halfway, if it means we’re helping Miles and Penny.’
Harry smiled wryly. It hadn’t been panic at all, but Grace being her usual cautious self. It was typical of her to qualify her agreement like that, to make sure he knew that she was accepting his offer purely for the sake of their friends. She would never admit to any sign of weakness in front of him, never acknowledge that she, too, would benefit from his help in the surgery. She would never give an inch if it meant he might gain any ground, and maybe it was that thought that made him decide to seal their agreement with more than the customary handshake. The thought of getting a little further under Grace’s skin was oddly appealing.
He took her outstretched hand but instead of shaking it, as she’d expected him to do, he pulled her towards him and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Sealed with a kiss. There’s no going back on our pact now, Grace.’
He let her go, hoping she couldn’t tell the effect the kiss had had on him. It was his own fault for trying to goad her, but it had been ages since he’d felt this stirring in his blood, so long, in fact, that he’d begun to wonder if it would ever happen again. Yet all it had taken had been the touch of his lips against her skin and he was all fired up and raring to go. What was happening to him? Did he fancy Grace, or was he going completely crazy?
‘I wouldn’t dream of going back on a promise,’ Grace said stiffly. She turned to Penny, trying to resist the urge to run her hand over her cheek. She could feel the lingering warmth of Harry’s lips making her skin tingle and longed to erase it, but there was no way that she was going to let him think that the kiss had had any effect on her.
‘It looks as though your problem has been solved, Penny. Now there’s no excuse for Miles not to follow his consultant’s advice.’
‘And I intend to make sure he follows it to the letter.’ Penny stood up and hugged her. ‘Thank you so much, Grace. And you, too, Harry. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you both.’
‘Don’t mention it.’ Harry treated them to one of his most charming smiles, the kind of smile that normally made Grace grind her teeth. The fact that she didn’t feel like grinding them now just increased her anxiety. What on earth was going on? Why did she feel all warm and sort of…breathless just because Harry was smiling at her? She was still trying to work out the answer when he opened the waiting-room door.
‘I won’t be long. There’s something I need to do before we leave.’
‘Hmm, that something wouldn’t have anything to do with a pretty blonde nurse who’s been extolling your virtues to all and sundry, would it?’ Penny laughed when he looked suitably modest. ‘You never change, Harry. You’ll still have women queuing up outside your door when you’re ninety.’
‘With a bit of luck.’
He winked at them then left, and it was a good job he went when he did. Grace knew that if he’d stayed there even a second longer, she would have been tempted to throw something at him. Maybe Penny found his womanising antics amusing but she thought they were pathetic.
‘Grace, what’s wrong? Are you feeling all right?’
She jumped when Penny touched her on the arm, and dredged up a smile when she saw the concern on her friend’s face. ‘I’m fine.’
‘Are you sure?’ Penny looked increasingly worried despite the reassurance. ‘I shouldn’t have done that, should I? I know how you feel about Harry and it was wrong of me to force you into a corner like that.’
‘You didn’t force me, Penny. It was my decision and I’m perfectly happy with it.’ Grace held her smile, although it felt as though her face was about to split into two. However, she had to convince Penny that she was telling the truth, otherwise her friend would continue to worry.
‘Harry and I are both grown-ups and we can handle working together without World War Three breaking out. In fact, I’m rather looking forward to it.’
‘You are?’ Penny looked at her in surprise.
‘Mmm. Harry’s got bags of experience and I’ll learn a lot from him,’ Grace assured her, hoping the words wouldn’t choke her.
‘Yes, of course you will, although it won’t be all one-sided,’ Penny said loyally. ‘You’re a brilliant doctor in your own right, Grace, so I expect Harry will learn just as much from you.’
Grace didn’t say anything to that. However, as she followed Penny from the room so they could go and tell Miles the good news, she found herself wondering exactly what she had in her repertoire of skills which would be of interest to Harry. There certainly wasn’t anything on the romance front that she could teach him—he was an acknowledged expert in that field. As for her medical skills, well, he could probably match her any day of the week.
No, the only thing she could possibly teach him was humility, although it was a lesson the mighty Harry Shaw might not be keen to learn. When you’ve been at the top of the heap all your life, thinking that you are the same as everyone else wouldn’t come easily, although that wasn’t what Harry had claimed earlier that night. He’d described himself as a man who just wanted to help others, hadn’t he?
Grace shivered. She couldn’t explain it, certainly couldn’t understand it, but she knew the assertion had altered the way she thought about Harry. It was as though there was suddenly something in the plus column to weigh against all those minuses that had accumulated over the years. Although she hated to admit it, Harry might not be all bad after all.
‘I’ve done a printout of all the clinics we hold each month. I thought it would help if you had an idea of our schedule.’
‘Thanks.’
Harry took the list from Grace and glanced through it. His brows rose when he suddenly realised the extent of the work she and Miles had been doing. Nearly every single afternoon was filled with things like the mother-and-baby clinics, antenatal clinics and clinics for people who were trying to stop smoking or lose weight. Add all of those to the regular morning and evening surgeries and it seemed his life was going to be extremely full for the next few weeks.
‘You certainly offer a very complete service here,’ he observed, leaning back in his chair. It was just gone eight a.m. and they were in Miles’s office—the office Harry would be using while he was working there. Although it had been after midnight when he’d dropped Grace off at her house in the village, she had telephoned him before seven that morning to ask him if he would meet her at the surgery.
Harry had agreed immediately, even though he’d been fast asleep when she’d phoned. However, it had seemed like a point of honour not to let the side down so he had dragged himself out of bed and into the shower, and, by skipping breakfast, had managed to get to the surgery a couple of minutes before she’d arrived. He could have murdered for a cup of coffee but he’d be damned if he would show any sign of weakness by suggesting they should stop for a drink. If Grace could keep up this punishing schedule then so could he.
‘We do our best to fulfil all our patients’ needs,’ she said briskly, taking another sheet of paper out of her file. ‘This is a list of our contacts at the local hospital. Obviously, you can request an appointment for a patient through the usual channels, but we find it speeds things up if we approach the head of each department on a personal basis.’ She shrugged. ‘A phone call is all it usually takes so it doesn’t require that much extra effort.’
‘It must add up, though.’ Harry frowned as he took the sheet from her.
