NYC Angels: An Explosive Reunion. Alison Roberts

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СКАЧАТЬ in front of him and waving his arms. He was grinning. He didn’t know that Layla was another demon.

      He’d heard she was divorced now. Well … no surprises there. Alex could feel sorry for the mug she’d conned into marrying her in the first place. Had she just dumped him—the way she’d dumped him when she’d got bored with their affair?

      Affair.

      Nasty little word but there was no getting away from the facts. He’d had an affair with a married woman. He wasn’t proud of it and he certainly didn’t want people to start talking about it. Had Cade been getting away from something that bad?

      Now wasn’t the time to find out. It was too hot for this and they both needed to go and shower and cool off.

      Alex took another shot at the basket and the ball went through without even touching the backboard.

      ‘Nobody’s getting fired,’ he finally agreed. ‘And the whole mess taught me something very valuable.’

      ‘Oh?’ By tacit agreement, both men were calling it a draw and finishing the match. They high-fived each other and started walking back into the hospital.

      ‘You don’t beat demons by running away from them,’ Alex told his younger brother. ‘You can only beat them by confronting them.’

      The sound Cade made was dismissive and Alex couldn’t blame him for his disbelief.

      He wasn’t exactly confronting the demons that Layla represented, was he? He’d been avoiding her like the plague ever since she’d tried to thank him for standing up for her and saving her job. And then he’d marched into her office and told her to stay away from him. How was that supposed to sort anything out? And had he been entirely truthful? He’d told her that he’d gone to that board meeting to defend her because the Kirkpatrick case had done enough damage and it should be left in the past, but weren’t the feelings Layla stirred part and parcel of the whole Jamie Kirkpatrick business anyway?

      It had been so hard to put her aside so he could focus on that little boy’s surgery. And he still suspected, deep in his heart, that the body blow of getting dumped the night before that high-profile operation had been why he hadn’t been completely on top of his game that day. Yes, the demons were so intertwined they were impossible to separate.

      Which meant he hadn’t really confronted anything, despite letting the whole thing get aired in public again. Maybe he’d made it worse by giving Layla a reason to be grateful to him. He certainly hadn’t helped his cause by giving her something to be angry about today.

      Deliberately avoiding her hadn’t done the trick. Fronting up and warning her hadn’t achieved much either. And Layla was right about one thing. If they both wanted to keep their jobs here, they had to find a way of being able to work in the same hospital.

      A corner of Alex’s mouth lifted in a wry smile. Maybe he’d subconsciously realised that what he needed was to have Layla avoid him. The way she had after Jamie’s death when she wouldn’t even acknowledge him. All that was needed was a good push to get her started and what better way than a public refusal to let her jerk his strings?

      Alex stood under the cool shower, letting the sweat sluice away. Be nice if the demons could get washed away as easily but he’d soon find out if he’d made life any easier for himself by what he’d just done. Monthly Report would be well and truly over by the time he was dressed again.

      The discussion about Tyler’s case was taking off now. They might finish a few minutes early but there certainly wouldn’t be time for another case.

      The gap left by the unpresented case would probably be old news by the time everybody headed back to their normal routines. They would all move on with ease.

      The way Layla and Alex needed to if they were both going to keep their jobs and work together.

      Maybe what was stopping them was that it was unfinished business.

      And if there was something that bothered Layla more than being the subject of gossip it was having unfinished business hanging over her.

      Mulling it over as she headed back to her office, Layla realised that dealing with this particular business would be dangerous. The tingle that kissed her skin as if she could still feel Alex’s presence in this private room was enough of a warning. The way the memory of that kiss was lingering rang an even louder alarm.

      But facing something dangerous … and winning … was kind of an attractive challenge.

      And Dr Layla Woods had always found a challenge irresistible.

      Besides, it could be good for both of them. She had a responsibility to try and ensure that the senior staff members could work together on good terms, didn’t she?

      Of course she did.

      Layla took a moment to enjoy the view from her window. Plan B was beginning to shape up rather nicely.

      CHAPTER TWO

      EVERYBODY WAS WAITING.

      Expecting Alex Rodriguez to be taken to task by the chief of paediatrics for failing to put in an appearance or even the courtesy of an apology for the monthly report meeting.

      Alex had caught more than one oddly expectant glance from people over the course of the afternoon following that meeting. When his path crossed again with that of Layla for the first time he was in the cafeteria for lunch the next day, and the air of anticipation around him was palpable. A public arena and an attentive audience to witness a senior staff member being told off was gold for feeding a grapevine.

      Alex gritted his teeth and waited for the kind of acerbic comment that would let him know by how far he’d missed the mark in his professional responsibilities.

      Instead, he was treated, along with everybody else snatching a quick meal, to one of those thousand-watt smiles that Layla was so good at.

      ‘Good to see you’re finding time to eat,’ she said, with that husky Southern edge to her voice that always made her sound vaguely amused about something. ‘I hear you’re busier than a one-armed paper-hanger over there in Neurology.’

      He waited for the kicker. The jibe about being so busy that he couldn’t have found the good manners to let her know he couldn’t make the meeting. But that smile didn’t dim. With a flick of those tousled, shoulder-length blonde waves, Layla continued moving towards the food counter, leaving nothing but a faint scent of something deliciously fresh in her wake. Apples?

      Realising that he was sitting there with his mouth half-open, trying to identify what flavour shampoo Layla used, was enough to make Alex aware of the unpleasant burn of embarrassment, but he needn’t have worried. Everyone around him was still watching Layla. Especially the men. And the collective gaze was laced with admiration.

      Definitely apples, he decided the next day when Layla brushed past him in the recovery room to visit with a small patient of hers who’d just undergone open heart surgery.

      He knew it was a coincidence that had placed her patient right next to the little girl he’d just operated on to correct a spinal abnormality but did she have to stand on his side of the bed? Did she really have to be here at all?

      ‘I’ve been so worried about СКАЧАТЬ