wasn’t much to say really. It had been a very simple procedure and just as she thought she was done thinking about Leo Hunter for the day, he made sure that he would spend the rest of the night and days to come perpetually lodged in her thoughts.
‘Did Gwen discuss the ball with you?’
‘The ball?’
‘There’s a charity ball for Princess Catherine’s next weekend. You’ll be attending as my guest.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes.’
Lizzie just stood there as Leo calmly explained that as head nurse it was right that she accompany him.
It was pretty ironic that she was naked and soaked as he invited her to such a prestigious event—a fish out of water was exactly how she’d be, and she knew it.
‘I don’t think you …’ How could she explain that she’d never been to a ball in her life, let alone on the arm of someone as glamorous as he? How could she properly explain to someone as sophisticated and worldly as Leo that she would stand out like a sore thumb? ‘I think I’m away that weekend …’ Lizzie frantically attempted.
‘I’m not asking you if you’d like to go, Lizzie,’ Leo said, and she realised that she might have witnessed his might but only now was she glimpsing his power. No one said no to Leo, unless they had an exceptionally good reason. ‘There’s an important work function coming up—I’m hoping you’ll be able to attend.’
‘Of course,’ Lizzie responded.
‘Good.’
He rang off then and instead of running back to her bath Lizzie headed to her wardrobe and then the computer and logged into her bank account.
She might be working in the most luxurious surroundings but her pay didn’t go in till next Thursday and … Lizzie winced as she saw the damage Christmas had wreaked on her credit card, and her mother’s hairdresser was booked for this weekend and she charged like a wounded bull.
Leo might call it a mere work function but it was the renowned Princess Catherine’s Charity Ball he was referring to. It wasn’t just that she had no idea what to wear that had her head spinning, it was also that she would be attending with Leo.
No, Lizzie didn’t sleep well.
‘I THINK THAT Lizzie seems an excellent choice.’ Declan didn’t hold back on his praise. They were having a medical staff meeting and Leo was trying to wrap it up, yet the conversation kept turning to the new head nurse.
‘I agree.’ Rafael nodded. ‘I had a few problems with my schedule on Monday and it was all swiftly dealt with without anyone being upset.’
‘Okay, can we move things along? We’re not just here for the Lizzie Birch Admiration Society,’ Leo said, irritated and not sure why.
They discussed a few internal matters. With so many eminent surgeons working there, often they would talk about a particularly difficult case but this morning they were discussing the charity side of things. ‘How are things going?’ he asked Ethan.
‘Slowly,’ Ethan admitted. He loathed meetings and sat turning his pen over and over. ‘But then again, most people I need to speak to are still away for the Christmas break. Things should start to kick into gear next week but I’m having trouble deciding the next patient. I’ve narrowed it down to two possibilities and I’m waiting for some test results to come back for the insurance companies.’ They spoke for a little while longer but as the meeting wound up, despite Leo’s best efforts Ethan got back to the one topic Leo would rather not discuss. He looked at Leo, his eyes black with anger, and Leo guessed what was coming before Ethan even said it. ‘I hear that you’re taking Lizzie to the ball.’
‘Of course.’ Leo didn’t bat an eyelid. ‘It’s an important function, and I think that she should be there to represent the clinic.’ Rather abruptly Leo stood. ‘I’ve got a patient to see.’
He did have a patient to see but he was also questioning his decision last night. It had seemed an obvious choice at the time but as he saw Lizzie chatting to Charlotte in a treatment room as he walked past, saw her throw her head back and laugh at something that was being said, Leo knew the decision hadn’t just been about representing the Hunter Clinic well. But did he really need the complication of an aggrieved head nurse?
Yes, Leo had enough insight to know that she’d soon be aggrieved. The only thing he took seriously was work, not that Ethan could get that. Ethan seemed to think it all just magically happened, no one really understood the effort that he put in.
‘Darling Leo!’
His favourite patient stood when she saw him. Tiny, petite, she was trailing scarves and expensive scent as they walked to his office and past Lizzie, who, with a brief nod at them, was heading into hers.
‘Francesca …’ Leo helped her off with her luxurious coat. She had once been his father’s patient and more recently Leo had done a lot of work on her. Last year Francesca had had a full facelift and they both were thrilled with the result. She often popped in for a smudge of cosmetic filler or to have her lips plumped up a fraction. Francesca only ever saw Leo, even for the tiniest procedures. ‘It’s lovely to see you,’ Leo said.
‘And you, darling. It’s terribly cold.’ She shivered without her coat and Leo suppressed a smile. The routine never changed.
‘I can have the heating turned up.’
‘No, no …’ Francesca waved her hands. ‘I don’t want to cause trouble. I am always cold, you know that.’
‘Perhaps a small brandy might warm you?’ Leo suggested.
‘Just a small one maybe,’ Francesca said, and Leo duly headed to the decanter.
‘It really is freezing out there,’ he added, as he handed Francesca a drink.
‘How are you, Leo?’ Francesca asked once she’d taken a sip. ‘How’s the love life?’
‘You know I don’t have a love life, Francesca.’ Leo grinned. ‘The social life’s amazing, though.’
Francesca laughed and then got to the real reason she was there. ‘I have a wedding to go to in the summer,’ Francesca started, and Leo sighed inwardly as he realised that she wasn’t just there for a little top-up. Francesca knew enough about procedures to know she would need a few months for the swelling and bruising to go down fully and the effect to show properly, except Leo didn’t want to do any more surgery on her. Francesca looked amazing as she was.
‘Just here …’ Francesca ran her fingers along nonexistent jowls. ‘And I think if I had more volume in my cheeks—’
‘Francesca,’ Leo interrupted, ‘you never had much volume in your cheeks even when you were younger.’ Leo came over and examined Francesca’s face carefully.
Objectively.
He tried to ignore the fact that he had done her previous surgery and to look at Francesca as if she were a new patient who was coming to see him for the first time. He asked himself what he would advise if that were the case.
Nothing.
Leo had taken care of everything in last year’s surgery. He was incredibly proud of his work. Francesca, from a distance, could pass as a woman in her late forties or early fifties, thanks to the amazing care she took of herself. Even examining Francesca close up, even scrutinising her features carefully, the work she’d had done, combined with her already breath-taking features, meant that she looked two decades younger then she was.
‘Francesca.’ Leo went and sat back behind his desk—he knew this was going to be difficult, knew just how volatile