He gave a small shrug, thinking how beautiful she looked as she stood there glaring down at him. It wasn’t often that Molly’s temper was roused; she was far too kind and loving to kick up a scene. The only time he had seen her this angry, in fact, was when he had told her that he no longer wanted to see her. He had been far too upset at the time to appreciate the change in her but now he couldn’t help noticing how glorious she looked with her green eyes blazing and her wonderful red-gold hair shimmering in a fiery halo around her head. Molly was not only kind, loving and giving—she was a highly passionate woman as well.
‘Oh, I see. So what have you decided? Does it meet your requirements or not?’
‘Requirements,’ Sean echoed, trying to get a grip on his libido, which seemed to think that this was the right moment to make itself known.
‘The perfect place to seduce your latest victim, of course.’ She glanced around the beautifully appointed dining room and there was both hurt and scorn in her eyes when she turned to him again. ‘She must be rather special if you’re thinking of shelling out for dinner here. I mean, the prices are a lot steeper than they are at your usual venues but there again you must think she’s worth it. Not every woman you go out with is a cheap date, I imagine.’
She spun round on her heel, leaving Sean wondering what he should do. Oh, he knew what she had meant by that last scathing comment—it had been painfully obvious! However, she was wrong—very, very wrong—if she believed he had taken her out to places which hadn’t cost the earth because he had thought she wasn’t worth anything better. Those picnics and that trip to the burger van had been red-letter occasions for him. Not even the fanciest dinners at the most upmarket restaurants could compare to them. He had not only enjoyed the food but he’d enjoyed it because of Molly’s company and that had raised those occasions to a whole different level. Why, even a meal of bread and water would have tasted like manna from heaven if they had eaten it together!
Sean stood up, determined that he was going to set matters straight. No way was he letting Molly get away with accusing him of such despicable meanness. However, before he could go over to have it out with her, he saw Humphreys return to the table. He gritted his teeth as he watched the other man bend down and whisper something in her ear. Molly laughed as she rose to her feet, smiling up at her companion as he slid his hand under her elbow and led her to the conservatory, where coffee was being served.
Sean felt his insides start to churn. The whole thing smacked of an intimacy that he resented. Bitterly. He wanted nothing more than to follow them and thump Humphreys on the nose but he knew it was out of the question. Humphreys hadn’t done anything wrong. If Molly hadn’t wanted him to be so familiar then she would have stopped him. How could he follow them and make a scene when it was obviously the last thing Molly wanted?
Sean took a deep breath before he summoned the waiter so he could pay his bill, murmuring something suitably appropriate when the man asked him if he had enjoyed his lunch. Enjoyment wasn’t the word he would have used, although Molly probably had a very different opinion. Maybe she hadn’t been pleased to see him there but he doubted if it had spoiled the date for her. No, this was just the first of many such occasions for her and Humphreys: exquisite dinners at top-flight restaurants, high-brow concerts, trips to the theatre and the ballet—that was undoubtedly Humphreys’ style. Who could blame her if she was seduced by such lavish treatment? The best he’d done was to buy her an egg and bacon roll from a mobile burger van. That really must have impressed her!
* * *
Molly wasn’t looking forward to seeing Sean that night when she went into work. She was still smarting from what had happened at lunchtime. She simply couldn’t believe that he had, quite coincidentally, turned up at that particular restaurant. And yet, on the other hand, what reason did he have for following her there? It wasn’t as though he was interested in her, was it? Maybe he had been sussing out the place for a future occasion and that thought stung more than all the others. Sean was only doing what he did best—dating a variety of women. So why on earth should it matter to her?
It was a relief when she discovered that he was tied up in Resus as it gave her a breathing space before she had to speak to him. She collected her first patient and took him into the treatment room. Bert Feathers was eighty years old but still very active. He had been taking his dog for a walk when he had slipped on some ice and cut his arm on a broken bottle lying on the footpath. His neighbour had brought him into hospital after he had knocked on her door and asked to borrow a sticking plaster.