Masquerade (14 page)

“What’s the meeting about?”

Alex pressed the button, and then ran his fingers through his hair. She noticed he seemed to do that when things were troubling him or his mind was on other matters. Her fingers twitched to soothe the tired lines marring his forehead. She stilled her fingers, hoping Alex hadn’t noticed their movement.

“Sophia, you have no idea how much I’d like you to do that.” His accent deepened on the softly spoken words. The use of the endearment had a flush breaking out over her skin, her nerve endings tingling. “But now is not the time or the place.”

She stood mute as the doors opened and he walked in, holding her gaze until the doors whispered shut on a sigh, whisking him away.

How was it he always seemed to know what she was thinking?

“It helps if you press the button.”

Sophie had no idea who spoke the words to her and she had no idea how long she’d been staring at the metal doors of the lift. All she knew was she was in danger of letting every single staff member know she found Alex attractive.

She made her way back to her office, still having no idea what the meeting was about. Maybe she could see Alex after work?

No, bad idea. Why did she keep doing that to herself? Keep putting herself within his presence. She was setting herself up for a big fall.

She would wait until tomorrow. Alex would be sure to tell her what the meeting was all about. It was probably budget stuff anyway, things that didn’t involve her.

She tidied her desk and as she was finishing Phoebe popped her head in.

“Phil’s awake and seems a bit calmer.” She stepped further into the room. “I’m about to take off. Who do you want to take over from me?”

Sophie sighed. “Check with Dawn. Just let her know exactly how he can act. But he’s probably fine now he’s slept it off. All he’ll need is a check over and a script for some antibiotics so the cuts don’t get infected.”

Phoebe laughed. “Fat chance he’ll actually take them. They won’t give him a high.”

She nodded her head in agreement — hopefully if he did get an infection he’d go to another hospital. Her skin crawled as she remembered his threatening words toward her. They could’ve been spoken in a drug-induced haze, but at that time, his eyes had had a rare clarity about them. As if he’d known exactly what he was saying.

“You’re probably right, Phoebs. But let Dawn know anyway.”

“Will do.” With a rush of air, she was all alone in her office.

Sophie stood and stretched. The prospect of going home to an empty apartment didn’t thrill her. She craved some company. Maybe she should get a cat? Or maybe she should just ask Phoebe if she wanted to come back for some dinner.

She headed out of her office and saw that Phoebe was still in discussion with Dawn. As she wandered past the row of beds, she looked in on Phil. He looked up at that exact moment and their eyes met. If her skin had crawled before, now it was as if a thousand spiders were migrating along her arms and back. His eyes were clouded and filled with hatred toward her.

She stepped back involuntarily. She had no idea why he was throwing so much animosity her way. She’d done nothing to him.

“What you looking at, bitch?” he sneered at her.

She said nothing and kept walking. What could she say? Anything she said would be twisted in his mind. Again she hoped he’d never reappear in their hospital emergency department again.

“Are you okay?” Phoebe’s voice sounded behind her.

She whirled as her heart jumped up her throat. “Yeah, I’m fine. You want to come over for dinner?”

Phoebe linked her arm through one of hers. “Sounds great, we need to talk.”

Sophie knew if she was hoping for a relaxing evening, she wasn’t going to get one. Phoebe was on a fishing expedition and Sophie was the main catch.

“What have I let myself in for?” she muttered as they made their way to the car park. “I’ll see you in twenty, Phoebs.”

“Okay, I’ll stop and get some wine,” Phoebe hollered as she reached her own car.

The drive home was uneventful and Sophie had enough time to have a quick shower before Phoebe arrived.

She was pulling on some fresh clothes when her cell rang. She dived for her handbag, fumbling around until she finally pulled out the phone. Just as it stopped.

“Damn,” she muttered and looked at the screen to see who the caller was. Phoebe. She threw the phone on the bed and continued to get dressed, waiting for the tone to signify a message had been left.

She’d just finished buttoning her blouse when the message came through. She picked up her cell and dialed the message bank number.

“Hi, Soph, sorry can’t make it for dinner — something came up. You understand, don’t you? Talk to you tomorrow. Love you.”

Sophie knew exactly what had “come up” — she’d received a better invitation from John. She could hear him in the background of the message.

All of a sudden, she resented her friend dumping her for a guy. She’d never once done that to Phoebe when she was seeing Neil.

She switched the phone off and threw it on the bed. Looked like she was preparing for an evening alone after all.

She wandered about her place aimlessly, fluffing pillows that didn’t need fluffing, straightening already straight pictures.

Eventually she walked out onto her balcony. A strong westerly breeze was blowing and the tangy salt scent from the river floated all around her.

She was in a melancholy mood and couldn’t shake it free.

“Stop moping,” she told herself sternly.

She needed to get out and be surrounded by people. The bar downstairs served the best tapas in the city. So what if she was sitting by herself, it was better than sitting up here by herself, wallowing in self-pity because her friend wanted to spend time with her boyfriend. No, she wasn’t jealous of Phoebe and John’s relationship, she just wished Phoebe hadn’t brushed her off so quickly. She needed to stop acting like a selfish teenager and more like the independent woman she was.

With that resolve strumming through her, Sophie collected her bag from her room and headed downstairs. The place was busy for a Wednesday night and she welcomed the sound and hustle and bustle of people around her. She waved at a couple of other residents from the building.

She made her way to the bar and ordered a glass of white wine and a plate of tapas. She took the number the barman handed her and made her way to a table that had just been vacated.

She sipped her wine, the liquid leaving a fruity aftertaste on her palate. As she gazed around the room, her heart skipped a beat and her pulse wavered momentarily. A dark haired man with broad shoulders stood at the bar — Alex.

She shook her head and laughed softly at the fanciful thought. She was so desperate for company she was conjuring up Alex in every man she saw.

She took another sip and just about choked on her wine as the man turned. It
was
Alex. He spied her and looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

• • •

They looked at each other for a few moments before Alex started to walk in her direction. He reached her table and sat down in the vacant chair, not asking if she wanted him to join her, just knowing that she did.

It took every ounce of control he had not to lean over the table and capture Sophie’s moist ruby red lips with his. He wondered if she realized desire was burning in her eyes. He wondered if she realized an answering desire burned through his veins every time he got within three feet of her. He wondered what she’d do if he leaned over and kissed her.

In that split second he watched as her desire turned to indignation. He always knew what she was thinking, her feelings always were displayed across her face.

“I don’t recall inviting you to join me,” she said haughtily.

He couldn’t help it. Laughter bubbled up and rumbled out of him. “Ahh, Sophie, you know you want me to sit here. I can see it in your eyes. They sparkle and glow and I am completely entranced by them.”

He could see he’d shocked her with the words. They had shocked him, too. But they were the truth. Her eyes were so expressive and he found himself searching them out every day to see what secrets they would tell him.

He could see the moment she composed herself. Her shoulders straightened and she gave a small toss of her head. “Thank you, I think.”

The waiter arrived with two plates of tapas and placed them on the table. Alex pulled a plate toward him and pushed the other toward Sophie.

They ate for a few moments, with Sophie avoiding looking at him.

“So why are you here by yourself? I thought you were having dinner with Phoebe?” he asked, breaking the silence that had descended over their table.

“How did you know I was having dinner with Phoebe?”

“Because I wanted to see you after I arrived back from my meeting and Dawn happily relayed the information to me.”

He also didn’t want to let on that Dawn had told him about the brief interaction Sophie had shared with their hostile patient, Phil.

“Oh.” She sounded surprised at his knowledge. “Well, Phoebe got a better offer.”

He could hear the bitterness in her voice and he knew the better offer was a man. “Well, her loss is my gain,” he said as he concentrated on his food again.

The sound of the scraping chair had him looking up. Sophie had pushed her plate toward him. “I’m not that hungry now. I think I’ll head back home. Goodnight, Alex.”

She was on her feet and out of the restaurant so fast Alex had to wonder if the last half an hour had been an apparition. But the lingering scent of her perfume told him otherwise.

He finished his mouthful and dumped his napkin on the table. He strode out the door. He wasn’t going to let Sophie get away from him tonight. Seeing her at the restaurant had cemented it in his mind, once and for all — he planned to pursue a relationship with Sophie. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

• • •

Sophie couldn’t take a trick. Everything seemed to be conspiring against her. First Phoebe dumps her. Then Alex turns up and sits down at her table. Her desire for him was so strong. She knew she couldn’t stay at the table any longer. So she’d run. Now the lift was so slow in coming she knew it wouldn’t whisk her away before Alex arrived.

The footsteps sounding behind her and the way the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood to attention confirmed her suspicion. She and Alex would be sharing the lift once again. Just like the television show where the medics tried to deny their sexual attraction and always wound up in the lift together. It was like she and Alex were those two characters — only in real life and not on a television show.

“Invite me up, Sophie.” Her hair wafted lightly on his whispered words. She closed her eyes against the sensual onslaught his scent brought her.

Memories of their one night crowded into her mind, melding with the memories of their first meeting in the ER, to their dinner date, to right now in the foyer of their building where Sophie knew that her answer meant their relationship was going to change.

The lift doors whooshed open and her mind made her decision. She couldn’t deny him any longer. She turned and faced him. Her breast brushed his chest, showing her how close he stood behind her. “Would you like to come up, Alex?”

She blinked against the brightness of his smile, and that one smile chased away the darkness that had entrapped her since Phoebe’s phone call.

He took her hand and led her into the lift. He pressed the button for her floor and then slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her close.

Sophie laid her head on his shoulder. It felt so right to be in his embrace. To be held by him and to explore a relationship between them.

The carpeted hallway muffled their tread as they made their way toward her apartment.

Her fingers shook slightly as she reached in for her keys, fumbling a couple of times before getting the key into the lock.

She opened the door and headed toward the kitchen, speaking as she went. “It’s a nice night,” she said, tossing her keys to him. “Here, open the doors and take a seat on the balcony, while I make the coffees. Do you want another latte?”

When she didn’t get an answer to her question she stopped and looked at him. He still stood in the middle of her living room, gazing at her with a hooded expression.

Had she read the situation wrong? No, she couldn’t have. He wanted her to ask him up, he wanted to be here. She hadn’t misinterpreted what he wanted at all.

“Is there something wrong, Alex?”

With his gaze still holding hers, he started toward her with slow sure steps, and if she wanted to move she couldn’t. Every bone in her body was frozen to where she stood. Her heart hammered loudly in her mind and her palms started to get sweaty.

What was he going to do?

Her breath hitched in her throat as he stopped mere centimeters from her. He placed the keys on the bench, never taking his eyes off hers. He reached his arms out and gripped her waist, pulling her toward him until she was flush against his chest, her hands squashed between them. She could feel his heart thudding in an answering beat to hers.

“I don’t want coffee, I want this.”

He lowered his head and took her lips with a slow, deliberate kiss. She freed her arms and wrapped them around his shoulders, inching up until she touched his springy hair.

She moaned and deepened the kiss. His touch was creating a delicious tension through her. She wanted to feel his body against hers, feel his power as he thrust into her.

Her hands tugged at his hair, wanting more. He answered by slipping his hands to the front of her blouse and … the jangling of a bell penetrated her sensually fogged mind.

Her cell phone? No, it was her in-house phone?

Who was coming to visit this late?

She wrenched herself from Alex’s embrace and straightened her top as she walked over to the ringing phone. Alex would probably think she was being rude but somebody needed her if they were calling this late.

“Hello?” Her voice sounded husky to her own ears.

“Sorry to disturb you this late, Miss Franklyn, but Phoebe is here to see you and I wouldn’t let her up until I knew you were … ahh … still awake.”