Marrying The Boss (17 page)

Kate kept herself busy inside
the cottage on Sunday. She took two aspirin for her headache and
put on a load of washing before ironing everything with determined
thoroughness. But the potent memory of
Spencer's kiss continued to haunt
her.

She even collected her few belongings
together, as she considered giving up her position and moving on to
gain some measure of peace. But, at the end of the day she finally
unpacked again. Did that make her a coward?

She sat down on the couch in the lounge
with a worried sigh. She had only been here for a week. The
remainder of her three year contract stretched out before
her.

If she did leave, this would be hard on the
practice, which like all small towns would struggle to attract the
right kind of qualified help in time. After a great deal of soul
searching, Kate decided to remain, but to have as little to do with
Spencer as possible. It was for the best, for both of them.
Certainly it was the best thing for Jamie.

The idea sat uneasily in the pit of her
stomach. She ate a lonely meal in front of the television and
crawled into bed at an indecently early hour to toss restlessly all
night.

It was a relief when Monday morning finally
dawned, even if she was still awake to hear the opening chorus of
birdsong. She showered and dressed before driving to the surgery
with a heavy heart.

Her own unfettered response to Spencer's
kiss she could put down to the wine. She had drunk more than her
usual amount and it had certainly been far more potent than she was
used to. It had stripped away all her inhibitions, leaving her open
and vulnerable.

After Eric, her ability to understand and
control her own emotional responses had been shattered. She was
slowly coming to terms with the callousness of his betrayal, but
she had thought herself basically incapable of responding again to
any man.

Well, she thought wryly, that theory no
longer held water. In fact, it leaked like a sieve!

"
So, it must have been the wine." She
settled for that rational explanation with a cautious measure of
relief.

She wasn't in the habit of throwing
herself at the nearest available man, no matter how attractive and
tempting. She'd only been on a couple of dates before she first
encountered Eric. And Spencer had made a definite point of saying
he wasn't interested or available.

So be it
. That was what she wanted, of
course. She schooled her features not to reflect her state of inner
turmoil before seeing her first patient of the day.

The following morning Kate saw
Spencer in
Jake's consulting room, standing with his back to her. Kate
slipped into her own room and shut the door quietly. She drew
several deep breaths to slow the rapid pace of her heartbeat.
Becoming involved in her patient load was the only way to push
Spencer's unwanted image to the back of her mind.

After seeing her last patient
for the morning, Kat
e turned to stare at her computer screen, her chin propped
in her upraised hand. Her new life which had begun with so much
promise now seemed to be unraveling fast. There had to be a
solution. But what it was, she had no idea.

Behind her eyes a headache was forming
that wouldn't be banished. She returned doggedly to work, pushing
her own discomfort into the back of her mind. Knowledge was power,
right? Now that she knew where she stood with Spencer, she would
fall into the same trap of being alone with him again.

Spencer was surprised to see his
next patient. He knew many members of Anne
Rangi's large, extended family, but
they rarely came to town. It had been a long time since he'd
treated any of them.

"
It's good to see you, Anne," he said.
"What can I do for you?"

"
Mum asked me to come and see you," Anne
replied, her face full of sadness. "She wants you to come out to
the farm and see my grandfather. He's very stubborn and doesn't
hold with doctors. And he won't come into town. We thought he might
let a male doctor examine him if you just turned up and wouldn't
back down. We were told his heart isn't good when he was put into
hospital before Christmas with chest pains. He tries to hide it,
but he always gets short of breath when he does too much around the
farm. But we can't tell him."

Spencer sat forward. "Of course. I'm not
on call, so I can come out tonight. I'll also get onto the hospital
and check out the record of his visit. Make sure there's nothing
more we need to know."

"
Thanks, Doc." Anne smiled. "Come out any
time."

Spencer stood to show her out of the
consulting room. He moved next door and walked into a scene of
complete anarchy. Screaming children and a very harassed mother was
exactly what he didn't need right now. A headache was thumping
behind his eyes, making coherent thinking difficult.

Despite his late night talk with his inner
self, his frustration was still simmering below the rigid surface
of his control. As he opened the door again to look for help with
his latest medical crisis he saw Kate crossing the reception and
everything roiling inside him wanted to pull her inside an
unoccupied room with him, take her somewhere they could be alone
and he could get his hands on her soft body. Assuage some of the
torment that wouldn't let him sleep at night, let alone think
straight.

The crazy compulsion darkened his already
bleak mood. Breathing deep to regain a measure of control, he
forced his mind back to more practical matters. "Dr. Martin, I'm
afraid I need your help again."

As she crossed to the reception desk to
search for pain relief, Kate looked up to see Spencer stalking
towards her. He looked harassed and quite put out, anything but
welcoming.

"Of course, what is it?"
She guessed that
night had been as big a headache for him as it was for her. The
thought gave her a small measure of cheap satisfaction. She'd take
anything she could get right now.

Spencer frowned at her. "I've been phoning
for you." His tone was clipped and short.

"
I was just heading for my coffee break,
Dr. Stelanos." Kate paused, noting his somewhat disheveled
appearance with a wary look.

"
Spencer," he replied with brittle
impatience. "If you've got a moment, I need you."

"
How can I help?" Kate swallowed against
the sudden thumping of her heartbeat as she crossed to his
side.

Spencer looked down at her, his lips
curving wryly. "I have a baby with a severe ear infection and a
very distressed young mother who's managed to sprain her wrist in
her attempts to handle the situation. I need help."

He reached past Kate's shoulder to push
open the door of his consulting room and a small blonde haired
child toddled out, heading determinedly for freedom. Spencer bent
to scoop him up, tucking the squirming body firmly under one arm.
"Also Pat had no one to leave the rest of her children with. So
she's brought all five of them with her."

"
So I can see." Kate looked into the room
at the scene of three small children keenly investigating
everything at their level. The room was being taken slowly apart by
tiny hands.

"
So I need help. Your help." Spencer pushed
her into the room with a firm nudge in the small of her back and
shut the door.

"
Hi, I'm Dr. Martin."

"
Hello." The worried young woman sitting
beside Spencer's desk nodded as she cuddled a small baby whose thin
anguished wail could be heard over the general noise.

Kate held out her hands. "Maybe I could
get one of the nurses to look after your children and then I could
take a look at your baby while Dr. Stelanos takes care of your
hand."

"
I don't know, Victoria is usually fussy
about who she goes to," the young mother replied in a worried
tone.

"
Let's see, shall we?" Kate maintained a
soft, coaxing tone as she lifted the squirming baby from its
mother's arms.

The baby hiccupped into silence, staring at
Kate with wide blue eyes filled with tears.

"
There, that's better, isn't it?" Kate
cuddled the child, keeping her voice even and low. "Let's see what
we can do to make you better. Okay?"

The baby dropped her head into the curve
of Kate's shoulder with a soft whimper.

"
Magic." Spencer approved with a curt nod.
"Thank you."

Kate's
eyes met his over the baby's head and
his look of gratitude traveled right through her, stirring the
sensuous memory of his kiss. But the look in his eyes was still
chill and stark, almost as if he hated the sight of her. He
appeared angry with her for some reason she couldn't
fathom.

She swallowed tightly. "No problems, it's
all in the touch."

She turned away to open the door and leaned
out to ask Cheryl to take the older children to the play area. Then
she came back to place the baby on the examination table. Even with
her back to Spencer she felt vitally aware of him.

She took her time assessing the
now quiet baby, checking both ears with Spencer's auroscope
and assessing all
the little girl's vital signs. In no time at all she was back in
her mother's arms. Spencer had assessed and strapped Mrs. O'Neill's
wrist.

"
Oh, that feels much better," the young
woman approved.

Spencer sat down at his desk. "You'll need
to take it easy for a few days. Rest your arm as much as
possible."

"
It won't be easy." Kate noted the young
mother had lost some of her harassed look. "Can you get help with
the children?"

"
My mum will help." Pat nodded. "I'll call
her when I get home."

"
Excellent. The rest will do you good."
Kate showed her out and helped her round up her brood. Cheryl went
with her to help load them all into her car.

Spencer appeared at her side as Kate
tidied up a few scattered toys back into their container. "Thanks
for the help in there."

"
You're welcome." Her eyes shied away from
his cool gaze. "All part of the service," she replied with a quick
nod, before making good her escape.

Kevin Michaels smiled as Kate entered the
kitchen in search of her overdue cup of coffee.

"
Caffeine, you gotta love it." He raised
his mug, inhaling deeply.

He pushed the hank of fair hair out of his
eyes. He sighed as it flopped back across his forehead.

Kate felt her troubled spirits lift as she
returned his smile. She liked Edith's husband, enjoying his off
beat company. The Michaels were an unlikely couple. Kevin was as
thin and rangy as Edith was small and plump. He was also completely
uncomplicated and he didn't stare at her as if he knew a secret he
couldn't share.

"
I've been waiting all morning for this,"
she said, crossing the room to make her own coffee.

"
So, how's the horde treating you?" Kevin
cocked a knowing eyebrow. "You managing to cope okay?"

I'm
doing all right. No complaints so
far." Kate lifted her cup to her lips, taking a long swallow and
sighing in relief.

"
Patients." Kevin shook his head. "You gotta love
'em."

Kate gave a soft laugh. "Do you love
everything in this world, Dr. Michaels?"

Kevin's
furrowed brow creased even more as he
thought about the question seriously. He shrugged. "What's not to
love?" he asked at last. "I have a beautiful wife and a great
job."

His green eyes tracked to Kate. "What
about you, Dr. Martin?" His sandy brows shot higher. "What do you
love? Any significant other we don't know about?"

Kate fought to keep heat from surging into
her face as she pretended to consider his question. How could she
answer him and not give herself away?

Eric didn't want her and Spencer had made
it perfectly clear he didn't wish to become involved with her
either. She was beginning to feel decidedly unwanted and
unloved.

"
That's a rather personal question." She
pushed aside the rush of self pity. As she hitched a troubled
breath her tangled thoughts must have shown on her face.

Kevin threw up his free hand. "Oops,
sorry, ignore my size twelves, they're always in my mouth. I get
the idea I've stepped on some tender points." He began to backtrack
with almost comical dismay.

His face crinkled with despair. "Sorry,
Kate. Wasn't thinking. Spur of the moment question. My mouth is
always getting me into trouble. I don't know when to shut up. When
I—"

"
Stop!" Kate couldn't help laughing,
holding up her hand against his undiminished spate of words. "It's
all right. I get the idea. You're sorry."

Kevin sagged with relief. "Didn't mean to
cause you any offence."