Finally he found his voice. ‘Look, I’m sorry about your sister but we need to get a few things straight,’ he growled, ‘We are not “a family”. We will never be “a family”. You can stay here for just as long as it takes my lawyer to prove that I’m not the baby’s father, and then you’re on your own.’

She appeared totally unmoved by his threats. ‘And if he proves that you are Daisy’s father?’

Alex tensed. He refused to even contemplate that possibility.

‘Then we’ll deal with it,’ he said abruptly. ‘But for now you’re nothing more to me than a lodger. And a very unwelcome one at that.’

* * *

‘It’s absolute heaven to have more staff,’ Tina told Jenny as she showed her around. ‘We were so busy yesterday that one of our consultants worked thirty-six hours on the trot with only a quick nap at his desk.’

‘I’ve been up for thirty-six hours.’

Jenny’s eyes widened. ‘Was that Alex Westerling?’

‘You know him?’

Jenny shook her head quickly. ‘Well, no, not exactly, but—’

‘Don’t tell me,’ Tina said dryly, ‘you’ve read about him in the newspapers. He’s not very good at keeping a low profile is our Alex. Well, I’d better warn you that you don’t want to believe everything you read. Whatever he gets up to in his spare time, Alex is a fantastic doctor.’

Jenny hid her surprise. Was he? She had to admit that she hadn’t given any thought to his abilities as a doctor. In fact, she couldn’t even imagine Alex as a doctor. When she looked at him all she saw was the man. If she’d had to chose a suitable career for him it would have been pirate or highwayman!

She closed her eyes and pushed the thought away, dealing with the sudden awareness that it had been overwork that had contributed to the tiredness she’d seen in his eyes the previous night.

The knowledge made her feel surprisingly uncomfortable.

When he’d mentioned that he’d been awake all night she’d assumed that he was living up to his reputation for wild partying.

She’d just assumed that medicine must be low on his list of priorities.

Tina was still chatting. ‘He makes sure the department runs as smoothly as possibly even when we’re desperate for staff. And, of course, August is always difficult because we have an influx of new doctors who don’t know the ropes.’

Jenny nodded, trying to change the subject. ‘So where do you want me this morning?’

‘I thought we’d throw you straight in the deep end.’ Tina smiled. ‘You can work in the main area with me.’

She’d barely finished her sentence when a phone rang.

‘That’s the ambulance hotline,’ Tina told her, hurrying to answer it. ‘More trouble on the way, no doubt.’

Jenny listened to the one-sided phone call, trying to pick up clues as to what was coming in to the department. All she could ascertain was that the patient was in considerable pain.