Read Online And the Bride Wore Red by Lucy Gordon - Free Book Online

wasn’t my fault…’
    A chill settled over her heart.
    â€˜Go on then,’ she said. ‘Tell me the worst.’
    Lang took a deep breath and seemed to struggle for words.
    â€˜The fact is—’ he began, stopped then started again. ‘When we met—’ He was floundering.
    â€˜Look,’ she said edgily, ‘why don’t we just skip it and go home?’
    â€˜Don’t you want to know what I have to say?’
    â€˜I probably already know what you’re going to say,’ she observed with a faint, mirthless laugh.
    â€˜You guessed? I don’t see how you could have done.’
    â€˜Let’s say I have a nose for some things. Call it my cynical nature.’
    â€˜I don’t think you’re as cynical as you try to pretend.’
    Her temper flared. ‘And I don’t think you know anything about me.’
    He stared. ‘All right, don’t jump on me. I’m harmless, Iswear it. I’ll believe that you’re anything you say—hard, cynical, unfeeling…’
    â€˜Ruthless, unforgiving, cold-hearted,’ she supplied. ‘I’m glad you understand.’
    â€˜I wish you hadn’t said unforgiving,’ he observed gloomily.
    â€˜Well, I did say it. I never give second chances. Now, if we’ve got that settled, what were you going to confess? Something unforgivable, obviously.’
    â€˜Well, you might think so.’
    Her dismay increased. ‘All right. I’m listening.’
    â€˜It’s like this. When we met in that clinic—I wouldn’t normally be there. I work in another part of the hospital, and I’d just started a vacation. But a friend who does work in the clinic got a stomach upset and had to take time off. They were short staffed, so I filled in.’
    â€˜But what’s so terrible about that?’ she asked, trying to think straight through the confusion of reactions storming through her.
    â€˜The thing is, he was back next morning. I did try to persuade him that he needed another day off, but he got an attack of heroics and insisted on returning.’ Lang sighed and added distractedly, ‘A man can’t trust his friends for anything, not even to be ill when he needs them to be.’
    â€˜What on earth are you—?’
    â€˜So when I came to see you next day I wasn’t working in the clinic any more, and strictly speaking you were no longer my patient.’
    Olivia stared at him in mounting disbelief. ‘Are you saying…?’
    â€˜That I lied to you,’ he said mournfully. ‘I approached you under false pretences, claiming that you were my patient when you no longer were. I deceived you.’
    Olivia met his eyes and drew a quick breath at what shesaw there, a look of suspiciously bland innocence that masked something far from innocent. This man wasn’t worried about being in trouble. He was inviting her into a conspiracy.
    â€˜You’re overdoing it,’ she said wryly.
    â€˜No, honestly! On the pretext of medical privilege, I gained access to your body.’
    â€˜To my—? Oh, yes, you saw my bare arm, didn’t you?’ she said sardonically. ‘How could I have forgotten that? Shocking!’
    â€˜It was a little more than your arm,’ he reminded her. ‘If you want to report me to the medical authorities, well, I’ll just have to accept it, won’t I?’
    â€˜And if I kicked your shins you’d just have to accept that, wouldn’t you?’ she said sweetly.
    â€˜It would be my just deserts.’
    â€˜Don’t get me started on your just deserts or we’ll be here all night.’
    â€˜Would we? Tell me more.’
    â€˜Let’s just say that you’re a devious, treacherous—I can’t think of anything bad enough.’
    â€˜I’ll wait while you think of something. After all, it was shocking behaviour on my part.’
    â€˜I didn’t mean