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PROLOGUE
‘ACCOMMODATION PROVIDED’ WAS starting to take on a whole new !
Lizzie Birch took the lift to the fifth floor with her heart in her mouth, sure that there must have been some mistake—that this couldn’t possibly be her new home
When she had been given the trendy Marylebone address Lizzie had convinced herself it would be so acco old building, divided into bedsits perhaps …
This was anything but that
As she turned the key Lizzie stepped into a tastefully furnished, high-ceilinged flat and caught the scent of flowers Turning, she shen she saw an elaborate bouquet and a basket of luxurious nibbles and wines there to greet her
Lizzie walked over and inhaled the gorgeous fragrance of spring, but on a cold JanuaryThey must have cost a fortune
The placeinto a chocolate cha her eyes in bliss, but when she opened thes Only noas she starting to fully realise the true coup of beco Head Nurse at the Hunter Clinic at 200 Harley Street
There was a note to say that the unifor for her at the clinic It was a far cry froe of white dresses or theatre scrubs that Lizzie was rather more used to It was all as rich and as expensive as the voice Lizzie had so far only heard on the other end of a telephone
Leo Hunter
‘You coe to his voice that had made Lizzie frown; after all, the recommendation as to her suitability for the position had come from Leo’s own brother, Ethan
‘Thank you’ Lizzie hadn’t really knohat to say ‘I was very flattered when Ethan suggested that I apply He said to call and hopefully arrange an interview—’
‘The job’s yours,’ Leo had interrupted ‘There’s no need for an interview, unless you want to hop over to Switzerland’ Lizzie hadn’t been sure if he’d been joking or had round and Leo had apologised for the noise—explaining that, like all good coseons, now that the Christ—and then Lizzie had frowned in confusion as he’d told her that he looked forward to seeing her in the New Year
Was that it?
He hadn’t even asked about her employment history! He didn’t seeency work and that she was, in fact, a senior nurse in Accident and Eency
He’d given the job as easily as that!
‘Oh,’ Leo added, just before he rang off ‘Did you want accommodation?’ As easily as that he tossed it into the conversation—his clipped, well-schooled voice delivering the offer alht ‘As Head Nurse of the Hunter Clinic, we can offer you that’
‘Offer it?’ Lizzie checked
‘A furnished flat …’
Lizzie clutched the phone as he thanked someone, presumably for a drink because she could hear the chink of ice cubes as his attention caot a feithin walking distance of the clinic’ Lizzie was about to decline—anything within walking distance of 200 Harley Street would be way out of her price range—but then Leo continued, ‘It’s part of the package, though if you already have somewhere to stay, we can come to—’
‘That would be great’ It was Lizzie interrupting now Trying and failing to sound blasé, but a furnished flat within walking distance would save a fortune, not just on rental but on travel Lizzie had o and had found it fiercely expensive, especially with all her parents’ nursing-home bills She wasn’t used to perks and certainly not one of this nitude ‘The flat would be marvellous’
‘Good,’ Leo clipped ‘Gwen, the clinic er, will be in touch with all the details and I’ll see you in the New Year’
Happy New Year, Lizzie thought as she looked out of the , ent’s Park, unable to believe all this was really happening to her
Leo’s brother, Ethan, had been a patient of Lizzie’s He had returned injured fro his badly injured legs She’d known Ethan was a doctor but had had no idea of his dazzling fa soh, Lizzie hadn’t taken it re silences with chatter about her own life—her aging parents, herconcern she had for them despite the fact they were both in a home How the decision to sell the family home had been a hard one How expensive it all was How she tried to get down to Brighton to visit them most of her days off
How it hurt that her nised her
Her tongs had paused inmore to herself, but it had been Ethan who had, for once, broken the silence
‘They’re lucky to have you’