A Very Special Marriage

She felt so small and fragile that he was terrified of hurting her if he held her too tightly, yet he needed to hold onto something as all the pent-up emotion suddenly spilled from him. Two years ago he’d been too numb with grief to cry but now he couldn’t hold back his tears as the memories came flooding back.

Sophie had been six months pregnant when a routine check-up had shown problems with their baby’s development. The placenta had become detached from the wall of the uterus, depriving the unborn child of vital nutrients and oxygen. A decision had been taken to deliver the baby and Sophie had been rushed to Theatre for an emergency Caesarean section.

It had been a little girl and Liam could still recall how perfect she had been when the doctor had placed her in his arms for a few, precious seconds before she’d been taken to the intensive care unit. They had called her Zoë and she had lived for just one week before her tiny body had given up the struggle for survival.

Sophie had been inconsolable afterwards and he simply hadn’t known how to comfort her. It had broken his heart to see how devastated she’d been so that he’d found himself staying later and later at work to avoid going home. And then one fateful night, a few months after Zoë had died, his own grief had caught up with him.

He’d gone out after work and, for the first time in his life, he’d got so drunk that he hadn’t known what he’d been doing. If it hadn’t been for one of the nurses taking him back to her flat, he would have spent the night on the streets. He’d been so ashamed afterwards that he’d let Sophie think that he’d spent the night at work but, somehow, the story had got out about him spending the night at Amanda’s flat and Sophie had accused him of having an affair…

‘Let me go.’

Liam jumped when he heard the steely note in her voice. He quickly released her and ran his hands over his face to wipe away his tears. Sophie had her back to him but he could tell that she was struggling to regain her composure. He touched her lightly on the shoulder, wanting to comfort her in some way, but she shrugged off his hand.

‘Don’t!’

Liam dug his hands into the pockets of his towelling robe. It hurt to know how much she hated having him touch her, but what had he expected? The days when she would have melted into his arms were long gone and too much had happened since to recapture the magic they’d once known.

‘Are you all right?’ he asked gruffly, trying not to dwell on how painful he found that thought. He wanted to lay the past to rest, not rekindle the embers of a dead love affair, he reminded himself sternly. It was the reason why he’d been so anxious to see Sophie again. It had become increasingly clear in the past few months that he would never be able to get on with his life until they had sorted out the mistakes they’d made, although the likelihood of them sorting anything out seemed non-existent at the moment.

‘I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. There’s no need.’

She headed for the door but Liam knew that he couldn’t just let her walk away without trying to smooth things over. Maybe his plan hadn’t gone as he’d hoped it would but they were going to have to work together in the coming weeks so they at least needed to behave in a civilised manner with one another.

‘Look, Sophie, I apologise. Maybe this was a lousy idea but all I can say in my own defence is that I never meant to upset you.’ He shrugged when she glanced back. ‘I know it won’t be easy but we’re going to have to find a way to resolve our differences so we can work together.’

‘You really think I’m going to work with you?’ She laughed and Liam felt his insides twist when he heard the scorn in her voice. ‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, Liam, but it isn’t going to happen. I have absolutely no intention of working with you, now or in the future. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go and pack.’

‘There’s no point because you aren’t going anywhere.’

He knew that he should be trying to appease her rather than confront her, but her unyielding attitude stung. Maybe Sophie had moved on but her feelings towards him certainly hadn’t improved.

‘I shall do whatever I want!’ She glared at him, her eyes filled with contempt. ‘The days when you had any say over what I do, Liam Kennedy, are long gone!’

‘I have no intention of trying to stop you leaving, Sophie, but I’m sure the captain will.’

He went to the porthole and pulled back the curtain, feeling a wave of weariness wash over him. Sophie wasn’t interested in talking about the past and he really couldn’t blame her. He should have tried harder at the time to convince her that nothing had happened when he’d stayed at Amanda’s flat. But he’d been so hurt that Sophie had believed he would betray her and she’d been too angry to listen to him. Neither of them had been thinking clearly because they’d been so devastated by the loss of their precious child. It was that thought which made him soften his tone.

‘It may have escaped your notice but we’ve already set sail. We’re currently heading out into the middle of the Mediterranean and, from what I can remember of our itinerary, we won’t reach land until tomorrow morning. Even then, do you really think it would be fair to just up and leave?’

He sighed as he let the curtain fall back into place. ‘There’s several hundred people on board this ship and any one of them could need our help at a moment’s notice. Surely it would be better if you contacted the employment agency in the morning and asked them to find a replacement for you? It would mean us making the best of things for a few days, but I promise you that I’ll do my bit if you’ll meet me halfway. So what do you say, Sophie?’

‘I…I don’t know.’

She bit her lip and Liam could tell how difficult she was finding it to make up her mind. He crossed the cabin but this time he didn’t make the mistake of touching her. Sophie had made it clear how she felt about that.

‘We’ve worked together in the past, and successfully, too, so surely we can manage to do so again for a short time,’ he said softly, refusing to dwell on how distressing he found the idea. ‘I’d offer to leave but the people at the agency made it clear that they’d had problems finding a suitably qualified doctor. I wouldn’t want to leave the passengers in the lurch.’

‘No, it wouldn’t be right,’ she agreed reluctantly.

She took a deep breath that made her small breasts rise beneath the close-fitting T-shirt and Liam just managed to stifle his groan when he felt his body respond with a fervour that shocked him. He drew the robe around him, relieved that its bulk concealed his predicament. He’d not exactly led the life of a monk since their divorce but he couldn’t recall responding so wholeheartedly to any woman in the past two years, not even Julia.

The thought threw him into confusion so that he missed what Sophie had said. ‘I’m sorry, what was that?’

‘I just said that we shouldn’t need to see each other all that much.’ She shrugged but this time Liam wisely kept his eyes on her face and didn’t let them stray. ‘Once we’ve seen any patients who turn up for morning surgery then that should be it, basically.’

‘Of course,’ he agreed, trying to appear positive, no easy task in view of the way his mind was churning. He’d honestly and truly believed that he was ready to get on with his life and that all he needed to do was to draw a line under the past. But how could he be ready to plan his future when he was still so susceptible to his ex-wife’s charms?

‘And so long as the agency can find a replacement for me then there shouldn’t be a problem?’

‘It might take them a few weeks to find someone suitable,’ he warned, deciding it would be better to focus on this problem rather than start digging up any others. ‘Experienced nurses of your calibre don’t exactly grow on trees.’

A touch of colour ran up her face but she didn’t acknowledge the compliment. ‘I’m sure they’ll find someone eventually.’

‘And what about you, Sophie? What will you do?’ He frowned as he thought about the implications of her having to leave the ship. ‘Maybe you could return to the Royal Memorial? I’m sure they’d be delighted to take you back.’

‘They probably would but I’ve no intention of going back there. The reason I left in the first place was because I needed a change of scene. Don’t worry about me, Liam, I’ll find something else, maybe go abroad. There’s a lot of nursing posts advertised in the USA so that’s one option.’

‘So what you’re saying is that you’re completely flexible?’ Liam couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice.

‘Yes. The world’s a big place and I’ve seen far too little of it.’

‘And there’s nothing to tie you down to any one place?’ he insisted, because he couldn’t help being surprised by her attitude. The Sophie he remembered had been a homebody, not an adventurer. It made him see just how great the change in her had really been.

‘Nothing and nobody,’ she stated firmly. ‘So if you’re trying to find a diplomatic way to ask if I’m involved in a relationship then don’t bother. I think the phrase which best sums up my feelings is once bitten, twice shy.’

‘It wasn’t all bad,’ he protested, because it was painful to realise how much their divorce had affected her. Sophie had always had a very loving nature and he hated to think that she’d ruled out the possibility of finding happiness again even though the thought of her finding it with another man didn’t sit comfortably with him, strangely enough.

‘You’re entitled to your view,’ she said dismissively. ‘Anyway, what about you, Liam? Is there someone special in your life?’

Liam pushed the troubling thought aside because he needed to deal with the question. For some reason it seemed incredibly difficult to decide how to answer it. It wasn’t that he was afraid of upsetting her—Sophie had made it perfectly clear that he no longer featured in her life—but he felt rather awkward about discussing his plans with his ex-wife. Crazy though it undoubtedly was, it felt as though he was letting Sophie down.

The idea was just so ludicrous that it immediately cleared his mind of any doubts. ‘Actually, there is. Her name is Julia and she’s a doctor, too. We met while we were both working overseas, although she’s from London originally.’

He shrugged because there was no point holding back the most important bit now he’d got this far. ‘We’re thinking about getting married later this year, in fact.’

‘I see. So it appears that congratulations are in order.’

Liam frowned when he heard what sounded suspiciously like a catch in her voice. He breathed a sigh of relief when she treated him to a brilliant smile because he wouldn’t like to think that Sophie had been upset by his announcement.

‘I hope you and the second Mrs Kennedy will be very happy, Liam. I certainly hope the marriage works out better than ours did!’

‘Ah, so there you are, Sophie! I was just coming to find you. I thought you had got lost.’

‘I’m afraid I got delayed. Sorry.’

Sophie summoned a smile as Yuri greeted her at the entrance to the dining-room. She followed him across the room, murmuring her thanks when he pulled out a chair for her to sit down. Glancing around, she repeated her apologies for the benefit of the other diners seated at their table.

‘I’m sorry I’m late.’

‘Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it, young lady.’ The elderly American gentleman on her left smiled at her. ‘If my wife wasn’t sitting right here beside me, I’d tell you it was well worth the wait!’

The blue-rinsed matron next to him raised her eyes. ‘Take no notice of Randolph, honey. He’s all talk these days! Anyhow, you’ve only missed the introductions and that isn’t a problem. I’m Gloria Walters and this is my husband, Randolph. We’re from Georgia and this is our first trip to Europe. We’re trying to see as much as we can, which is why this cruise is such a great idea.’

‘I’m Sophie Patterson, the ship’s nurse,’ Sophie explained. She jumped when someone approached her, but it was only the waiter wanting to drape a napkin over her knees. She smiled her thanks but she could feel her heart beating in time to the sentence that was reverberating inside her head: Liam is getting married, Liam is getting married.

‘Oh, we already know that. Yuri here told us all about you,’ Gloria assured her.

Sophie had no idea what the purser had said but it was a relief not to have to go into detail about her role on the ship. She smiled and nodded as the rest of her table companions introduced themselves, though she doubted if she would remember many of their names later.

Discovering she would be working with Liam had been a big enough shock but learning that he was getting married had been much worse, and yet she couldn’t understand why she felt so devastated. Their marriage was over and she most certainly didn’t want to resurrect it, but she couldn’t help feeling bereft at the thought of Liam marrying another woman.

‘And here is our final guest. Excellent! We shall be able to enjoy the evening now.’

Yuri placed his hand lightly on her shoulder as he stood up, and Sophie flinched. She felt as nervous as a kitten, her whole body vibrating with a fine tremor that was making her feel sick.

She picked up her water glass and took a sip of the cool liquid in the hope that it would steady her, but all it took was the sight of the purser greeting Liam to make the tremor increase. It appeared that Liam would be joining them for dinner and the prospect of having to make conversation with him was more than she could bear. It was only the thought of the scene it would cause if she got up and left that kept her sitting there.

‘Allow me to introduce our new doctor.’ Yuri swiftly made the introductions, smiling charmingly when he came to Sophie. ‘I’m not sure if you two have met yet.’

‘Dr Kennedy and I have already introduced ourselves,’ Sophie said hurriedly.

‘Indeed we have,’ Liam agreed smoothly, but she could see the question in his eyes. She knew he was wondering how much she intended to tell everyone, but if he thought she was about to admit that they’d once been married then he could think again.

‘Yes, we bumped into each other earlier.’ She turned to Yuri as Liam took his seat and smiled warmly at him. ‘Tell us about your job, Yuri. It must be fascinating, meeting so many new people all the time.’

The purser needed little encouragement and happily began regaling them with tales about the trials and tribulations of being a purser on a busy cruise liner. He was an amusing raconteur and the rest of the group were soon showering him with questions.

Sophie was very aware that Liam was making no attempt to join in, however. She shot him a wary look and flushed when she discovered he was watching her. There was something in his eyes, a hint of some emotion she couldn’t quite decipher…

‘And what about you, Sophie? You must tell us all about your job now.’

She jumped when Yuri placed his hand on hers. She was aware of the knowing looks that were being exchanged around the table and quickly tried to move her hand out of the way, but he held onto it.

‘It must be fascinating, being a nurse. To hold the power of life and death in such delicate hands.’

He sighed expressively and Sophie coloured. There must be little doubt in the minds of anyone watching that the purser was interested in her and it made her feel uncomfortable, especially with Liam there to witness what was happening.

‘I hate to disillusion you but a nurse’s role is rather more mundane than that.’

She eased her hand out of his grasp and picked up her glass. ‘My job is to carry out orders and care for a patient’s needs. It’s the doctors who have the real power.’

‘Is that a fact? So how does it feel, Dr Kennedy, to know the buck stops with you?’ Randolph leant across the table and smiled at Liam. ‘It must put a lot of pressure on you, young man.’

‘It can do but you learn to adapt to the stresses of the job. I certainly don’t spend too much time dwelling on the thought that I hold the power of life and death in my hands,’ Liam explained dryly. ‘Anyway, helping a patient recover is a team effort. It needs both doctors and nurses to achieve results.’

‘Spoken like a true diplomat!’ Gloria declared. She turned to Sophie and winked. ‘Looks as though you two should get along just fine, honey.’

Sophie smiled, although she was sorely tempted to tell the older woman that she wouldn’t be around long enough to find out. First thing tomorrow morning she would contact the agency and ask them to find a replacement for her. Fortunately, the waiter arrived just then with their first course and the conversation moved on to other topics. Even so, it was a relief when dinner was finally over and she could make her escape.

Yuri looked disappointed when she announced that she was having an early night. ‘Are you sure I can’t change your mind, Sophie? There’s dancing on the promenade deck tonight and I would be honoured if you would agree to be my partner.’

‘That’s really kind of you, Yuri, but it’s been a busy day and I’m exhausted.’

She moved aside so that Liam could pass them, feeling a frisson run through her when his arm brushed hers. In accordance with the dress code for the evening, he was wearing a casual, short-sleeved shirt and she could feel the silky, dark hairs on his forearm tickling her bare skin as he moved past.

One of the other guests stopped him and Sophie felt another ripple run through her when she heard him laugh at something the woman said. Liam had always had the most wonderfully infectious laugh, so deep and warm that it had made everyone around him want to laugh, too. How strange that she’d forgotten all about that until now but, then, they’d had very little to laugh about in the months leading up to their divorce.

The thought was so painful that she knew she had to get away. When Yuri tried again to persuade her to stay she shook her head. ‘I’m sorry but I really am very tired. I’ll see you in the morning, I expect.’

She hurriedly left the dining-room and made her way to her cabin. The passengers were making the most of the first night of their holiday and she didn’t meet anyone on the way. She undressed and slid on a pair of the new shortie pyjamas which she’d bought for the trip. The bunk bed felt rather cramped after the comfort of a double divan, but she was both physically and mentally exhausted. She was fast asleep when someone banged on her cabin door an hour later.

Sophie scrambled out of bed and ran to answer the summons, peering blearily at Liam. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘There’s been a fight between two of the crew. One of the men has been stabbed and he’s in a pretty bad way, apparently. The other guy’s also been hurt, although he’s not as bad.’

His gaze skimmed over her before he abruptly swung round. ‘Put some clothes on. I’ll meet you in the clinic in five minutes.’

Sophie took a deep breath as she closed the door. She felt completely disorientated, having been woken up like that. She went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face then quickly hunted some clothes out of the wardrobe and dressed. There wasn’t time to brush her hair but she doubted if it would matter. Liam probably wouldn’t notice how she looked.

Her mind hiccuped to a halt because all of a sudden she could picture the expression in his eyes all too clearly. There had been something so spine-tinglingly familiar about the way he’d looked at her just now that a rush of heat suffused her.

Sophie bit her lip but she could feel the excitement building inside her and it scared her. She didn’t want to feel this awareness around Liam but she couldn’t seem to stop what was happening any more than he’d been able to do. The thought brought her up short.

If Liam was planning on getting married again, why had he looked at her—his ex-wife—with such hunger?

CHAPTER THREE

WHAT the hell had he been thinking?

Liam cursed roundly as he tossed a handful of sterile dressings into his bag. He must have been stark, raving mad to stand there staring at Sophie like that! So maybe it had only been for a split second but she must have noticed. What woman wouldn’t notice when a man was ogling her?

Another oath leapt from his mouth as he added a giving-set and several pairs of disposable gloves to the collection. It was rare that he ever swore but he was allowed a lapse at a time like this. He’d stood outside Sophie’s door positively drooling over the sight of her in those sexy little pyjamas. It didn’t make him feel good to admit what he’d done, yet he knew that he would do exactly the same thing again in similar circumstances. The sight of her shapely body in that strappy little top and shorts get-up was enough to make any red-blooded male stare!

Liam groaned as an image of Sophie suddenly swam before his eyes. Her blonde hair had been all tousled and her face had been softly flushed with sleep. One strap of the pyjama top had slipped down her arm so that the cotton fabric had dipped at the front, affording him a tantalising glimpse of her small breasts. The shorts had definitely lived up to their name, leaving her legs completely bare from the tops of her slender thighs right the way down to her shapely ankles, and he ground his teeth when he felt his body react predictably to the memory. He had to get a grip. Lusting after his ex-wife really wasn’t an option!

‘What can I do to help?’

Liam swung round when he heard Sophie’s voice coming from the doorway and let out a sigh of relief when he saw the jogging pants and over-sized T-shirt she was wearing. At least his self-control wouldn’t be put to the test again that night, it seemed.

‘We’ll need saline for starters. Can you see if you can find some? Oh, and check the drugs cupboard and see what we’ve got in the way of pain relief. Here’s the keys.’

‘Thanks.’

She caught the bunch of keys he tossed to her and hurried to the cupboard. Liam left her to go through it as he double-checked that he had everything they might need. He didn’t want to have to start running backwards and forwards for all the things he’d forgotten.

‘It’s really well stocked. I found some morphine so shall I sign for it or would you prefer to do it?’

Liam shook his head. ‘I don’t have a problem with you signing it out. So long as it’s accounted for then it doesn’t matter which one of us completes the paperwork.’

‘Fine.’ She quickly filled out the necessary form then relocked the cupboard door. She handed him the keys, along with two ampoules of morphine, then took a couple of syringes out of a box on the shelf and gave them to him as well.

Liam nodded his thanks as he stowed them in his case. ‘Don’t forget the saline.’

‘I won’t.’ She quickly found the bags of saline and passed them to him. ‘Is that everything now?’

‘Hopefully.’ He snapped the locks on the case and stood up. ‘I’m not sure exactly what we’re going to find. All I know is that one man has been stabbed and that the other isn’t as badly injured.’

‘We could be dealing with anything, then,’ she observed as she followed him from the clinic. ‘I wonder what the fight was about?’

‘I didn’t ask. I was more concerned about what we would have to deal with.’ He smiled wryly as he locked the clinic door. ‘I was looking forward to a complete change of scene when I took this job, too. I had visions of treating patients with nothing more serious than sea-sickness. I should have known better!’

Sophie laughed. ‘You should! It was tempting fate to hope for an easy ride, although I certainly didn’t expect anything like this to happen.’ She looked at him curiously. ‘What did you mean about a complete change of scene, though?’

Liam sighed as he elbowed his way through the swing doors. ‘I was working for a foreign aid agency in Africa until last month. The area I was working in is on the edge of a war zone so stabbings and shootings are pretty much an everyday occurrence there. It was a real culture shock at first, although I soon got used to it.’