afraid I’m not really an opera buff,’ Rafferty replied evenly. ‘My visits to the theatre tend to have a rather different purpose behind them.’
Everyone laughed at the quip, as he’d obviously intended them to. However, Natalie could tell there was something bothering him. She frowned to herself, because she had no idea what was wrong. They’d just been making conversation, the kind of small talk that usually happened at these events, so why did Rafferty look so on edge?
The band began to play so, under cover of the general hubbub that broke out as people got up to dance, she leant over and asked him, ‘Are you all right?’
‘Fine. Why shouldn’t I be?’
His tone was bland enough but she could tell from the tautness of his jaw that he was still very tense. She shrugged, feeling her way with care because she didn’t want to make matters worse by saying the wrong thing. ‘You just looked a bit…well, uneasy when we were talking about the opera.’
‘Did I?’ He shrugged. ‘Probably because there wasn’t a lot I could contribute. Opera is something that has passed me by, I’m afraid.’
‘Oh, I see.’
Natalie wasn’t sure she did see, but there was little she could say when he obviously didn’t want to talk about it any more. Maybe he wasn’t interested in opera, as he’d claimed, but his reaction seemed to her to be just a little too much. She breathed a sigh of relief when a waiter appeared and informed her there was a phone call for her in Reception because it provided a welcome distraction.
She quickly excused herself, as she had a good idea who it might be. Since she’d been back in London, she’d been helping out at a drop-in clinic for the many homeless teenagers who lived on the streets of the city. The clinic was staffed by a team of volunteer nurses and doctors and provided a lifeline for the youngsters who were often loath to seek medical help elsewhere. Although she wasn’t due to work that night, she’d made sure they had the phone number of the hotel where the dinner was being held in case anything cropped up. The reception staff had transferred the call to a private booth in the foyer so she went straight there and picked up the receiver.
‘Natalie Palmer.’
‘Hi, Natalie, it’s Helen. I’m sorry to phone you but we have a bit of a problem. It’s Danny Kennedy and he’s in a pretty bad way, I’m afraid.’
Natalie sighed. Danny was a regular visitor to the clinic. He was in his early teens and had run away from home after his parents had split up and his mother’s new partner had beaten him up. He’d suffered from asthma all his life and living on the streets was making the problem worse.
‘Has he been taking his medication?’ she asked worriedly.
‘He says he has but it doesn’t sound like it to me,’ Helen explained. ‘I really think he should be admitted to hospital but he’s refusing to go. I thought you might be able to persuade him to see sense.’
‘I’ll try.’ She checked her watch. ‘If I leave straight away, I should be with you in about ten minutes’ time. If he gets any worse, though, call an ambulance and we’ll argue about it later.’
‘Will do. Thanks, Natalie.’
Natalie left the booth, trying to decide what she should tell Rafferty. He had no idea that she’d been working at the clinic since she’d come back to London and she wasn’t sure if she wanted him to know about it either.
‘Is everything all right?’
She jumped when the subject of her thoughts suddenly materialised at her side. She turned to face him, feeling her heart give an appreciative little flutter before she could stop it. The formal dinner suit he was wearing made the most of his dark good looks, emphasising the width of his shoulders and the trimness of his waist. Rarely had she seen him wearing anything other than scrubs or jeans and she had to admit that he looked great. However, how he looked wasn’t the issue. She was more concerned about what she was going to tell him.
Her father had instilled into her a sense of duty from an early age. He had insisted that it wasn’t enough just to be rich and that she had to prove her worth by giving something back to the world. Natalie had never had a problem with that idea because it wasn’t in her nature to idle away her time. She enjoyed helping people, and loved nursing, so she had tried to live up to his high expectations of her. However, whilst she was prepared to accept that kind of attitude from her father, she didn’t see why she should have to justify herself to Rafferty. She was still smarting at the thought that he valued her more as a nurse than anything else, and certainly didn’t intend to make it appear as though she was trying to curry favour with him!
‘Something has cropped up and I’m going to have to leave,’ she said shortly, heading for the cloakroom.
‘It’s not your father, is it? He hasn’t taken a turn for the worse?’
‘No, nothing like that,’ she replied evasively, handing her ticket to the attendant.
‘But it must be important if you’re rushing off.’
‘It is.’
Natalie took her coat from the woman and hurried across the foyer but if she’d hoped to deter him, obviously she’d failed. He followed her outside, his expression turning thunderous as he watched her flag down a passing taxi.
‘Are you going to tell me what’s going on?’
‘No.’ She opened the cab door and got in. ‘I’ll see you in the office tomorrow morning. Your pass should be ready so you’ll just need to ask the staff on Reception for it when you arrive.’
She started to shut the door but he was too quick for her. His green eyes flashed as he bent and looked at her.
‘I’m asking you one last time where you’re going, Natalie.’
‘And I’m telling you one last time that it hasn’t anything to do with you. You gave up the right to have a say in what I do when you told me that our relationship wasn’t going to work.’
She went to close the door again and this time he didn’t try to stop her. She told the driver the address of the clinic then sat back in the seat. She could feel Rafferty staring at her as the cab drove away but she didn’t look at him, didn’t dare in case she weakened. She loved him so much, but it wasn’t enough. He had to love her too—unconditionally and without any strings attached—and the likelihood of that happening seemed even more remote after what he’d told her that day.
She closed her eyes, feeling the pain welling inside her again. She might be a rich man’s daughter, she might be a nurse, but she was first and foremost a woman and she wanted a man who would love her for herself.
Helen must have been watching for her to arrive because she came hurrying out of the clinic as soon as the taxi drew up. She whistled when Natalie turned round after paying the driver.
‘Wowee! That’s some dress, girl. You must have really socked it to him in that get-up. I bet he’s still reeling!’
Natalie’s mood immediately lifted and she laughed. She’d become good friends with the attractive Anglo-Caribbean nurse since she’d been working at the clinic and was hoping to persuade her to join Worlds Together at some point. ‘If he is then he managed to hide it pretty well. The last I saw of him, he was glaring after the taxi and looking as though he was about to spit tacks!’
‘No wonder.’ Helen grinned as she opened the clinic’s door and ushered her inside. ‘The poor guy probably thought he was in for a night of passion when he saw you in that outfit, and what do you go and do? Only run out on him!’ She shook her head. ‘That wasn’t very kind, was it?’
‘Tough. He shouldn’t have counted his chickens, should he?’
Natalie refused to feel guilty, because in her opinion she had nothing to feel guilty about. She hadn’t promised Rafferty a night of passion—despite