The Surgeon's Proposal. Lilian Darcy
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Название: The Surgeon's Proposal
Автор: Lilian Darcy
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Контркультура
Серия: Mills & Boon Medical
isbn: 9781474066310
isbn:
‘Don’t be so ridiculous.’
‘So we’ll get married. A small, discreet ceremony, with—’
‘That’s impossible. I’m not going to rehash it again.’
‘Tell me what you’re feeling, Alex!’ she begged him desperately. ‘Just blustering like this, stonewalling anything I say, it’s not telling me anything.’
Silence.
‘Shall I come over to your place, or do you want to come here?’ she suggested.
Silence.
‘Dylan wants to pay for the reception. I told him to talk to you about it.’
‘So you’ve seen him? When have you seen him?’
‘He came round just now. He obviously feels bad.’
‘I can’t believe you’re defending him, and that you talked to him before you talked to me.’
‘I’m not defending him.’ Am I? ‘I’m just letting you know that he’ll probably phone you, too. I don’t know why he came to me first.’
Silence.
‘So, should we talk about—?’
‘There’s absolutely nothing to talk about at all,’ Alex snapped. ‘It’s out of the question to have him pay for the reception.’
‘Well, yes, that’s what I thought, but since it was your money, I didn’t want to—’
‘And it’s out of the question to talk about scheduling another ceremony. I won’t get over this in a hurry, Annabelle. You’re the last person I would have thought the type to trail chaos and melodrama in your wake, but now I’m wondering how many other ex-boyfriends—’
‘Dylan Calford isn’t an—’
‘Or would-be boyfriends I can expect to crawl out of the woodwork. I was embarrassed to the core last night. People, no doubt, are already talking and making conjectures. And I don’t even think I could look at you at the moment, Annabelle.’
The reproachful crash of the slamming phone invaded Annabelle’s left ear, and stinging tears flooded her vision. Today, this hurt in a way it hadn’t hurt last night. Last night she’d been angry, and in shock. Now came the full realisation that Alex had dropped her like a hot coal, as if she were tainted in some way.
He’d almost said as much. He’d called her a ‘type’. Not the type to attract scandal. Not the type to compromise his reputation and his ambitions. Political ambitions. She knew he had them. President of the Australian Medical Association. Queensland State Minister for Health. But she’d believed herself to mean much more to Alex than a suitably well-bred and stain-resistant political wife, just as he meant more to her than a way out of her family problems.
Annabelle stuffed her knuckles into her mouth and sobbed wildly, until she remembered Duncan in the next room. He would be worried and confused if he saw her like this—red-eyed, swollen-nosed. He had a caring little heart, when he stood still long enough for it to show.
She heard the clatter of his feet as he bounced off the couch to come looking for her, and quickly turned to the kitchen sink to wash away the worst of the mess her face was in. By the time he appeared, she was wearing a smile.
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