‘Fancy dress,’ Gemma explained. ‘You have to come as a character that starts with the letter “P”. You know, like a pirate?’ She eyed Connor. ‘That would be a great one for you.’
* * *
Kate was staring at her shoes. She didn’t dare look at Connor.
She could understand all too well why the girls found him so attractive with that ‘bad boy’ vibe going on. It was all too easy to imagine him dressed up as a pirate with a gold ring in his ear and a rakish hat and a king-of-the-world kind of attitude.
No wonder she found Bella’s face lighting up like a Christmas tree when she felt compelled to lift her gaze.
‘What about a princess?’ Bella exclaimed. ‘Oh, I have to go. Even if I’m on crutches. I’ve always wanted an excuse to dress up as a princess.’ She saw Kate’s expression and grinned. ‘Yeah, yeah… I know. I did it all the time when I was a kid but this would be like… legitimate.’
Kate had to smile at her excitement. She would make a perfect princess with her gorgeous long hair and those big blue eyes. The men would be falling all over themselves wanting to find out who she was. Maybe Connor should go as a prince instead of a pirate and stake a visible claim. She couldn’t help her glance sliding in his direction as her brain prompted her to say something aloud, but the suggestion died on her lips at his expression.
Curious, that’s what it was.
Oh, God… she justknewthey’d been talking about her when she’d gone to phone Jackie. That conversation she’d interrupted hadn’t been about Bella’s shaky start to her new job at all. So what had been the ‘really bad’ thing they’d been discussing? How embarrassing it was to have a spinster aunt who hid herself away and needed to get a life?
‘We’ve still got plenty of tickets,’ Gemma said. She was winding a bandage firmly around Bella’s foot with admirable precision. A figure-of-eight style, with the overlapping bandage edges exactly a centimetre from the previous one. ‘There’s an inter-departmental competition for who can sell the most tickets. You should all come.’
She turned her head to glare at Connor. ‘Especially you. How could you not go when you’re so involved with everything in the kids’ wards?’
Connor was still staring at Kate. ‘I’ll go if Kate goes,’ he said.
Bella laughed aloud. ‘Yes! Me, too.’
Kate saw the look that passed between them. This was turning into a conspiracy. Not only had Bella hooked up with the hottest guy in St Pat’s in no time flat, but had they also used the few minutes they’d had alone together to make some kind of pact to see that Bella’s aunt… got a life?
‘I’m not going,’ Kate said, aware that she was failing to keep a hint of desperation from her tone. ‘Fancy dress? I don’t think so.’
‘But don’t you see?’ Bella asked. ‘It’s perfect.’
‘No, I don’t see,’ Kate muttered. She watched Gemma hook the tiny metal ‘crocodile’ clips into place to secure Bella’s bandage. Good. They could escape very soon.
‘You never go to work social events, do you.’ Bella was making a statement, not asking a question.
And it was true. Kate never did go to any social events. Not unless she absolutely had to. How embarrassing was this? Bella thought the whole world was on her side and there was no need to keep things private. She was open and honest and… everything Kate could never be.
No wonder Bella never had any trouble making friends wherever she went. Kate had nobody she could call a real friend but she didn’t need that pointed out to the people she had to work with. Especially to Connor Matthews. It was bad enough that he already thought of her as boring and unattractive and incapable of having fun.
Bella didn’t wait for a response. ‘With a costume party you get to go as someone else. In a disguise. It doesn’t really have to be you going at all.’ She grinned at Connor. ‘Hey, you could go as a priest.’
Gemma snorted. Even Kate felt her lips twitch.
Connor had spotted her amusement. ‘Pollyanna starts with “P”,’ he muttered.
‘You wouldn’t need to dress up,’ Gemma said kindly. ‘Pathologist starts with “P”. You could wear your white coat maybe.’
The one that she wore all buttoned up, like she buttoned up her life? Prim was a ‘P’ word. So was prude. Kate felt the stirrings of real annoyance. She felt she was being put under pressure to prove she wasn’t that person. Which she could, if she wanted to. With bells on. Prostitute started with ‘P’. She could borrow that scrap of fabric Bella called a skirt and put some bright red lipstick on and leave her hair loose and nobody would recognise her.
Good grief… the prospect was disturbingly attractive.
Except that Connor would recognise her because he’d seen her with her hair down. He might think she was trying to send the message that she was up for it. Desperate, even.
It was a relief when the ED consultant breezed in to talk to Bella and broke the negative spin her thoughts were taking. He had a pair of elbow crutches with him and advised Bella to use them for the next day or so until she could bear weight without pain.
And then it was finally time to go home and get to their long-delayed dinner. Thankfully, Connor was preparing to disappear into the night, after saying he was glad things had turned out okay so that he wouldn’t have to cope with long-winded serious accident investigations.
But he waited to hold the door open for Bella, who was hopping slowly as she got used to the crutches, and Gemma came rushing up with a bunch of tickets in her hand.
