Page 19 of A Night with Damien Spur

‘I’ll give it a read when I have time. It might not be till the end of next week.’

‘So lovely of you to do this,’ she replied.

Nurse Aileen, who was talking to the porter, had seen the exchange.

‘Ah, Mr Spur,’ she said, approaching the desk, ‘Dr Lacey’s ready for you.’

She noticed a bag of boiled sweets on the desk.

‘Anna!’ The nurse grabbed the packet. ‘Not a good advert for a dental practice.’

‘May I have them back, please?’

You nasty bitch. How dare you embarrass me in front of Damien Spur.

Damien plucked the bag from the nurse’s hand and gave them back to Anna.

‘You’re lucky to have such a lovely receptionist,’ he said. ‘She deserves better treatment, and if you don’t stop bullying her, I’ll speak to your supervisor.’

He turned to Anna. ‘I’ll be in touch next week.’

He swept past the nurse and headed up the stairs.

***

Anna couldn’t wait to tell Sophie, her younger sister, about Damien.

She phoned her every day. Just to say hi, make sure she was all right.

The beautiful and lonely widow had lost her husband, Daniel, and son, Mikey, in a tragic accident six years ago off the coast of Mallorca.

The little boy had been swept off the rocks by a tidal wave. His father had dived in to try to rescue him. Both had drowned.

But now she’d made a dangerous friendship with Nicholas, a married man.

‘How are you, Sophie?’ Anna asked.

‘I’m okay. I really wish you wouldn’t ask me that every day.’

‘I just think you’re barking up the wrong tree. Why can’t you find someone single?’

‘Here you go again. Please stop treating me like a baby. I’m perfectly capable of leading my own life.’

‘Has Nicholas told his wife about you? Surely, she must know what’s going on. All the things you tell me and she doesn’t seem to care where he is? I think she wants him to have an affair.’

‘Anna, please. You’re jumping to conclusions. Our relationship is platonic.’

‘Platonic! But for how long? It’s your life, Sophie. Just be careful that you don’t fall for a man who’s already taken.’

‘Actually, I have met a very interesting single man, but I’m not sure he’s my type.’

‘Where?’

‘At a book launch.’

‘That’s great!’ Anna had a feeling that maybe her sister was going to tell her something she didn’t want to hear.

‘I met him last week at the launch party of his new thriller,Writing in the Sand. Good company,’ Sophie said. ‘Charmingand funny, but I think he’s quite a handful.’

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