Probably from Logan, he thought, finding an excuse to engineer peace.
The fact that she seemed reluctant to look in his direction amused him. As a teenager she’d been impossibly shy. He remembered her sitting on her own in the corner of the playground, her nose stuck in a book. What he didn’t remember was her ever stringing more than two words together. But today, in Logan’s surgery, she’d been surprisingly articulate.
He gave a cynical smile.
It seemed his presence was enough to encourage even the mute to speak.
‘The lamb enters the wolf’s den unprotected,’ he drawled softly, and watched as the heat built in her cheeks. ‘I never saw you as a risk-taker, Flora. Aren’t you afraid I might do something evil to you now we’re on our own?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ She adjusted her glasses and put the forms on his desk. ‘Logan wanted you to have these.’
No, Conner thought to himself. Logan wanted us to have a moment together because he doesn’t want his staff at odds with each other.
He heard her take a deep breath and then she looked at him.
As if she’d been plucking up courage.
‘So…’ She cleared her throat. ‘How is it going? Any problems so far?’
‘No problems at all. The locals are refusing to see me, which means I don’t have to spend my time listening to the boring detail of people’s minor ailments.’ He studied the slight fullness of her lower lip and the smooth curve of her cheeks. She was pretty, he realised with a stab of shock. She was also wonderfully, deliciously serious and he couldn’t resist having a little fun with her. ‘And it’s really interesting to make contact with all the girls I…grew up with.’
As he’d anticipated, she flushed. What he hadn’t expected was the sudden flash of concern in her eyes. The kindness. ‘The patients are refusing to see you?’ She sounded affronted. ‘That’s awful.’
‘Don’t worry about it. I’m allergic to hard work and it gives me more time to spend on the internet.’
‘You’re just saying that, but you must feel terrible about it.’
‘I don’t give a damn.’
She gave a faint gasp and blinked several times. ‘You don’t need to pretend with me. I’m sure you’re upset. How could you not be?’
‘Flora,’ he interrupted her, amused by her misinterpretation of the facts, ‘don’t endow me with qualities that I don’t possess. To feel terrible I’d have to care, and I think we both know that my relationship with the islanders is hardly one of lasting affection.’
‘You’re very hard on them and perhaps that’s justified, but you need to see it from their point of view. Everyone’s a bit shocked, that’s all. No one was expecting you because Logan didn’t say anything to anyone.’
‘Given that this is Glenmore, I expect he’ll be struck off for respecting confidentiality.’
Her sudden smile caught him by surprise. ‘They do gossip, don’t they? Everything takes three times as long here because of the conversation. I can’t get used to it.’ Her smile faded. ‘Logan told me about what you’ve done—your training. That’s amazing. I had no idea.’
Conner sat in silence and she spread her hands, visibly uncomfortable with the situation.
‘I’m trying to apologise. I didn’t mean to be rude. It was just that…’ She gave an awkward shrug. ‘Anyway, I really am sorry.’
‘Never apologise, Flora.’
‘If I’m wrong, then I apologise,’ she said firmly. ‘Don’t you?’
‘I don’t know.’ Enjoying himself, he smiled. ‘I’ve never been wrong.’
Derailed by the banter, she backed away slightly and then stopped. ‘I’m apologising for assuming that you weren’t qualified for the job. For thinking that you being here would just cause trouble.’
‘It will cause trouble,’ Conner drawled softly, ‘so you weren’t wrong.’
‘You knew it would cause trouble?’
‘Of course.’
His answer brought a puzzled frown to her face. ‘If you knew that, why did you come back?’