The Italian Surgeon Claims His Bride by Alison Roberts

Author:Alison Roberts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

AS IF the decision was ever going to be hers!

Jenna realised just how wrong Anne had been in making that assumption at precisely 3 a.m. the next morning.

She hadn’t heard a telephone ring but maybe that was what had woken Ella. By the time Jenna had stumbled over to the cot the baby was asleep again. Jenna was still half-asleep herself, otherwise she might have thought to grab a robe before heading out of the nursery towards the bathroom.

She woke up fast enough on the return journey when a dark figure seemed to materialise in front of her. Paul was fully dressed. Not in a suit, of course, but the faded jeans and black jersey were perfectly respectable.

Unlike Jenna’s silk boxer shorts or the singlet top with a scrap of lace at the bottom of its deep V neck and a hemline that failed to cover her belly button thanks to how much it had shrunk in the wash.

Instinctively, she stepped aside, although the upstairs hallway was more than wide enough for a whole group of people to pass. She put a hand out to touch the wall as though hoping, by some magic, it would pull her in and make her invisible.

It felt, horribly, as though she was standing stark naked in front of Paul Romero.

‘I…um…had to use the bathroom,’ she faltered.

‘Are you unwell?’

‘No!’ Was that why he was staring at her with an intensity even the dimmest light couldn’t disguise? Physical awareness hummed between them and it took an incredible effort of will for Jenna to break that eye contact. ‘Not at all. I only woke because Ella did. She’s fine. She’s asleep again.’

She was babbling. Too uncomfortable to do anything but look desperately past Paul, hunting for an escape route. He was a large man, certainly, but he wasn’t exactly blocking her way. Why wouldn’t her feet obey the simple command to move?

‘I imagine the phone woke her. I have to go in to the hospital. That little girl I told you about seems to be running into trouble. Liver failure.’

‘Oh…I’m sorry. I’d better not hold you up.’

‘No. Sleep well, Jenna.’

As if! But it wasn’t as if Paul had been staring at her body. The intense gaze Jenna had been sucked into before managing to avert her eyes so determinedly had been directed at her face.

So why did her body feel…scorched? Why was she still tossing and turning and awake enough to hear Paul’s return two hours later? Jenna had to give up any possibility of sleep at that point as she imagined him peeling off those jeans and climbing wearily into his own bed to snatch another hour or two of rest if he was lucky.

It was high time she moved back into the flat. Ella didn’t need her nanny sharing the nursery any longer and Jenna had to create some distance for her own peace of mind.

A week later, Jenna was congratulating herself on how well the strategy was working.

Louise didn’t appear to be suspicious any longer.

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