CHAPTER THREE

      JONATHAN HUNTER made Gaye nervous.

      Her two days off duty had been more fraught than they usually were, mainly because she had lived in dread of the doorbell ringing, and opening the door to find him standing on the doorstep. He hadn’t seemed to her like a man who would accept no for an answer, especially where a woman was concerned. She doubted he had had to very often!

      But the doorbell had remained silent. As had the telephone. No one came to the house any more; the telephone calls had ceased long ago. The fickleness of humanity. But, for all his lazy charm, she hadn’t received the impression that Jonathan Hunter was a fickle man...

      Which made his silence over the last two days doubly nerve-racking! He had been so persistent in trying to get her to go out with him that the silence that had followed her refusal seemed alive with tension.

      However, the doorbell hadn’t rung, and she hadn’t opened the door to find Jonathan Hunter standing there, and by the time she left the house for work this morning she was feeling strangely irritable. It didn’t help that the first patient she had to attend to was Abbie Hunter. Or that her arrogant husband was with her.

      The other woman was beautiful. Not only that, but she was warm and friendly too. She was also so obviously happy in her marriage. Frankly, Jarrett’s aloof manner made Gaye feel as nervous as his brother did, but for different reasons. The golden eyes, which all of the Hunter brothers had, seemed to look at her and see beyond her own cool veneer to the vulnerable woman beneath.

      Jarrett Hunter stood up at Gaye’s entrance. ‘I’ll leave you two ladies to chat,’ he announced smoothly before bending to kiss his wife and baby son goodbye. ‘I’ll be back this afternoon,’ he told his wife huskily. ‘See you later, Gaye,’ he said before leaving.

      Gaye stared after him; he had known her name! And she could think of only one source...

      Abbie laughed softly as she watched her. ‘They’re very close, these Hunter men. But also very loyal,’ she added gently.

      Gaye swallowed hard, forcing a bright smile to her lips as she held up the bouquet of flowers she was delivering. ‘Roses,’ she announced lightly. Although, looking at the room already filled with flowers, it was difficult to know where they were going to go!

      Abbie took the flowers, although she made no move to read the card attached to them, still looking up at Gaye. ‘Did you enjoy your days off?’ she enquired. ‘Did you do anything exciting?’ she added mischievously.

      Gaye thought of those two days off, of the usual routine, the strain of always having to be cheerful. ‘No,’ she answered flatly.

      The other woman raised dark brows. ‘No—you didn’t enjoy your days off, or no—you didn’t do anything exciting?’

      No—to both questions! Life had taken a strange turn two years ago, and despite all her efforts she had no idea how to turn it back again. One thing she was certain of: becoming involved with the Hunter family would only make things more complicated!

      ‘I didn’t do anything exciting,’ she answered tonelessly.

      ‘Oh.’ Abbie looked perplexed. ‘Jonathan seemed to think you had a very busy two days ahead of you.’

      Jonathan Hunter hadn’t thought any such thing. He had been told precisely why she wouldn’t go out with him—and it had nothing to do with being too busy!

      ‘Jonathan was mistaken,’ Gaye said with a ghost of a smile curving her lips, almost—although not quite—sure this beautiful woman knew exactly what had happened between herself and Jonathan.

      ‘He should be in later today,’ Abbie said casually.

      Gaye kept her expression deliberately bland, at the same time making a mental note to make sure she was busily ensconced in a store cupboard or something when he arrived. ‘That will be nice for you,’ she answered noncommittally.

      The other woman burst out laughing, a sound of pure enjoyment. ‘I’m sorry, Gaye,’ she chuckled as she sobered a little. ‘It was just that you reminded me of someone else just now. Me,’ she supplied at Gaye’s questioning look. ‘Two years ago, when I was beating an equally hasty retreat from Jarrett’s bombardment. And look what happened to me!’ She grinned happily, obviously completely content with what had ‘happened’ to her.

      Gaye shook her head. ‘The situation is hardly the same,’ she dismissed, knowing a little about Abbie’s life before she married Jarrett Hunter. She had been a successful model, and then the wife, and widow, of wealthy Daniel Sutherland; apart from the fact that Gaye’s parents had been quite well-off, the two of them had very little in common.

      What about the Hunter men? crept in a small, betraying voice.

      No, not even them, she told herself decidedly. She wanted her life left exactly as it had always been, well out of the limelight, away from the public eye.

      ‘It could be,’ Abbie told her softly.

      ‘I don’t think so.’ Abbie would be discharged in the next day or so, and then Gaye wouldn’t have to make a point of making herself scarce when Jonathan Hunter was around... ‘I have to get on,’ she replied briskly. ‘Please ring if there’s anything else you want. I’m sure—’

      ‘Next to Jarrett, Jonathan is my favourite man,’ Abbie told her huskily.

      Gaye turned to her. ‘I’m sure he’s very nice,’ she answered guardedly.

      The other woman slowly got up from her chair placed near the window. ‘He’s more than just nice, Gaye. He—’

      ‘Talking about me again, Abbie?’ The youngest Hunter brother bounced into the room, golden eyes alight as he placed a kiss on Abbie’s cheek before turning to grin at Gaye. ‘Is she telling you how she jilted me in order to marry my big brother?’ he said devilishly. ‘She promised to be the mother of my children, and then—’

      ‘I promised to be godmother to your children,’ his sister-in-law corrected him dryly. ‘When you have any, that is! And stop telling Gaye such nonsense, Jordan, or she’ll think the whole family is mad!’ She shook her head reprovingly.

      Not mad, exactly, but they were certainly a family few could ignore. Even if one tried very hard!

      ‘Take my advice and stay well away from Jordan, Gaye,’ Abbie told her with an affectionate grin at the man she spoke of. ‘He’s the breaker of hearts in this family.’

      ‘So it was Jonathan’s virtues you were extolling,’ Jordan realised mock-disgustedly. ‘Gaye, I could tell you a few things about my brother Jonathan that would—’

      ‘Did I hear my name being mentioned in vain?’ Jonathan drawled as he strolled into the room, smiling a greeting at Abbie before