The Doctor's Society Sweetheart (15 page)

Dart was still stunned, not sure what to say to Emmy, not sure what to do about the fact that he was on the front cover of a newspaper. He edged back from her embrace and removed her hands from his face, putting them into her lap.

It was the first inkling she had that something was wrong. ‘Dart?’

Without a word he placed the paper in her hands. Emmy looked down at it then sighed. ‘It didn’t take them long, did it?’ She met his gaze. ‘I guess we might need to learn to be a bit more discreet.’

Dart blinked. ‘Discreet?’ He paused for a moment then asked, ‘Aren’t you concerned about this?’

‘Dart, it’s hardly the first time I’ve been in the news. You know that.’

‘I do but…it’s the first time for me and I don’t remember saying that a paper can print my picture willy-nilly.’

Emmy opened the paper and flicked past the local news until she came to a double-page spread of the two of them kissing at the airport, a photograph of them, arms around each other, unable to let go of each other.

‘There’s
more
?’

Emmy closed her eyes at the anger and censure she heard in his tone. ‘I understand how this might be upsetting to you but it will all blow over. It’s just because it’s new and because
I’ve never been photographed…kissing…anyone…like that before.’

‘I’m in a newspaper!’ The incredulity in his tone almost made her smile and her heart went out to him.

‘It’s a different world, Dart. I know that. We’ll be a hot topic for a while and then things will settle down.’

‘How? When? We don’t even know ourselves how things are going to settle down. Your world, Emerson, is so drastically different from my own.’

She tried not to be hurt by his words. There was no way she could forget that she’d professed her love for him while he had merely admitted that she meant a great deal to him. It wasn’t the same and it wasn’t equal to her feelings for him. She slowly exhaled and forced herself to remain calm. Time. He simply needed time.

‘I know and I understand it may take a little while for you to get used to it, but it won’t last for ever. Tomorrow some other person far more “famous” than me will do something newsworthy and we’ll be forgotten.’

‘Really?’

She tossed the paper aside and put her hands on either side of his face. ‘Trust me, Dart.’

‘You I trust. Everyone else in the world—forget about it.’

‘And that’s what we’ll do. We’ll forget about them tonight and enjoy ourselves.’ She kissed him. ‘Everything will turn out fine.’ Even as she said the words out loud, Emmy fervently hoped she was right, that the lifestyle she’d been born into wouldn’t scare off the man of her dreams.

As they drove through the streets of Sydney, Emmy promising to take him to some of her favourite spots, Dart was determined to let go of everything and just enjoy being with her. He’d known all along that she was a woman who was on the press top-ten lists, a person of interest, and as he was with her,
he
was becoming a person the press was interested in. It
made him highly uncomfortable. Even sitting in the back of this amazing car made him feel out of his depth, out of his comfort zone.

Dart put both his arms around her, drawing her closer, inhaling her scent and forcing himself to remain calm. It was different and it was Emerson’s world, not his. He had known things would be different when they returned to Australia, just hadn’t expected things to be
this
different. He had no idea what the night was going to contain but the fact that he could hold Emmy close went a long way to helping him deal with the prying eyes they would no doubt encounter.

When they reached their destination, it was to find they were at Manly, near where the ferry docked. They left the limousine and quickly ran to board the Manly ferry, which would take them into the city, going between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, docking at Circular Quay. Being night-time, everything was lit up, glowing brightly, and Dart did appreciate its beauty. It was nothing, however, in comparison to the way Emmy’s face lit up with delight at being able to show him around.

They stood at the rail, looking out across the water, Emmy pointing out interesting landmarks and recounting memories while Dart looked at her. ‘Isn’t it lovely?’ she asked, turning to face him.

‘Absolutely.’

Emmy blushed shyly. ‘Dart, you’re not even looking at the sights.’

‘Yes, I am.’ He leaned forward. ‘I’m looking at the most important sight to me.’ He brushed his lips against hers, unable to get enough of this incredible woman. After the ferry docked, they took a taxi to Darling Harbour, content just to be with each other. Dart was just starting to feel a little more relaxed when a flash went off behind them. He turned and looked over his shoulder and, sure enough, there was a photographer.

‘Just ignore him,’ Emmy said softly, having felt Dart’s arm tighten around her shoulders. On the short monorail trip to Darling Harbour they received quite a few interested glances and Dart was sure he heard one woman whisper, ‘Isn’t that Emerson Jofille? The socialite?’

He clenched his jaw and tucked his emotions deep down inside. As they strolled around the science museum, a few people even stopped Emmy and asked to have a photograph taken with her. Dart politely refused to join in.

‘Things will settle down,’ Emmy said again as they entered a small, quiet Italian restaurant. The owner greeted her with such friendliness that Dart gathered the impression she ate here quite often. When she introduced him, the owner clasped his hands warmly.

‘Dr Freeman, we are honoured to have you and dear Emmy as our guests tonight. Come. I have a quiet table where you will not be bothered.’ As they were led to a candlelit table near the rear of the restaurant, Dart couldn’t help but notice there were quite a few other well-known people eating there—politicians and stars of the stage and screen.

‘See? We’re not the most important people in the world,’ Emmy pointed out once they were left alone, sipping glasses of excellent wine. She took his hand in hers. ‘Just the most important to each other.’

Dart slowly found himself relaxing and even when other patrons came over to greet Emmy quite warmly, he wasn’t annoyed. After enjoying a fantastic meal, being invited back to the kitchen to personally thank the chefs—something he’d never done in his life—Dart started to think that perhaps he and Emmy could make a go of a relationship after all.

They sneaked out through the rear kitchen door into a back alley filled with bins and scraps.
‘Voilà!’
Emmy waved her hand with a flourish as she stepped over cabbage leaves
on the ground. ‘I give you the
real
lifestyles of the rich and famous.’

‘It most certainly is different,’ Dart agreed, slipping his arm around her shoulders and drawing her close to him. As they headed out of the alley, back to the main streets, Emmy once more pointing things out, Dart started to become aware that they were being followed. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw that there were at least four men, all with cameras around their necks, dogging their steps.

‘Em,’ he said, interrupting what she was saying. ‘We have company.’

Emmy sighed. ‘It’s not usually this difficult for me to enjoy a night out.’ She spoke quietly. ‘I’m sorry, Dart. Best we deal with them and give them what they want.’ She slowed her steps.

‘What do they want?’

‘Pictures? Interviews? The juicy details on who you are and what you do.’

‘
I’m
not the person of interest here. You are.’ The tightness was back in his body, the annoyance returning to his tone. Emmy knew she couldn’t expect miracles in one night and where she thought he’d been nice and relaxed in the restaurant, perhaps coming to see that this was indeed her life, she wondered whether it hadn’t been the calm before the storm.

When she turned to face the paparazzi, Dart dropped his arm from her shoulders, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Emmy felt instantly sad and bereft at the way he was withdrawing from her, not only in a physical sense but also on an emotional level.

‘Hi.’ She pasted on a smile for the cameras, stepping slightly in front of Dart in order to shield him from the flashes that were now going off, left, right and centre. ‘How are you all tonight?’ she asked in that polite tone Dart had heard her use on several occasions.

As he watched her talk to the photo-journalists, listening to the way she evasively answered their questions, laughing with them and giving them what they wanted without really revealing a thing, Dart felt completely out of his depth.

This was Emerson’s world. Emerson-Rose Jofille, socialite, television presenter and daughter to business mogul Sebastian Jofille. She wasn’t his Emmy. Here, in her beloved Sydney, she couldn’t be the woman she’d revealed to him in Tarparnii. With him by her side she’d be in the papers more than ever and while he felt so uncomfortable now as the flashes continued to go off, the journalists more than a little curious about him and how he fitted into Emmy’s life, the earlier sense he’d had that they might be able to work out a future started to disappear.

This was Emerson’s world. Not his.

As her driver Tom pulled the car up at the rear of his hotel, Dart turned to look at Emmy.

‘Sorry to cut the night short,’ he said. They were sitting side by side in the rear of the limo. Dart wanted space to figure things out and wrap his head around the events of this crazy evening. ‘I know there were more things you wanted to show me.’

‘It’s fine.’ She wished he’d draw her close; she wished she wasn’t able to read the ‘stay back’ sign above his head so clearly.

‘You’re lying,’ he said easily and without malice. ‘I can tell because you’re wearing your polite smile, but thank you anyway.’

‘I guess tonight didn’t go exactly as I’d planned. I’m sorry, Dart. I didn’t realise we’d get that much interest.’ How many times did she need to apologise for being who she was? It wasn’t as though she’d
planned
to have the paparazzi follow them around.

‘Perhaps you always have that many photographers trailing
after you and you’re simply used to it. You handle them very well.’

She shrugged, not wanting his praise but wanting his arms about her, his mouth on hers, so she could lose herself in the sensations they created. She also wanted his reassurance that he would stick around, that he’d wait out the inquisitive storm of the general public and choose to be with her. ‘I’ve been raised to handle them well.’ Her tone was again polite.

He nodded. ‘OK.’ Neither of them moved. Neither of them spoke. The space around them filled with an uncomfortable silence.

‘Dart?’

‘I’d better go.’

They spoke in unison and before Dart put his hand on the doorhandle, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips. ‘Thanks for an…interesting night.’

‘Dart?’ Emmy couldn’t help herself and reached out to grab his arm. ‘Will I see you tomorrow?’ She hated the way he was making her feel, hated it that she wasn’t in control of her emotions.

‘I’ll be at PMA again for most of the day—paperwork.’

‘After that? We’ll do something quiet. Together. The two of us.’

‘Hmm.’ He sounded as though he didn’t believe her. ‘Bye.’ He kissed her again and this time climbed from the limo and shut the door.

Emmy sat there for a moment, biting her lip, her mind working quickly. She loved Dart and she was almost sure he loved her back but was too apprehensive to admit it. She needed to find a way to prove to him that she was serious about being with him, serious about finding a way they could be together where they could both be themselves with no paparazzi, no passers-by asking for photographs and no journalists bugging them for interviews.

After a moment she picked up her mobile phone and pressed a speed-dial number. As she waited for the person to pick up the phone, she slid the partition down between herself and her driver.

‘The Blue Room wine bar, please, Tom,’ she instructed. ‘Ah, Felix,’ she said as her call was answered. ‘Can we meet?’

Dart headed to his room, startled when the hotel manager, Mr Pfeiffer, appeared at his side again.

‘You’re back earlier than expected, Dr Freeman,’ the man said. ‘I’ve taken the liberty of moving you to one of our more elite rooms. This way, if you please, sir.’

Dart stopped dead in his tracks. ‘You did what?’

The hotel manager faltered. ‘We’ve upgraded your room, sir. I’ve had the concierge move your belongings. Don’t worry, nothing was damaged. I supervised the entire event.’

Dart clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, unable to believe what was happening. He opened his eyes, about to demand they put everything back into the room he’d booked when a photographer came along the hotel corridor and snapped his picture. ‘Lead the way,’ he said, his priority now to lock himself away from all prying eyes.

The instant his hotel room door closed behind him, Dart leaned against it, flicking the plastic key-card onto the desk. There were fresh flowers in vases on every table, the room almost smelt like a florist’s. There was champagne chilling and a box of chocolates with little complimentary cards attached. No doubt the hotel manager had expected him to return with Emerson in tow.

Dart pushed this crazy night to the back of his mind and headed to the bed, kicking off his shoes. He slumped down and flicked on the television, willing to watch anything so long as it took his mind off his immediate dilemma.

The one thing he’d realised tonight, even after seeing Emmy
in her world, and realising that he didn’t belong there, was that he was definitely in love with her—the way she made him feel during their conversations, the way she touched his hand, the way she snuggled into him, the way she filled the void in his life. What he felt for her was stronger than anything he’d felt before, even for Marta, and that surprised him.

He loved Emerson-Rose and that only gave him bigger problems to deal with.

When he woke, to a knock at the door, it was to find the television still on and him still dressed in his clothes from last night.

The knock at the door came again, this time accompanied by the call of ‘Room Service’.