To Be A Husband

‘The waiting room is just down the corridor to your left.’ She pointed them in the right direction. ‘I’ll go and arrange a pot of coffee for you,’ she offered. ‘What would you like to drink, Charlie?’ Her voice noticeably softened as she spoke to the little girl. She had always loved children, and Charlie Hunter was gorgeous!

‘A glass of milk, please, Nurse,’ the little girl accepted shyly.

‘Nurse Royal,’ Jonathan Hunter prompted gently.

‘You can call me Gaye,’ she told Charlie warmly, pointedly omitting to give the two men present the same privilege before going off to the kitchen to get the coffee and milk.

She needed the respite, felt as if her world had suddenly been invaded by a plethora of Hunters. Hopefully, there weren’t any more of them. Although, of course, another was just being born. If he was a boy, no doubt his name would begin with a J too—just to add to the confusion!

‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ offered that smoothly familiar voice Gaye instantly recognised as Jonathan Hunter’s. ‘Or have I done enough already?’ he asked ruefully as he bent down to retrieve the spoon she had just dropped.

Gaye had turned quickly at the sound of his voice, dropping the spoon in her surprise at being interrupted in this way. Jonathan’s latter remark had been ambiguous to say the least. Had he done enough already by making her drop the spoon, or had he effectively—or very effectively!—let her make a complete idiot of herself in Theatre earlier?

She looked across at him exasperatedly, receiving a charming smile for her trouble—a smile, she was sure, that usually melted the heart of any female it was directed at. Except that her heart was impenetrable, to Jonathan Hunter’s, or indeed any other man’s, charm.

‘I can manage, thank you,’ she returned frostily.

‘I’m sure you can. Manage, I mean,’ he accepted lightly. ‘But I would like to help.’

Gaye looked at his expertly styled hair, his tailor-made suit, the silk shirt, the hand-made shoes—and seriously wondered if he knew one end of a coffee-pot from the other, let alone what you did with it! Somehow, she doubted it. No doubt the Hunter family had servants to do such menial tasks.

‘I really can manage,’ she told him sharply. ‘Would you please go back to the waiting room?’ She turned back to the preparation of the coffee, muttering under her breath as she did so. Thank goodness she could go off duty in half an hour. Although the prospect of going home was never a happy one nowadays...

‘That was a big sigh...?’

She gave another irritable sigh as she turned back to face Jonathan Hunter. ‘I thought you had gone,’ she said.

He was leaning back against the door-frame, arms crossed loosely in front of his chest. ‘As you can see, I haven’t,’ he returned unconcernedly. ‘I thought, as you won’t let me help you, that I could carry the tray through for you when it’s ready.’

In other words, he had no intention of leaving! She couldn’t say she was altogether surprised; there was a steely determination beneath that charming exterior—even if his step-niece could wrap him around her little finger. Charlie was probably the only female that could...

Gaye couldn’t exactly say she had met Jonathan Hunter’s type before—he was way out of her league—but nevertheless she felt, for all he was so languidly charming, that there was a much harder side to him. That there was a much harder side to all the Hunter men...

‘Why did you sigh just now?’ Jonathan lightly interrupted her thoughts.

He also had a doggedness that was fast becoming annoying! Why her? she inwardly groaned. Wasn’t her life complicated enough already, without this man’s interest? She came to work, she did her job to the best of her ability, she asked nothing of anyone, expected even less, so why had this golden-eyed charmer come into her life at all, with his obvious wealth and boundless charm?

‘It’s been a long day,’ she excused abruptly. And, thankfully, it was nearly over.

He nodded. ‘But it must be rewarding. Doing what you do,’ he explained as she frowned across at him. ‘Helping to bring life into the world.’

Gaye stared at him. Yes, it was wonderful to see the look of wonder on a new mother’s face as her baby was put into her waiting arms. It was the reason she had chosen to specialise in midwifery—because it meant life and not death.

When had she lost sight of that? How had she lost sight of that?

She knew the answer to both those questions. But until this man had questioned her she hadn’t realised she had become immune to what she did, to the joy of childbirth; her own life was something she simply got through.

Tears stung her eyes, hot, burning emotion threatening to cascade down her cheeks. She shouldn’t cry, mustn’t cry, in front of this man. In fact, she couldn’t cry in front of anyone. She had held herself firmly in check the last two years; she couldn’t start to break down now!

‘Gaye...!’ Jonathan Hunter was at her side, his hands on her arms, his gaze fixed searchingly on the pale beauty of her face.

It was a face that had grown thinner over the last two years, green eyes appearing huge within its delicately etched contours, cheekbones high, her nose small over generously full lips, her chin and jawline sharply defined, the laughter that had once glowed in the green depths of her eyes too long dampened, adding to her air of vulnerability.

But the last thing she wanted was this man’s fleeting concern. She didn’t want, or need, his pity. If she ever gave in to the emotions she had kept so firmly in check for so long, then she wasn’t sure she would be able to go on at all. When Jonathan Hunter left the clinic today, he wouldn’t give her a second thought, whereas her few moments of weakness, of leaning emotionally on someone else, no matter how briefly, would leave her battling to hold up the shaky house of cards that had become her life these last two years.

‘Please, Mr Hunter.’ She moved away from him, at her chilliest That coldness had alienated old friends and new acquaintances alike recently—it would keep Jonathan Hunter away too! ‘I don’t—’

‘Jonathan!’ Jordan Hunter suddenly appeared in the doorway, his expression jubilant. ‘Excuse me butting in, Nurse,’ he apologised quickly. ‘It’s a boy, Jonathan,’ he announced excitedly. ‘And both he and Abbie are fine,’ he added thankfully, obviously as fond of his sister-in-law as Jonathan appeared to be. ‘Jarrett has just taken Charlie in to see them both.’

Which had probably also thrilled James Gilchrist! Although from the way Jarrett Hunter had spoken to the consultant earlier, and the way in which he had responded, Jarrett Hunter probably didn’t give a damn whether he was thrilled or not!

‘That’s wonderful news,’ Gaye told them both lightly. ‘By the time you’ve drunk your coffee—’ she placed the tray in Jonathan Hunter’s hands ‘—your sister-in-law will be in her room, and then you can go and see all of them.’ And she would have gone off duty!

‘Gaye...?’

She stopped at the door, turning slowly to face Jonathan Hunter, every muscle in her body feeling tense, her nerves stretched to screaming pitch. Why couldn’t this man just go back to his life, and leave her to get on with hers?

‘Yes?’ she prompted stiffly, eyeing him warily.

‘Thank you for all your help today,’ he told her huskily.

Then he smiled. It was like the sun coming out, his eyes deeply golden, laughter-lines beside his mouth and eyes—even his hair seemed to have taken on a deeper golden glow.

Gaye gave a shake of her head. ‘I’m not quite sure what you’re thanking me for—almost being present at your nephew’s birth or the chance discovery that green isn’t your colour!’ she replied challengingly. ‘I can assure you, it’s all in a day’s work,’ she dismissed before making good her escape.

Because now she had to find Mr Gilchrist, and apologise for turning his theatre into a circus!

Then she had to go home...

Neither was something she particularly looked forward to doing!

CHAPTER TWO

‘GREAT legs,’ Jordan murmured appreciatively.

‘Hmm?’ Jonathan rounded frowningly to find his younger brother standing in the corridor beside him, his frown turning to a scowl as he noted the admiration with which Jordan was watching Gaye’s departure, obviously enjoying her natural grace of movement as she walked—as he had himself earlier when he’d first arrived at this clinic! As Jordan had pointed out so appreciatively, Gaye had long, shapely legs beneath her uniform. ‘Hands—and eyes!—off, little brother,’ he warned pointedly. ‘And take this to the waiting room on your way back.’ He handed the laden tray to Jordan.

‘Where are you going?’ Jordan demanded to know protestingly.

Gaye didn’t just have those wonderful legs to recommend her—her beauty had hit him like a sledgehammer the first time he’d set eyes on her. They certainly hadn’t had nurses like her when he was in hospital a few years ago having his appendix out. Which was probably as well—he would never have wanted to recover!

He grinned. ‘To talk to a surgeon about a natural mistake,’ he said enigmatically, walking away before Jordan asked for an explanation of the remark—knowing his younger brother wouldn’t be watching his departure with the same admiration he had Gaye’s!

Damn it, but he had been annoyed at Jordan’s remark about her legs. Even if it was true! The truth of the matter was, Gaye was gorgeous in every way he could think of. She had a wonderful figure, the fullness of her breasts tapering down to a slender waist, the narrowness of her hips almost coltish when coupled with those long, long legs. And her face! She was so hauntingly beautiful she almost took his breath away, the green depths of her eyes filled with a sadness that brought out every protective instinct he possessed. Beauty and vulnerability—the combination was deadly!

Yet, as he went in search of the specialist who had operated on Abbie, he couldn’t help wondering how long Gaye’s blond hair would be when it wasn’t neatly secured at her nape...

Was she married? If so, then he would swear it wasn’t happily! But, happily or not, if she were married, then Jonathan knew he would have to back off. Married women had no appeal for him whatsoever.