The Billionaire's Unwanted Virgin by Doris O'Connor Read Free Book Online Page A

at the minute, but we expect her out within the
next hour. The operation is going well, I believe. Mr. Jamison is the best at
this, after all."
    "Mr. Jamison?" Alice
mirrored the words and looked up at Lakota with a frown. "But she's under
the care of Mr. Reynolds.   It was our
impression that Mr. Jamison was unavailable to take on her care, as his Rota
was full, and she did not qualify to be on his trial?"
    "As to that, I have no idea, my
dear. This is just what I have been told. Now if you follow me, I will take you
to her niece's room, where you can wait for her. Your mother is already
there."
    She turned about on her heel, and
pressed the button for the elevator with an impatient stab of one long painted
finger. Despite the situation Lakota had to smile. It seemed little Miss
Blondie was rather put out by the fact that he'd showed up with Alice. They'd
had a brief fling a couple of years ago, when he'd first gotten involved with
the hospital charity, but as he didn't mix business with pleasure he'd soon
broken it off. That hadn’t stopped Louise from trying to rekindle their
flirtation every time they met.
    The way she bristled and stole coy
glances at both him and Alice spoke volumes of her curiosity, and annoyance. No
doubt she wondered what Alice had that she didn't. Acting on pure instinct he
laced his fingers with Alice's, and she gave him a grateful squeeze and leant
against him. Her fresh scent was a welcome relief from the other woman's
expensive perfume cloying up the limited air supply in the lift, and Alice and
he exhaled in unison when the lift doors finally swung open.
    Alice's eyes widened when they
approached the private wing of the hospital, but before she could say anything
to him, they had reached her niece's room. He dismissed Louise and opened the
door for Alice. The woman perched on the edge of the bed clutched a battered
teddy to her chest, and she looked so much like an older version of Alice,
Lakota would have recognized her as her mother anywhere. She looked up when the
door opened, and the keening sound coming from her sliced straight through his
cold heart.
    "Alice, you're here. I
thought—" She stopped and glared at him, even as her arms drew Alice into
a bear hug. "Is that him ? How dare he show his face here? You may
have bought my daughter, but that doesn't give you the right to barge into our
private affairs. Get out !"
    Suitably chastised by that little
bundle of motherly outrage Lakota took a step back and put his hands up.
    "I don't mean to intrude Mrs.
Wanderlund. I simply made sure Alice got here. I will leave you two on your own
for a bit. I have some phone calls to make anyway, and I shall find out how
Beth is doing."
    "There is no need … Mum, this is
not what it seems—" Alice's defense of him stopped him in his tracks. She
held her mum back and threw him a worried glance. "Lakota is here to help.
You don’t understand what he's done already. All this," she swept a hand ‘round
the private room," this is Lakota's doing. He even got Mr. Jamison
operating on Beth. I have no idea how he did it, but, please, Mum, he's not the
baddie here. He really isn't."
    "So what?" Her mother's
voice rose to shrill screech. "Maybe he's trying to assuage his
conscience, I don’t much care. I don't want him in here."
    "But, Mum—"                                                                   
    "It's okay, Alice. I'll leave.
I’ll just be down the corridor, so if you need me, just holler. Your mum has
been through a lot tonight. I'm not expecting her to be reasonable. Stay with
your mum. I'll rustle us up some coffee or something."
    He grinned at her mother's snort in
disgust. It was pretty obvious where Alice got her backbone from, and if looks
could kill, he would be dead several times over already. Not that he could
blame Alice's mum. She didn't know him, and he would not have been impressed
had she just accepted him with