Loe raamatut: «Unwrapped By The Duke»

CHAPTER ONE

“AND THIS IS WHERE you can change into your lab coat while you make rounds on our patients.”

Geri nodded her head as she followed her father into the lounge all the surgeons and physicians at the hospital used. There were overstuffed sofas and a sparkling kitchen area. It was a comfortable enough room, more than comfortable, a lot different from the rooms in the inner-city Glasgow hospital where she’d done her residency. Those rooms usually had a couple of vending machines and a ratty old settee. Not that she’d spent much time in the doctors’ lounge. She’d spent most of her time on the surgical floor.

Until a month ago when she’d given up her chance to be a surgeon.

She’d had every intention of finishing her surgical residency, but circumstances had changed after her last year on rotation and her father’s offer to become a cardiologist had suited her just fine.

She’d been surprised at the opulence she found herself suddenly thrust into.

Of course, her father was a prestigious cardiologist, with a practice in Harley Street. Being a member of the peerage, he was used to working in more comfortable surroundings.

She was finding it all a bit overwhelming.

It had only been last year that her estranged father had reached out to her and she’d gone from that young girl who’d grown up in a poorer district of Glasgow, studying hard to get scholarships and working two jobs to pay her way through medical school, to heiress.

Geri had spent her whole life doing everything in her power to make a better life for herself, to distance herself from her cold, detached mother who was now living in some commune in Israel. A mother who had no interest in a connection with her daughter anymore.

Which also suited Geri just fine.

So it had been a complete shock to her system to finally meet her father and find out that he was an aristocrat—a lord—and that she was a lady and the heiress to a family seat that stretched back to the time of King George III. And it wasn’t just that. Her father was retiring and he was leaving his practice to her.

When he’d offered her the practice last year she’d turned him down. She’d been involved with Frederick and on her way to becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon.

Besides, she hadn’t really wanted to get to know the man who hadn’t given two figs about her existence until it had suited him.

Then Frederick had broken her heart and because of her relationship with him she’d became the laughing stock of the surgical program in Glasgow. She’d decided to take the easy way out and take her father up on his offer.

A secret shame she’d have to bear. Which was only fitting punishment for thinking herself in love with a surgeon she’d been learning from. For letting her emotions rule her heart.

Her mother had told her time and time again to hide away her feelings. Feelings served no purpose. They were a form of weakness.

So she’d left Glasgow for London to take over her father’s share of the practice.

Surgery was the price she had to pay for her indiscretion.

It wasn’t a solo practice, as her father shared his practice with a cardiothoracic surgeon, but that didn’t matter. It’s what made her father’s practice one of the top ones in Harley Street. In the same office you could meet with your cardiologist and one of the best cardiothoracic surgeons was just down the hall. Geri had yet to meet the infamous Mr. Ashwood, but she had read some of his research papers when she’d been doing her surgical residency. He was certainly an impressive and accomplished surgeon.

“Geraldine, you looked a little flustered. Are you sure you’re well, my dear? We can save this walk-through for another time. You’ve only just arrived from Glasgow. Perhaps you should go back to my house and unpack. Rest.”

“No, I assure you I’m fine.” Geri smiled. “Please do continue.”

She couldn’t bring herself to call him “Father” just yet. He was still Lord Collins to her. She was staying at his home for now. Just until after Christmas when she could find her own place. It was awkward, to say the least. He walked around her like she was delicate china and was going to shatter.

They’d been together for a month and she felt like she didn’t even know him. And she wasn’t all that sure she wanted to.

Her father nodded, though he looked uncomfortable. Sometimes it was hard, being alone with him. It was awkward. They were too polite, but then there were other times when they enjoyed each other’s company. Still, those times were few and far between.

He looked down at his pager. “Ah, a spot of trouble. One of my patients has just been admitted. Would you like to come meet her or would you rather stay here?”

“I’ll stay here, I think. Just get my bearings. I’m sure I’ll meet her soon enough.”

Her father nodded. “I won’t be a moment.”

Geri breathed a sigh of relief when her father left her alone.

She was still trying to process it all. She couldn’t quite believe she was here. It had always been a secret dream of hers to meet her father one day. Until each year had passed and those secret dreams of her father coming to rescue her from a lonely childhood had faded into nothing. At the age of eighteen she’d had his last name, known his first name was Charles, but had had no idea that he was a member of the aristocracy. And she couldn’t be bothered to find out anything about him.

She’d had no idea he was a physician in Harley Street with a home at the posh end of Holland Park.

It was all a bit overwhelming. She sat on the edge of a couch and took a deep breath.

What am I doing here? I don’t belong here.

“Excuse me, but are you lost?” It wasn’t totally a question. It was a question mixed with annoyance.

Geri stood and turned around. She was taken aback by the tall, dark, handsome surgeon standing in the doorway, his face like thunder as he glared at her, letting her know in no uncertain terms she didn’t belong there.

“Thank you for your concern, but I’m not lost.”

He cocked his head to one side. “This room is for surgeons only. I think you’re in the wrong place.”

His voice was deep and husky, which sent a shiver of anticipation through her. She always fell for dark, brooding men. Frederick had been dark and brooding and look how that turned out.

Don’t get carried away.

“I can assure you I’m not lost,” she said again. “I was accompanying my father and he asked me to wait here until he returned. Besides, this is the physicians’ lounge. Not the surgeons’ lounge.”

He snorted and moved past her into the room. “I’ll have to have a talk with them, they’ll let just about anyone in here.”

“My, we’re in a foul mood, aren’t we?” She was tired of pompous, arrogant, rude people.

He poured himself a cup of coffee and then turned to look at her. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

“Oh, and what was it that gave it away?”

He grinned. “That delightful accent you have. Somewhere in Scotland, I assume.”

He was right, of course, but she wasn’t going to let this holier-than-thou surgeon off the hook. He was presumptuous, conceited and haughty. And handsome, but never mind that. He needed to be taken down a peg or two.

“You know what they say about assumptions,” she muttered under her breath.

He crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter, his eyes twinkling. “No, what do they say? Enlighten me, miss.”

Darn.

He’d heard her. Well, two could play at this game.

“It’s ‘Doctor,’ actually,” she said, correcting him.

He cocked his eyebrows. “Is it really? Are you going to be working here, then?”

“In a manner of speaking.” She tried to be evasive and end the conversation with him, but she wasn’t that lucky. The way he’d asked if she was going to be working here made her feel nervous. Like suddenly she was a mouse and he was a cat, closing in for a kill.

He grinned, a lazy sort of grin that Geri knew all too well from the rogues she was used to dating. That smile was wolfish, almost predatory in nature, and as he set his coffee mug down and moved away from the counter towards her, Geri knew she was in deep, deep trouble.

“Well, my apologies, then. I had no idea that you were a new surgeon here.”

“Just a doctor, actually. I’m not a surgeon.” It stung to say that, but she didn’t let it show. Her mother couldn’t tolerate any show of emotion and she had learned well.

“I just naturally assumed you were a surgeon. You have an authoritative air about you.”

“And only surgeons have the right to be authoritative?”

“Yes. I mean, lives are in our hands.”

Geri rolled her eyes. Good lord, he was arrogant. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Why, thank you.” He made a bow with a flourish.

“It’s not a compliment. You’re the most conceited, prideful man I have ever had the displeasure of knowing.”

“Oh, come, now, darling. Surely not the worst?” He winked. “You’ve only known me for a few fleeting moments. Spend some more time with me and you’ll no longer feel displeasure.”

“Don’t call me darling. I’m most definitely not your darling.”

He leaned over and whispered in her ear, his hot breath fanning her neck, “Ah, but you could be.”

It took all her strength not to slap him hard across the face or let him kiss her. It had been a long time since Frederick. A long time since she’d felt any kind of desire for a man.

“Geraldine, I’m sorry I took so long,” her father said, coming into the room. She jumped back, silently thanking her father for his timing. “Ah, I see that I no longer have to seek you out, Thomas. Geraldine, I would like you to meet Mr. Thomas Ashwood. Thomas, this is my daughter, Geraldine Collins. She’ll be taking over my position in the practice when I retire.”

* * *

“Pardon?” Thomas said, sounding a bit dumbfounded. He was sure he’d heard the enchantress say the same thing the moment Charles Collins had dropped the bombshell on him. “What was that?”

“My daughter, Dr. Geraldine Collins. She’s the cardiologist who is taking over my role in the practice. She’ll be your partner.”

Oh. God.

He’d been hitting on Charles’s daughter? His competition, the bane of his existence since Charles had announced that he was retiring and leaving the practice. Thomas had thought that he was going to take over the practice in its entirety. He’d planned to hire an up-and-coming cardiologist and expand the surgical side of the practice. Take it to new heights, ones that he’d never been able to meet before.

But now he found himself with an unwanted new partner. The daughter of the great Charles Collins. He knew the type. Debutante. Spoiled, selfish and she would be all over him in a trice when she learned of his aristocratic background. Society women were out for money and blood.

It was all the same with women from the circles he moved in and he’d expected nothing different from Collins’s daughter.

Until now.

She was nothing like he’d expected. She stood up for herself. She exchanged banter with him and didn’t back down. He liked matching wits with someone. Not only was she a beauty, she was intelligent to boot. It was kind of exciting and also a bit bothersome. To her credit, Dr. Geraldine Collins didn’t look exactly thrilled at the prospect of being his partner either.

“This is Mr. Ashwood?” Geraldine asked. Thomas couldn’t help but notice the mild disgust in her voice. “This is the Mr. Ashwood who is your partner in your practice?”

Thomas bowed slightly at the waist. “One and the same, dear lady.”

Geraldine’s eyes shot daggers at him.

“Have I missed something?” Charles asked, apparently confused.

“No, nothing at all, Charles. I didn’t exactly make my presence known to your enchanting daughter when I arrived. I’m afraid I took her a bit by surprise.”

Charles Collins cocked his eyebrows. “Oh. Well, that explains everything.”

“Aye?” Geraldine blushed and cleared her throat. “I mean, I suppose it does.”

Thomas had been charmed the moment the “Aye” had slipped past her lips. She seemed refined, but she had obviously not been raised in the world he was used to, the world that both he and Charles came from.

And that intrigued him all the more, which was a dangerous thing indeed. He had to make an expeditious exit or he might do something he’d regret. And he thought too highly of Charles to besmirch the good name of Collins.

“Well, if you’ll both excuse me...” As he was trying to make his excuse his pager and Charles’s both went off. It was their patient, Lord Twinsbury. He was on his way to hospital and E.

“Blast,” Charles said. “I have an office full of appointments.”

“I can handle this, Charles,” Thomas offered.

“I can assist,” Geraldine said to her father. “You can head back to the practice and I can assist Mr. Ashwood.”

No.

“That’s an excellent idea,” Charles said. “You met Lord Twinsbury last week when he visited. You’re familiar with his file. What say you, Thomas? I mean, you’ll eventually have to work together when I retire officially, so why not take the plunge now?”

“I don’t think I’ll need Dr. Collins’s assistance in this matter.” He was grasping at straws, but he really needed to get away from Geraldine. She piqued an interest in him that he hadn’t felt in some time and he didn’t like the way it made him feel.

“With all due respect, Mr. Ashwood, we don’t even know if this is a surgical case,” Geraldine said firmly. “And I will be present as we both examine Lord Twinsbury.”

She had spirit. He liked that.

“You don’t have hospital privileges.”

It was a weak excuse.

“I do, as a matter of fact. I was granted them this morning.” Geraldine crossed her arms, smiling very smugly.

“Now, instead of standing here and arguing, why don’t we meet Lord Twinsbury in A and E and give him the attention he needs?”

Thomas was stunned as Geraldine moved past him and headed out into the hall. Even Charles looked a bit shocked but Thomas didn’t have time to sit there and hash it out with him. Instead, he ran to catch up with Geraldine, who was marching away, her back ramrod straight and honey-brown strands of hair escaping that severe bun that was pinned at the back of her head. He couldn’t help but admire her backside as she marched down the hall.

Don’t think about her like that. She’s off-limits.

“Do you even know where the A and E department is?” Thomas asked as he fell into step beside her.

She rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t be silly. Of course I do.”

“Good, because right now you’re headed to the operating theater floor and A and E is this way.” Thomas motioned over his shoulder in the opposite direction. He should’ve just let her go and get lost. Then he could deal with Lord Twinsbury himself, only something deep inside him, that nagging conscience he tried so often to ignore when it came to the opposite sex, was yelling at him to do the right thing.

She skittered to a stop and looked down the hall, her hazel eyes sparkling with determination, annoyance and possibly embarrassment, her red lips pressed together in a firm line.

“Are you going to show me the right way, then, or am I to find the way myself?”

“If I was going to let you fend for yourself I wouldn’t have stopped you and told you were going in the wrong direction.”

Geraldine’s shoulders relaxed and a small smile crept onto her face. “Thank you. I didn’t think you would... That is to say...”

“There’s no explanation needed.” Thomas knew what she was trying to say, that she didn’t think he would help her, and part of him was telling him not to. To let her flounder. She was, after all, the competition. Only he couldn’t do that.

He might go by “the Dark Duke” in his social circle, the rake who seduced debutantes and left them the next day, but he was, after all, a gentleman above all else. Only, since the moment he’d first begun arguing with her, he’d been trying not to think about all the ungentlemanly things he wanted to do to her.

“It’s this way,” he said, motioning with his head.

She nodded and they walked side by side down the hall, not saying a word. He was truly impressed that she was able to keep up with his long easy strides in her tight pencil skirt and heels.

She was graceful, refined, but there was something hidden beneath that polished, emotionless surface. Something quite different from the women he was used to. She was tough, hardened but he had no doubt she was soft and feminine under that facade. He would like to find out, she intrigued him.

But he would not seduce Charles’s daughter and since settling down was out of the question for him, he would just have to keep a safe distance from Geraldine Collins.

They entered A and E and were waved over by the consultant in charge.

“He insisted on having his cardiology team come and look at him,” Dr. Sears said, looking over at Geraldine, confused, before turning back to Thomas. “Where is Dr. Collins?”

“I am Dr. Collins.” Geraldine pushed past him and Thomas shrugged, smirking. He had to admire her tenacity.

Lord Twinsbury was quite pale and lying back on the gurney. He smiled, though, when Geraldine came in.

“Ah, I thought I would be seeing your father but I assure you this is a better substitute.”

Geraldine smiled. “Lord Twinsbury, you’re a flirt.”

“How many times do I have to insist you call me Lionel?”

Thomas cocked his eyebrows. Never in the thirty-odd years he’d known Lord Twinsbury personally and the five years he had been the man’s surgeon had he been permitted to call him Lionel.

And Lord Twinsbury was one of his godfathers.

“Lionel, then.” Geraldine smiled. “What seems to be the matter?”

Lord Twinsbury craned his neck and looked at Thomas. “Young fellow, they paged you as well. That’s good.”

“I would certainly hope that they would page me as well, my lord, or perhaps you’ll allow me to call you Lionel, as well?”

Lord Twinsbury fixed him with a stare, much like his own dear departed father used to do. “I think not. You’re not an attractive lady, like Geraldine is.”

The stern smile softened as he looked over at Geraldine, who was taking Lord Twinsbury’s blood pressure and frowning.

“Look at this, Mr. Ashwood,” she said. Thomas leaned over to look at the reading and grimaced.

“Well? What’s wrong? I can tell by your faces that my blood pressure isn’t good.”

“No, it’s not, my lord.” Thomas pulled out his stethoscope. “Do you mind if I have a listen?”

Geraldine helped Lord Twinsbury sit up as Thomas listened to the erratic sound of Lord Twinsbury’s heart trying to pump blood through his clogged arteries. He had been warning Lord Twinsbury for years that his clogged arteries would only get worse. They had done several angioplasties at different times, but Thomas knew and had told him that one day it would come to open heart surgery.

It looked like that day had come.

“I can tell by your face, Thomas, that you’re going to tell me something I really don’t want to hear,” Lord Twinsbury said.

“You can call me by my given name but I can’t call you Lionel?”

“Your father would have a thousand fits knowing you’re being so informal with me,” Lord Twinsbury warned.

Thomas rolled his eyes. “My lord, you know what has to happen. I’ve told you this day would come. You need a coronary artery bypass graft and you need one today. Now. Or the next time you’re speaking in the House of Lords you’re liable to drop dead.”

Geraldine gasped. “You have a terrible bedside manner, Mr. Ashwood.”

Lord Twinsbury chuckled and patted Geraldine’s hand. “Nonsense. I’m used to his behavior. I like his frank talk, my dear. It keeps me on my toes.”

Geraldine frowned and Thomas winked at her.

“I’ll have you admitted, Lord Twinsbury, and then we’ll get you ready to go up to the operating theater today.”

Lord Twinsbury nodded and then turned to Geraldine. “I do hope you’ll stay, my dear. Your father has been treating my heart for so many years and I want to make sure I have someone I can trust in there.”

Thomas groaned and walked out of the room.

Lord Twinsbury was an eccentric character. He was also pompous and arrogant. Never took his advice. Probably because he still saw Thomas as that little boy who’d destroyed his Tudor hedge maze during Royal Ascot when he was ten.

“Mr. Ashwood, can I speak with you a moment?”

Good. Lord.

His day had been going so well. He’d done a great LVAD surgery to extend the life of a patient and was planning on returning to his office to get some charting done. He had not planned to deal with Charles Collins’s daughter today.

He turned around. “How can I help you, Dr. Collins?”

“Do you treat all our patients in such a manner?”

“I do, as a matter of fact, because most of them I’ve known for quite some time. I haven’t had any complaints yet.”

“Do you think that he warrants a coronary artery bypass graft? Wouldn’t another angioplasty or perhaps an endocardectomy work in this case? Is surgery really the answer for a seventy-three-year-old man in poor health?”

This was a little too much.

“Have I missed something, Dr. Collins? Are you or are you not a surgeon?”

Red tinged her cheeks and he’d hit a tender spot on her hardened walls. A chink in the armor, as it were. So perhaps there was a weakness, a crack in her icy facade. “I am a cardiologist so, no, I am not a surgeon.”

“Then do not question my surgical opinion.”

“Lord Twinsbury is as much my patient as yours.”

“Your father would never question my surgical decisions,” Thomas snapped.

“Perhaps he should.”

Thomas took a step closer to her. “How long have you been treating Lord Twinsbury, Dr. Collins? A few hours, perhaps. I have been treating him for five years and over that five years I’ve done numerous angioplasties and made a failed attempt at a carotid endocardectomy, which almost killed him. I have informed my patient that he would need a coronary artery bypass graft. I have tried to keep the procedures as minimally invasive as possible for the sake of my patient, who has been in congestive heart failure for a long time, but there is no other option, so unless you’re able to perform in the operating theater and have discovered a new, minimally invasive way of doing a coronary artery bypass graft, I would suggest you head back to our surgery in Harley Street and leave the surgical procedures to the qualified individuals.”

He turned on his heel and left her, hating himself for taking her down like that in the hallway, in front of the A and E department and other physicians. Physicians she’d be working with.

He hated himself for making her feel that way.

If it had been anyone else, he wouldn’t feel as bad as he did now. He’d given dressing-downs like that before and they had never eaten away at his conscience, but this was different.

He didn’t know why, but it was and he didn’t like it one bit.