That look and thatsmilewas still with Bella when she released Bib from the confines of the box, having arrived home at her aunt’s house again.
She had done something that Oliver Dawson approved of.
How amazing was that?
Not that she’d had any idea that Lady Dorothy was his mother. Just as well she hadn’t, really, or she wouldn’t have considered doing something as illegal as sneaking a kitten into the ward in a million years.
Right now, she couldn’t be more pleased that she’d taken that risk. For once, something had worked out even better than she’d planned, and it felt so good. Doing something that had pleased Oliver Dawson also felt extraordinarily good. The buzz was making Bella feel unbelievably happy.
Or maybe it had been that look from those dark, dark eyes. The look that said she was good enough. Special, even. That smile that had gone straight to a point deep in her body and tugged on it.
Oh, help… If she wasn’t careful, she’d fall for this surgeon, hook, line and sinker. Bella never had trouble falling in love. She fell out of it again just as easily, mind you, but something aboutthatmoment of connection felt different.
The waters she could be falling into there were a hell of a lot deeper than any she’d been near before.
Dangerous waters.
She could drown, given that the possibility of the potential lifeboat of the attraction being reciprocated to an equal degree was non-existent.
‘A bit of fantasy couldn’t hurt, though, could it?’ she murmured to Bib as she cuddled the kitten for a moment before putting her down on the floor. ‘It’s no worse than having the hots for a movie star, is it?’
Bib flicked her pointy little tail and held it straight up like a flag as she trotted down the hallway. Bella looked into the guest suite that was her room. The solitude and opportunity to sit and dream for a while was very attractive, but it would be rude not to go and talk to Auntie Kate. She could hear voices in the kitchen. Following them, she found her pathologist aunt barefoot and relaxed, indulging in her favourite pastime of cooking. Her fiancé, orthopaedic surgeon Connor Matthews, was standing behind Kate, his hands resting on her hips and his chin on her shoulder. He was, in fact, nuzzling her aunt’s neck.
And Kate was leaning back into the embrace, swaying gently. The pleasure they were both taking from simply being so close to each other was palpable.
Bella suddenly felt like she was intruding into a very private space. One that she couldn’t approve of more, given how much real joy Kate’s life had been missing before Connor had swept her off her feet and onto the back of his motorbike, but really she should back out and give them the chance to start their lives together without having to worry about an audience.
Connor was the first to notice Bella’s arrival.
‘Hey! How’s it going? Did you find what you’d left at work?’
‘Mmm.’
Kate spoke without looking away from the pot she was stirring. ‘Really, Bella. You’ve got to start looking after your stuff a bit more carefully. You’ll lose something important one of these days.’
So true. Like her heart, maybe?
Kate gave a squeak then, and looked down. Bib was trying to climb up her jeans. ‘Ouch… Where did you spring from? I’ve been wondering where you’d got to.’
She prised the kitten away from her leg and handed her to Connor. ‘Could you feed her, please, hon? That way she won’t try and eat my leg.’ She turned further to smile at Bella. ‘You going to eat with us?’
Bella hesitated. ‘I don’t want to get in the way of you two lovebirds.’
‘Don’t be daft.’ But the look that Kate and Connor exchanged was lingering and very exclusive. Bella couldn’t help feeling left out.
Lonely, almost.
‘How was work?’ Kate asked. ‘Did you get into any trouble?’
‘Almost. I got busted taking a line-dancing class by none other than Oliver Dawson.’
‘Uh-oh.’ Connor was grinning. ‘You really know how to push his buttons, don’t you?’
Oh… she wished. If Connor hadn’t been there, she might have blurted out the whole story to Kate, but the fact that Oliver’s mother was an inpatient was being kept under wraps, wasn’t it? She’d told Sally she was capable of being discreet. With an enormous effort, Bella put a lid on her inside information.
‘What’s his deal?’ she asked Connor, who had finished scooping cat food into a saucer and had now turned his attention to a rather nice-looking bottle of red wine. ‘Why is he so… uptight?’
Connor shrugged. ‘Goes with the territory, I guess.’
