The moment passed. And the feeling of dread returned.
What would this mean for Iain? She was cringing just thinking about it. She knew exactly how invasive the media could be. It was a miracle that they’d never found out about her hysterectomy. What if they dug into Iain’s background and found out about the death of his children? That would be awful.
There was a knock on the door, followed by some muffled sounds as someone struggled with the handle. Then a burst of rainbow colours entered the room.
It was the biggest display of flowers Lexi had ever seen. Absolutely beautiful. Red, pink, yellow and orange roses, carnations and tulips, white freesias, purple and white irises and masses of greenery. In between it all were silver strands, just like the sequins on her dress last night. It was like a veritable explosion of colour.
Carrie struggled to get them through the door and slid them across the desk towards Lexi, who was already on her feet. Her heart was thudding in her chest. She worked in PR and had seen massive bouquets before, but nothing like this.
‘Wow, Lexi, aren’t they gorgeous?’ She handed over a card in a silver envelope. ‘Hopefully this will make you feel a bit better.’
‘What do you mean?’ She stood with the card in her hand. Who would have sent her something like this? Her heart started thudding against her chest wall. It couldn’t be—could it? Would Iain really make a gesture this big? No one at the clinic was supposed to know they were seeing each other. As far as everyone at work was concerned, Iain had gone along to the award ceremony because he’d nominated her. Nothing else. Until that picture in the newspaper this morning.
‘I never got a chance to talk to you this morning, but you looked kinda sad. Are you upset about not winning last night?’
Lexi was startled by Carrie’s question. Not winning was the last thing on her mind this morning. She hadn’t even given it a second thought.
She shook her head firmly. ‘No, not at all.’
‘Then what is it?’ Carrie walked around the desk and touched the tabloid at the corner of it. ‘Is it this?’
She pointed to the photo of Iain and Lexi, holding hands and looking at each other as if no one else in the world existed.
It was automatic. The welling of tears in her eyes. She pulled the silver envelope apart and took out the card.
Next time it will be yours!
Love from Leo and your colleagues at the Hunter Clinic.
We’re so proud you’re part of our team. x
Iain. It wasn’t from Iain. This wasn’t some fairy story with a happy ending. A few tears escaped and slid down her cheeks.
Carrie walked behind her, reading the card over her shoulder. ‘Oh, that’s so nice, isn’t it? Lexi? Don’t be upset.’
She wrapped her arms around her friend and gave her a hug. There it was. The first tiny sign of life. The smallest little bump in her friend’s abdomen.
She made a dive for the tissues on her desk to wipe her face and nose.
‘I’m fine, Carrie. Really I am. It’s just a lovely gesture.’ She straightened up and touched the petal of one of the pink roses. ‘And the flowers smell gorgeous.’
Carrie nodded. From the expression on her face it was clear that she knew something else was wrong but she was wise enough not to pry any further.
She pointed towards the office door. ‘I’ve just made some coffee. I’ll bring you some and then I’ll shut the door, shall I? Give you some privacy to get on with your work.’ The phones were ringing loudly outside. ‘We’ve got about a hundred messages for you this morning, and just as many for Iain. Why don’t I filter them and leave you both the ones that are appropriate?’ She gave a little smile. ‘I’m assuming that you two don’t want to advertise baked beans on TV?’
Lexi let out a laugh. ‘Really?’
Carrie nodded. ‘Oh, yes. Some of the messages will make your hair curl!’ She counted off on her fingers. ‘Dating companies, condom adverts, bra adverts, and a few very slimy offers of dates.’
Lexi let a shiver go down her spine. ‘Oh, no, thanks. Yes, Carrie, filter away. I’d be very grateful.’
A few minutes later a strong coffee appeared on her desk followed by the sound of her door closing quietly. Carrie really was a good friend.
She scrolled through her emails, deleting many as she went along. Interview request after interview request. Some from very dubious sources. A few from journalists about her charity work. She swithered. Did they really want to know about the charity work or were they just looking at a way to get access to her private life and Iain? She knew exactly how some journalists worked.
She flagged a few and decided to talk to Leo about them. After all, this was his clinic and although she was Head of PR, they needed to agree their plans.
The next few emails made her eyes boggle. Men. Inviting her on dates. And that was just the polite ones. The others were enough to turn her lukewarm curls into tight spirals.
After that there was a whole host of congratulatory emails and a few invites to give lectures to university students on PR. One was from her own university and she replied instantly. Finally, she flagged the ones that were real work. There were a number of issues with the charities that would have to be dealt with promptly, so she put her head down and gave them her immediate attention.
A knock at the door startled her. She gave a sigh. It would probably be another member of staff coming to offer sympathy. It wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful, but they’d been popping in all morning and she still had a ton of work to get done.
She held her breath. Maybe if she didn’t answer they would think she wasn’t in. It wasn’t exactly perfect behaviour, but it would get her work done more quickly.
The knock sounded again. Mr or Mrs Persistence was not going to be put off. The door opened and she tried to duck behind the flowers. She really didn’t want to talk to anyone right now.
‘Lexi?’
Her head shot back around the mountain of flowers. ‘Iain?’ Her reaction was automatic, she stood up. She wanted to cringe. He must have seen the papers. He was probably in here to complain.
It was all she could do not to drink in the sight of him. He wasn’t supposed to be here all day, so she wasn’t prepared. She hadn’t gone over in her head what she would say to him about last night. How to apologise for pushing him for an answer he obviously wasn’t ready to give.
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Iain? Why have you got scrubs on?’
He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. ‘Because I didn’t have time to get changed.’
She drew in a deep breath. Iain, in navy blue scrubs revealing tanned, muscled arms and the thin material brushing against his big thighs. His hair looked as if he had just released it from a theatre cap and run his fingers through it. There was a dark shadow along his chin and a few dark shadows around his eyes. He’d obviously slept as little as she had.
‘Why didn’t you have time to get changed?’ she asked, trying not to wonder if this question was a smoking gun. Did he want her fired over all the publicity—all the assumptions the press had made?
He walked towards her. She couldn’t read his face at all. All she could see was fatigue. But there was something else. Something she didn’t expect at all.
There was sparkle in his eyes.
‘I’ve been at the Lighthouse since six a.m. Emergency surgery on a child in a road accident. The NHS surgeons needed a hand as things were more complicated than they expected and their own plastic surgeon was at the burns unit with another child.’
She nodded. It might be slightly unusual but because of the reciprocal relationship between the clinic and the two hospitals, on rare occasions they were asked to help out.
‘So what’s the big rush that you couldn’t get changed?’ She walked around the desk, her steps hesitant as she made her way towards him. ‘Iain, is this about the newspapers? I’m so sorry about that. I’ve prepared a press release.’ She lifted a piece of paper from her desk. ‘I was just g
oing to double-check with Leo before I put it out. Have you been harassed this morning?’
His brow wrinkled and he sat down in the chair opposite her with a sigh. ‘Lexi, what are you talking about?’
She nodded at the tabloid on her desk.
He picked it up and started to read. Then something unexpected happened. Iain McKenzie flung back his head and laughed. The loudest laugh she’d ever heard from him.
‘I bet your mother loved this,’ he said, waving the paper at her.
Her heart jumped. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t angry at all. Maybe he wasn’t here to tear a strip off her after all.
She sat down in the chair next to him. ‘Funnily enough, I haven’t heard from her this morning.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Now, there’s a surprise.’
Her stomach was churning. Iain reached over and grabbed her lukewarm coffee, finishing it in one gulp.
She closed her eyes. He was too close. And she had no idea what was happening right now. ‘I’m sorry, Iain.’
‘You’re sorry? Sorry about what?’
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. ‘I’m sorry about last night.’ She indicated the paper. ‘I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry about filming the advert and getting you so much unwanted attention.’ She took another breath. ‘And most of all I’m sorry about pushing you to tell me something you weren’t ready to.’