risk she knew would follow. Despite this, she would not exclude him from the theatre as she valued his skills as an OBGYN. She just hoped and prayed she didn’t need to call on it.
Her mind’s focus was on ensuring that it went like clockwork. There were four babies, two parents and four grandparents who were stakeholders with a heartfelt interest in the surgery being successful. Not to mention Oliver Darrington and the board who had covered the cost of her temporary relocation. The surgery would not be lengthy but it would be intricate. She intended on spending time letting the theatre staff know exactly how she operated and what she needed. She knew this would not be the first laser surgery procedure at Teddy’s, but she would not take any chances with miscommunication around the operation on these babies. The staff needed to be fully aware of her expectations. She wanted Lily and Rose to grow up with their brothers, Graham and Rupert. And she would do everything in her power to make sure that happened.
It was not until she saw the black motorbike parked outside the hospital that her thoughts returned to Charlie. At least that was what she told herself, when the butterflies returned to her stomach at the sight of the shiny black road machine. She knew it wasn’t the truth because she had fallen asleep thinking of him, dreamt of him and then woken with his handsome face firmly etched in her mind. She hoped he had cancelled the flowers for her office after the words they had shared the previous day. She wanted him to be spiteful and give her reason to dislike him. She didn’t want to believe that underneath the gruff exterior lay a good heart. She had told herself for too many years that a man like that didn’t exist and she didn’t want to doubt herself.
After dropping Bea at the crèche and watching her daughter and her new best friend, Emma, hug each other excitedly, Juliet made her way to her office. She knew it was adjacent to Charlie’s office. She walked past with her laptop computer under her arm ready to settle into her new workplace. As his door was ajar, against her better instincts she felt compelled to look inside. She crossed her fingers that he was not there and she did not have to address her poor behaviour first thing in the morning. This time her wish came true. Charlie was nowhere in sight. But she knew that she would have to face him. Soon. Avoiding him would only last for an hour or so as they needed to consult further on Georgina and the quads, but it would give her time to find the right words to say. An apology on her behalf was deserved. She just wasn’t sure how to deliver it.
Her second wish was that the flowers were not in her office. Bracing herself, she opened the door. There was no floral arrangement in sight. Unexpectedly her heart fell. She had no idea why. It was her wish that he’d cancelled the order so she could hold that against him. But part of her had apparently, and unconsciously, hoped he wouldn’t. She’d hoped he would be gallant and still have a beautiful bouquet waiting for her as a welcoming gesture. She hadn’t expected it, until she’d heard about it. And at that moment she’d realised that deep inside Dr Charlie Warren was a gentleman. Despite her knowing they came from opposite sides of opinion, the fact that he had arranged an office for her and even thought of flowers made her believe in chivalry.
If only for a second.
But the lack of flowers, she knew, was fed by her own actions. She tried to remind herself it was only flowers, but the fact there were none still stung. For a few wonderful moments when she’d realised he had gone to the effort and trouble for her, she had felt special.
And she could not remember the last time a man had made her feel that way.
But it wasn’t to be, Juliet decided as she dropped her oversized shoulder bag on the chair and her computer bag on the desk. Charlie had chosen to cancel the flowers, or perhaps give them to someone else. There would no doubt be a number of young women in the hospital who would be flattered to receive them. Perhaps he was even dating one of them. With his looks and position he would be quite the catch, she thought. But she wasn’t fishing. She was very happy to live her life without a man who might disappoint her. She and Bea would be happy together.
And she didn’t need any flowers.
She was glad she hadn’t dressed in something as figure hugging as the previous day. There was no point. She was at the hospital to concentrate on the quads and nothing else. Juliet hung up her heavy overcoat on the coat stand near her desk, then smoothed down her black woollen skirt and checked her black-and-white-checked blouse was still properly tucked in. She did have very pretty black patent pumps with a kitten heel, so she hadn’t entirely tried to hide her femininity. And she was also wearing her signature French fragrance. It was light and floral.
She remembered reading in one of her self-help books that she’d purchased when her trust in men had been broken four long years before that, ‘When there isn’t a man in your life to make you feel special, expensive perfume can.’
She wasn’t sure it would fill the void for ever, but it had worked up to that point.
Checking her emails, she noticed that Oliver had scheduled a meeting with the surgical team. She had sent a list of required staff for the procedure the day before. She’d wondered if she should consult with Charlie as the OBGYN about it, then decided it might become another debacle so decided to consult with Oliver. She was looking forward to getting to know the team and going over the procedure so that the babies had the optimum chance at leading normal, healthy lives. She couldn’t see Charlie’s name on the list and wondered if he had chosen to withdraw or if Oliver had made that decision for him.
Suddenly, there was a knock on her open door. She lifted her eyes to see the freshly shaven, impeccably groomed subject of her thoughts. His crisp white shirt highlighted his slightly olive complexion, and once again his blue eyes caught her attention. They appeared even more vivid from across the room.
‘May I come in?’
‘Of course,’ she said, trying to keep the rhythm of her heart from racing and bringing a blush to her cheeks. She doubted she would be successful so she launched into the much-needed apology. ‘I’m very sorry about yesterday. I behaved so poorly and I’m not sure how to make it up to you. It was professionally reprehensible, not to mention just plain awful, on my part to speak to you that way after you had made the effort to deliver the Abbiatis’ decision in person.’
Charlie stood in silence for a moment and she was unsure how he would react.
‘Apology accepted, Juliet,’ he said, taking long purposeful steps across the room and very quickly closing the gap between them. His cologne filled those senses that his very being hadn’t already claimed. ‘You travelled a long way, it can’t have been easy without much notice and I’m sure you have a lot on your mind. Let’s just agree to disagree. I will not change my mind about the surgery and you, I can very clearly see, do not agree with the benefits of waiting.’
‘You’re right,’ she returned. ‘And it’s very generous of you to accept my apology. I’m honestly not normally so rude—in fact I don’t think I’m ever really rude at all. Normally.’ Normally covered many different things for Juliet that day. Quite apart from not normally hopping on a plane with less than a day’s notice, normally she didn’t find herself fighting her attraction to a colleague.
‘Let’s call a truce,’ he replied.
‘Done,’ she agreed, hoping that the heat she was feeling hadn’t made her cheeks glow.
‘I have something for you in my office. I’ll be back, then we can discuss the Abbiatis.’
‘Sure,’ Juliet responded, not entirely sure at all what Charlie had for her but suspecting it was the update on the quads’ condition. Juliet prayed it had not worsened during the night. She had intended on heading to Georgina’s room as soon as she had read her emails. She wanted to speak in more depth with
