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She wasn’t fine at all. She was confused by her own feelings, by the strength of her feelings for Mark. She’d always known she loved him, of course; he was her oldest and dearest friend. But until this afternoon she hadn’t known that she loved him like that.
‘So why are you sitting in the dark, babe?’ His soft endearment made her stomach flip and she hugged her arms round her slim body to try and subdue the sensation.
‘I—I just feel a bit shocked. Stupid, I know...’
If she was lucky he’d misinterpret her words and assume that the shock she was referring to was the near drowning of the teenage boy.
She was right. That was exactly what he did.
‘They think he’ll be all right,’ Mark told her, sitting down next to her. ‘He was in the water for about ten minutes so it could have been worse. And he’s young and there were no signs of aspiration.’
‘That’s good.’ Holly hugged her arms more tightly round her body to prevent herself from giving in to the temptation to throw herself at him and hold him close.
‘They think he’ll make a full recovery,’ Mark said, his eyes fixed on her face. ‘The police and the coastguard have read the Riot Act to his friends, so it should be a happy ending.’
‘Good.’ She gave him a smile that cost her dearly in terms of effort. Oh, she was pleased about the boy, of course she was. But every time she closed her eyes she saw Mark ploughing through the water, risking his life to save a boy that he didn’t even know.
And the incident had shown her, without a shadow of a doubt, that the reason she’d never managed to find a man she was interested in was because she loved Mark.
She loved Mark and she always had.
CHAPTER SIX
‘IT’S THE Evening Herald on the phone for Mark,’ Caroline said, walking into the staffroom with an apologetic smile. ‘Sorry. I tried to tell them that you didn’t want to talk to any more journalists, but they were insistent.’
‘I bet they were,’ Mark muttered darkly, his mouth tightening as he picked up the phone.
Only half listening as Mark gave a reluctant interview to the persistent reporter, Holly glanced curiously at Caroline, noticing that she was wearing more make-up than usual and looked decidedly more cheerful. Was it Greg?
‘Haven’t they got anything better to stick in their newspapers than a story about me having a dip in the sea on a June afternoon?’ Mark said, replacing the receiver and returning to his half-eaten sandwich.
‘Everyone loves a hero, Mark,’ Caroline said brightly, carefully loading a tray with mugs of coffee for the reception staff. ‘It’s nice to read something cheerful in the papers for a change.’
As the door swung closed behind her, Mark frowned. ‘Is it my imagination or was she wearing make-up?’
‘She was definitely wearing make-up.’ Holly cast him a dubious look. ‘Do you think it was for your benefit?’
‘No.’ Mark shook his head slowly. ‘No, I’m sure it isn’t that. She looks different. Much more cheerful.’
Holly nodded. ‘You’re right actually. That’s exactly how she looks.’
Mark grinned. ‘I must ring Greg. Things are obviously going well in that direction.’
‘But now that you’re a hero, maybe she’ll have second thoughts about moving on to Greg,’ Holly teased, and Mark rolled his eyes.
‘Next time I jump into the water after some teenage idiot, remind me to wear a bag on my head.’
‘Next time?’ Holly’s smile faded and she put her coffee down, untouched. ‘Next time? Please, don’t tell me you’re planning to repeat the experience. My nerves couldn’t stand it.’
‘Your nerves?’ He stared at her curiously. ‘Come to think of it, you were rather stressed about the whole incident. I never saw you panic when we worked in A and E. Why did it bother you so much?’
As if she could tell him that!
She didn’t have much faith in her ability to hide her feelings from him, so she avoided his gaze. ‘Going into cold water to rescue someone is a stupid thing to do,’ she said quickly. ‘Of course you scared me.’
He watched her in silence, his expression thoughtful. ‘I wore a rope and I’m a strong swimmer, Holly. What was there for you to be scared about?’
Against her better judgement she glanced at him and
