“I’m sorry, you must be freezing,” Vince said. “Please come in.”
The heels of my boots echoed loudly as we walked down a long, cramped hallway that
smelled just like the damp stone it was made of.
“Sorry about the side entry, but the front doors are heavy as hell and tend to sag,
so they’re hard to open. We usually only use them if we need to get something big
into the building.”
“It was no problem. These boots were made for walking.”
“Is that a threat?”
I laughed. “Not at all.”
“Good. I don’t think they’d get you very far anyway. Thunderstorms are just off to
the north and the forecast calls for several inches of ice and snow later tonight.”
“Well I’m glad we made it here in time. I really don’t care that much for either storms
or cold weather.”
“You probably won’t care for it much here then. It’s supposed to be unusually cold
this winter.”
“Lovely.”
We emerged into a dark room with high, shadowed ceilings and bare stone walls and
floors, one narrow window, and a stark rustic bench for furniture. Judging from the
direction we’d taken, it must be one of the towers.
Either the window was very grimy or the storm had already closed in, because it looked
threateningly dark outside for early afternoon.
“Just leave Dr. McBride’s luggage by the bench, Dirk. Mrs. Petters has fresh coffee
and pastries for you in the kitchen,” Vince told him. When I pulled out my wallet,
he added, “Thank you, Rachel, but that’s not necessary. Dr. Kilmartin’s already taken
care of it.”
“Oh. Well then.” I put my wallet back into my bag and said goodbye to Dirk after he
deposited my stuff. Vince helped me out of my coat, and I set it on the bench along
with my computer bag and purse.
“I know you’re probably tired and anxious to get settled in your room,” he said apologetically,
“but Dr. Kilmartin requested that I take you directly to him when you arrived.”
Nerves seized me again, but I smiled valiantly. “That’s fine. I’m kind of anxious
to see him again, too. I’m dying of curiosity about this project.”
Vince walked over to a wide door and pushed a button beside it. Only when it opened
did I realize what it was.
“Call me crazy, but an elevator is probably the last thing I expected to find in a
castle. Not that I’m complaining,” I added. It boded well for the castle’s plumbing.
“Dr. Kilmartin had it installed several years ago. There’s another one in the southwest
tower, and yet another in the labs.” He ushered me inside and pushed the button for
the second floor. The elevator hummed loudly before taking off so smoothly I could
hardly tell it was moving. When the door opened, Colin was waiting on the other side.
“I’ll escort her from here,” he said.
Vince gave a nod and then turned to me. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, Rachel.”
“Thanks, you too.”
Colin led me away by the elbow, leaving Vince standing beside the elevator watching
us.
“Hello again, Rachel,” he said, a ghost of a smile curving his lips. “Did you have
a pleasant trip?”
“It was fine. Until London, anyway. The hotel was nice, but I white-knuckled most
of the flight today because we were skirting the same front that grounded last night’s
connection.”
Shut up! You’re rambling!
I took a deep breath. “But now that I’m on solid ground, I’m great.”
“Good. Julian’s impatient to see you.”
Colin seemed tired and tense, and a little pallid, which was an unusual look for him.
Though we’d never had that kind of relationship, I had to squash the urge to scold
him for not taking care of himself. He was still gorgeous, don’t get me wrong—taller
than me by a couple of inches and very trim, with thick brown hair and heavy-lidded
blue eyes that usually danced with amusement or sparked with temper. But the light
in his eyes was dampened now, and his typical boyish grin was missing. It made me
even more nervous.
My heartbeat galloped irregularly as he led me down a long carpeted hallway. This
one was finished with either Sheetrock or plaster and smelled like apple cider. About
halfway down the hall, he opened a door and ushered me into a warm, spacious living/dining
area that smelled even better. Three places were set at the end of a large formal
dining table and a covered soup tureen sat between them.
“Sit down.” He gestured toward the seating area by the fireplace, where a subdued
fire burned. “I’ll go get Julian.”
After he disappeared through another door, I sank down at the end of a plush leather
sofa, swallowing against the butterflies trying to fight their way out my throat.
Lightning flashed repeatedly, and I noticed rain was sheeting down the high mullioned
window. I didn’t hear thunder, though—the only sounds in the room were a faint hissing
from the fire and the ticking of a large, ornate grandfather clock. The thick stone
walls must really provide an excellent sound barrier.
Flanking the fireplace were two built-in bookshelves bursting with paperbacks and
a few framed photographs. When two minutes dragged into five, I gave in to my curiosity
and got up for a closer look. The books ranged from legal thrillers to medical thrillers,
but that wasn’t what interested me.
Julian was in one of the photos. He stood with his arm around the shoulders of a younger,
less intense version of himself. His brother? I seemed to recall hearing he had one
at university in England at some point during my residency. Two of the other photos
were of the same young man, one a posed football picture and the other a casual shot
of him on a boat, grinning from ear to ear. The last was probably a formal portrait
of Julian’s parents—the resemblance between all the males was unmistakable.
Feeling like I was invading his privacy, I turned away. But before I could return
to my seat, the door opened and Julian appeared.
In the space of a heartbeat, his larger-than-life presence occupied every corner of
my mind. Though he’d hardly changed at all, there was something very different about
him. Time had deepened the grooves in his boldly chiseled face and he wore dark-rimmed
glasses, which made his gray eyes seem larger and more intense. His dark blond hair
was longer, his forehead perhaps a bit higher than I remembered. And he was dressed
in a heather-blue turtleneck sweater and time-worn Levis that clung lovingly to his
tall, raw-boned physique.
It dawned on me that I’d never seen him without a lab coat.
I was in Dr. Julian Kilmartin’s
home
.
The unexpected intimacy left me breathless as he paused just inside to inspect me—or
that was how it felt, anyway. Suddenly I was acutely conscious of how long it had
been since I looked in the mirror. Dammit, I should have said I needed to go to the
bathroom. I hardly ever wore makeup and I’d caught myself rubbing my itchy eyes more
than once during the drive. And it felt like half my hair had escaped from its pony
tail. Why hadn’t I used something sturdier than a scarf to tie it back?
Then Julian’s lips curved in a smile, something else I’d never seen him wearing. It
left me completely discombobulated as he walked toward me.
Taking my hands, he murmured, “Dr. McBride.”
“Dr. Kilmartin.” While my mouth replied automatically, the rest of me screamed with
awareness that he was
touching
me. In the two years we’d worked in the same hospital, he’d
never
touched me, never even brushed my arm in passing.
He gave a warm squeeze. “Thank you for coming.”
Like I could refuse.
It didn’t dawn on me until he laughed that I’d said that out loud.
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said. Letting go of one of my hands, he gestured toward
the table. Colin was already there, pulling out a chair. “Won’t you join us for dinner?”
“Thank you, that would be wonderful.”
“After you, then.”
His hand in the small of my back, he guided me to the chair Colin had pulled out.
Wow, they really went in for the courtly manners around here. I couldn’t remember
the last time anyone had escorted me to the table or pulled out my chair for me.
While Colin took the seat across from me, Julian sat down a bit gingerly at the head
of the table.
Years of conditioning made me ask, “Are you all right?”
“Yes, yes.” He waved me off as he leaned back. “Just overdid my last workout.”
“Good for you,” I said, unfolding the maroon napkin and laying it across my lap. “I
can’t remember the last time I worked out.”
“You’ll have to start. Being in peak physical condition is especially important for
surgeons. Colin will show you the facilities tomorrow and Hans will help you set up
a balanced but challenging exercise regimen.”
“Of course, Sir,” Colin said with a nod.
My hackles rose slightly, but I reminded myself who he was. The great Dr. Julian Kilmartin
was no doubt used to ordering his minions around all day long. I’d have to either
choose my battles or be assimilated.
I picked up my glass of water and took a long drink. Tepid and metallic, not my favorite
combination. They didn’t do ice in drinks over here, did they?
A tall, lovely blonde woman in a gray maid’s uniform appeared at Julian’s side bearing
a wine bottle wrapped in a white cloth. Her nametag said
Lili
.
“May I serve you, Dr. Kilmartin?” she asked in thickly accented English.
“Thank you, Lili.”
She showed him the label and then poured a sample into his stem glass, waiting for
his nod of approval before filling all our glasses. Once she left, he took a long
sip of the white and I followed suit. I wasn’t normally a wine fan but this was delicious—sweet
and fruity.
Colin took a long drink from his glass, and the sight of his very masculine throat
muscles working made me breathless.
Tearing my gaze away, I turned to Julian. “So tell me about this surgery on the 31
st
.”
He shook his head. “Grisly subjects are best saved until after we’ve finished eating,
my dear. I’d rather hear about your adventures. Colin tells me you went on holiday
recently?”
A quick glance at Colin showed nothing but polite interest. “Yes, I took a dive trip
to the Turks and Caicos.”
“I’ve never been, but I’ve seen photographs. It looks lovely.”
“Lovely doesn’t even begin to describe it,” I told him, warming quickly to the subject.
“The islands themselves aren’t much to write home about, but the beaches are just
beautiful. And the diving—oh my God, it’s absolutely amazing. It would take years
to explore all the hundreds of miles of reefs. Between diving and snorkeling, I spent
so much time in the water, my fingers and toes were wrinkled the whole week I was
there.”
He glanced at the hand holding my wineglass. “You have lovely fingers.”
A little disconcerted, I took another sip before saying, “Thank you.”
“I’ve heard the people there are lovely, too,” he said casually, watching my face.
Suddenly it grew a little difficult to breathe evenly, and despite my efforts to contain
it, heat spread up my neck. It was ridiculous—the man was just making polite conversation
and I was reacting like he’d just asked to see a video of my fling with one of the
hotel bartenders.
“Definitely,” I stated emphatically. “The service at my hotel was outstanding, and
everyone seemed like they were genuinely friendly and interested in you rather than
just schmoozing for a tip. I plan to go back every year, if I can find the time.”
“Always nice to find friendly staff when you’re on holiday,” he observed. “I never
cared much for being in underwater myself. Something about the sensory deprivation,
I think—being unable to hear or see properly, unable to smell anything.”
“Unable to breathe,” Colin added, rolling the stem of his wineglass between his long
fingers.
“That would be a bit of a downer, too, yes,” Julian replied dryly.
“Which is why we wear scuba gear, Colin,” I said with exaggerated patience, as if
speaking to a backward schoolboy. Falling back into this kind of interaction with
him was entirely too easy.
His grin widened. “Is that so.”
Lili returned with a loaf of bread, apparently fresh from the oven. As she sliced
off several fragrant pieces and laid them on our bread plates, my stomach growled
loudly.
Julian just laughed when I slapped my hand over it. “For God’s sake, girl, this is
clearly no time to stand on ceremony. Eat.”
“Sorry,” I murmured as I tore off a piece of the bread and buttered it, now ten shades
of red. “I didn’t have any lunch.”
“Why not?” he asked with narrowed eyes.
My heart skipped a beat at his tone. Surely he wasn’t really annoyed that I hadn’t
eaten? “I’m not the best flyer and there was quite a bit of turbulence.”
“Ah. You’re forgiven then.”
I smiled. “Well that’s a relief.”
“Don’t let it happen again, though,” he added. “I’ll expect you to eat nutritious
meals at regular intervals.”
My eyes widened. “I didn’t realize my eating habits were subject to your approval.”
In the middle of buttering his own bread, Colin paused to stare at me like I’d just
spewed a stream of profanities.
Julian’s eyes narrowed again. “You didn’t, eh?”
Unnerved, I set my bread without taking a bite. So much for choosing my battles. I
was missing something here, but God only knew what. Once again, we seemed to be playing
a game and I was the only player who didn’t know the rules.
It occurred to me that I really knew very little about Julian Kilmartin. Long-standing
hero worship aside, he was a stranger to me.
When both of them continued to study me as if trying to identify some new species,
I grew uncomfortable. “What?”
“You didn’t read your contracts, did you, Rachel?”
Julian’s rumbling drawl sent a shiver of awareness up my spine, and I could have sworn
I heard a silent
you naughty girl
tacked on at the end. Good Lord, spending so much time on this side of the Atlantic
had really stiffened his British accent. Five years ago I’d have found it thrilling,
but right now it made him even more a stranger.