one of them.’
The secretary gave a smile. ‘Well, congratulations. That’s fabulous news. For you, and for the clinic. Do you want me to let Leo know? He’ll be thrilled for you.’
‘What? Oh, yes. Thanks very much.’ She kept the invitation close to her chest lest someone try to snatch it away from her. It was hers. It was really hers.
She couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. It felt too good.
Finally, recognition for the job that she loved. Recognition that someone, somewhere thought she was doing a good job. There were hundreds of nominations for the PR award every year, only a few making it to the final cut. A panel had studied her work closely after the nomination. Thank goodness she hadn’t known about that beforehand, it would have made her break out in a cold sweat.
She walked down the corridor, heading towards Iain’s office. He was the first person she wanted to tell. Was that weird? The other people she really wanted to know were her parents. But she didn’t want to have to tell them herself. She didn’t want to give them the ability to shrug off her news as if it was meaningless.
If she kept quiet long enough, the press would eventually break the story. Maybe her parents would pay more attention then? Was it wrong to know that her parents would be more likely to celebrate her success if it brought them good promo?
She shook the thought from her head.
‘What are you looking so happy about?’ Iain had crept up behind her, placed his hands on her hips and was escorting her into his office, shutting the door with his foot.
‘This!’ Lexi spun around, waving the silver envelope.
Iain smiled, leaned against the door and folded his arms. ‘Okay, you got me. What is it?’
She couldn’t help it. She started jumping up and down on the spot. Even wearing stilettos she couldn’t contain her excitement. ‘It’s such a big a nomination. I can’t believe I got it. I can’t believe I got nominated. I don’t care about winning. Just getting nominated is so, so fabulous!’
‘You finalled? Really? That’s brilliant! I knew you would!’
He bent down and kissed her thoroughly. His kisses took her breath away. The feel of his hands on her body made her forget everything else—including the fact they were in the clinic.
Well, not quite everything. In the currently messy recesses of her mind a little alarm bell had gone off.
She pulled back. ‘You don’t seem surprised.’
‘Maybe I believe in you. Maybe I value the work that you do. Maybe I think the world should know how good you are. Look at the fabulous job you did with Carol Kennedy. Everyone is talking about her. Everyone is talking about the warning signs of cancer.’
She felt a little warmth spread through her chest. ‘It was you, wasn’t it? You nominated me for this award?’
It was an incredible feeling. A swelling of pride. Something she rarely experienced in this life—not with the parents she had.
It made her feel special. It made her feel worthy. All things she’d spent this life striving for. And in a few short weeks Iain had made that happen for her. There was no getting away from the fact that she could happily spend the rest of her life like this. Happily spend the rest of her life with Iain—if only he didn’t want kids so badly.
He touched her face. ‘Of course I nominated you for the award. I’ve seen the hours you put in. I’ve seen the changes you’ve made in the last few months. The number of celebrity clients has gone through the roof. You know they’re not my favourite kind, but if they help the clinic, and help with the charity work we can do, I can live with that.’ He pulled her even closer. ‘You did this work, Lexi. You did. I just nominated you for the award. The panel scrutinised the work that you’ve done. They found it worthy to give you a place as a finalist. You should be proud of yourself. The work you’ve done here is amazing.’
The silver envelope was still trapped between them, against the hard planes of his chest and the firm curves of her breasts. She looked down at it and smiled. ‘I think this is all a ploy.’
‘A ploy?’ Iain arched his eyebrows.
‘Definitely. You must know this invitation is for two people. You’re trying to trick me into going out in public with you.’ It was risky. It was more than risky. They hadn’t let anyone at work know about their relationship. Everything had been kept tightly under wraps. This would blow things out of the water.
She felt her heart flutter in her chest. Beating much faster than it should. Didn’t they have a special name for this? AF? Didn’t this normally require medical treatment? Just as well she was in a doctor’s arms.
She was pretending to breathe normally. Pretending that this was an everyday question. Pretending that she didn’t feel sick asking it.
She could see Iain thinking. She could almost hear his brain ticking. Trying to decide what to tell her. Did he want to let her down gently? Because, frankly, that would kill her.
But just when she thought he was going to break her heart, he leaned forward and gave her a kiss. It was lighter than before, a little more formal.
‘It would be my pleasure to be your date. I think you’ll knock them out.’
She tried not to let the hiss of relief from her lungs be audible. Her smile was back, pasted from one ear to the other. ‘So,’ she said as she wound her hands around his neck, ‘what are my chances of getting you in a kilt?’
Lexi looked in the mirror and tried not to let her hand tremble as she took the large rollers from her hair. It fell in loose curls, just the way she’d wanted. Everything should be perfect.
But inside her chest her heart was pitter-pattering the fast beat of nerves. This wasn’t about Iain. This wasn’t about the award ceremony. This was about being her.
She shrugged the satin robe from her shoulders, immediately averting her eyes from the full-length mirror in front of her.
Her breasts were perfect. There was no denying the fantastic job her plastic surgeon had done. But although she liked them, she was still naturally shy about her body shape. She wasn’t the kind of girl who’d ever go topless on a beach. She stepped into her pink satin underwear and fastened her bra around her back. There. Now she looked up.
Her hand rested on her stomach. The line of her panties didn’t quite hide the scar on her abdomen. The scar that Iain had never asked about.
Just that thought sent the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. It was inevitable. At some point he would ask and at some point she would tell him. And that time was creeping closer with every day.
Within a few seconds she’d pulled her dress over her head. Better, much better. Now her body was covered. It was almost as if she’d pulled on her suit of armour.
The dress enhanced her shape, covered all the parts of her she wanted covered. And let her move past the things she didn’t want to think about.
She sat down in the chair and fastened her jewel-encrusted sandals. She could almost see the headlines. The Lexi Robbins who appeared in the press was so different from the Lexi Robbins who stared at her in the mirror.
These last few weeks had been easier. She was little more relaxed. A little more confident. She fastened her earrings. Iain. He was the difference here.
He never failed to compliment her. He never failed to tell her how good he thought she looked.
She looked up again. She liked the pale pink and silver dress. Not too much cleavage, not too much leg. She was comfortable in it. Some people might call her a princess in it.
Too bad that wasn’t how she felt.
She fixed a smile on her face. There. That was better.
Iain would be here soon. Her