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Мортимер Кэрол
To Be A Husband
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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!
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