The Celebrity Doctor's Proposal

‘You’ve said no before, lots of times.’

‘When he’s asked me to join the practice, to be part of the family firm,’ Sam agreed. ‘This is different. This is an emergency. I don’t say no to emergencies.’

‘Just to commitment.’ The words were out before she could stop them and even before she saw the narrowing of his eyes she regretted them. ‘Forget I said that. The way you run your life is none of my business.’

‘No, it isn’t.’ He folded his arms across his chest, his gaze fixed on hers. ‘But the way I run my life clearly bothers you.’

Suddenly the room felt unusually warm. ‘It doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is that you’re going to swan in here for a few weeks or until you get bored then leave us in the lurch.’

‘No, that isn’t what bothers you.’ His gaze didn’t shift. ‘What really bothers you is the fact that you haven’t planned this and we both know that you have to plan everything. You think you have your whole life sorted, don’t you, Riggs?’

‘There’s nothing wrong with planning.’ She wondered why she was defending herself to someone she didn’t even like.

‘Except that life has a way of throwing you surprises. And it’s harder to cope with surprises if you’re inflexible.’

‘I’m not inflexible. And you’re not a surprise, McKenna. You’re a nightmare.’

‘I promised my father I’d stay for the summer and that’s what I intend to do.’

‘Along with your film crew.’

He shrugged. ‘Life goes on. When I return to London in the autumn I’ll want to pick up where I left off. The film crew is part of my life.’

Anna shook her head. ‘It isn’t going to work, McKenna.’

‘It’ll work if you don’t get all high and mighty on me. Why shouldn’t it?’ He was as direct as she was, hard and uncompromising in his approach to life. ‘Because I’m the only person you can’t control, Riggs? Because I don’t fit your image of a doctor? Because I don’t do things the way you do them?’

She tilted her head, her gaze cool. ‘Because you drive me nuts.’

‘Likewise.’

Their eyes locked in combat for endless minutes and then she gave a sigh. ‘All right. Let’s look at the facts here. I need help and I don’t have time to look for a new locum. You’re here. You can stay until I find a suitable replacement. But there are rules.’

‘You amaze me.’ He folded his arms across his broad chest. ‘And there I was thinking you were such a relaxed, laid-back person. Always willing to go with the flow.’

She chose to ignore his sarcasm. ‘No filming without my permission, and the patients’ permission, and if it interferes with your workload then it stops.’

His eyes glittered dangerously. ‘Anything else?’

‘Yes, actually.’ Her tone was businesslike with just a touch of frost around the edges. ‘I’m the partner in this practice, you’re the locum. You do things my way. If you disagree, we still do things my way.’

‘What if my way’s better?’

She gritted her teeth. He was doing it on purpose, of course. Annoying her. Irritating her. Winding her up so tightly that she was ready to explode. ‘It won’t be. You don’t have any experience of primary care. And even if you did, why would you even care about changing things? We both know you won’t be hanging around long enough to make an impact.’

He studied her carefully. ‘Unfortunately, Riggs, your rules don’t work for me. If I see something that I think needs changing I’m going to say so and we’re going to talk about it. I may be the locum but I still have an opinion on how the practice is run and you’re going to listen to it. Starting with Glenda.’

Anna stared at him. ‘What about Glenda?’

‘What do you know about her home life?’

Anna frowned, thrown by the sudden shift in the conversation. ‘Well, I know she lives with her elderly mother in a cottage down by the harbour. Her mother is your father’s patient and to be honest I haven’t seen much of her for the past few years so I can’t honestly say I know her. She doesn’t go out much. Why?’

‘Because her mother is the reason Glenda was late this morning. She had her buttons done up in the wrong holes,’ Sam said calmly. ‘She hasn’t told me much yet but she hinted that her mother isn’t herself.’

‘I didn’t know that. Your father hasn’t said anything.’ Anna felt a twinge of guilt that she hadn’t found the time to question Glenda’s lateness herself. If she was honest, she’d found it more annoying than concerning. It hadn’t occurred to her that something might be wrong. She bit her lip. She was the doctor, for goodness’ sake. She should have noticed that Glenda was upset about something.

It annoyed her that Sam had spotted it first and it made her feel guilty.

Resolving to talk to the receptionist immediately, Anna poured herself a glass of water and took a few sips.

‘This practice is stretched to the limit,’ Sam said grimly, ‘and we need efficient staff. If Glenda can’t perform the role then we need to get someone in who can.’

Anna slammed the glass down on the table. ‘And what are you proposing to do with Glenda?’ Her eyes sparked into his. ‘Fire her?’

‘No, actually.’ He stood in the centre of her consulting room, legs planted firmly apart, totally comfortable and maddeningly sure of himself. ‘Support her. And expecting her to fulfil a full-time employment commitment with what I suspect is a major family problem brewing isn’t support.’

Anna sagged slightly, her conscience pricking her. ‘Oh, hell. You’re right,’ she muttered, rubbing her fingers across her temples to ease the ache. ‘I should have noticed that something was wrong. She hasn’t been herself for weeks now I come to think of it.’

‘Don’t blame yourself.’ Sam’s voice was deep and slightly roughened. It was the voice that turned millions of female viewers to jelly. ‘I know you’ve had your work cut out covering for my father while he’s been so ill. But now it’s time to accept some help. You can’t run the whole show by yourself, Riggs. No matter what you may think of yourself, you’re not superwoman.’

She felt nothing like superwoman.

Anna’s hand dropped into her lap. Suddenly she didn’t have the energy to argue. ‘All right.’ Her voice was brisk and professional. ‘We’ll make the best of the situation. You take your father’s surgeries but if you have any queries, you refer them to me.’

He arched an eyebrow. ‘You think I can’t cope?’

‘I think it’s been a long time since you’ve seen real patients. I’m not prepared for you to practise on mine.’

He would never admit he was wrong and she couldn’t take that risk with people’s lives.

‘Fine. If I get stuck, I’ll call.’ His voice was a drawl and she had a feeling he was mocking her. ‘Anything else?’

‘We share the clinics and the house calls. The deputising service does the on call and weekends.’ She took a deep breath. ‘And any filming or fancy stuff that you want to do takes place outside surgery time.’

He gave a wry smile. ‘Thanks for the welcome, Riggs.’

She stiffened. What did he want? Applause? ‘If you’re expecting a red carpet and a cheering crowd, you’re not going to get one here.’

‘Evidently.’

‘And I’ll sort out Glenda.’

‘Her mother is my patient.’

‘Your father’s patient.’

He shrugged. ‘Same thing. As you just said, I’m taking my father’s patients.’ He gave a humourless laugh as he realised what he’d just said. ‘Following the old man’s dream.’

‘But not your dream, thank goodness.’

He lifted an eyebrow. ‘Why ‘‘thank goodness’’?’

‘Because if you decided to take over your father’s half of the practice permanently, we’d really be in trouble.’ Frowning, Anna studied him. ‘We can make this work because it’s temporary, McKenna. Let’s both remember that. Temporary.’

‘If you think I’d want to make this a permanent arrangement then you’re even more deranged than I already think you are.’ He stifled a yawn and strolled out of the room as if he had all the time in the world, leaving her ready to punch something.

CHAPTER THREE

‘SUBSIDENCE.’

‘Sorry?’ Anna juggled several bags and her mobile phone as she tried to concentrate on what the surveyor was saying. She still had one more house call to make before she finished for the evening.

‘This cottage that you’re hoping to buy has subsidence.’ The man stepped back and angled his head. ‘Didn’t you notice that the windows are crooked?’

Anna followed his gaze, squinting against the bright evening sunshine. ‘It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with it. Crooked windows add to the character, Mike. They’re what makes it quaint.’

‘They’re what makes it dangerous and a complete no-no for your mortgage company.’ The surveyor looked at her sympathetically. ‘I hope you’re better at diagnosing patients than you are buildings, Doc. If this was an animal and you were a vet, you’d be putting it down.’

Anna groaned and dropped two of her bags. ‘Mike, no! I don’t need this. Tell me you’re joking. You have to be joking. This is my new home.’

Her dream.

Her cottage by the beach.

‘Not joking.’ He shook his head solemnly, stepping back to look at the cottage with a gloomy expression on his face. ‘It’s a bad lot, Anna, love. Let it go.’

‘Let it go? No way.’ Anna stuck out her chin at an angle that made the surveyor sigh.

‘Determination and backbone isn’t going to fix this one, I’m afraid. The only way this is going to be yours is if you put up all the cash yourself.’

Anna almost growled with frustration. ‘You know I can’t do that.’

‘Or find a rich man.’

Anna kicked a stone at the mere thought. ‘I don’t attract rich men. Rich men want useless trophy wives who’ll agree with everything they say.’

Mike laughed. ‘Not much chance of that with you. In which case, I think you’re looking at another house, Anna.’

Anna shook her head in denial and disbelief. ‘But it’s all going through. I’ve chosen the curtains …’

Mike shrugged. ‘Hang them in your next house,’ he advised, ‘but you have to give this one a miss. It’s a bundle of trouble.’

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