Dr Langley: Protector or Playboy?. Joanna Neil
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start, her cheeks flushing with heat because he had caught her out, watching him.
His gaze was fixed on her, and she gave herself a mental shake. Get a grip, she chided herself inwardly. He was just looking at her because he wanted to order some food, and she was the waitress, for heaven’s sake.
He smiled as she walked over to the table. He had a naturally warm and friendly manner that automatically drew everyone in. She’d been aware of it from the start, and it had been fairly obvious that all the nurses had fallen for him straight away. Then again, the number-one rule for junior doctors was for them to make friends with the nursing staff if they were to make any headway in the job, and he had managed that for sure.
She drew in a deep breath. It was highly embarrassing that he and his friends should find her working here, of all places—in an instant her street cred had gone right through the floor.
‘Hello. What can I get for you?’ she asked. She gave them all a welcoming smile and let her glance roam fleetingly over his friends.
‘Steak burger and fries for me,’ the fair-haired one said. ‘I’m starving.’ He checked out her long, chestnut-coloured hair and gave her an appreciative smile.
‘I’ll have the toasted cheese sandwich,’ the young man sitting next to him said. ‘No expense spared, you see,’ he added in mock humour. ‘We’re celebrating our first day in new placements—at the hospital across the way,’ he added by way of explanation.
She nodded, but Ben said softly, ‘She knows all about placements, Jack. She’s one of us.’
Jack’s eyes widened. ‘Really? How come I’ve not seen you around?’
‘We’re in different year groups, perhaps?’ She gave a light shrug and concentrated on writing down the orders.
‘Maybe you can tell us what you’ve been up to so far this year,’ Jack said in a musing tone. ‘We could swap notes. It’s always good to have some insight into other specialties. I started on the renal unit today.’
‘Jade’s a fifth-year student,’ Ben explained, and she glanced at him. He remembered her name? It didn’t mean anything, of course. Perhaps he was good at that sort of thing. She’d remembered his name because he was the kind of man you didn’t forget.
‘That’s right,’ she murmured, adding for the benefit of the rest of the group, ‘I started in Paediatrics today, alongside Ben. I’d really like to stay and swap notes, but unfortunately I’m already in trouble with my boss for standing around talking.’ She pulled a face. ‘I can feel him glaring at me from the kitchen.’
‘Oh, dear.’ Ben acknowledged that with a sympathetic smile. ‘Then we’d better hurry up and decide what we want to eat.’ He studied the menu along with his other friend and gave her their order a moment or two later.
Jade tucked her notepad into her pocket and walked over to the kitchen. She hoped Ben wasn’t following her progress. The wretched uniform was sliding up over her hips again and it took all her willpower to resist the urge to tug it back down.
‘Here we are,’ she said a short time later, setting down the plates of food. ‘Burger and fries, toasted cheese sandwich, baguette and crepes. I’ll bring your drinks along in a minute or two.’
‘Thanks.’ Ben accepted the plate of savoury crepes she put before him. His friends began to tuck in, chatting to one another, while Ben put his food to one side for the moment and looked at her. ‘It’s good to see you again,’ he murmured, letting his gaze drift over her and making her suddenly conscious of the way her skirt clung to her and of the hint of cleavage displayed by the cotton top of the uniform. ‘I expect we’ll soon get used to working alongside one another. The first day in a placement is always a bit unnerving, isn’t it? But you seemed to be coping well enough.’
‘Did I?’ She gave a soft laugh. ‘I suppose it was okay once I managed to spend time with the patients. Everything else seemed to fade into the background then. Apart from when the consultant came to do his rounds. That was a bit scary.’ She looked at him, a small frown in her green eyes. She doubted he had any such problems.
At the end of his working day he seemed perfectly relaxed. He had removed his jacket, and where he had rolled back his shirtsleeves she saw that his strong forearms were lightly bronzed, covered with a smattering of dark hair.
‘He put you on the spot a bit, didn’t he, asking about the baby’s stridor?’ His voice was deep and low, smoothing over her like comforting hot chocolate. ‘I thought it was a bit unfair of him, really, to do that to you on your first day.’
She nodded. ‘You’re right. His questions left me flummoxed for a while, I must say. To begin with, I wondered if the strange noises the baby was making when he breathed in were to do with a respiratory problem, but at least I did get it together enough to suggest that we should check out his throat as well as his chest.’
‘And that was the right thing to say, as things turned out.’ He smiled, a full-on smile that curved his well-shaped mouth and glimmered in the depths of those smoky, grey-blue eyes. Caught unawares, Jade’s heart did a funny little flip-over in the middle of her chest.
‘Yes.’ Her voice was husky. What on earth was the matter with her? She hadn’t reacted this way to any man since she’d met Ewan. And her experience with him had surely been enough to warn her to keep her emotions under control.
She brought her mind back to the baby at the hospital. She’d learned that the infant was struggling with a ‘soft’ larynx, a condition where the immature cartilage folded inwards on inhalation, causing an airway obstruction.
‘I guess so,’ she said. ‘It’s a shame the baby’s ill enough to need surgery, though. He’s only six months old—I’d hate it if a child of mine needed an operation at such a young age.’
‘Me, too.’
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her boss beginning to glower at her from the kitchen once more, and she quietly excused herself. More customers were coming in, and she and the rest of the staff were kept busy for the next half-hour, seeing to their needs.
There was no time for a breather. As customers ate up and left the café, Jade cleared away the dishes and wiped the tables clean. Now her tray was filled with pudding bowls, cups and saucers, and as she headed back towards the kitchen with them, she saw that Ben and his friends were preparing to leave. They nodded towards her and she returned the gesture.
She wasn’t quite sure what happened next. One moment she was treading carefully between the tables, glancing at the customers to see who might shortly need attention, and the next her foot had shot out from under her and she began to tumble backwards. The tray wobbled precariously and she desperately tried to keep it aloft while fighting to keep her balance, but all the time she knew it was going to be a losing battle. Her heart sank as crockery began to slide off the tray, heading for the floor. It would only be a matter of seconds before she would follow.
Then, as she resigned herself to her fate, she discovered that strong arms were holding her, effortlessly taking her weight and steadying her.
‘You’re okay, I have you,’ Ben said. His tone was reassuring, supportive, washing over her like a soothing balm. He helped her to regain her balance, and even as she tried to thank him, she was unhappily aware of the tableware hitting the floor tiles with a resounding crash. A small cheer went up from the diners close by. ‘Que se passe-t-il? Qu’avez vous fait?’
Jade groaned as her boss hurried towards her. His dark brows pulled together, meeting in a scowl.
‘I … It was an accident,’ she told him in dismay. ‘I don’t know how it happened.’ All the time she was aware of Ben’s nearness, of his hand on her elbow and the warmth of his touch coursing through her body and setting her nerves alight. For the second time that evening, her cheeks were flushed with heat. Was she bound to constantly make a fool of herself around him?
‘Zut!’ Jacques was not pleased.