200 Harley Street. Lynne Marshall

never really had the time to miss them,’ Leo said. ‘I’ve been too busy cleaning up after their mistakes.’

      Lizzie looked at him for a long moment. No wonder he dreaded the thought of commitment—he was still bearing the cost of his parents’ lack of commitment to anything other than themselves.

      ‘Not all relationships are like your parents’, Leo.’

      ‘Of course not,’ Leo quipped. ‘Take …’ He pretended to think for a moment then gave a very wry smile. ‘I can’t think of too many shining examples. Think about Paris …’

      ‘I already have.’ It was getting late, she had to go. ‘The answer’s no.’

      It wasn’t a row, it wasn’t even close to one, but as Lizzie sat in the taxi on her way to visit her friends she felt as if the clock was ticking towards the end of them. They were both so completely different. Leo often said his only responsibility was to his patients and he intended to keep it that way. She had been born responsible.

      ‘Where have you been?’ Brenda scooped her into a hug. ‘Have you dropped off the planet or something?’

      ‘I’m here now.’ Lizzie grinned, handing over her present and ordering a drink.

      ‘You’re seeing someone.’ Haley was straight onto it. ‘Come on, Lizzie, who?’

      And she almost told them but changed her mind, because that would make what she and Leo had more real—maybe in a few weeks she could tell them about her crazy time with Leo Hunter, maybe she could sob into her margarita with friends, but for now all Lizzie wanted to do was protect whatever she had with Leo, instead of handing it over to others for discussion.

      It was the same with her parents.

      Lizzie walked along Brighton beach at the weekend, trying to come up for breath after a dizzying time with Leo.

      It was so cold that her teeth were chattering as she looked out to the grey churn of the sea. Lizzie had always loved this time of year in her home town—the summer tourists were long gone, the Christmas shoppers had left and it was just bare and beautiful and recovering, getting ready to start all over again.

      She wanted to share it with Leo, she wanted to walk along the pier and go on rides that would be almost empty now. She wanted to take him to her favourite coffee shop and share this part of herself with him.

      She missed him and it was just a weekend, Lizzie thought. Soon she’d have to miss him for the rest of her life.

       How are they?

      A text from Leo maybe meant he was missing her at this moment too but as she answered Lizzie kept the details sparse. Leo was out with some prominent people tonight and he was being interviewed on television tomorrow about the hazards of cosmetic surgery and people who went overseas for cheap procedures. She didn’t share that her mum had broken her watch again and kept forgetting it was being repaired and so was frantically searching for it, or that her father kept asking questions about the ball and Leo. Lizzie knew as she fired back a suitably upbeat reply that Leo didn’t need to hear it and she also knew something else—he’d been right about Paris.

      Her world really was too small.

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

      ‘WE COULD JUST keep it simple—red roses and chocolates.’ Leo only briefly looked up as Lizzie walked in. It had been a couple of weeks since she’d visited her parents and she was going again this weekend for her mother’s birthday. ‘Shan’t be a moment,’ he said to Lizzie, then resumed his conversation with Lexi.

      ‘Won’t it be an issue if their partners don’t know that they’re coming to the clinic?’ Lexi said.

      ‘They can always say no,’ Leo commented. ‘I’m not having gifts sent to their house or anything.’ He looked at Lizzie. ‘We’re discussing Valentine’s Day,’ he explained, and Lizzie gave a wry smile, because Leo had no problem giving his heart to his patients. ‘Lexi’s worried that I’m going to upset a few husbands.’

      ‘Well, it wouldn’t be the first time.’ Lexi smiled and stood. ‘I’ll have a think and get back to you.’

      ‘Would you have liked flowers and chocolates on Valentine’s Day if you’d had your surgery scheduled then?’ Leo asked when Lexi had closed the door.

      ‘Keep trying, Leo,’ Lizzie teased as he resumed their game. ‘I’m never going to tell you.’

      ‘Tonight.’ Leo’s blue eyes turned black as he looked at her, lust turned on like a laser that in an instant made her burn. His voice was very matter-of-fact as he told her exactly what he was going to do. ‘All lights on, I’m going to strip you naked and I’m going to explore every inch of you, and this time,’ unlike the countless other times, ‘I won’t get distracted. I am going to find out.’ He opened a desk and pulled out his ophthalmoscope. ‘I haven’t used this in a while.’ He pressed the intercom on his desk. ‘Gwen, could you bring me some batteries for my ophthalmoscope, please?’ He gave her a wicked smile. ‘Every inch,’ he said, and Lizzie stood there, heat washing through her at the thought of Leo exploring every inch of her skin. ‘So, what do you want to do for Valentine’s Day—or do I have to surprise you?’ Leo asked.

      ‘Actually …’

      ‘I assume Paris is still out of bounds?’

      ‘Leo …’ She tried to get back to the reason she had come into see him in the first place. ‘I actually came into say that I needed that afternoon off. My mum’s having a small procedure and it’s scheduled for four p.m. on that day …’

      Leo just looked. He wanted to say ‘It’s Valentine’s Day’ but he knew it wasn’t his place, that would sound like a ten-year-old whining. It was her mother, for God’s sake, but he certainly wasn’t used to spending Valentine’s Day alone.

      ‘I can pick you up from Brighton.’

      ‘Leo, she’ll be confused. I’ll probably spend the night there …’ It was actually a tiny procedure her mother was having—the removal of a tiny basal cell carcinoma on her forehead—and in truth Lizzie probably didn’t even need to be here. Yes, she was hiding because she didn’t want the hearts and roses and to be made love to, didn’t want the perfect Valentine’s Day to happen because every one after that would be a pale comparison.

      With each passing day and certainly with each passing night, Lizzie was becoming more aware that every single Valentine’s Day, no matter her future, would not compare to one spent with Leo.

      ‘Lizzie.’ Leo was struggling, he wanted her in a way he never had another woman, and that unnerved him too. An ever-efficient Gwen came in with the batteries for his ophthalmoscope and a message for Lizzie, and he registered Lizzie’s rapid blink as she read it.

      ‘Is everything okay?’

      ‘I’m not sure,’ Lizzie said, as she read the brief message. ‘I’d better get on.’ She saw his concern and moved to reassure him. ‘It’s nothing to with the clinic.’

      Which should reassure him, but this time it didn’t.

      He shouldn’t be getting so involved, Leo told himself, but he sought her out a little while later and found her hiding in her office, trying to pretend everything was okay, though it was clear to Leo she was close to crying.

      ‘It’s nothing too major,’ Lizzie said when pressed. ‘They think Mum’s got a UTI.’

      ‘A urinary tract infection can be serious in the elderly,’ Leo said. ‘How bad is she?’

      ‘More confused than ever,’ Lizzie said. ‘They’ve got a nurse specialling her and they’ve started antibiotics, but if she gets worse they’re going