Jamie moved so quickly that it caught Libby off guard. Before she knew what was happening she was up, sitting on the side of the bed and he was standing over her, his forehead very nearly touching hers and his hands either side of her hips. ‘So then, nothing to do with the fact you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life?’
Libby’s mouth fell open and her eyes went wide as she looked up at him.
‘Nothing to do with how funny, kind and clever you are; what a wonderful mother to Rosie you are? Nothing to do with the thought of you and Rosie not being in my life making me feel like I can’t breathe? That when I knew I was coming home to you at night I would be smiling all day, and when that stopped I was like a bear with a sore head? Nothing to do with the fact I would doanythingto be with you. I would beg, borrow or steal. I would abandonanyof my stupid pointless stuck-up “principles” just for one sodding day in your company?’
‘I …’
‘You seem to think I’m a better man than I am. I promise you, Libby, I’m not that self-sacrificing.’
‘But … but you said …’
‘I think it’s best if we forget what’s been said.’ Libby opened her mouth to speak but snapped it shut when his hand came up and a finger settled over her lips.
‘Now,’ he went on, his tone softer and his breath feathering across her face, ‘I can understand your concerns. I can see why you don’t trust me at the moment, but I’m afraid that whilst you’re unwell I’m not prepared for you to make any decisions that might hinder your recovery. You’ll be coming home with me. All you will be doing over the next two weeks is revising for your exams, and youwilllet me take care of you and Rosie.’
Libby’s eyes flashed and she batted his hand away from her mouth. ‘You can’t dictate to me what – ’
‘Look, I didn’t want it to come to this, Libby, but it’s pretty obvious your parents don’t know exactly what it is you do at that club.’
Libby blinked and her brows pleated in confusion. ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’
Jamie huffed out a breath and pushed back from the bed to take a step away. She watched as his eyes went cold and his jaw firmed. ‘If you’re prepared to put your health at riskI willtell them how you’ve been making your money.’
‘You wouldn’t,’ she whispered, feeling all the blood drain from her face. Desperation clouded her thoughts. All her frantic mind could focus on was convincing him not to tell her parents.
She had already let them down so badly. She knew she wouldn’t be able to bear it if they knew. It would kill her father. Fear meant that she wasn’t even aware of her movements as she jumped down from the bed and walked towards him, before laying both her hands on his chest and looking up at him, her eyes wide with desperation.
‘You can’t tell them,’ she said, annoyed that she couldn’t keep her voice steady. ‘Please, please … I couldn’t stand it if they knew. I’ve already let them down so much. I …’ She broke off as her breathing became more laboured, the wheeze, always lurking in the background, became more pronounced.
‘Shit,’ Jamie swore. Just as she started really struggling she was lifted off her feet and up onto the bed. Within seconds an oxygen mask was over her face and her inhaler was in her hand. One large hand supported her back to sit her forward and the other moved the mask and then closed over her shaking hands to bring the inhaler up to her mouth. She gave herself five puffs, then inhaled deeply, fighting the suffocating panic which always accompanied a bad attack.
*****
As Jamie looked down at Libby’s colourless face he felt like the worst kind of bastard. Bloody hell, he knew stress was a trigger for her asthma and he definitely knew how much anxiety threatening to tell her parents would induce, but, selfish prick that he was, he’d gone ahead and done it anyway. The funny thing was that Libby’s parents had already confided in him that they knew all about Libby’s job.
‘You fell out, didn’t you?’ Libby’s dad had asked the first night at Jamie’s house. ‘That’s why she’s being a stubborn article, isn’t it?’
‘Uh – ’ Jamie hadn’t been quite sure what to say or how to explain what had happened.
‘Don’t worry,’ Martin Penny had said, his mouth flattening into a grim line. ‘I can guess what it was about. Cocktails my arse: I know what Libby does and where she does it.’
‘Martin, love, don’t,’ Rita had cut in, laying her hand on her husband’s arm.
‘He knows, Rita,’ Martin had gone on. ‘Same as we do. I’ll admit it doesn’t sit well with me. No father wants to hear that his daughter makes money like that. But who am I to tell her to stop? It’s not like I can support her and Rosie. Anyway, I’ve spoken to the guy that owns the place a few times, decent chap. I know she’s at least safe.’
‘Why haven’t you ever talked to her about it?’ Jamie had asked cautiously.
Martin shrugged. ‘She takes everything on herself. Thinks she’s a disappointment to her mother and me. Thinks we’re not proud of her when nothing could be further from the truth. I don’t want to add this in as well.’
So yes, Jamie knew he was making an empty threat, but he’d thought the means justified the ends. He hadn’t considered the stress that a threat like that would put on Libby.
He watched as she finally relaxed back into the pillows, relieved that her cheeks were becoming flushed rather than the deathly pale with blue-tinged lips he’d witnessed mere minutes ago. He ran both hands through his hair and then scrubbed them down his face.
‘Libby, I’m sorry,’ he said softly. She closed her eyes and turned her head away, but not before he saw the shimmer of tears across them. He reached up to touch her face but withdrew his hand before it could make contact. ‘I … I just can’t let you go home alone. Not today. Not after the scare you’ve given me. Please under – ’
‘Could you check if Mum’s found the poor nurse yet? Last time she talked their ears off for a good twenty minutes about whether they felt stereotyped in their traditionally female roles. She was only appeased once they managed to produce Jeff from the urology ward.’ Jeff was a large tattooed nurse who scared the crap out of most of the junior doctors.
‘Right, yes, okay. I’ll just – ’
