“Oh dear,” Harriet murmured.
Diana shook her head slowly.
“What?” Viola asked. She ate the piece of meat on her fork.
Harriet and Diana exchanged a look before Diana took a deep breath and said, “You have accepted his invitation to flirt with you, Viola, which essentially means you’ve admitted an interest.”
Viola stared at her friend and suddenly laughed. “That is ridiculous. I talk to all my patients, Diana. You know that. Everyone does. So for Mr. Lowell to presume there might be more to it than professional courtesy would be utterly mad.”
“Except for the fact that you readily took his bait regarding the husband remark, gave him the answer he needed and chose to attack his reputation when he said something offensive to you.” Harriet took a sip of her wine before adding, “Essentially, this proves you care, even if only a little, about all of his past indiscretions. A woman without any interest at all would not do so, Viola.”
Concern pricked at Viola’s skin. She reached for her wine and took a long sip. “How can you be so certain about this?”
Both women raised their eyebrows. “We have some experience with men,” Diana said while Harriet returned her attention to her food. “Trust us when we tell you, Mr. Lowell has designs on you, Viola, which is hardly surprising, given what we know about him. As your friend, I advise you to be cautious where he is concerned.”
“Of course,” Viola assured her. “That goes without saying since I have no interest in encouraging any man’s attention.”
“Perhaps not,” Harriet agreed. She’d set her fork aside and was giving Viola her full attention. “But a rake of Mr. Lowell’s renown is more dangerous than you can imagine. He will know precisely what to say in order to seduce the most defiant woman straight into his bed.”
Chapter 3
When Emily stopped by Viola’s office the following day to inform her that Mr. Lowell would allow onlyherto tend to his wound, she bristled. After her conversation with Harriet and Diana the previous evening, she’d gone about her day with the intention of letting others check up on his well-being and then report back to her. This had worked until now, but could go on no longer. Which was rather unsettling since it would mean having to see him again. The mere idea of it released a swarm of butterflies in her belly. Because if his comments and smiles had proved anything to her thus far, it was that in spite of her very best efforts, she wasn’t immune to his good looks or charm.
Quite the opposite.
But, she was first and foremost a caregiver who’d made a promise to Florian. So, with the same degree of trepidation most people would feel if forced to jump from a cliff, she marched into Mr. Lowell’s room and ignored the furious pounding of her heart.
“Why must you disrupt things?” she asked, speaking before she had time to think.
“Is that what I’m doing?” His dark brown eyes followed her as she went to the chest of drawers by the wall and collected a few supplies.
“Emily is perfectly capable of changing your compress and bandage.”
“I’m sure she is,” Mr. Lowell said, “but I want you.”
The words were softly spoken. A verbal caress meant to break Viola’s defenses. She turned to face him. “Why?”
He smiled then, disarming her completely. One second ago, she’d been ready for battle. Now, however, her legs had grown weak while her brain seemed to sigh with pleasure.
“Because of this.” He gestured between them. “You challenge me, Viola.” He paused for a second as if considering, then chuckled lightly and added, “You’re also lovely to look at.”
She glared at him, which made him frown. And then he said, “You disagree.” He shook his head as if such a concept was inconceivable to him.
Instead of engaging, Viola rolled her eyes and brought the materials she needed closer to the bed. “Come on then,” she said, resigning herself to the task at hand. “Let’s get this over with.”
He eyed her coyly while she pulled back his sheet and proceeded to lift up his shirt. Her hands made contact with his skin, and just as before, she felt herself tremble.
“I like it when you touch me like that,” he murmured as if his voice alone could entice her to do the wickedest things.
She cleared her throat and met his gaze as frankly as she could muster. “Perhaps you would like the orderlies to give you another bath, Mr. Lowell?”
He started to laugh, then winced with pain and fell silent. The tension between them was effectively dispelled, allowing Viola to focus. She worked quickly, intent on going to check on Mrs. Richardson again as soon as she was finished.
“There. That ought to do it,” she said, satisfied with her work. She began pulling down Mr. Lowell’s shirt but froze when he caught her wrist.
To her chagrin, her entire body came alive beneath his touch, her skin warming precisely where his fingers made contact. “I’m sorry if I have made you feel uncomfortable.” He released his hold on her slowly, as if preparing to grab her again if she tried to flee. “This wasn’t my intention. I just... I like having fun, Viola, and flirting with a woman who’s able to respond in kind is vastly entertaining. It is also the only source of amusement available to me at the moment.”
To Viola’s surprise, Mr. Lowell looked utterly sincere. The mischievousness from earlier was gone from his eyes. In fact, he appeared to be truly concerned he might have offended her somehow.
