room?’ She turned back to the preparation of the coffee, muttering under her breath as she did so. Thank goodness she could go off duty in half an hour. Although the prospect of going home was never a happy one nowadays...

‘That was a big sigh...?’

She gave another irritable sigh as she turned back to face Jonathan Hunter. ‘I thought you had gone,’ she said.

He was leaning back against the door-frame, arms crossed loosely in front of his chest. ‘As you can see, I haven’t,’ he returned unconcernedly. ‘I thought, as you won’t let me help you, that I could carry the tray through for you when it’s ready.’

In other words, he had no intention of leaving! She couldn’t say she was altogether surprised; there was a steely determination beneath that charming exterior—even if his step-niece could wrap him around her little finger. Charlie was probably the only female that could...

Gaye couldn’t exactly say she had met Jonathan Hunter’s type before—he was way out of her league—but nevertheless she felt, for all he was so languidly charming, that there was a much harder side to him. That there was a much harder side to all the Hunter men...

‘Why did you sigh just now?’ Jonathan lightly interrupted her thoughts.

He also had a doggedness that was fast becoming annoying! Why her? she inwardly groaned. Wasn’t her life complicated enough already, without this man’s interest? She came to work, she did her job to the best of her ability, she asked nothing of anyone, expected even less, so why had this golden-eyed charmer come into her life at all, with his obvious wealth and boundless charm?

‘It’s been a long day,’ she excused abruptly. And, thankfully, it was nearly over.

He nodded. ‘But it must be rewarding. Doing what you do,’ he explained as she frowned across at him. ‘Helping to bring life into the world.’

Gaye stared at him. Yes, it was wonderful to see the look of wonder on a new mother’s face as her baby was put into her waiting arms. It was the reason she had chosen to specialise in midwifery—because it meant life and not death.

When had she lost sight of that? How had she lost sight of that?

She knew the answer to both those questions. But until this man had questioned her she hadn’t realised she had become immune to what she did, to the joy of childbirth; her own life was something she simply got through.

Tears stung her eyes, hot, burning emotion threatening to cascade down her cheeks. She shouldn’t cry, mustn’t cry, in front of this man. In fact, she couldn’t cry in front of anyone. She had held herself firmly in check the last two years; she couldn’t start to break down now!

‘Gaye...!’ Jonathan Hunter was at her side, his hands on her arms, his gaze fixed searchingly on the pale beauty of her face.

It was a face that had grown thinner over the last two years, green eyes appearing huge within its delicately etched contours, cheekbones high, her nose small over generously full lips, her chin and jawline sharply defined, the laughter that had once glowed in the green depths of her eyes too long dampened, adding to her air of vulnerability.

But the last thing she wanted was this man’s fleeting concern. She didn’t want, or need, his pity. If she ever gave in to the emotions she had kept so firmly in check for so long, then she wasn’t sure she would be able to go on at all. When Jonathan Hunter left the clinic today, he wouldn’t give her a second thought, whereas her few moments of weakness, of leaning emotionally on someone else, no matter how briefly, would leave her battling to hold up the shaky house of cards that had become her life these last two years.

‘Please, Mr Hunter.’ She moved away from him, at her chilliest That coldness had alienated old friends and new acquaintances alike recently—it would keep Jonathan Hunter away too! ‘I don’t—’

‘Jonathan!’ Jordan Hunter suddenly appeared in the doorway, his expression jubilant. ‘Excuse me butting in, Nurse,’ he apologised quickly. ‘It’s a boy, Jonathan,’ he announced excitedly. ‘And both he and Abbie are fine,’ he added thankfully, obviously as fond of his sister-in-law as Jonathan appeared to be. ‘Jarrett has just taken Charlie in to see them both.’

Which had probably also thrilled James Gilchrist! Although from the way Jarrett Hunter had spoken to the consultant earlier, and the way in which he had responded, Jarrett Hunter probably didn’t give a damn whether he was thrilled or not!

‘That’s wonderful news,’ Gaye told them both lightly. ‘By the time you’ve drunk your coffee—’ she placed the tray in Jonathan Hunter’s hands ‘—your sister-in-law will be in her room, and then you can go and see all of them.’ And she would have gone off duty!

‘Gaye...?’

She stopped at the door, turning slowly to face Jonathan Hunter, every muscle in her body feeling tense, her nerves stretched to screaming pitch. Why couldn’t this man just go back to his life, and leave her to get on with hers?

‘Yes?’ she prompted stiffly, eyeing him warily.

‘Thank you for all your help today,’ he told her huskily.

Then he smiled. It was like the sun coming out, his eyes deeply golden, laughter-lines beside his mouth and eyes—even his hair seemed to have taken on a deeper golden glow.

Gaye gave a shake of her head. ‘I’m not quite sure what you’re thanking me for—almost being present at your nephew’s birth or the chance discovery that green isn’t your colour!’ she replied challengingly. ‘I can assure you, it’s all in a day’s work,’ she dismissed before making good her escape.

Because now she had to find Mr Gilchrist, and apologise for turning his theatre into a circus!

Then she had to go home...

Neither was something she particularly looked forward to doing!

CHAPTER TWO

‘GREAT legs,’ Jordan murmured appreciatively.

‘Hmm?’ Jonathan rounded frowningly to find his younger brother standing in the corridor beside him, his frown turning to a scowl as he noted the admiration with which Jordan was watching Gaye’s departure, obviously enjoying her natural grace of movement as she walked—as he had himself earlier when he’d first arrived at this clinic! As Jordan had pointed out so appreciatively, Gaye had long, shapely legs beneath her uniform. ‘Hands—and eyes!—off, little brother,’ he warned pointedly. ‘And take this to the waiting room on your way back.’ He handed the laden tray to Jordan.

‘Where are you going?’ Jordan demanded to know protestingly.

Gaye didn’t just have those wonderful legs to recommend her—her beauty had hit him like a sledgehammer the first time he’d set eyes on her. They certainly hadn’t had nurses like her when he was in hospital a few years ago having his appendix out. Which was probably as well—he would never have wanted to recover!

He grinned. ‘To talk to a surgeon about a natural mistake,’ he said enigmatically, walking away before Jordan asked for an explanation of the remark—knowing his younger brother wouldn’t be watching his departure with the same admiration he had Gaye’s!

Damn it, but he had been annoyed at Jordan’s remark about her legs. Even if it was true! The truth of the matter was, Gaye was gorgeous in every way he could think of. She had a wonderful figure, the fullness of her breasts tapering down to a slender waist, the narrowness of her hips almost coltish when coupled with those long, long legs. And her face! She was so hauntingly beautiful she almost took his breath away, the green depths of her eyes filled with a sadness that brought out every protective instinct he possessed. Beauty and vulnerability—the combination was deadly!

Yet, as he went in search of the specialist who had operated on Abbie, he couldn’t help wondering how long Gaye’s blond hair would be when it wasn’t neatly secured at her nape...

Was she married? If so, then he would swear it wasn’t happily! But, happily or not, if she were married, then Jonathan knew he would have to back off. Married women had no appeal for him whatsoever.

He cursed himself now for not paying more attention to her hands, to whether or not she had been wearing a wedding ring. Although he knew not wearing one was no guarantee of anything these days, that some women preferred not to wear a wedding ring any more. Unlike Abbie and Jarrett, who had given each other eternity rings on that day two years ago when they had promised to love each other for ever...

Life, Jonathan decided as he strode purposefully down the corridor, was certainly strange. The three of them—Jonathan and his two brothers—had been conditioned, after a stormy childhood within an unhappy marriage, not to want to take that plunge themselves, and yet he knew for a fact that Jarrett hadn’t looked at another woman since he met and married Abbie, and that he never would. How the mighty had fallen!

Now Abbie and Jarrett had a son...

Conor James, he discovered, when he arrived at Abbie’s room twenty minutes later. Abbie was still a little groggy, but obviously ecstatically happy. Jarrett was smiling so proudly as he beamed at his wife and son.

As babies went, Jonathan supposed this one was quite pretty—if a boy could be called pretty!—and not at all wrinkled and frowning like every other new-born baby Jonathan had seen. But apart from the fact that Conor was his nephew, that he had his parents’ dark hair, and that Jarrett obviously thought he was the most wonderful child ever, Jonathan quickly tired of looking down at the small, defenceless human being, whose only activity seemed to be, from time to time, screwing up his face and stretching out his fingers. Give him a tiny adult like Charlie any day!

Although even she seemed smitten. ‘Isn’t he gorgeous, Uncle Jonathan?’ She glowed up at him from where she sat next to the baby playing with his tiny hands.

‘Lovely,’ he agreed, wondering how soon he would be able to get away.

Abbie took one look at his face and burst out laughing. ‘Wait until it’s your own baby, then we’ll see how lovely it is!’ she teased affectionately, obviously none the worse for Conor’s early traumatic birth.

‘You’ll wait a long time,’ Jonathan muttered dryly.

Jarrett gave him a sideways glance. ‘Jordan tells us you’re smitten,’ he taunted, all the time holding tightly on to Abbie’s hand.

Jonathan shot his younger brother an impatient glance, receiving only a cheeky grin in return. ‘Jordan has a big mouth,’ he bit out. ‘And now, as all the Hunter board of directors seem to be congregated in this room, perhaps one of us should get back to work and tell the rest of the employees they can go home for the day!’

‘Are you volunteering?’ Jordan looked at him with innocently wide eyes—eyes that danced with devilment!

‘No—you are,’ Jonathan told him firmly. ‘I have something else I have to do.’

‘Nurse Royal went off duty ten minutes ago,’ Jordan told him with dry mockery.

He glared across the room at his youngest brother. ‘How the hell do you know that?’

Jordan gave him a self-satisfied grin. ‘I asked,’ he answered.

Jonathan’s hands clenched at his sides. One of these days he was going to take great pleasure in taking that grin off Jordan’s face and ramming it down his—

‘We’ll see you later, Jonathan,’ Jarrett put in lightly, usually the one to act as peacemaker between his two more volatile brothers.

With one last glaring look at Jordan, Jonathan quickly took his leave, promising to return later that evening to visit mother and baby again, hurrying out to the corridor, wondering if he was going to be too late to find Gaye before she left.

He was. There were quite a few people bustling about, some in uniform, others in everyday clothes, but none of them was Gaye. Damn Jordan; if he had been going to ask about Gaye then he should have asked for her address, and not just the time she would be leaving!

It was as he was driving out of the grounds of the clinic that he spotted her. She was standing across the road at a bus stop, noticeable to him, in spite of the dozen or so other people that were also waiting in line.

Jonathan no longer needed to wonder about the length of her hair; it fell in a thick, straight curtain down to the middle of her back, her body boyishly slender in a dark green sweatshirt and pale blue denims. She looked very young without the officialdom of her uniform, ethereally lovely.

It took Jonathan some minutes to negotiate the flow of traffic, all the time hoping the damned bus wouldn’t arrive and whisk her away from under his nose before he could get the car over to her!

It didn’t. Although Gaye seemed totally unaware of the black BMW parked at the side of the road; those gorgeous green eyes of hers were staring off into the distance, but at the same time seeming to see nothing.

It wasn’t until Jonathan actually stood directly in front of her that she became aware of his presence there at all, and even then she merely looked at him with a complete lack of recognition. Damn it, this woman was destroying his ego!

‘Jonathan Hunter,’ he reminded her tersely—annoyed at the necessity of having to do so. ‘I thought I could give you a lift home.’

She blinked long dark lashes as she looked up at him uncomprehendingly. Then the penny seemed to drop, and a delicate colour entered her otherwise pale cheeks. ‘Mr Hunter,’ she acknowledged. ‘I—er—the bus is just coming.’ She looked over his shoulder at the approaching vehicle.

Jonathan didn’t even turn. ‘Then we had better go now so I can move my car and the bus can pull up.’

‘But—’

‘Come on, Gaye.’ He took a firm hold of her arm and guided her over to the front passenger door of his car, opening it for her to get in. ‘We’re holding up the traffic,’ he told her firmly before closing the door behind her and moving around to his side of the car, putting up an acknowledging hand to the bus driver, then getting in behind the wheel.

Jonathan glanced at Gaye as he switched on the engine, but she sat very still beside him, keeping her gaze straight ahead. He wasn’t sure if she was annoyed with him, or just amazed at finding herself seated in his car rather than on the bus. Whatever, he was too busy at the moment getting back into the flow of traffic before the bus driver decided to give him a helping hand by shunting the back of his car. Considering he had only had it a couple of months, he wouldn’t be too thrilled if the other man decided to do that!

‘Which way?’ he asked Gaye once they were finally moving again.

‘That’s what I was trying to say to you earlier.’ She spoke quietly, in that softly melodic voice. ‘I live in the suburbs of London, and have a bus and then a train to catch to get home.’

Jonathan shook his head. ‘That still doesn’t tell me which way.’

She gave him the directions precisely, distinctly, before once again lapsing into silence.

This woman was certainly different, Jonathan decided; he had never met a woman who talked as little as she did. Not that he could stand chattering females either, but this young lady closely resembled a clam! All he knew about her was what he could actually see with his own eyes. She was a trained midwife, tall, blond, green-eyed, probably ten years younger than his own thirty-seven.

But he had known he wanted her from the moment he first looked at her!

Cool, detached, ethereally beautiful—what Jonathan most wanted was to see her naked and wanton in his arms, every vestige of that outer coldness melted away. He had always been ambitious, he acknowledged wryly—if anything, Gaye was more frosty towards him now than she had been earlier!

‘You spoke to Mr Gilchrist.’

She spoke so softly, Jonathan wasn’t even sure he had heard her correctly. ‘Sorry?’ he prompted.

‘You spoke to Mr Gilchrist earlier.’ She spoke more certainly this time. ‘In fact,’ she went on, ‘I think you must have done a little more than talk to him; he actually apologised to me for shouting at me in Theatre in front of everyone!’

Jonathan’s mouth quirked at her astonished tone. ‘Not in character, hmm?’ He had found the specialist bombastic and full of his own importance, but nevertheless he had let it be known that the Hunter family were not impressed by his bullying tactics to a midwife who had, after all, only been trying to do her duty.

He couldn’t say he was exactly proud of his own tactics where the other man was concerned, but once again the Hunter name had won through; there had to be some advantages to being one of three brothers who ran one of the most successful corporations in England! Whatever, his conversation with Mr Gilchrist had obviously worked, if he had gone so far as to apologise to Gaye rather than the other way around!

‘Not exactly.’ She grimaced. ‘But I thank you for your intervention, anyway.’ There was the ghost of a smile on those wonderfully sensual lips.

Jonathan nodded. ‘My pleasure. Would you be feeling grateful enough to have dinner with me this evening?’

Her smile instantly faded. ‘Thank you, but no.’

‘Just no?’ He showed his disappointment; he already had a date for this evening, but he would be happy to break it if it meant he could spend the time with Gaye. ‘You aren’t even going to think about it?’

‘No,’ she confirmed flatly.

‘Are you married, is that it?’ he guessed with a sinking feeling; he could never remember being this intrigued by a woman before. ‘If you are, then I’m sorry if I—’

‘I’m not married,’ Gaye assured him. ‘I—I have another commitment this evening.’

The feeling of elation that she wasn’t married, after all—his worst fear!—was instantly followed by irritation so strong he had trouble containing it. She was seeing someone else! The thought of her being with another man, smiling at him, laughing with him, kissing him, perhaps doing even more than kissing him, suddenly filled Jonathan with such rage, he had to grip the steering wheel tightly to control it.

What the hell was wrong with him? He was thirty-seven years old, had known many beautiful women in his lifetime, and it had never bothered him before that there had been other men in their lives before him, or, indeed, after him. Yet the thought of some other man laying naked with Gaye made him so angry he could actually have hit something—or someone!

‘Break it!’ he snarled—and then felt surprised at his own vehemence. If Gilchrist had acted out of character earlier when he’d apologised to Gaye, then he was acting out of character too now; he was the charming one of the family—he left the arrogance to Jarrett!

Gaye gave him a startled look. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘Never mind,’ he muttered, shaking his head in self-disgust. ‘What about tomorrow evening?’

‘I—I’m sorry, but no.’ She gave him a pained look

‘The evening after,’ he persisted, anticipating her refusal before it was even made. ‘Name the evening!’ he ground out as she did exactly that.

‘Mr Hunter—’

‘For God’s sake call me Jonathan,’ he bit out impatiently. ‘You make me sound like your dentist!’ Trying to make a date with this woman was proving as difficult as extracting teeth!

She smiled at that, her eyes instantly deeper in colour, like twin emeralds now. ‘My dentist is fifty and going bald,’ she pointed out.

‘So could I be by the time you accept a date with me!’ Jonathan countered.

Gaye laughed—and it was the most magical sound Jonathan had ever heard, like delicately tinkling bells. When it stopped, he wanted nothing more but to hear it again. But as she sobered he knew he wasn’t going to be that lucky...

‘It isn’t a policy of your employment or something like that, is it? Not dating the clients,’ he explained at her frowning look.

Her mouth quirked ruefully. ‘As our clients are all pregnant women, and the men their husbands or partners, it’s an unlikely policy,’ she returned dryly.

She had a point there! But the alternative was... ‘So you just don’t like me,’ he said harshly.

It didn’t happen very often, but it wouldn’t be the first time he had been refused a date, either. For goodness’ sake, he didn’t feel attracted to every woman he met; in fact, he had become very choosy over the last few years. It was just that his attraction to this woman was so strong, he found it difficult to accept that it wasn’t reciprocated...

She sighed. ‘I didn’t say that...’

Somehow this didn’t cheer him up! ‘But you won’t go out with me?’

‘Jonathan—’ Gaye seemed to be choosing her words carefully ‘—I’m not married. I’m not engaged. I’m not involved with anyone. Nor do I dislike you.’

‘Then—’

‘But neither am I in the market for the sort of frivolous, meaningless affair I’m sure you have in mind,’ she stated firmly. ‘And, despite what you may think to the contrary, I do not mean that insultingly.’

‘You don’t?’ Now he was the one having trouble holding back a smile; she certainly had him weighed up. Or, at least, she had until now... He couldn’t imagine indulging in a meaningless, frivolous affair with her, either. He wasn’t sure what he had in mind, but it wouldn’t be meaningless!

Her smile returned. ‘I don’t.’ She sobered. ‘There simply isn’t room in my life at the moment for frivolity.’

He frowned at the way she said that, sensing something, but unsure what it was. ‘Have you never heard the saying “too much work and not enough play can make Gaye a very dull girl”?’ he attempted to tease. ‘What do you do in the evenings, every evening, that doesn’t leave you time for a social life? Studying for more qualifications? An Open University course? What?’

The harder he probed, the more distant her expression seemed, and the tensing of her body was tangible. He knew he was stepping on ground she considered private, that he was invading it!

‘Or maybe it’s that you prefer not to eat out?’ he continued lightly. ‘We could always go to the cinema, or I could try to book tickets for a show—’

‘No!’ she cut in sharply. ‘I’ve told you, there’s no point in my going out with you. Anywhere. At any time,’ she added bleakly.

He frowned darkly. ‘That sounds pretty final.’

- ‘It is,’ she confirmed shortly.

Jonathan didn’t like puzzles, and this woman was definitely turning out to be one. She didn’t dislike him, but she wouldn’t even go out with him, let alone anything else. Perhaps it was the Hunter name itself that put her off...?

‘You shouldn’t believe everything you read, you know,’ he told her.

She turned to give him a startled look, those deep green eyes wide. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘The newspapers and gossip-mongers have had a field day with my two brothers and me over the last few years, and since Jarrett married Abbie a couple of years ago the pressure has been placed on Jordan and myself. If we so much as look at a woman the marriage speculation begins,’ he explained. ‘I just wanted to reassure you that I don’t have anyone special in my life already.’ The woman he should have been seeing this evening wasn’t anyone serious, just someone he spent the occasional night with when they were both free. And went to bed with, he inwardly confessed. But it certainly wasn’t serious, its very casualness suiting both parties.

Gaye gave a shrug. ‘That’s nice to know.’

‘But it still makes no difference to your answer,’ Jonathan guessed frustratedly. He had never wanted any woman to go out with him as much as he wanted Gaye to. But he knew by her body language that she wasn’t going to do so.

‘Turn left,’ she suddenly instructed at a junction. ‘You can drop me off here,’ she told him once he had turned the car.

‘Here’ was the corner of the street, and, although there were several houses close by, if he stopped the car now, they wouldn’t actually be parked outside any of them; Gaye didn’t even want him to know where she lived, Jonathan realised.

‘I’ll take you to your door,’ he told her grimly. He had never felt so unwanted by a woman in his life. What was wrong with him, for goodness’ sake? Because Gaye certainly found something about him unacceptable!

‘There’s no need—’

‘There’s every need, damn it,’ he told her forcefully. ‘I said I would drive you home—and that’s exactly what I intend doing!’

He was angry, he suddenly realised. That was an emotion he very rarely felt. But at the moment he was intensely angry. And this woman, with her cool rebuff, was making him feel that way.

Was he really so arrogant that he couldn’t take no for an answer?

It wasn’t a question of arrogance, he knew; he just couldn’t accept that he wouldn’t see Gaye again...

‘I’m sorry,’ he said softly. ‘I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. But I still don’t have any intention,’ he continued determinedly as she would have spoken, ‘of just dropping you off in the middle of nowhere!’ Or of not knowing exactly where she lived, he decided.

Her green eyes sparkled now as she looked across at him. Jonathan had a feeling anger was as much an alien emotion to Gaye as it was to him. But, he decided, any emotion was better than none!

‘The second house on the left,’ she bit out, looking away so that he could no longer see her expression.

Although he could guess!

The second house on the left was much further along the road than it sounded, the houses in this quiet suburb obviously exclusive, each set within its own grounds. The buildings themselves, although Victorian in style, were very large and grand. As Jonathan parked the car and looked down the long driveway, he knew Gaye couldn’t possibly live in such a large house on her own...

‘I—’

‘Thank you for the lift home,’ she told him politely, the door of the car open even as she spoke.

‘Gaye...?’ Jonathan moved just as quickly, out of the car, and was standing on the pavement beside her as she got out. ‘I don’t suppose there’s any chance of being invited in for a cup of tea?’ he said affably. ‘After all, I was almost an expectant father today!’

Her mouth twisted wryly. ‘How could I possibly forget?’ She grimaced. ‘I’ll make doubly sure I have the right man in future. I don’t want to go dragging some poor unsuspecting male into Theatre to witness the birth of a child!’

He chuckled. ‘You should have seen your face when Jarrett walked in!’

‘I can imagine.’ She groaned her embarrassment. ‘Hopefully everyone will have forgotten about it by the time I go back on duty!’

‘You won’t be at the clinic tomorrow?’

Gaye shook her head, her hair moving silkily about her shoulders. ‘I have two days off now.’

Damn! He had thought, had depended on the fact that he would at least be able to see her at the clinic when he visited Abbie. And Gaye had very neatly avoided answering him about the cup of tea!

He gave a frustrated sigh, lightly grasping the tops of her arms. ‘You’re an infuriating woman, Gaye Royal.’

She gave a rueful quirk of her lips. ‘So I’ve been told—Jonathan Hunter.’ She released herself, turning and walking down the gravel driveway to the large, imposing house, without so much as glancing back at him to see if he still watched her.

Somehow Jonathan sensed a reluctance there, felt that this was the last place she wanted to be. Who waited for her behind that huge oak front door?

And who else had told her she was an infuriating woman...? It sounded like something a lover might say. Yet she had told him she didn’t have one...

There was so much about Gaye Royal that he either didn’t know or didn’t understand.

But, whether she liked it or not, he intended finding out!

CHAPTER THREE

JONATHAN HUNTER made Gaye nervous.

Her two days off duty had been more fraught than they usually were, mainly because she had lived in dread of the doorbell ringing, and opening the door to find him standing on the doorstep. He hadn’t seemed to her like a man who would accept no for an answer, especially where a woman was concerned. She doubted he had had to very often!

But the doorbell had remained silent. As had the telephone. No one came to the house any more; the telephone calls had ceased long ago. The fickleness of humanity. But, for all his lazy charm, she hadn’t received the impression that Jonathan Hunter was a fickle man...

Which made his silence over the last two days doubly nerve-racking! He had been so persistent in trying to get her to go out with him that the silence that had followed her refusal seemed alive with tension.

However, the doorbell hadn’t rung, and she hadn’t opened the door to find Jonathan Hunter standing there, and by the time she left the house for work this morning she was feeling strangely irritable. It didn’t help that the first patient she had to attend to was Abbie Hunter. Or that her arrogant husband was with her.

The other woman was beautiful. Not only that, but she was warm and friendly too. She was also so obviously happy in her marriage. Frankly, Jarrett’s aloof manner made Gaye feel as nervous as his brother did, but for different reasons. The golden eyes, which all of the Hunter brothers had, seemed to look at her and see beyond her own cool veneer to the vulnerable woman beneath.

Jarrett Hunter stood up at Gaye’s entrance. ‘I’ll leave you two ladies to chat,’ he announced smoothly before bending to kiss his wife and baby son goodbye. ‘I’ll be back this afternoon,’ he told his wife huskily. ‘See you later, Gaye,’ he said before leaving.

Gaye stared after him; he had known her name! And she could think of only one source...

Abbie laughed softly as she watched her. ‘They’re very close, these Hunter men. But also very loyal,’ she added gently.

Gaye swallowed hard, forcing a bright smile to her lips as she held up the bouquet of flowers she was delivering. ‘Roses,’ she announced lightly. Although, looking at the room already filled with flowers, it was difficult to know where they were going to go!

Abbie took the flowers, although she made no move to read the card attached to them, still looking up at Gaye. ‘Did you enjoy your days off?’ she enquired. ‘Did you do anything exciting?’ she added mischievously.

Gaye thought of those two days off, of the usual routine, the strain of always having to be cheerful. ‘No,’ she answered flatly.

The other woman raised dark brows. ‘No—you didn’t enjoy your days off, or no—you didn’t do anything exciting?’

No—to both questions! Life had taken a strange turn two years ago, and despite all her efforts she had no idea how to turn it back again. One thing she was certain of: becoming involved with the Hunter family would only make things more complicated!

‘I didn’t do anything exciting,’ she answered tonelessly.

‘Oh.’ Abbie looked perplexed. ‘Jonathan seemed to think you had a very busy two days ahead of you.’

Jonathan Hunter hadn’t thought any such thing. He had been told precisely why she wouldn’t go out with him—and it had nothing to do with being too busy!

‘Jonathan was mistaken,’ Gaye said with a ghost of a smile curving her lips, almost—although not quite—sure this beautiful woman knew exactly what had happened between herself and Jonathan.

‘He should be in later today,’ Abbie said casually.

Gaye kept her expression deliberately bland, at the same time making a mental note to make sure she was busily ensconced in a store cupboard or something when he arrived. ‘That will be nice for you,’ she answered noncommittally.

The other woman burst out laughing, a sound of pure enjoyment. ‘I’m sorry, Gaye,’ she chuckled as she sobered a little. ‘It was just that you reminded me of someone else just now. Me,’ she supplied at Gaye’s questioning look. ‘Two years ago, when I was beating an equally hasty retreat from Jarrett’s bombardment. And look what happened to me!’ She grinned happily, obviously completely content with what had ‘happened’ to her.

Gaye shook her head. ‘The situation is hardly the same,’ she dismissed, knowing a little about Abbie’s life before she married Jarrett Hunter. She had been a successful model, and then the wife, and widow, of wealthy Daniel Sutherland; apart from the fact that Gaye’s parents had been quite well-off, the two of them had very little in common.

What about the Hunter men? crept in a small, betraying voice.

No, not even them, she told herself decidedly. She wanted her life left exactly as it had always been, well out of the limelight, away from the public eye.

‘It could be,’ Abbie told her softly.

‘I don’t think so.’ Abbie would be discharged in the next day or so, and then Gaye wouldn’t have to make a point of making herself scarce when Jonathan Hunter was around... ‘I have to get on,’ she replied briskly. ‘Please ring if there’s anything else you want. I’m sure—’

‘Next to Jarrett, Jonathan is my favourite man,’ Abbie told her huskily.

Gaye turned to her. ‘I’m sure he’s very nice,’ she answered guardedly.

The other woman slowly got up from her chair placed near the window. ‘He’s more than just nice, Gaye. He—’

‘Talking about me again, Abbie?’ The youngest Hunter brother bounced into the room, golden eyes alight as he placed a kiss on Abbie’s cheek before turning to grin at Gaye. ‘Is she telling you how she jilted me in order to marry my big brother?’ he said devilishly. ‘She promised to be the mother of my children, and then—’

‘I promised to be godmother to your children,’ his sister-in-law corrected him dryly. ‘When you have any, that is! And stop telling Gaye such nonsense, Jordan, or she’ll think the whole family is mad!’ She shook her head reprovingly.

Not mad, exactly, but they were certainly a family few could ignore. Even if one tried very hard!

‘Take my advice and stay well away from Jordan, Gaye,’ Abbie told her with an affectionate grin at the man she spoke of. ‘He’s the breaker of hearts in this family.’

‘So it was Jonathan’s virtues you were extolling,’ Jordan realised mock-disgustedly. ‘Gaye, I could tell you a few things about my brother Jonathan that would—’

‘Did I hear my name being mentioned in vain?’ Jonathan drawled as he strolled into the room, smiling a greeting at Abbie before turning the full force of his gaze onto Gaye.

She could feel the hot colour enter her cheeks as she stared back at him, tall and handsome in the tailored suit and pale blue shirt. When Abbie had said Jonathan would be in later, she hadn’t realised the other woman meant almost immediately! But by the too innocent expression on Abbie’s face as Gaye glanced at her Gaye realised she had known only too well that Jonathan’s arrival was imminent. Was that the reason she had kept Gaye talking... ?

This family wasn’t just unforgettable; they were also dangerous. All of them!

‘I shouldn’t listen to anything Jordan has to say, on any subject, if I were you, Gaye,’ Jonathan told her merrily. ‘It’s inevitably suspect.’

‘That’s all the thanks I get for delaying Gaye’s departure until you had parked the car,’ Jordan muttered, his irritated tone belied by the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

A family conspiracy! Gaye had thought she might have been being fanciful where Abbie Hunter was concerned, but as the other woman gave her an apologetic smile she knew her first suspicion had been correct. This family certainly wasn’t mad!

Just what had Jonathan told them about her for them all to be behaving this way...?

‘Remind me to thank you for that later, Jordan,’ Jonathan rasped, giving his brother a narrow-eyed look of warning before turning back to Gaye. ‘Have you had a good two days off?’ His tone softened as he spoke to her.

‘Busy,’ she bit out abruptly, challengingly; after all, wasn’t that what he had told his relatives?

She felt sure that, under normal circumstances, Jonathan’s family wouldn’t even have been aware of her existence; she would just have been a woman he’d asked to go out with him and had turned him down. She was sure his family didn’t usually get to hear about his rejections! Or, perhaps, it had never happened before...?

Men like Jonathan Hunter were rare, she acknowledged: handsome, charming, self-confident, incredibly rich, and, best of all, still single. Most women wouldn’t have turned down an invitation from him! But she had her reasons, very good ones, and no amount of cajoling from either Jonathan or his family would change her mind.

Although, she had to admit, being around the Hunter family certainly kept one on one’s toes!

‘It gets easier,’ Abbie assured her gently, seeming to sense Gaye’s mental turmoil.

Gaye had no intention of staying around long enough to find out! ‘For your sake, I sincerely hope so,’ she returned with feeling. Thank goodness, for her own sake, Abbie Hunter would be discharged from the clinic soon. ‘I’ll leave you now to talk with your two visitors,’ Gaye added, keeping her gaze firmly averted from Jonathan as she knew he continued to watch her with those enigmatic golden eyes.

He did make her nervous. There was about him the same air of self-confident stillness she had sensed earlier in Jarrett Hunter, a quiet determination that ensured he arrived at wherever it was he wanted to go. As she looked at him now, the forceful glint in his eyes seemed to imply that the silence of the last two days had merely been a pause, not an end, in his pursuit—

She was being fanciful now. He had asked her out, she had refused; that was the end of his pursuit. There were too many women out there willing to say yes for Jonathan Hunter to bother with the ones who said no.

She felt a heavy weight settle inside her, and knew it was the responsibility she carried around with her. Always...

‘Try not to tire yourself out,’ she advised Abbie before turning sharply on her heels and leaving the room, aware that she was once again very close to tears. What was it about Jonathan Hunter that affected her in this way?

What on earth was wrong with her? she chastised herself later as she accompanied Mr Gilchrist on his round. But she knew the answer to that all too well. She had chosen a life for herself in the last two years, a life that was necessarily apart from friendships of any kind, and Jonathan Hunter and his family, with their witty dialogues and underlying kindness, broke through that defence, showing her all too vividly glimpses of what she was missing. Just those brief glimpses made her yearn for something she couldn’t have: friends, stimulating conversation, a social life that at times could become too hectic. All gone now. And in its place was loneliness, silence, pretence—and the latter was something she had, ironically, never been good at!

She drank her morning coffee alone in the canteen. Through choice. She had only worked at the clinic for six months, but she had already learnt during that time that making friends with any of the other midwives meant familiarity, and familiarity encouraged questions, questions she had no intention of answering. So she kept herself aloof. And alone...

‘Mind if I join you?’

She looked up sharply at the familiar sound of that voice.

‘Jonathan...!’ She recognised him instantly, looking about them uncomfortably, noticing several curious glances being cast their way by other members of staff also taking their coffee-breaks, the female glances openly admiring as they looked at Jonathan.

Most of the staff were aware that Abbie Hunter was staying in the clinic, and they possibly also recognised Jonathan as having visited his sister-in-law during the last two days. His presence here now wasn’t going to comply with Gaye’s wish for a quiet, unobtrusive life at all!

‘I’m afraid you’ve come into the wrong room, Mr Hunter.’ She deliberately made her voice slightly louder than normal. ‘The visitors’ tea room is—’

‘But I don’t want the visitors’ tea room,’ he cut in smoothly, uncaring of the interest they were engaging. ‘I want to have coffee with you,’ he announced determinedly as he sat down in the chair opposite hers at the table.

Gaye closed her eyes, groaning softly, only to find Jonathan looking across at her with calm query when she opened them again. ‘Not here,’ she told him with soft intensity, willing him to get up and leave.

Which he didn’t, of course, do! This man, she decided, had a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time—and he had the ability to take her with him!

‘Why not?’ He looked about the room curiously, a large, well-lit room, its windows facing out over the clinic gardens. ‘It seems very pleasant in here.’ He turned back to Gaye, looking down into her cup. ‘The coffee looks good too.’

‘It is,’ she confirmed impatiently. ‘But you aren’t supposed to be in here. And you’re drawing attention to the two of us,’ she told him more forcefully.

Jonathan tilted his head as he gave her a considering glance. ‘And you don’t like that, do you?’ he said slowly, obviously completely unconcerned himself at the attention his extreme good looks were drawing in their direction. ‘They’re only curious, Gaye.’ He shrugged dismissively. ‘It isn’t important.’

‘It is to me,’ she insisted. ‘I don’t like being the subject of gossip and speculation.’ She shuddered at the thought of it

There had already been enough of that over the last two years without it all starting up again. Anonymity was the reason she lived the way that she did; she had no intention of having that taken away because of this man’s determination to make a nuisance of himself!

Jonathan gave a smile. ‘I’ve got news for you, Gaye: there is no way on earth you will ever stop people gossiping or speculating about you, or anybody else! I learnt that years ago, and I’ve learnt not to let it bother me.’

‘Well, it bothers me!’ She pushed away her half-drunk cup of coffee before standing up. ‘I think I’ll go back to work now.’

It was only once she was outside in the corridor, and found Jonathan at her side, that she realised he must have followed her from the room. She was tall herself, but he towered well over her, and the broad width of his shoulders in his fitted suit seemed to offer a protection she so badly needed—No! She didn’t need anyone, least of all a man like Jonathan Hunter, a man who, in his own words, had the newspapers and gossip-mongers following his every move. She didn’t want any part of that!

‘Shouldn’t you be getting back to work too?’ she said pointedly as he made no move to leave her side.

He gave that slow, lazy smile that caused an instant fluttering sensation in her chest. ‘One of the advantages of being a part-owner of a company: I’m answerable only to myself concerning the amount of time I put in at the office.’

Which meant he could hang around here all day being a pest if he chose to do so!

‘Well, some of us aren’t that lucky,’ she told him bluntly as she stopped outside her ward. ‘Goodbye again, Mr Hun—’

‘It was Jonathan earlier,’ he reminded her gruffly as he put a lightly restraining hand on her arm, letting her know he had noticed that slip in her defences earlier. ‘Gaye, there are some things I want to talk to you about—’

‘What things?’ She had become suddenly still, her expression apprehension as she stared up at him with wide green eyes.

Jonathan looked down at her with concern. ‘Gaye—You’re right,’ he said as two junior midwives went past them in the corridor, giggling and talking softly together, obviously about the two of them. ‘This isn’t the place for this. I’ll pick you up here when you finish work, and we can go for a drink somewhere and talk—’

‘No! I mean—No.’ She forced herself to remain calm. ‘I—have things to do straight after work. I—Perhaps I could meet you later,’ she went on agitatedly, not really wanting to meet him at all, but conscious of those things he might want to talk to her about. Maybe this was the reason he had been so quiet the last two days; he had been patiently biding his time, knew he only had to say the right words to get her to agree to meet him, after all. Abbie Hunter was wrong; this man wasn’t nice at all! ‘There’s a pub just around the corner from my home. The Swan. I’ll meet you there at nine-thirty,’ she told him brusquely, moving away from his restraining hand as she turned to leave.

‘Gaye...?’ Jonathan called softly after her down the corridor.

She drew in a deep breath before turning reluctantly to face him. ‘Yes?’ she sighed.

He smiled again. ‘If I arrive first, what shall I order you to drink?’

She couldn’t respond to the gentle teasing in his voice, or that smile that had affected her so much seconds earlier; she was too tense, too worried to be able to relax. What things did he want to talk to her about? What did he know?

‘If you think you know so much about me, then I suggest you guess!’ she bit out tautly, this time leaving without hindrance.

But she couldn’t resist a glance back before going through the double doors of the ward, startled as she found Jonathan still standing exactly where she had left him, a perplexed expression on his face as he returned her gaze. Why should he be the one feeling perplexed? He wasn’t the one on the defensive!

‘Nine-thirty,’ he confirmed.

Gaye gave him one last frowning look before hurrying back to work. She had thought he was trouble the first time she’d looked at him—and he had done nothing since that time to disabuse her of her belief!

CHAPTER FOUR

WHAT things was Jonathan going to find to talk to Gaye about?

He had arrived at The Swan shortly before nine-thirty, had bought a whisky for himself, and a glass of white wine for Gaye—because she looked more like a white wine drinker than beer!—and now he was left sitting on tenterhooks at a corner table of the rapidly filling public house, desperately searching his brain for something important enough to talk to her about that warranted the two of them meeting like this!

Because there was absolutely nothing he could think of! He had come out with his statement initially in sheer desperation because he couldn’t think of any other way to stop her just walking away from him, ever conscious of the fact that Abbie and Conor were due to be discharged at any time; with that his reason to visit the clinic, and see Gaye, would be gone...

But now he was left with the problem of what to talk to Gaye about! She wasn’t going to be too happy with him if—

She had arrived!

He had been keeping a surreptitious eye on the door, while at the same time trying to look as if he wasn’t really waiting for anyone, despite the obviousness of the glass of white wine. Because a part of him hadn’t been sure Gaye would turn up... And he could imagine nothing worse than having to get up and leave, with everyone else in the room aware he had been stood up. Not that it had ever happened to him before, but with Gaye he had already learnt to expect the unexpected.

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