The Doctor's Engagement

‘Well, they haven’t,’ Holly said flatly, and Mark’s smile faded.

‘So is that what’s wrong?’

Holly stiffened and turned to look across the bay. Anything rather than meet the sharp look in his eyes. Mark was far too perceptive.

‘Nothing’s wrong—’

‘You’re a lousy liar,’ he said softly, suddenly serious. ‘Holly, you’ve lost weight and you’ve got dark circles under your eyes. And don’t turn your back on me.’

She hesitated and then turned to face him, her expression haunted. ‘It isn’t anything—’

‘Holly!’ his voice was a threatening growl and she gave a wry smile that cost her a great deal in terms of effort.

‘Well, let’s just say it isn’t anything you can do anything about.’ She coloured slightly under his intense scrutiny. She didn’t feel ready to tell him yet.

‘Is it work or a man?’ His tone was blunt.

‘Mark, it really doesn’t matter—’

‘Work or a man?’ he persisted, and she sighed in exasperation.

‘You don’t ever give up, do you?’

‘No.’ His gaze was steady. ‘So now you’ve remembered that, perhaps you’ll answer my question. Work or a man? Surely it wasn’t—what was his name? Simon. Are you still seeing Simon?’

‘No.’ Holly shook her head, securing strands of blonde hair behind her ear. ‘No, I’m not.’

‘Good thing, too,’ Mark growled, dark eyes narrowed. ‘He wasn’t right for you. His eyes were too close together.’

‘So were his affairs.’ Holly’s voice was quiet and Mark stared at her.

‘He had affairs? While he was with you?’ His jaw tightened and his expression was ominious. ‘Give me his address—’

‘Mark, no,’ Holly interrupted him hastily, knowing that Mark was more than capable of tracking down Simon and defending her rather too vigorously. ‘I don’t need you to intervene—but thanks for the thought.’

Mark’s anger was still evident. ‘Were you in love with him?’ His voice was sharp. ‘Is that why you’ve got the shadows under your eyes? Did he hurt you?’

Holly shook her head and gave him a wan smile. ‘No, I wasn’t in love with him. And, no, he didn’t hurt me—not really, so you can dismount from your white charger.’

Mark watched her for a long moment, his eyes intent on hers. ‘OK,’ he said finally, a frown touching his brows, ‘but if he isn’t responsible for your drawn appearance, who is?’

‘No one!’ Holly wrapped her arms round her waist and paced over to the far side of the deck. ‘It was nothing like that. Drop it, Mark. Please.’

She heard the chair scrape on the decking and the sound of his footsteps behind her, then strong hands curled over her shoulders.

‘Which means it must have been work.’

‘Please, Mark.’ Her voice was barely a whisper and her eyes were closed. ‘I really can’t face thinking about it.’

He swore softly and she felt his hands tighten protectively on her shoulders.

‘You know I’m always ready to slay your dragon,’ he said gruffly. ‘You only have to say the word.’

The memories came crashing down on her like the waves on the rocks below and she took a deep breath.

‘Can we change the subject?’

‘OK,’ he said finally, his voice soft, ‘on the condition that you put that weight back on and lose the shadows round your eyes. And on the condition that you remember that I’m here for you whenever you need a friend. We’ve never had any secrets from each other. Don’t forget that, Holly.’

How could she forget? He was her oldest and dearest friend. She turned to face him and for a wild moment she was tempted to confide in him. But she wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. Not even to Mark. The truth was, she didn’t want to think about it at all...

She lifted her chin and tried to lighten the mood. ‘You’re worried about the shadows under my eyes? You’re saying I’m not glamorous enough to be your fiancée?’

He lifted a hand to stroke her hair away from her face, staring down at her with an odd expression on his face.

She tipped her head to one side. ‘Mark?’

He stirred himself. ‘You look great. I’m just worried about you that’s all.’ He turned away from her and walked back towards the French windows. ‘OK, back to practicalities. We’re going to the yacht club for supper with Ian, but we’re not meeting him until eight-thirty so how about having a snack?’

She nodded and followed him inside, through the spacious lounge and into the kitchen.

‘Mark Logan, you’re a slob!’ She surveyed the dirty dishes strewn around the work surfaces with mock disapproval. ‘You have a perfectly good sink with a view to die for and you can’t be bothered to wash up.’

‘I told you I needed a fiancée,’ he teased, his smile dying as he saw the look on her face. ‘Just joking—truly!’

‘Don’t do your chauvinist act with me,’ she scolded, tugging open doors in the kitchen. ‘I can’t believe this state-of-the-art kitchen doesn’t have a dishwasher.’

‘Last cupboard on the right,’ Mark said meekly, watching as she pulled it open and started clearing the worktops and loading the dishwasher. ‘Can I get you a drink? Wine? Gin and tonic?’

‘Actually, just a cup of tea would be great, thanks.’ Holly straightened and glanced round the surfaces which were now clear of dirty crockery. ‘No wonder you need a fake fiancée. No one in their right mind would take on the role in real life.’

‘I’m sorry. What with work and the boat, I’ve been busy.’ He looked sheepish as he made the tea and handed her a mug. ‘Sandwich? Biscuit?’

‘Nothing, thanks.’ Holly sipped her tea and wandered back into the living room. ‘This place is amazing. It’s like being part of the ocean.’

‘Glad you approve. When you’ve finished your tea, I’ll show you the upstairs.’

Once she drained her mug, they made their way up an unusual spiral staircase and Mark pushed open a door. ‘This is the spare room. Your room, I suppose.’

It was a bright, cheerful room, decorated in blue and white, with a very nautical theme. Holly fingered a piece of driftwood thoughtfully. ‘This is nice. Where did you find it?’

‘On the beach. I go for a run most mornings before the rest of the world is awake. It’s surprising what you find.’ He turned and walked back onto the landing. ‘Come and see my room.’

Holly gasped as she entered the master bedroom. Again the architect had made the maximum use of windows and the room was drenched in the soft early evening sunlight.

‘Oh, Mark!’ She paced across the bleached wooden floor covered in a soft rug and gazed around the room. ‘It seems a waste to use this room for sleeping.’

‘My sentiments exactly.’ Mark gave her a grin that was pure predatory male and she rolled her eyes.

‘You’re terrible, Mark Logan!’ She laughed and then frowned at him with mock disapproval. ‘Are you still leading innocent females astray?’

‘Absolutely not,’ Mark said firmly, his eyes still gleaming wickedly. ‘I can honestly say that I’ve never had anything to do with an innocent female in my life, and I’ve certainly never led one astray.’

‘So bring me up to date on your love life.’ Holly looked at him expectantly and he gave a short laugh.

‘To be honest, there hasn’t really been anyone since I moved down here. I’ve given up on women. I’ve decided that my perfect woman doesn’t exist.’

Holly touched his arm gently and gave him a soft smile. ‘She exists, Mark. Just hang in there. Maybe you’re looking in the wrong places.’

‘Probably. Still, it’s history now.’ He gave a careless shrug. ‘As I said, I’m totally off women.’

‘You? Off women? I’ll believe that when I see it.’ Holly gave him a wry smile and moved towards the window, giving a gasp of delight as she looked outside. ‘You’ve got a balcony! Can I go out?’

‘Of course. Key’s in the drawer.’ Mark retrieved it and unlocked the door for her, watching as she stepped out onto the balcony and breathed in the sea air with a sigh of appreciation.

‘I love it. Truly, I love it.’ She stared across the estuary for a long time and then stirred herself. ‘Right, then. I suppose I’d better move myself into my room.’

Mark frowned and hesitated. ‘I was thinking about that...’

‘What?’ She closed the door firmly and locked it, returning the key to the chest of drawers.

‘How would you feel about keeping most of your stuff in my room?’ he asked finally, giving her a wary smile. ‘It’s just that if anyone visits, they could easily stumble into your room and if they see that all your stuff is there...’

‘Then we’ve blown our cover,’ Holly finished for him. It sounded logical. So why was she blushing? To hide her discomfort she changed the subject. ‘That’s fine. Perhaps you’d better tell me about Caroline now.’

Mark sighed and closed his eyes. ‘I suppose I’d better. Let’s grab some drinks and nibbles and go and sit on the deck.’

‘Good idea.’ Holly followed him down the stairs to the kitchen and they piled snacks and a bottle of wine onto a tray and took it out onto the deck.

‘OK, tell me the gory details.’ Holly settled herself comfortably on one of the chairs and waited expectantly as he yanked the cork out of the bottle of wine and took a deep breath.

‘Well, Caroline has worked at the surgery for about a year, from what I can gather. Only part time, but everyone treats her with kid gloves because she’s had such a rough time. It’s common knowledge so I’m not breaking a confidence by telling you that—’

‘That’s fine, Mark.’ Holly’s voice was soft. She knew that he would never gossip or do anything unethical. If he was telling her this then there must be a reason.

‘It’s pretty sad really.’ He poured wine into a glass and passed it to her. ‘Apparently she was engaged to some man—was crazy about him by all reports—and he stood her up at the altar. Literally. Just never turned up on the day, no explanation, nothing.’

‘Oh, no!’ Holly gave a gasp of horror. The poor woman. That was an awful thing to happen to anyone.

‘It affected her really badly.’ Mark sat down and stretched long legs out in front of him. ‘It was a huge wedding with most of the town present, so it was a pretty awful thing to do.’

‘Wicked,’ Holly agreed, her green eyes appalled. ‘So what happened to poor Caroline afterwards?’

Mark shrugged. ‘Well, she’d resigned her job because he’d promised to take her travelling, but Ian took her back.’

‘That was nice of him.’

Mark nodded slowly. ‘He’s a nice guy. It must have been a difficult decision for him really. He’s incredibly supportive and loyal towards his staff, so he would have wanted to take her back, but deep down he must have known that she was going to take a long time to recover from something like that. It was bound to have a negative effect on the practice.’

‘You said “was”.’ Holly raised her eyebrows. ‘Isn’t it a problem any more?’

‘Well, she seems to be getting better.’ Mark stared thoughtfully across the estuary. ‘Lately we’ve all seen an improvement in her mood. Despite the way she behaved to you this morning.’

Holly shrugged. ‘She wasn’t so bad.’

Mark gave a wry smile. ‘But, then, you never see bad in anyone.’

‘That’s not true—it’s just such an awful thing to happen to anyone.’ Holly murmured, her expression troubled. ‘I’m not surprised she wasn’t welcoming. Especially if the reason she’d cheered up was because she’d suddenly found another man she was attracted to.’

‘You’re very perceptive.’

‘Not really.’ Holly gave a shrug. ‘I suppose she felt as though she could never find another man attractive, and then suddenly you come along, handsome and generally gorgeous, and her heart lifts slightly, only to be dashed into the ground when she discovers you’re not interested.’

‘Don’t!’ Mark raked long fingers through his dark hair and gave a long sigh. ‘I feel guilty enough already without you spelling it out.’

Holly reached across and squeezed his hand. ‘I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to make you feel guilty. It isn’t your fault. You can hardly have a relationship with her out of pity. I’m just saying it’s a sad situation.’

‘I know that,’ Mark said gruffly, his eyes closed, his thick dark lashes touching his angular cheeks. ‘And the truth is, it didn’t happen exactly the way you suggested. Apparently she’d started to recover, and she’d been on a few dates with Greg—that’s the GP I was telling you about that I sail with—and then she saw me.’

Holly gave a sigh. ‘What is it with you and women?’

‘Not my fault!’ He gave her a black look. ‘Anyway, she stopped seeing Greg and seemed to develop this wild, almost teenage crush on me. Horrendous! Maybe I should have just been blunt with her, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings so I thought it would be gentler if I just said I was already involved.’

‘And a fictitious fiancée seemed the most gentle approach...’

Mark opened her eyes. ‘Did I do the wrong thing?’ Suddenly he looked unsure. ‘You’re a woman, Holly, you know how the female mind works. Was I wrong?’

It was the first time in her life she had ever seen Mark question a decision he’d made.

‘No,’ Holly said finally. ‘I don’t think you did the wrong thing. I think it’s an impossible situation really. Whatever you did, her feelings would have been hurt. But we can’t pretend to be engaged for ever. Sooner or later you’ll get fed up with not being able to seduce women and we’ll have to part company.’

‘I’m off women at the moment,’ Mark muttered, helping himself to some cashew nuts. ‘And by the time you and I “part company”, as you put it, I hope things will have moved on and she’ll have realised what a nice chap Greg is. I’ve been working on it, subtly.’

‘You? Subtle?’ Holly put a hand over her mouth to suppress the giggles. ‘Sorry. You are many things, Mark Logan, but subtle certainly isn’t one of them.’

Mark stopped chewing and pretended to look affronted. ‘Are you insulting me?’

‘Probably.’ Holly nodded, her eyes still alight with humour. ‘Do you really think you should be matchmaking?’

‘I’m not really matchmaking.’ Mark shrugged and pulled a face. ‘If it weren’t for me, I’m sure they’d be together anyway. I’m trying to remind her that she was interested in him—that there are plenty more fish in the sea.’

‘Plenty more fish in the sea? I’d love to know where they’re hiding.’ Holly picked up her drink and took a sip. ‘I only find the equivalent of whelks and clams. I’m still waiting to meet a glossy trout.’

Mark laughed and his dark eyes teased her. ‘In that case, no wonder you’re still a virgin.’

She poked her tongue out at him. ‘I never, ever should have told you that.’ Hastily she changed the subject. ‘So, go on. Tell me more about Greg.’

‘Well, he’s the chap I sail with.’ Mark leaned across the table and took an olive. ‘He’s a partner in a practice on the other side of town. I even thought maybe we could make up the occasional foursome to try and bring them together again if it doesn’t seem to be working out.’

Holly thought of the look that Caroline had given her when she’d arrived. ‘I’m not sure she’d relish my company.’

Mark gave a crooked smile. ‘She will once she knows you better.’

‘I hope you’re right.’ Holly gave him an affectionate look. ‘I must say, I’m very proud of you for being so sensitive about her feelings.’

He lifted an eyebrow. ‘I thought you said I was incapable of sensitivity?’

‘You are normally,’ Holly said honestly. ‘Well, at least when it comes to people who fancy you.’

‘Am I really that bad?’ He gave a short laugh. ‘The truth is, I felt sorry for her—and a bit responsible. I didn’t want to make things worse.’

Holly blinked. ‘Mark Logan, there’s hope for you after all.’

‘Must be old age,’ Mark said with a sigh. He slouched lower in his chair and rested one ankle on top of a powerful thigh. ‘I’m obviously losing my sense of perspective. Here I am, having dragged you all the way down here to pretend to be crazy about me—hell, is it going to work?’

‘Of course it is,’ Holly said firmly, determined to make it work now she understood the situation more clearly. ‘We can easily pretend to be engaged. As you said, we know each other well enough, don’t we?’

His smile was wry. ‘Absolutely. Come on, let’s unpack the rest of your stuff and get changed for supper.’

‘But what about tonight? We haven’t worked out what we’re going to say.’ Holly put a hand on his arm, feeling the solid muscle under her fingers. She’d forgotten how strong Mark was. Suddenly, for the first time in months, she felt safe. ‘If I’m supposed to be engaged to you, we need to decide on a story. Ian didn’t ask me anything personal when I met him on Tuesday, and frankly it’s just as well. I haven’t got a clue what I would have said!’

Mark frowned. ‘No story. We’ll just stick to the truth and that way we can’t go wrong. The only bit we change is that, instead of staying friends, we fell in love.’

Holly swallowed. She still hadn’t got used to the idea. ‘When, er, did we realise that we were in love?’

They wandered back inside and Mark locked the French windows. ‘About a month ago? That fits with what I told Caroline. When I moved down here to work, we realised how much we missed each other and how in love we were. How does that sound?’

‘And we got engaged immediately?’ Holly bit her lip and Mark shrugged his broad shoulders.

‘Of course. Why not? We’d already known each other for ever so there was hardly any need to hang around. All of a sudden we discovered we were madly in love—cue the violins—I proposed, you accepted and that was that.’

‘Where?’

‘Where what?’ Mark grabbed her suitcases from the hall and lugged them up the staircase, the muscles in his arms bunching under the weight.

‘Where did you propose?’

‘Holly, no one is going to ask a question like that,’ he protested, slinging both suitcases into his bedroom. ‘Let’s store your stuff in my room and just use yours for sleeping.’

‘Fine. But, Mark, they will ask.’ Holly flicked open a bulging suitcase and started unpacking. ‘People are interested in that sort of thing. Especially women.’

He sighed. ‘Well, where would you want to be proposed to?’

Holly tipped her head to one side and thought carefully. She couldn’t imagine loving anyone enough to get to the proposal stage. But this was just make-believe, she reminded herself. So what was her dream? She closed her eyes.

‘On a beach,’ she breathed. ‘Just the two of us. Twilight.’

‘Sandy or pebbles?’

Her eyes flew open. ‘What?’

‘The beach,’ he prompted, his dark eyes twinkling. ‘Sandy or pebbles?’

‘Mark, for goodness’ sake!’

‘You wanted detail,’ he pointed out, ‘so sandy or pebbles? Can we make it sandy? I don’t want bruised knees if I’m proposing in traditional style.’

‘Wimp.’ She laughed, her green eyes dancing. ‘All right. Sandy.’

‘But where was this beach? We can’t say it was Cornwall or they’ll all be offended that they weren’t introduced to you before.’ He frowned thoughtfully. ‘So perhaps I took you somewhere incredibly romantic to propose. Somewhere close enough for us to have slipped away for a weekend without people getting suspicious. How do you fancy Corsica?’

‘Very much.’ Holly laughed. ‘Oh, my goodness!’ She clapped her hand over her mouth and Mark lifted an eyebrow.

‘Now what?’

‘A ring!’ She stared at him. ‘Caroline asked me about it and I made some feeble excuse. We hadn’t thought of a ring.’

‘I had.’ Mark strode across the bedroom and rummaged in a drawer, retrieving a small black box. ‘Here we are. I hope it fits.’

Holly opened the box and gasped at the stunning diamond that glinted at her. ‘Mark, I can’t wear this! It’s real!’

‘Of course it’s real.’ He gave her a taste of that grin that always had women drooling over him. ‘You don’t think I’d give my fiancée a fake, do you?’

She licked her lips. ‘But...’

His smile faded and he brushed her cheek with his finger.

‘It was my grandmother’s,’ he said quietly. ‘She gave it to me to give to the woman who finally made me give up bachelor status.’

Holly stared at the ring. ‘Mark, what if you meet someone you—you like and you’re pretending to be engaged to me—what will you do?’

‘Let’s just say that, after my experiences with Zoe, I’m avoiding relationships for a while.’

Holly gave him a sympathetic smile. ‘I’m sorry that didn’t work out,’ she said gruffly, and Mark gave a careless shrug.

‘I’m not. She was gorgeous to look at but distinctly lacking in other qualities. She definitely had a short shelf life.’

Holly frowned disapprovingly. ‘Mark! That’s an awful thing to say.’

‘No, it isn’t,’ he disagreed calmly. ‘She was no more in love with me than I was in love with her. I never once misled her about my intentions.’

Which, knowing Mark, would have been purely physical. Holly felt her cheeks warm.

‘Glad to hear you’re still a virgin, too,’ she murmured dryly, and he gave her a broad grin that was totally male.

‘You know me, babe—pure as the driven snow.’

‘Oh, yes!’ She rolled her eyes to indicate what she thought of that statement. ‘Try not to break too many hearts, Mark.’

‘Me?’ He pretended to look hurt. ‘I’m always very kind to women.’

He was certainly kind to her but, then, she’d never been in love with him. She glanced at the ring and took it out of the box carefully, slipping it onto the third finger of her left hand.

‘It fits.’

‘You’re right. It fits perfectly.’ A strange look crossed Mark’s face as he lifted her hand and examined the ring. ‘What about you, Holl? What if you meet Mr Right while you’re wearing my ring?’

‘Mr Right is always in a different place when I’m around.’ Holly twisted the diamond on her finger and Mark gave a low curse and hugged her. ‘You’ll tell me about it one day and I’ll sort him out.’

‘Don’t be silly!’ She pushed him away. ‘Talking of which, are you still doing judo?’

‘Not since I left London,’ he admitted, ‘but I could still get the better of the louse. Just give me his name.’

‘There is no name.’ Holly smiled. ‘Stop playing boy hero and let’s finish our cover story. We got engaged, and then what? When are we getting married?’

Mark frowned. ‘Can’t we leave that open? It’ll make it easier when we have to break up anyway. Just say that it depends on our jobs and that sort of thing.’

‘I suppose that sounds all right.’ Holly shrugged. ‘In that case I’ll go and get ready. How dressy is the yacht club?’

Mark reached into his wardrobe and pulled out a pair of fawn trousers and a pristine white shirt. ‘Quite dressy.’

Which meant digging through her rather limited wardrobe to find something that would suit Mark’s ‘fiancée’. Normally the man dated models and women who spent half their days in beauty salons. Holly glanced down at her short, practical nails in despair. She just wasn’t Mark’s type. How was she ever going to be convincing?

* * *

The yacht club was situated just beyond the fishing village with views across the headland and the estuary.

Mark pulled into the car park and Holly grinned as he parked his beloved sports car carefully by a low wall.

‘Have you ever found a woman you love as much as this car?’ she teased, and he pulled a face.

‘Definitely not.’ He looked across at her and his eyes narrowed. ‘By the way, you look great. That colour suits you.’

She was wearing a strappy, green silk dress that looked good with her blonde hair and showed more than a hint of bare leg. As they walked into the yacht club, female heads turned to look at Mark and Holly was doubly glad that she’d made an effort with her appearance.

The restaurant was already filling up and Mark smiled and lifted a hand to a man sitting at one of the best tables.

‘There’s Ian.’ He led her across the restaurant and shook hands with the older man. ‘How are you, Ian? You’ve already met my Holly.’

My Holly.

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