‘Harry…’ She was struggling to get her breath back too. His groin was still leaning into hers, her body still tingling and aroused, and it would be so much easier to dive back to his mouth, but instead she offered no resistance as he straightened up. In fact, she shivered a little at the coolness when he was gone.
‘I apologise.’
‘For what?’ Marnie attempted to laugh it off. ‘I didn’t notice me doing much resisting, but I don’t think a quick shag on the office desk is going to solve things.’
He smiled at her directness. ‘I don’t think anything is going to solve things,’ he admitted. ‘Might be nice to give it a try, though.’
Marnie retied her hair and brushed her dress down then unlocked the door. ‘As if the person on the other side wouldn’t know what was going on!’
Harry wanted to pull her down to his lap, perhaps take it more slowly this time, take her home even—after all, he had the house to himself. He didn’t want to think about what he had done—the handing-in-the-notice part, not the Marnie part. He’d love to think more about that! No, it was handing in his notice. His ten-past-five phone call to Admin that he didn’t want to examine, but Marnie refused to let it drop.
‘You love your job, Harry.’
‘I love it when I get to do it,’ Harry said.
‘So what are you going to do?’
‘Go private,’ Harry said. ‘Hand surgery…’
‘Will it be enough?’ Marnie asked. ‘Harry, you love this place…’
‘I love my children more,’ Harry said. ‘There will still be accident and emergency departments needing a consultant in a few years’ time—right now the children need some stability.’
‘You can give them that,’ Marnie said, horrified to think of the department without him. Harry and Dr Vermont were the lynchpins of the place. Yes, there were new doctors starting but they needed guidance.
‘It’s not up for discussion,’ Harry said. ‘The deed is done.’
‘How long’s your notice?’
‘Two weeks,’ Harry said, ‘but I’m not working it. I’m taking parental leave to look after the children.’
‘That’s it?’ Marnie said, understanding more and more where the emotion of the night had come from. Harry really was leaving the place.
‘That’s it,’ Harry said. ‘There will probably be a leaving do in a couple of weeks, which I’ll do my best to get to—’ his voice was wry ‘—providing I can get a babysitter.’
‘Harry—’
‘Leave it.’
Sex would have been so much easier.
Harry hadn’t cried since the night before he’d lost Jill. He hadn’t been able to, there had been two bewildered twins to look after and Jill’s shocked parents as well as his own—all his grieving had been done on the ICU ward before the machines had been turned off, yet, on this day, he was precariously close to breaking down.
He loved his job—an A and E consultant was all he had ever wanted to be and it was killing him to walk away.
Yet it was impossible to stay.
‘Come home with me?’ he said, looking at her very full mouth.
She could feel his eyes there, wanted again the weight of his kiss, but not like this…
‘Harry, if I come home with you, it will be to talk some sense into you.’
‘You can talk sense into me over dinner.’
She was tempted, so tempted, and that was the problem.
She wanted dinner with Harry, and bed, and she wanted to know so much more about him. She looked into eyes that were as come hither as they had been all those years ago, only now it would be so terribly easy to say yes.
Dinner with Harry would be lovely.
Bed even better.
There was just one little problem.
Make that two.
How could she best put it?
‘I’m busy tonight, Harry,’ Marnie said. ‘What about Saturday?’
It hit Harry where she had intended to—right below the belt. Ardour faded as Marnie flexed the freedom muscle she guarded so fiercely. It would take a whole lot more than the occasional night off, babysitter permitting, to lure Marnie.
‘Saturday might be a problem.’
Yes, she’d rather thought that it might.
‘I’m going to go,’ Harry said, but Marnie hadn’t finished discussing her favourite subject.
Work.
‘Harry, you’re rushing into this decision—’
‘I’m not rushing into anything,’ Harry interrupted. ‘If anything, this is long overdue. I’ll come in and say goodbye to everyone when the time’s right, but now I need to take care of my kids.’
He left her in the office, stunned from the news, from his kiss, from the sudden absence of Harry.
He wanted his last walk through his department alone.
‘’Night, Harry,’ Kelly called.
‘’Night,’ Harry called back. ‘Thanks for your help with Ronan.’
He nodded to Helen, the locum who was covering for tonight, and, yes, the place was going to struggle, but it would soon move on. Juan would be back and Dr Cooper would start.
He’d just miss it so much.
Dr Vermont broke the news to the staff the next morning.
‘We all know what a struggle it’s been for Harry since Jill died. It’s not an easy decision to make but for Harry it must have been the right one.’
Marnie felt terrible—she kept beating herself up, wondering if she’d just been a bit more flexible the outcome might have been different. And, on top of all that, over and over she kept remembering the steamy kiss they had shared. Yes, she fancied Harry, but the impact of him close up had shaken her more than she had thought it would. Still, she didn’t have much time to dwell on it. As the staff spilled out of the staffroom, all talking about the news of Harry’s sudden departure, Marnie walked straight into her parents.
‘Mum!’ Marnie gave her mother a smile and a kiss.
‘What was he doing, using a knife to open a can?’ Maureen accused.
‘You can’t blame Marnie for this.’
