She pulled her scattered wits together,
removing her arm from his slackened grasp. "I'm not, I was visiting
some patients." Her breathing shortened beneath the frowning look
in his eyes, closely dissecting her face with slow deliberation, as
if searching for the answer to a question he hadn't yet asked.
Perhaps wanting to gain some sense of her present mood. "I…what are
you doing here?"
He inhaled a long slow breath, expelling
it in a rush. "Admitting a patient with suspected appendicitis.
Once he's settled, then I was thinking about heading for home. Need
a lift?"
"
No, thanks, I have my car." Kate moved
sideways around him. "It's getting late. I was just thinking about
ordering something to eat, so I'll leave you to get on with it
then. See you at work tomorrow."
"
Wait, Kate, please. I really need to talk
to you. Something that can't wait." Spencer reached a hand to
prevent her harried escape from his looming closeness. "I guess,
tonight is as good a time as any to get it said."
Her heart dipped. "What do you want to talk
about?"
He scanned a frown at their surroundings.
"We can't talk here. Jamie's staying at the Henry house; I have to
pick him up in a couple of hours. If you're hungry, we could get
something together."
His face was set and very serious. Kate
snagged her lower lip with her teeth. What had she done wrong now?
She pulled a long breath into her lungs. She didn't need an
audience if she was going to be reprimanded about the Marsh case or
some other new problem.
"
How about my place?" she offered tightly.
"I can make us both a cup of coffee. Fix us something to eat." Her
churning stomach was now rejecting the idea of food.
"
Sounds great." Spencer stepped back. "I'll
follow you in my truck."
Once she was seated in her car, Kate gripped
the steering wheel and tried to slow the pace of her breathing.
What could Spencer want to talk to her about? She guessed she had
no choice but to listen this time.
He joined her at the cottage all too soon,
she thought as she watched him cross the front porch into the
house. Instantly he seemed to fill the small room, taking all the
air from her lungs. Kate drew a long breath, trying to still her
jumping nerves. Was he really intending to fire her for something
she'd done?
His expression shuttered, he sat down at the
small table across from her, reaching to take the mug of coffee she
pushed towards him with a nod of thanks. Kate served him quickly
with a green salad and slices of ham, handing the plate across to
him before giving herself a small portion that she began to push
slowly around her plate. She waited for him to speak with her
breathing jammed in her throat.
"
You look scared. It's only a meal." He ate
a mouthful. "Which tastes great, by the way."
"
Scared?" Kate struggled to make sense of
his comment.
If he was firing her, would he
be so prosaic as to talk about her culinary skills? She thanked him
with a swift nod, staring down at her own plate, sure she
couldn't swallow
anything. She returned her worried gaze to her watchful table
companion.
Spencer frowned, studying the slow passage
of the food around her plate. "How's your hand coming along? Any
stiffness or infection?"
"
There were no complications." Kate glanced
down at the neat white dressing nestled in the palm of her left
hand. "It's healing nicely. I can't complain. You did excellent
stitch work."
His brief smile was crooked. "All part of the
service."
"
Thank you." Kate clenched her hand over
the bandage. She felt sick. What exactly did he want with
her?
"
I guess you're wondering what I want to
talk to you about," he answered her silent query. "What I've been
trying to ask you for days now. But it's never been the right
time."
"
It is a fair question," Kate stated
flatly. "I do need to know why you think you should fire me. What
have I done that's so bad?"
"
Fire you
?" Spencer's empty fork clattered to his
plate. He looked completely startled. "I haven't come here to fire
you. Where did you get that crazy idea from? Your work is
exemplary. I couldn't ask for a better doctor."
"
I thought that after the whole Mrs. Marsh
fiasco." Kate shrugged painfully. "That you didn't still believe
me."
"
I told you not to worry about that damn
woman." Spencer sat forward, pushing his hand across the table
towards her closed fist. She withdrew her hand slightly, trying to
maintain a measure of distance. "That was an unfortunate incident
that you were not responsible for. I've already dealt with it, end
of story. You have nothing to worry about."
"
Then why are you here?"
Spencer grimaced. "First you have to
promise not to walk out on me." His eyes gleamed with bleak humor.
"You have a habit of doing that whenever I try to talk to
you."
Kate compressed her lips at the
accusation. Some of those times he'd done the walking out. "And why
would I want to walk out on you? Besides, I'd have to throw you
out. I live here, remember?"
"
Yes, I know." Spencer looked around at the
few tasteful additions she'd made to his property; touches uniquely
Kate. He liked what he saw, especially when he glanced back at her.
Her soft, warm beauty curled through his senses, quickening his
heart rate and his breathing.
Don't
even go there.
He retrieved his fork, concentrating on his
food. It gave him something mundane to do while he tried to
reassemble his arguments.
This really could work, if she would only
listen to him with an open mind. He looked up. "Tell me, if it came
to a custody battle, how do you think a female judge would rule?
For the father or the mother?"
"
Custody battle?" Kate frowned. "Are you
talking about Jamie?"
Smart woman
. Spencer compressed his mouth
on a rough sigh. "It seems Katerina has decided to contest our
agreement. She says she wasn't given enough time to work out her
issues. That she's a fit mother and I was too hard on her, too
quick to judge her intentions for her only child. She had
issues
." His grim set mouth turned down at the
corners.
"I'm sorry."
Kate had no idea what he
expected her to say. She gave up her sorry pretence at eating with
a confused grimace. "I really can't see why you're asking me,
Spencer. This is between you and your ex-wife. No one else should
be involved. But it does sound deeply unfair to revisit it
now."
"
She's already involved others." Spencer
ground out, thrusting one hand around the back of his neck. "It
seems she's found herself some mega rich fiancé, a Greek property
billionaire who can't have kids of his own and he wants a male heir
to inherit his fortune. But he wants a child with the right Greek
heritage and it seems Katerina's promised him her son in return for
a wedding ring. My child."
Kate gasped. "How could she? That's so
cruel. What about Jamie?"
"
Now you understand. She wants him for the
benefits he brings to her, not Jamie himself. He would soon become
surplus in her new life, be passed on to some nanny or the
housekeeper. A boarding school in Greece has been mentioned. Of
course, she'll deny that."
"
Oh, no." Kate's heart contracted at the
thought of Jamie suffering such a loveless fate. She knew what it
was to be moved along like an unwanted parcel without hope of
rescue. "But what can you do?"
"
Fight it all the way." Spencer's tone
showed Kate he would do anything for the sake of his son's future.
At least Jamie had someone who loved him. "But that's not the issue
at present. Jamie hasn't seen his mother for over three years.
She's nothing more than a stranger to him. So I had an investigator
look into Katerina's affairs. He turned up those facts and some
other very interesting information."
He was careful to omit he'd paid to have
Kate investigated as well. He had no choice, too much depended on
what possibly turned up. It was a relief to discover she had been
telling the truth all along. He wondered how he could ever have
thought the two women could be the same.
"
An investigator? You had someone following
her?" A chill sense of dismay feathered its way up and down Kate's
spine. Eric's callous use of an investigator to spy on her after
she threw him out still made her feel exposed and
vulnerable.
Spencer frowned at her horrified tone.
"What else could I do? Jamie deserves everything I can do for him.
I make no excuses for my methods."
At least he hadn't been investigating her.
Kate pushed down her rising feeling of panic. "I understand that.
But again, I must ask, why are you telling me all this? I can't see
how I can help you."
Spencer reached across the table and took
her hand before she could pull back. "Because I have something I
need to ask you, Kate."
"
What is it?" Her voice sounded strained to her
ears.
Spencer was tracing a disturbing path up
and down each of her fingers in turn with his thumb-pad, sending
shockwaves up her arm to shorten her breathing. "I don't want
Katerina anywhere near my son or her rich new man friend. She was
completely missing in action as a mother, right from the start.
Nothing gives me confidence that she's changed."
He compressed his lips. "Ask yourself
this, Kate, if she was such a great mother, as she now claims, they
why hasn't she even visited him since our divorce? Why does my son
not even know his mother's face when he looks at it?"
That last terse question Kate failed to
understand. Her skin quivered beneath the sensual path of his
touch. "You do have a point, but what can you do? Apart from go to
court and fighting the order. Do you need me to be a character
witness for you? I would be happy to."
"
Thanks, but I'm going to keep custody of
my son and for that I have a solution. For this idea to work I'm
going to need your help. Your complete agreement to my proposal.
It's the only way, given time is against me."
Is he asking me about some kind
of new business arrangement
? "I'm afraid you've lost me again," Kate
whispered over the sudden acceleration of her heartbeat. "What kind
of proposal?"
Spencer went completely still, his long,
hard fingers still entangled with hers. "You could consent to marry
me and we would take care of Jamie together as a family. I need a
wife, Kate. Fast."
He would have found the completely stunned
expression on her face almost amusing if he didn't need this so
strongly. So much for sweeping the woman off her feet with his
charm and appeal.
"
Have you gone completely crazy?" she
finally managed, after her mouth opened and shut several times, but
nothing came out. "I couldn't marry you. I've already told you, I
don't intend to marry anyone. Not now, not ever. It's already
caused me too much pain."
Spencer moved his shoulders. "I know you
did. I haven't figured out all the details yet, but the plan would
work. I know it's asking a lot, but it's just for a few years,
until Jamie is old enough to decide for himself. Then we can
separate and go our own way if that's what you wanted."
Kate clutched for some sense of reality.
"He's only five, a few years is a whole lifetime of commitment.
It's impossible." It was only then that she noticed the band of
paler skin above the knuckle of his ring finger. He was no longer
wearing his wedding ring.
Confusion and a strange kind of hope began
to surge through her. When had he decided to take it off? And why
hadn't she noticed before tonight? It suddenly mattered so much to
know the whole truth, but she couldn't ask. She wasn't feeling
brave enough.
Spencer assented with a sharp nod. "I
understand all that. Believe me, I've given this a great deal of
thought. There's no other way and no one else I could ask. This
must happen for Jamie's sake."
"
Heavens, you're really serious, aren't
you? This isn't some kind of sick joke?"
She tried to pull her hand from his, but
his grip tightened. "I've never been more serious. At least think
about it. You're making a life here, you have new friends, people
you enjoy spending time with and who care about you. Why not decide
to stay and make a go of it. Of us."
Kate fought back harder. "You accused me
of being a confirmed city girl. Itchy feet central, remember? How
do you know I won't get restless and walk out one day and never
come back?"
Spencer frowned. "Because I've come to
know you. That was before I got to understand what makes you tick."
He paused, inhaling a deep breath, then continued quickly, "Before
I had you—"
"
Before you kissed me and came up with this
whole crazy plan." Kate plunged in heedlessly, ignoring whatever he
was about to say. "It was only a kiss," she managed the lie without
a qualm. "A sudden attack of overactive hormones is never a sound
basis for a marriage."