Marrying The Boss (22 page)

She really did try to laugh it off and
lighten the thudding pace of her heartbeat as she made to pull
away, but, it was already a lost battle. Spencer restrained her
without effort; his free hand snaring her wrist, keeping her
still.

"
Patching up mistakes is what I do. It
certainly needs cleaning and maybe suturing. Put aside your pride
and let me take care of it." He eased to his feet.

Kate was forced up with him. She felt the
pain of her hand pounding through her veins, messing with her well
developed sense of self preservation. She fought back.

"
I am perfectly capable of looking after a
simple cut myself, Dr. Stelanos."

"
Spencer," he said, with harsh emphasis.
"And, working one handed, you'll only make a hash of the suturing
and the dressing. What would that do to your professional
pride?"

Kate swallowed. It was already far too
late to rescue her foolish pride and her errant heart. It seemed
life wasn't going to allow her to keep her distance from Spencer
and his small son. She tried to concentrate on the wound in her
hand, but found she couldn't. Not with everything she ever wanted
so close to her and yet forever so far away from her
reach.

She was very much afraid she was beginning
to care too deeply about Spencer Stelanos and his opinion of her.
And that wasn't right—or sensible—at all.

Spencer took her across the stable yard to
the back door of the house where Jamie hovered anxiously.

"
Fill the kettle and switch it on." Spencer
instructed his small son as he pushed Kate down onto a stool at the
kitchen table. "I think Kate could do with some hot
tea."

"
Okay." Jamie busied himself with the
task.

Kate shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"I'm really sorry about this."

"
About what?" Spencer's eyes darkened with
something quite different from his previous laughter. "Being the
patient doesn't come easy to you, does it, Kate?"

He pulled on medical gloves and took her
small hand in his, cleaning her flesh wound with long smooth
strokes, probing it gently for further damage. Kate caught her
breath.

"
Sorry, did I hurt you? Wiggle your
fingers," Spencer instructed quietly.

Catching her bottom lip between her teeth,
Kate did as she was bid.

"
Make a fist. Good. You're lucky. It's only
a superficial cut. But, if you get any stiffness or loss of
function in the next few days I want you to tell me immediately,
okay?"

"
Very well." Kate swallowed and nodded
sharply.

"
Good girl. Now, keep your hand there while
I finish cleaning it, and then I'll stitch it."

Caught up in confusion Kate managed to
hold onto her composure and did as she was ordered. She'd never
felt so useless.

She watched wordlessly as he pulled a suture
pack from his open bag, opened it and filled a syringe with the
anesthetic. After swabbing her skin, Spencer inserted the needle
into her flesh with ease. Kate bit her inner lip as he readied a
suture needle for stitching.

Before he began, he lifted his eyes and
smiled at her. It was a genuine smile, brimming with complete
understanding. Kate felt her breathing contract, her heart thumping
heavily against the cage of her ribs.

Suddenly this very familiar task
that she had performed more than a thousand times seemed painfully
unfamiliar. To her dismay her outstretched hand began to tremble.
She inhaled a steadying breath.
Don't be ridiculous
. It would soon be over and she would
be free to leave. But, the trembling didn't stop.

"
Care to talk about it?"

Kate frowned. "About what?"

"
Whatever it is that had you so upset. You
looked half scared to death just now. I only wanted to talk to
you."

Kate shuddered. "Oh. No, it's nothing. I
was just... thinking."

"
Ahhh." Spencer nodded, as if he understood
completely. "You seem to be doing a lot of that lately. Can you
feel this? Or this?"

He touched her palm gently with his
forefinger in several places. Kate concentrated. "No,
nothing."

"
Excellent. I'm going to begin suturing
now. Care to supervise my technique?"

His tone was light, teasing. Against her
will, Kate found herself smiling in response. "You indent sound as
if you're enjoying yourself."

"
Having you completely at my mercy."
Spencer grimaced. "It has certain advantages."

Kate swallowed her disquiet and looked away
from his narrowed eyes. She felt a gentle tug on the flesh of her
palm. She looked down.

Spencer's
concentration was now total. He
worked swiftly and smoothly, the sutures quickly forming in her
flesh.

He was very good; his technique flawless.
Watching him, Kate found his touch firm and impersonal. She shook
her head. It was a pity she couldn't switch off her own reactions
to the man with the same apparent ease.

The tanned olive skin of his forearms above
the latex gloves was a sharp, disturbing contrast against her pale
flesh. Everything about him, from the long sweep of his dark lashes
to the full curve of his lower lip captivated her attention.

Against her will, she found herself wanting
to ask about his question. Dig deeper into this complex and
intriguing man. She studied his movements as Spencer finished
bandaging her hand with brisk efficiency. In the next instant she
was free. For a brief moment of feminine weakness the broad,
comforting sweep of his shoulder had looked undeniably
tempting.

No! Not again! Her throat
catching on a gasp of chagrin, Kate snatched herself back from
temptation.
What am I thinking?

Spencer's
eyes held hers. "It's a nasty
laceration and I'm concerned it might become infected. You'll need
prophylactic antibiotics."

"
Thanks." Kate nodded jerkily.
"And...thanks for this." She raised her injured hand. "I'll try not
to be so careless next time."

His eyes were doing that assessing thing
again, as if he was trying to analyze a problem that was giving him
trouble. He dropped his gaze to the script pad in his hand. "Don't
mention it. All part of the service." He handed her the script and
began repacking his bag. "I'm sure you'd do the same for
me."

"
Of course."

Calm down and get a grip on
yourself
. She
stood, taking several steps away from his disturbing presence.
Spencer moved away to wash his hands, his eyes tracking her all the
way.

Kate turned to smile at Jamie, ruffling
his curls with her uninjured hand. "Thanks for the offer of tea,
but I think I'd better get going."

The little boy nodded, his blue eyes wide.
"You sure you're all right?"

"
I'm all right," Kate answered softly.
"Your father's a good doctor."

Spencer watched them together.
Back in the stables he'd wanted to tell her all about
Katerina—their physical alikeness—and ask about the exact nature of
her relationship with Eric. Settle the nagging question in his
mind.
Had he
truly misjudged Kate
?

Suddenly he wanted to know. And to ask her
something that had risen in his mind ever since he had kissed her.
Unfortunately his timing was all shot to hell, he usually used more
finesse in getting what he wanted.

As she continued to move away he went
after her. "Kate. Come back here. Sit down. I...we need to
talk."

"
Not now, maybe later. I must go." Kate
avoided the reach of his long fingers.

She walked swiftly out of reach. "I'll see
you tomorrow at the surgery. Maybe we can talk then."

She could sense his frustration as she
left the house. He'd wanted to say more. What had he wanted to
confide in her?

Spencer Stelanos was a man carrying deep and
painful secrets. Melancholy shadows of some old, half-healed pain
moved through his eyes when he thought himself unobserved. She
would have to hold on hard to her resolve to have nothing to do
with an easy-on-the-eyes man like him. That way lay only trouble
and heartache.

Except on a purely professional
basis, of course. That she could handle given sufficient warning
and time to prepare.
Easier said than done,
that small internal voice chided
her.

Every second she spent in his sharp eyed
company would be a lifetime too long. Kate was very conscious of
him. More conscious than she had been of any man, far more than
Eric. And her own traitorously wayward emotions had briefly tugged
her in the direction of that broad shoulder.

Well, she wasn't going to lean. Not in
this or any future lifetime. She wouldn't allow herself the luxury.
As the saying went, she had made her own bed. She would now have
lie in it.

Alone.

The next morning Kate was in the surgery
kitchen talking with Edith over coffee when the door opened and
Spencer walked in.

His frowning blue eyes tracked immediately
to her. "Good morning. How's the hand?"

Kate grimaced at the abrupt question.
"It's a little stiff and sore, but nothing I can't tolerate. I'll
manage."

His frown deepened, apparently unsatisfied
with her comment. "Well, make sure you don't ruin all my good work
by trying to do too much for at least a week."

Kate huffed a sigh. "Thanks for the
advice, but I do know my limitations, Dr. Stelanos."

Edith glanced sharply at her. "Good work?
I thought you said it was only a minor laceration. What did
happen?"

Kate didn't need this cross examination.
"It was a silly mistake on my part. I fell down. Dr. Stelanos put a
few sutures in my palm."

"
Sutures?" Edith frowned. "That doesn't
sound too good."

Kate set her lips. "Honestly, it's no big
deal."

"
If you say so." Edith divided her
interested glance between them. "When did you say this accident of
yours happened again, Kate?"

"
Yesterday." Conscious of Spencer's
watchful stare, Kate murmured, "I'll tell you all about it
later."

"
I can't wait," Edith replied, her wide
eyes full of speculation. "I'll get out of your way, then. Now I
have patients waiting."

After Edith left, Kate finished her
coffee, hoping she would be able to satisfy the other woman's avid
curiosity for all the details.

"
We still need to talk." Spencer gently
snared her wrist as Kate moved past him.

"
Maybe later. I have a full list today."

"
We will talk," Spencer growled in an
uncompromising tone that offered Kate little choice but to deal
with him in the near future.

She nodded. "Fine, but, later. I have to
go."

Leaving the kitchen, she could feel
Spencer's gaze on her back. She shut the door behind her with more
force than was necessary, an unwanted wave of self pity swamping
her senses.

Throughout the day Kate somehow managed to
keep her mind on her work, and away from the distraction Spencer
caused whenever he was around. But, she was beginning to find the
task increasingly exhausting.

Something would have to give. She just
hoped it wasn't going to be her emotional sanity. Later that
afternoon Spencer suddenly appeared abruptly in the open door of
her room.

"
Got a minute, Kate?" He moved into the
room and closed the door behind him.

Keeping her eyes downcast, she said, "Just
a moment." She finished the patient notes she was typing and looked
up. "Okay, how can I help you, Dr. Stelanos?"

"
It's Spencer, remember?" He dropped into
the chair beside her desk and stretched his long legs out in front
of him, crossing them at the ankle.

"
Spencer." She didn't wish to start another
argument with the man.

"
I've just had the principal of St Joseph's
Catholic school on the phone." His blue eyes creased at the corners
as his lips curved downwards. "Apparently nearly the entire
confirmation class has come down with chickenpox. Those few who
were unaffected have already had the disease."

Kate stared at him. "Chickenpox? I did
have a patient recently."

"
Stacey Mason." Spencer nodded. "She was
sent to school for a day last week after she had been treated here.
The principal was phoning me to ask what kind of medical advice we
handed out around here that allowed a sick child to be sent
straight back to school."

"
I don't believe this. I recommended the
child be kept home from school and I told Mrs. Mason her daughter
was extremely contagious. She would have spread the disease among
her classmates. She needed to be kept home for at least a
week."