The Elusive Consultant by Carol Marinelli

Author:Carol Marinelli [Marinelli, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781460377802
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

ASSERTIVENESS was never Tessa’s forte.

Sure, at work she could make snap decisions, delegate, even relegate when she had to, but when it came to matters of the heart it was a different situation altogether. How Tessa would have loved to have headed to her own home, to calmly open the door when Max undoubtedly appeared with his attempt at explanation. To listen to him coolly, disdainfully even, before shrugging him off with some crushing reply.

Fat chance.

A far more realistic scenario was Tessa bursting into tears on impact, and apologising for storming off. Max Slater was comparable to chocolate—infinitely desirable, desperately craved but, unfortunately, terribly bad for you.

And her will-power around him was zero.

Far more terrifying, though, than the thought of confrontation was the awful gnawing truth that, despite her morals, despite her abhorrence of an affair, the very real chance she would given in to the temptation that overwhelmed her at times, accept his excuses, accept his explanation and tumble into bed with him.

Start the diet tomorrow, so to speak.

For that tiny glimpse of paradise, the bliss of his lips on hers, the intimacy of his kiss, had Tessa utterly and completely lost.

Her days off were spent instead skulking in her old bedroom, taking long walks on the same beach she normally frequented, just fifty or so kilometres further along, and, while hating herself for it, tucking into the mountains of comfort food her mum lined the cupboards and fridges with. Anyway, Tessa consoled herself as she poured warm milk over some cereal and spooned on the sugar, she was hardly going to drop a lot of weight in her two days off. And more to the point, looking good for Max wasn’t on her agenda.

‘Why not ring in sick?’ Bronwyn Hardy placed a steaming mug of hot chocolate in front of her daughter, perhaps not the most nutritious breakfast drink but it filled a hole, an aching, gaping hole.

Temporarily at least.

‘Because I’m not sick,’ Tessa said, taking a sip of the steaming drink. Lovesick maybe, but she didn’t fancy her chances of asking Dr Hays, the family GP, to write that on a medical certificate. ‘Well, have you thought about what I said last night?’ Bronwyn pulled up a chair at the kitchen table and put the teatowel she was holding down in front of her, clearly settling in for another heart to heart.

‘There’s nothing to think about. What time are you going to the hairdresser’s?’

‘Not until two.’ Bronwyn gave her a shrewd smile. ‘And don’t try and change the subject.’

‘I’m not, Mum,’ Tessa lied. ‘I just don’t need to think about it. I’m not going to leave Peninsula Hospital. Why would I when I love my job?’

‘I know you do, dear,’ Bronwyn reasoned. ‘But it is a stressful job, and you seem to bring home all the worries with you. How many times have you fretted over a patient, and not just the sick ones either? You’re always worrying about the homeless, and the like. It’s bound to catch up sooner or later.

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