Jennifer Taylor – The Forever Assignment (страница 2)

Adam rose unsteadily to his feet, almost as shocked by that idea as he was to see her. Kasey had never cried. Not once. Not even when he’d told her what he’d thought of her. He hadn’t held back, either, the words ripping out of him and into her, driven by pain and humiliation and sheer mind-numbing anguish. She had just stood there as the words rained down on her and smiled, and that had been his abiding memory all these years, the one that had caused him all those nightmares. Kasey Harris had smiled while she’d broken his heart.

Kasey held her smile but she knew how much it cost her even if Adam didn’t. It had been a shock when Shiloh had told her who was leading this mission, so much so that she’d almost backed out. But then it had struck her that if she refused to go, Adam would have won.

She’d made enough changes to her life in the past five years because of him and it was time to stop. She had to draw a line under what had happened even if she still hadn’t forgiven him for what he’d done to her brother. She doubted if Adam had forgiven her for what she’d done to him either, but that hadn’t been the issue until she’d walked into his office and heard what he’d said. Maybe it was silly to have let the harsh words upset her, but they had.

‘Come, come, Adam. It’s not like you to be lost for words,’ she taunted because she hated to admit that she was vulnerable in any way. She might regret why she’d had to do what she had but she didn’t regret the outcome. Adam had deserved everything he’d got after the appalling way he’d treated Keiran!

‘It isn’t. Obviously, you’ve scored one up on me, Kasey. Satisfied?’

His sardonic tone mocked her and she felt the angry colour run up her cheeks. It took every scrap of control she possessed not to tell him to go to hell and march straight out of the room only she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of thinking he’d scared her off.

‘It will do for a start,’ she said sweetly. ‘But I’ve never been one for resting on my laurels, as you know.’

His face darkened, the strong bones settling into such grim lines that a tremor ran through her. Adam had always been a force to be reckoned with and time had merely intensified that air of authority he possessed. He looked big and tough as he stood there glaring at her, his dark hair brushed smoothly back from his forehead, his green eyes piercing right to her very soul. He’d always been a handsome man and he still was, but there was no softness about him, no give, either in appearance or manner. He never compromised, never backed down, never showed any sign of weakness…apart from that night when she’d told him who she was.

The memory still had the power to disturb her so Kasey pushed it to the back of her mind as she turned to Shiloh. ‘I thought it would save time if I brought my documents over here. Everything is sorted out now—visa, official notification from the Foreign Office to say that I’m a member of the Worlds Together team, vaccination certificates, etcetera.’

‘Excellent!’

Shiloh smiled warmly at her, his welcoming attitude such a contrast to Adam’s that she couldn’t suppress the twinge of regret that speared through a corner of her heart. In other circumstances, she knew that she and Adam could have been friends but what had happened had ruled out that possibility. Just for a moment she found herself wondering if she had been mad to agree to spend the next month working with him. He would give her a rough ride, she wasn’t in any doubt of that. So was it worth putting herself under that kind of pressure to prove a point? She opened her mouth to explain that she’d changed her mind only Adam chose that very moment to speak.

‘I’m surprised you decided to join the agency. It doesn’t strike me as your sort of thing at all, Kasey.’

‘No?’ Her delicate brows arched as she turned to him. ‘Why not?’

‘From what I remember, you always enjoyed the good things in life—dining out, exotic holidays, beautiful clothes.’ His eyes skimmed over her, taking stock of the expensive black trouser suit she was wearing that day, and he laughed. ‘I do hope you know what you’re letting yourself in for.’

‘You mean I won’t be able to wear my Gucci loafers and Chanel suits while we’re in Mwuranda?’ She gasped in feigned horror. ‘Heavens above! How will I cope?’

‘Not very well with that attitude.’ His smile disappeared in a trice. ‘This isn’t a game. There’s been civil war in the country for the past two years and conditions there are about as bad as they can get. The people we will be treating have nothing left apart from their dignity and they certainly don’t need you making jokes at their expense.’

‘And you really think I need you to tell me that?’ She took a step towards him, incensed by his patronising manner. ‘I’m fully aware how bad the conditions are going to be, Adam. I’ve read the reports and I know what we’ll be dealing with.’

‘Do you really?’ He laughed softly, scorn lacing his deep voice so that she winced inwardly. ‘You may think you know what it’s like to work in a country where the whole infrastructure has broken down but until you experience the reality for yourself, you can’t possibly understand. It’s going to be tough—really tough—and I’m not sure you’re up to it.’

‘Then we shall just have to wait and see who’s right, won’t we?’ she said lightly. Maybe she didn’t have any experience of working under such extreme conditions but she’d cope. She had to because the alternative to letting him think she was beaten wasn’t an option. No matter how bad it was, she was going to complete this mission and show Adam bloody Chandler that he was wrong about her!

‘I’m sure Kasey understands it won’t be a picnic,’ Shiloh said soothingly. ‘Although, you’re quite right to worry, Adam, because it’s your job to ensure the safety and welfare of your team. However, let’s not get sidetracked at the moment. I’m afraid we have another problem to sort out. Your flights are all arranged but there’s been a bit of a hitch with the cargo.’

Kasey excused herself as the two men started to confer. She glanced around the room, wondering if she should introduce herself to the other members of the team. Shiloh had explained that they’d decided to hold a last-minute meeting to discuss any concerns the group might have and it might be an idea to let them know who she was. She made her way over to the corner where a group of women was standing and smiled at them.

‘Hi! I’m Kasey Harris. I’m stepping in as a last-minute replacement for one of your anaesthetists.’

‘Welcome aboard, Kasey.’ One of the women immediately drew her into the group. ‘I’m June Morris, one of the nurses. I keep saying I’m never going on another of these little jaunts but here I am again!’

Kasey laughed. ‘You must enjoy it.’

‘Enjoy being bitten by mozzies and sucked dry by leeches?’ June rolled her eyes. ‘Only a masochist would enjoy what we do, eh, girls?’

The other women laughed as Kasey grinned at them. ‘OK, so why do you do it? Is it the excitement of working in a new place, or the buzz of being able to make a difference to people’s lives?’

‘Probably a mixture of both,’ one of the women replied. She held out her hand. ‘I’m Katie Dexter, by the way, another of June’s little flock.’

‘Nice to meet you.’ Kasey shook hands. ‘So that’s two nurses so far. How many more of you are there?’

‘Just Lorraine and Mary.’ June explained, introducing the other two women. ‘We could have done with a couple more, to be honest, but Adam has been very choosy. He only wanted people with experience of working in the field along on this trip.’

Kasey grimaced. ‘Mmm, so I gathered.’

‘He didn’t seem too happy about you coming along,’ Katie put in hesitantly, and June laughed.

‘That’s an understatement if ever I heard one! I never thought I’d see the day when Adam Chandler lost his cool. He’s the proverbial ice-man but he hit the roof when Shiloh told him you were going to be on the team. Do I sense a juicy story?’

‘Not really.’ Kasey shrugged, trying to make light of what had gone on because she’d never told anyone what had happened between her and Adam. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of what she’d done but she wasn’t exactly proud of it either.

She sighed because it had all seemed so simple in the beginning, too. Her sole aim had been to show Adam that he couldn’t go around playing god with people’s lives the way he’d done with her brother. She’d decided to teach him a lesson he wouldn’t forget. She’d known about Adam’s reputation for being aloof, of course. Several of her friends had worked with him and they’d told her that he never mixed socially with his staff, but she hadn’t let that deter her. Someone had needed to show him how it felt to have your whole life torn apart. So she’d got herself a job at the hospital where he’d worked with the express intention of trying to foster a relationship between them and, in the event, it had been surprisingly easy to do.

Kasey shivered. Even now she could recall the shock of their first meeting, still remember the way her skin had tingled when he’d shaken her hand and how her body had responded to the gravelly sound of his voice. That Adam had been equally affected hadn’t been in any doubt, and it had scared her because it had been the last thing she’d expected, yet there had been no way that she could have backed out at that point. So she’d gone ahead with her plan—accepted his invitation to dinner the following night—even though she’d had qualms about what she’d been doing.