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She stared at him with mounting frustration. She was so used to taking charge of her own l
ife that she wasn’t sure how to deal with Jake.
But she decided that this wasn’t worth an argument so she slid into the warmth and comfort of his car and squashed down the uncomfortable feelings bubbling up inside her. This was all wrong, she knew it was. What exactly did he want from her? And what exactly did she want from him?
Nothing, was the short answer to that. There was no way she’d ever consider entering into a serious relationship and a fling wasn’t her style.
She had no opportunity to ponder the question further because once they arrived on the labour ward they were so busy that they had no time to discuss anything except the professional.
She felt as though she was on her feet all day and she was more than a little relieved to find Jake lounging by the doorway at the end of her shift, waiting to take her home.
Deciding that this was definitely not the time to argue with him, she slid gratefully into his car, pushing aside the horrible suspicion that people were watching them.
He was right. What did it matter? And why did she care? She, of all people, who knew only too well that outward appearances were entirely deceptive.
He drove her to her old flat and stood while she cleared out the rest of her things. She carried them to his car and then hunted in her pocket for the keys.
‘I just need to deliver these back to the landlord.’
‘Tell me which flat he lives in. I’ll do it.’
‘I can—’
‘You’re tired. Why waste energy walking up the stairs again when all you have to do is point me in the right direction and I’ll do it for you?’
‘He lives in the flat directly beneath mine, but I need to give him notice and explain to him that—’
‘I’ll explain,’ Jake said, prising the keys from her fingers and heading back towards the building.
She ought to have argued with him, she knew that. It wasn’t good to let people do things for you when you could perfectly well do it yourself. But he was right when he said that she was tired.
It was only when he slid back into the car and dropped an envelope into her lap that she realised that she’d actually dozed off for a few minutes.
‘What’s that?’ Muzzy-headed from lack of sleep, she picked up the envelope and gasped as she saw the amount of money inside. ‘Where did this come from?’
‘Your landlord.’ Jake started the engine and glanced over his shoulder before pulling away from the kerb. ‘I explained that you were living with me now and he apologised profusely for the state of the property that he’s renting to you and immediately returned your deposit and last month’s rent as a goodwill gesture.’
‘You spoke to the landlord?’
‘That’s right.’ His eyes were fixed on the road. ‘Very reasonable chap.’
There was something about the grim set of his mouth that made her wonder and then her gaze dropped and she saw the red mark across his knuckles. ‘You hit him! Oh, my God, Jake…’
‘He walked into my hand.’
She covered her mouth with her hand, appalled. ‘What’s come over you?’
‘I don’t like people who take advantage of other people.’ He glanced in her direction, his eyes glittering dangerously. For once there was no trace of humour in his gaze, just grim determination and a hardness that she hadn’t seen before. ‘Once we’d had a good chat, he saw sense.’
‘How dare you interfere?’ She was outraged. ‘Jake, I didn’t ask you to get that money for me!’
He pulled into the drive of his house and switched off the engine. ‘The guy is a crook, Miranda.’
‘It doesn’t give you the right to hit him.’ She undid her seat belt with shaking hands. ‘I—’
‘What’s the matter?’
Her heart was banging against her chest. ‘You really need to ask me that question? You just beat someone up and—’
