He was burning hot and he definitely shouldn’t be wearing all those clothes.

‘Alex…’ She spoke gently but there was no response and she bit her lip.

She needed to get him undressed and into bed where at least he’d be more comfortable.

Deciding to start from the bottom and work upwards, she removed his shoes and then moved upwards to the button on his trousers. Her fingers shook slightly as she undid the button and slid his zip down.

Now all she had to do was remove his trousers.

Hoping desperately that he wouldn’t wake up while she was doing it, she pulled the trousers gently over his hips, tugging harder as the fabric became stuck.

He gave a groan and his eyes flew open, his feverish gaze burning into hers.

‘What are you doing?’ His words slurred together and he moaned in protest as she finally removed his trousers and tried to shift him into the bed.

She hoped he didn’t realise what she was doing. She could just imagine his comments if he woke up properly and realised that she was removing his trousers.

‘You’ve fallen asleep with your clothes on. You need to get into bed, Alex.’

She tried to move him again but he was over six feet of powerfully built male and she didn’t stand a chance of shifting him without some help.

‘Alex—’ she tried again ‘—can you move a bit—?’

He grunted and his eyes drifted shut again but he moved further onto the bed and she was able to yank the duvet out from under him and settle him against the pillows.

Having undressed him down to his pair of black silk boxer shorts, she decided that enough was enough and went back onto the landing to find a fresh sheet. The last thing he needed was a duvet.

She tucked the sheet around him, checked his temperature again and then went back to her own room, carefully leaving the door open so that she could hear him if he needed her.

* * *

Alex was ill for three days, his temperature so high that Jenny called the doctor twice because she was so worried.

The doctor told her impatiently that it was just flu and that all she could do was make him as comfortable as possible. So she did that, even though he hardly seemed to know that she was there.

He was so hot that twice she changed the sheets, struggling to shift his powerful body enough to enable her to remake the bed.

It was fortunate that she had four days off and that Daisy was relatively content just to play in the upstairs rooms. In the end Jenny gave up on her own room and camped out in Alex’s bedroom, nursing him night and day, wishing desperately that he’d get better.

The doctor had assured her that his temperature would come down but there was no sign of it and she sponged him regularly, trying to make him more comfortable even though he didn’t even seem to know she was there.