Free St Piran's: Italian Surgeon, Forbidden Bride by MARGARET MCDONAGH

the almost deserted consultants’ car park. The previous night had been the first when they’d not met up for an end-of-the-day chat. Jessica had been unable to come because she volunteered for the Samaritans and spent several hours there each Friday evening. He wasn’t surprised. Once more she was devoting her time to other people’s problems. Was it a way of avoiding her own?
    In the car, he leaned back and rested his head, reflecting on how long and lonely the weekend was becoming without Jessica. He swore softly to himself. What a sorry state he was in. Part of him rebelled. He didn’t want any new woman in his life. Or so he had thought until Jessica. Now he couldn’t stop thinking about her or wanting to be with her. He wanted to learn her secrets and encourage the real Jessica out from behind her defensive wall. Was he the only one to notice the loneliness and hurt that lurked in the depths of her beautiful green eyes?
    Starting the engine, he reversed out of his parking space, his gaze straying to the psychology building.
    ‘What the hell?’
    He braked, letting the powerful engine idle as he observed the light that shone from Jessica’s office window. The rest of the building was in darkness. Had she forgotten to switch off the light the day before? He saw a flicker of movement inside and cursed. Jessica was here?
Now?
Returning his car to its parking space, he switched off the engine, climbed out and locked the door.
    As he walked towards the building he reflected on Jessica’s odd behaviour and her reluctance to let him see inside her office. He’d brushed it off as a quirk, but her furtiveness made him certain that something more was going on and he couldn’t let this go.
    Frowning, he remembered when he’d visited her office. She’d rushed home to meet her insurance company’s assessor and he’d forgotten to ask why. Was something seriously wrong?
    The outer door of the psychology building was locked, but his swipe card and ID code gained him access. Relocking the door, he made his way throughthe darkened foyer and down the corridor to Jessica’s room. It was uncharacteristic for him to be impolite but, not wanting to give her time to shut the door in his face, he checked to see if it was unlocked. It was. He gave a sharp rap and swung the door open, astonished at the scene that greeted him.
    Jessica, bare-footed and dressed in a pair of cotton shorts and a sleeveless tank top, which emphasised her voluptuous curves and set his pulse racing, was sitting cross-legged on a blow-up mattress on the floor. A pillow and a few items of bed linen were folded at one end. For the first time, he saw her hair in all its heart-stopping glory as it fell around her shoulders, the curtain of copper-red and burnished chestnut curls enveloping her in a halo of fire.
    But she was not alone. Her companions held him transfixed and momentarily speechless. Two small, playful kittens frolicked around her, Tabby balls of fluff on stubby legs and paws that looked too big for them. His gaze returned to Jessica. The smile had frozen on her face and panic was setting in.
    Determined to discover what was going on, but not wanting to alarm her, he closed the door and crossed to her before she had time to get up. He dropped to his knees, sitting back on his heels, smiling as the kittens investigated him, sharp claws digging into his thighs as they used him as a climbing frame.
    Gently, he slid a palm under each warm, rounded little body, lifting them close for a better view, seeing the similarities and differences in what were clearly siblings’ faces. He loved animals, and would have surrounded himself with them, but Sofia had been allergic to several kinds of animals, making pets impossible.Thinking of his beloved wife, taken from him so dev-astatingly five years before, brought the familiar pain and he closed his eyes, rubbing his face against the two fluffy animals, feeling the dual purrs vibrating against his hands.
    Gio