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Chapter Seventeen
HE KISSED HER and then left at six in the morning. Slipping out of Megan’s bungalow, Jaye jogged across to his own and collapsed onto the bed.
As he’d pulled on his clothes, she’d watched. And as he’d bent to kiss her, she’d whispered in his ear, ‘The best night of my life.’
It had been the best night of his life too. Jaye closed his eyes. He could still get another couple of hours’ sleep, and he was going to need them. Because tonight they would do it all over again.
* * *
Jaye hadn’t seen Megan all day as she was closeted with Ranjini, putting the finishing touches to the plans for the women’s centre. But he knew she’d come to him. He spent an hour tidying up and then drew back the curtains, leaving the lamp burning. Ten minutes later he heard a knock at the door.
She’d been crying. He ushered her inside and she sat down, perching on the edge of the sofa.
‘What’s the matter, Megan?’
‘Someone saw you...this morning.’
The tiny hairs at the back of his neck suddenly stood to attention. This was too soon. It was still something for them alone, and not for anyone else to know about just yet.
‘Who?’
‘One of the nurses on the night shift. She’d gone outside to have a cigarette.’
Jaye shook his head. ‘Well, she shouldn’t have been out there in the first place. I’ll have a word with Ranjini...’
Megan flushed red suddenly. ‘No, don’t. She didn’t do anything wrong, she was on her break.’
‘She shouldn’t have been smoking, Megan.’
‘That’s her affair. We’re not the health police.’
‘Okay...okay.’ Jaye started to pace. ‘I’ll speak to her myself, then, and ask her to keep quiet. How did you find out? It’s not common knowledge yet, is it?’
Megan was staring at him. As if her worst nightmare had just reared up and smacked her in the face. ‘No, it’s not common knowledge. She came to me herself and asked me if I was all right. She thought I’d been ill in the night.’
A quiet voice at the back of his head started to whisper a warning. Jaye tried to ignore it and the volume rose to a scream. ‘What did you say?’
‘I lied. I told her that I’d had a dose of food poisoning but that you’d come and I was okay.’
The sense of relief was short-lived. Megan had lied. Jaye knew exactly how she felt about that. It was an effort to still himself, but he needed to be calm. He sat down next to her, taking her hands between his.
‘I know you hate it, Megan. But it was for the best.’
‘So this is a secret, then.’ Her face was expressionless.
‘No, it’s not a secret. It’s just no one else’s business but our own.’
Megan shook her head. ‘That’s not true
, Jaye. You’re the director and you can’t be seen to be having an affair with one of the clinic staff. People talk, and they start to think that you’re not as impartial as you’re supposed to be. It undermines your authority, and that damages the clinic.’
He couldn’t deny it. Didn’t dare, because Megan would know that he was lying. ‘Yes. That’s true. Just give it a little time, Megan. When we know where this is going and we’re ready to share then we can go public with it.’
‘And in the meantime? We sneak around, and hope no one else finds out?’
The flat, emotionless tone of her voice was hurting as much as her words. Jaye got to his feet and started pacing again, unable to contain the clamour of conflicting emotions.
‘What do you want me to do? We’re not doing anything wrong, we just need to be a little discreet for a while. Until we’re a little more sure.’
