‘It’s infected,’ he was saying in that definite voice he always used. ‘I’ll give you antibiotics and you need to come back and get it checked.’ He broke off briefly when he saw Jenny hovering anxiously in the doorway and then turned his attention back to the patient, finishing his instructions.

Then he strolled over to Jenny, his handsome face blank of expression. ‘My office. Now.’

She blinked and wondered whether she’d ever get used to the way Alex always had to be in control.

But she had little choice other than to follow him through to his office, and she had to admit that they needed privacy for the conversation that they were about to have.

She closed the door quietly behind her and hovered in front of it.

‘You’d better sit down.’ Alex collapsed into the chair behind his desk and closed his eyes. He looked worn out and it struck her that he was still obviously recovering from his bout of flu. ‘I suppose you want to talk about my damned sister.’

Jenny bit her lip. ‘I just don’t know what we’re going to say to her.’

Alex yawned. ‘Why do we need to say anything to her?’

How could he be so relaxed?

‘She’ll want an explanation.’

‘I never explain myself to anyone,’ he said in a cool tone, and then sighed. ‘Don’t look so worried, Red Riding Hood. You’re still safe in the wolf’s lair, remember? I’ll sort it out.’

‘But what will you tell her?’

Alex shrugged, totally indifferent to what she saw as a massive problem. ‘I don’t know. I’m not in the habit of discussing my relationships with my sister.’

Jenny coloured. ‘But we’re not having a relationship.’

He shot her a strange look. ‘No, we’re not, are we? Yet.’

His smooth tones heated her blood and she felt warmth spread through her body.

‘I—I’ll try and find a flat today,’ she croaked, and he gave a short laugh.

‘You’ll be lucky. This is a tourist resort in the middle of the tourist season. You’ll be lucky even to find a metre of sand that someone hasn’t already bagged.’

‘But you said—’

‘Yeah, I know what I said.’ He gave a wry smile. ‘It’s certainly safer if you move out but seeing that isn’t going to be possible we’ll have to go with the more dangerous option.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You continuing to live with the wolf,’ he said slowly, leaning forward and looking at her with an intensity that made her pulse accelerate alarmingly. ‘Until we find out about Daisy.’

Jenny stared at him, heart pounding. ‘She’s yours, Alex.’

‘So you keep saying.’ A muscle worked in his lean jaw. ‘I think for both our sakes it’s time we found out the truth so that we can get on with our lives.’

CHAPTER EIGHT

JENNY arrived home from work first and found Libby feeding both children in the kitchen.

Alex’s usually pristine bachelor environment had been transformed into a girly paradise. Shoes seemed to be scattered everywhere, items of clothing had been dropped haphazardly on the floor and the kitchen looked as though someone had used a blender without the lid.