Dr Cinderella's Midnight Fling. Kate Hardy

and dignity. And she liked that. A lot.

      ‘I like your bedside manner,’ she said when they’d left the Taylors.

      He raised an eyebrow. ‘Funny, I find sometimes women run from it.’

      Jane felt the colour shoot into her face. ‘I didn’t mean that kind of bedside. I meant how you are with the mums. In my last hospital, I worked with a consultant who was incredibly brusque and treated everyone like idiots, mums and staff alike. He had all the social skills of a piranha, and I swore I’d never become like that myself or be forced to work with anyone like that again.’ She gave him a wry smile. ‘Though I guess I knew you wouldn’t be like that, or Theo would’ve refused to appoint you.’

      He smiled. ‘I was teasing you, Jane.’

      Her face was burning. ‘Sorry. Everyone says I’m too serious. I’m afraid you drew the short straw and you’ve got the nerdy one to work with.’

      ‘Nerdy’s good,’ he said. ‘I like clever people. Come on, let’s finish our rounds.’

      She introduced him to the rest of her patients. When they’d finished, he said, ‘I think we need to talk. Probably not where we’re likely to be overheard, so do you know a quiet corner somewhere?’

      Here it came. Retribution for her acting so madly, so unJanelike, on Saturday. And Sunday. ‘Believe it or not, the most private place is probably going to be the hospital canteen; it’s noisy and people don’t get a chance to eavesdrop.’

      ‘Good. Let’s go.’

      CHAPTER FOUR

      ‘I’M BUYING,’ Jane said, trying not to think of the last time they’d had coffee together. ‘Black, no sugar, isn’t it?’

      ‘Yes, thanks. You have a good memory.’

      ‘Doctors are supposed to be observant,’ she said with a smile. She ordered a black coffee, plus a cappuccino for herself. ‘Do you want a muffin with that?’ she asked.

      ‘No, I’m fine with just coffee, thanks.’

      When she’d paid, she found them a quiet corner. ‘Thanks for not bringing up what happened on Saturday in the department.’

      He shrugged. ‘No problem. But we do need to talk about Sunday.’

      ‘Sunday?’ She’d expected him to talk about Saturday and how they needed to set some boundaries. They were colleagues, nothing more, and what happened on Saturday wasn’t going to be repeated.

      ‘Sunday,’ he confirmed. ‘I was kind of expecting to see you when I woke up.’

      She stirred her coffee, avoiding looking him in the eye. ‘You were still asleep when I woke, so I thought it might be less awkward if I just left quietly.’

      ‘Maybe. But when you wake up and someone’s left you money after they spent the night with you, it tends to make you feel a bit like a gigolo.’

      She nearly choked on her coffee. ‘The money was to cover the cleaning bill for your jacket. I didn’t mean it to—oh, help. OK.’ She blew out a breath. ‘Theo didn’t introduce me properly. Dr Jane Cooper. Good with patients, but her social skills need a bit of polishing.’

      ‘Want to know how I see it?’ Ed asked softly. ‘Dr Jane Cooper, who’s charming and warm and kind; and, even more charmingly, clearly doesn’t have a clue just how lovely she is.’

      It was a far cry from Shaun’s damning assessment of her when she’d asked him why he’d cheated on her with Jenna. He’d said that she was twenty pounds too heavy and six inches too short. Jane knew it was ridiculous—she couldn’t change her height and she had no intention of tottering around in uncomfortable high heels just to please someone else—but it had knocked her confidence as well as destroying her trust. He’d homed in on exactly the same criticisms that Jenna and her mother had always made about her: everything was about appearances, not what lay beneath. She’d thought Shaun was different, that he’d love her for who she was. How rubbish her judgement had turned out to be.

      She frowned. ‘Look, I’m not fishing for compliments, Ed. I know who I am and I’m comfortable with that.’

      ‘Which is just how things should be,’ Ed said.

      This was crazy, Ed thought. He didn’t do mad things. He was sensible. But on Saturday night he’d swept Jane off her feet and surprised himself. And he wanted to do it all over again.