The Season To Sin. Clare Connelly

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      I’m smart enough to know how absurd that is, but if I can’t have the real thing, I should at least be able to satisfy myself with the fantasy. Right?

      I’ve had plenty on my plate this week but, when I arrive at my office this morning, fate seems to have conspired to throw Noah Moore at my feet.

      His email detonates in my consciousness like a charge. It’s barely civil and it’s sure as hell not how appointments are made. I can’t even say for sure how he got my email address—it’s not on my business cards and I don’t routinely welcome patients to communicate with me directly.

      There has to be a divide between my work and my home life. That’s the way this works best.

      Not for Noah Moore, though. I’m surprised to find a wry smile has rubbed across my lips when I scan my calendar for availability and none of the usual clinical detachment chills my emotions.

      My day is full, and yet if I were to swap my one o’clock for twelve o’clock and miss lunch, I could move my four o’clock forward and make time for Noah.

      I swallow past the doubts.

      I can’t say why, but I am compelled to answer, and I am driven by a desperate need to see him again.

      I send a quick reply:

      Noah,

      I can meet with you again, but it will have to be in my office. Four p.m. works. Don’t be late—I have another appointment directly after.

      Dr Scott-Leigh

      I send it, pleased with the fact I’ve kept it so formal, pleased with the way my email doesn’t, in any way, shape or form, convey how utterly devastatingly sexy I think he is.

      I’m proud and pleased as I load up the news browser I always read before starting work and Beatrice strides in with a coffee and bagel.

      ‘Morning, Holly,’ she says with a smile and leaves again without waiting for a response.

      I love this woman so much.

      She knows how desperately I need my sacred ten minutes without interruptions and I so appreciate her giving me that. Only now my brain is full of interruptions. Questions about Noah, his habits, his problems, his intentions, his needs.

      I want to know him and I want to help him.

      And I can’t be at my most effective, therapeutically, if other issues, like my raging desire and the fact I haven’t slept with a guy in over five years, take over my brainpower.

      I employ mindfulness, breathing in deeply, exhaling slowly, counting beats and blanking my mind until I feel more like myself again.

      But it’s a godawful day.

      I feel like I’m operating at half my usual capacity. I drag my brain through appointments, eat a muesli bar between my two and three o’clocks and then, after my three o’clock leaves, make a quick phone call to the hospital to check on a patient of mine.

      When I disconnect the call, Beatrice buzzes through that Noah Moore has arrived.

      My pulse leaps immediately, my heart thumps hard against my chest and my fingers begin to shake. I cast a quick glance at the compact I keep in my top drawer, run fingers over hair I have today left loose and stand to greet him.

      I didn’t know Noah Moore would book an appointment—it’s not for him that I’ve worn this outfit but, the second he enters the room, his green eyes skim over me and I get a kick of satisfaction at the speculation I see in his eyes.

      Holy hell.

      What am I doing?

      I have no business feeling all warm and tingly because he’s staring at the way my leather skirt hugs my hips. It’s high-waisted—it comes up to my belly button—and I’m wearing a gold cashmere sweater tucked into it. It’s an outfit I would describe as perfectly professional but, the way his eyes light on my silhouette, I feel like a centrefold.

      ‘Mr Moore.’ My tone is cool. Good. Cool is good. ‘Please, take a seat.’

      He strides into the room, looking dishevelled in a way that is sexy but that I have every reason to believe is the result of a sleepless night.

      He throws his large frame into one of the chairs, his legs spread wide, his hands resting on his powerful thighs. Today he’s wearing blue jeans and a long-sleeved top.

      ‘Holly—’ his lips flicker into a smile, but it’s over in a millisecond ‘—nice to see you again.’

      I compress my lips. Normally, patients would express gratitude at the fact I’d squeezed them in under short notice, but not Noah.

      ‘Let’s get started,’ I clip. ‘How are you?’

      ‘Are you asking out of interest or as a doctor?’

      My pulse ratchets up and I have to dig my fingernails into my palms to stop the guilty blush from creeping over my cheeks. ‘As a doctor.’ The words drip with ice.

      His smile suggests he doesn’t believe me. Crap.

      ‘Then let me remind you; I haven’t agreed to see you professionally.’

      I frown. ‘Haven’t you? I would have thought that’s just what you did when you asked for an appointment.’

      ‘No.’ It’s cryptic. I leave it alone for now and reach for a pen. There will be time to discuss the semantics of how he wants to proceed.

      ‘You were up late last night.’ He arches a brow in silent enquiry, so I rush to explain. ‘You emailed at midnight.’

      He nods, dragging a hand through his hair, but says nothing. It’s like pulling teeth!

      ‘Are you always up so late?’ I ask.

      ‘Late? Midnight?’

      I refuse to be embarrassed by him. ‘Yes.’

      ‘Yeah,’ he grunts, and his eyes are wary. He’s withdrawing from me, pulling back. Something about my line of questioning is hitting on an issue that is renewing his trauma.

      It’s nothing you would be able to tell, unless you had experience with this. Outwardly, Noah is every bit the charming, sexy bad boy he’s renowned for.

      I smile, lean back in my chair and drop the pen onto the notepad. ‘It’s cold today.’

      A comment that surprises him. It makes him wary; his eyes skip to mine and a frown moves on his face. He doesn’t say anything.

      ‘Do you have plans for Christmas?’

      ‘Christmas?’ It’s practically a sneer. ‘Christmas is weeks away.’

      I nod. ‘It’ll be here before you know it.’ My eyes drift to the picture once more, a smiling Ivy, and I feel somewhat more centred.

      ‘Do СКАЧАТЬ