by Lucy Clark
‘Ages. I only arrived a few minutes before you and I didn’t even have the excuse of having to stop by the hospital.’
Susie raised her eyebrows. ‘Checking up on me?’
‘Jackson was concerned,’ Todd told her with a shrug, and stood. ‘I’ll catch up with you later. There are a few nurses I want to impress while I’m dressed up like this.’
Susie chuckled as he headed off but his final words stayed with her. Jackson had been concerned about her? She risked a glance at him as he spoke to someone across the table. Had he really been worried about her or the dinner starting on time?
Susie’s head was starting to spin. She needed some space. She picked up her clutch evening bag and rose. ‘Excuse me,’ she said softly. Every man at the table stood politely as she left.
As Susie walked away from the table, Jackson found his gaze drawn to the sway of her hips and her gorgeous legs. Once more he forced himself to look away, returning his attention to Richard, only to realise his aide was watching Susie as well.
In fact, all the men at the table were watching her. ‘Wow!’ one of them remarked. ‘Susie looks…’
‘Like a woman,’ one of the other men finished, and they all laughed.
Jackson felt his hackles begin to rise. ‘Problem?’
‘This is the first time Susie’s worn a dress to an official departmental function,’ someone told him. ‘So it’s the first opportunity we’ve had to see her in anything other than a suit.’
‘She sure looks different. If being Head of Department means Susie wears a dress like that, she has my support for the job.’
‘She’s also a colleague of yours,’ Jackson pointed out. ‘Please, show her the respect she deserves.’ He knew his tone sounded pompous and arrogant but he couldn’t help himself. He wasn’t at all happy that other men were ogling the woman he found desirable. ‘You were saying, Richard?’ Jackson turned his attention to his aide.
He still found it hard to concentrate on what Richard was saying, his thoughts caught up with Susie and how incredible she looked in that dress. Especially when she walked. He was unable to control his thoughts, growing more impatient for her return with every passing second. Was she all right? Had anything happened to upset her?
A few minutes later his gaze strayed to the doorway again and this time he almost breathed a sigh of relief as he watched her return. Her hips swished slightly and he noticed she was concentrating hard on balancing in her shoes. She looked…gorgeous. Unlike the other men at the table, he hadn’t needed to see her in that sexy black dress to realise she was all woman beneath it. He’d realised that fact the first moment he’d laid eyes on her that morning.
He excused himself from what Richard was saying and held out Susie’s chair as she sat.
‘Thank you,’ she said, and smiled at him. He really was quite the gentleman. He included her in the conversation he was having with Richard, but not ten minutes later her mobile phone rang.
‘Excuse me,’ she said as she fished it out of her bag. Jackson was aware of her quiet tone as she spoke. Moments later, she ended the call.
‘It looks as though I’ll have to pass on coffee,’ she told everyone at the table.
‘Emergency?’ Jackson asked.
‘Yes.’ At the interested glances she received, she elaborated. ‘Fractured olecranon, radius and ulna. My registrar says he’s showing signs of compartment syndrome.’
‘What’s that?’ Richard asked, and several of the surgeons seated at their table started to answer.
‘It’s Susie’s patient,’ Jackson intervened. ‘I think she’s more than capable of answering Richard’s question.’
Susie turned slightly to look at Richard. ‘It’s the effect of tissue swelling within a compartment of the body, in this case the forearm. The blood vessels are being compressed, which results in muscle atrophy.’
‘So…that’s kind of bad,’ Richard reasoned.
‘Yes.’ She smiled at him.
‘Can’t your registrar deal with it?’ Richard asked. ‘You are the MC after all.’
‘Sorry, but it’s a private patient,’ Susie explained as she picked up her bag.
‘I think she’s fulfilled her MC duties for the evening,’ Jackson told his aide.
When she stood, all the men rose to their feet. ‘Oh, please, sit down,’ she said with a smile, before turning to Jackson. ‘Sorry to run out on your welcome dinner but these things can’t be helped.’
Jackson remained standing. ‘No need to apologise. Besides, we’re almost done.’ They shook hands and again Susie felt that warm buzz of excitement spread up her arm. She nodded politely before dropping his hand and walking away from the table. She was stopped a few times on her way out, but as the room was filled with people linked to the medical profession they all understood the demands of emergencies.
As she took the lift down to the ground floor, waiting with mild impatience while the valet collected her car, Susie fought for self-control. In less than twenty-four hours she’d met a man who affected her like no one else ever had, and she was having difficulty getting him out of her mind.
Be careful, she told herself sternly. You’ve been burnt twice already. First by Walter and then by Greg. It will do you no good to get involved with the handsome Jackson Myers, despite his charm. That would just be asking for trouble.
She drove carefully to the hospital, heading straight for the emergency theatres. She changed into theatre clothes and went in search of her registrar.
‘Nice hairdo,’ Kyle, her registrar, teased and she laughed.
‘How’s Mr Barnes?’
‘Coping well. I’ve explained what’s happening to him and he’s signed the consent form. The instruments and Theatre are ready. We’re just waiting on the all-clear from the anaesthetist.’
‘Excellent.’ Susie went to see her patient and have a word with the anaesthetist before checking the notes Kyle had taken during the evening. When everything was organised, they started to scrub.
Once in Theatre, Susie had her mind in gear and off Jackson Myers. She focused her attention on Mr Barnes’s arm, which he’d injured whilst playing tennis.
‘Why do people persist in playing sport?’ Susie asked her registrar as they relieved the pressure of the tissue planes. ‘They only end up injuring themselves.’
‘They keep fit. They enjoy themselves. They meet new people.’
‘I can do all that without playing sport,’ she told him, smiling beneath her mask. ‘There are just some games I don’t understand. I mean, why would a person play something like…beach volleyball, for instance? First of all, they usually don’t wear shoes, which heightens circumstances for stress fractures. They’re jumping all around, up and down on the sand, landing on their ribs as well as arms and legs. A whole list of orthopaedic injuries spring to mind, and all for what? So they can enjoy themselves? Rent a movie—it’s safer!’
Kyle laughed. ‘How many beach volleyball games have you seen?’
‘None,’ she replied. ‘But I’ve seen the injuries. I’m sure it’s not totally bad. There are plenty of worse sports.’
‘Like motorcycle racing?’ Kyle asked, knowing full well this was one of Susie’s pet hates.
‘Don’t get me started. I’ve been in a pretty good mood today, considering.’
‘Yes, you have,’ he approved. ‘Glad the VOP is finally under way?’
‘Most definitely. One day down, five more to go.’ Kyle had known she hadn’t wanted to act as host for the VOP and had tolerated her mounting apprehensiveness with a cool, calm and collected attitude.
‘I take it the dinner went well.’
‘Yes.’ Susie frowned.
‘The VOP seems like a nice guy.’
‘Did you manage to get to the viewing gallery this afternoon?’
‘I came in late. Couldn’t see much. You, on the other hand, certainly had a bird’s-eye view. How did that happen?’
Susie growled and told him about Mr Petunia’s c
ancellation while she inserted a drain into Mr Barnes’s arm, which would hopefully ensure against further recurrence of compartment syndrome. ‘So Jackson told me I was the replacement.’
‘What was it like? I mean, operating with one of the greats.’
She heard the door to her theatre open but thought nothing of it. ‘What was it like? It was scary, that’s what it was like.’ Susie paused for a moment. ‘Not scary assisting Jackson, no, that was fine, but having all those people watching? No, thank you.’
‘Jackson, eh?’ Kyle teased. ‘On a first-name basis with him already?’
‘What do you expect me to call him? Professor? His Excellency? Brilliant Surgeon?’ The most sexiest man alive? she thought. She heard someone slowly walk around the table and come to stand behind Kyle.
Susie frowned and raised her gaze to look past Kyle’s shoulder. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked directly into Jackson’s deep blue ones.
CHAPTER THREE
‘I’D SETTLE for the last one,’ Jackson said in that deep tone she was becoming accustomed to.
Susie quickly put a dampener on the frisson of awareness his close proximity caused. For a second she thought she’d spoken her last one out loud and lowered her gaze, forcing herself to concentrate on her work. She was almost ready to close.
‘Jackson,’ she said, hoping her voice didn’t betray the surprise, elation and confusion she felt at his unannounced presence. ‘What brings you here?’
‘Curiosity.’
‘For compartment syndrome?’
He chuckled, and Susie locked the sound away in her memory, promising herself to relive it later.
‘Introduce us,’ Kyle whispered, and Susie cleared her throat.
‘Jackson, this is my registrar, Dr Kyle Thompson, who is going to help me to close up Mr Barnes’s arm so we can get out of here.’
‘Nice to meet you, Kyle,’ Jackson remarked. Although he was wearing full theatre garb, Jackson remained on the outer perimeter of the operating table.
‘Likewise, sir.’
‘Shouldn’t that be Brilliant Surgeon?’ she teased Kyle as she started suturing. ‘After all, Jackson did agree to it.’
‘No. That was what you were supposed to be calling him,’ Kyle reasoned, and Susie smiled beneath her mask.
‘Oh, yes. I forgot.’ She glanced over at Jackson. ‘I take it coffee was served without a hitch?’
‘Yes.’
‘Good.’ There was silence for a while as Susie and Kyle continued with their work.
‘It must have been a good evening,’ Kyle said. ‘At least, judging from Susie’s flash hairstyle that’s now hidden beneath her theatre cap.’
‘It was,’ Jackson replied, his gaze meeting Susie’s for a few seconds.
‘Right. We’re done,’ Susie announced, forcing herself to look away. She nodded to the anaesthetist before heading out of Theatre. She degowned and took a deep breath. Jackson followed her, removing his own theatre garb as well. ‘So why did you really come down here?’ she asked as she headed into the tearoom to write up the notes. When he didn’t reply, she stopped and turned around, unsure whether he was still there. He collided with her, his hands instinctively resting on her waist to control his balance.
‘Sorry,’ she mumbled, and lifted her chin to gaze up at him. They were standing just inside the door to the empty tearoom and Susie didn’t know whether she wanted it to fill up or stay deserted. ‘I wasn’t sure if you were…still…’ Her voice trailed off. Aware that Jackson hadn’t removed his hands from her body, his touch burned through the blue cotton of her theatre scrubs, making Susie intensely aware of their close proximity.
She felt a smouldering fire within her body come to life. Her breathing became shallow, her lips parting to allow the air to escape.
His blue eyes were clouded with desire, his breathing as uneven as her own. ‘Why did I really come?’ he asked. They were close, so close that his breath caressed her cheek as he spoke. He smelt good—too good, the scent of him only exacerbating the weakness of her knees.
‘Susie, I won’t lie to you.’ He paused. ‘And I can’t deny it.’
‘Deny what?’ She held her breath, waiting for his answer.
‘I’m attracted to you.’ He raised one hand to gently cup her face, his thumb lightly brushing her parted lips. Susie’s eyelids fluttered closed for an instant at his touch but she quickly opened them again.
This shouldn’t be happening! She should be resisting him—but she was finding it, oh, so hard. As the day had worn on, Susie had found it increasingly difficult to control her reaction to Jackson, and here he was, standing right in front of her admitting he was attracted to her! Although the feelings were mutual, did she really want to get herself into this?
‘We can’t,’ she choked out, but found herself powerless to move away.
‘I know you feel it, too,’ he continued.
‘Yes.’ The word came out as a groan as his head started to dip even closer to her own. He was so handsome. So wonderful. So sexy. The sexiest man she’d ever known. And here she was, in his arms, waiting desperately for him to kiss her. She’d never given in to feelings such as these before. Her previous relationships had all been conducted in a sane and logical manner. Slow and steady was her way. Not like this. Not jumping in with both feet. Not caring if she drowned. Not with a married man. She hardly knew him but the physical pull was just too strong to be ignored.
Jackson looked down into her face and saw confusion mixed with desire. She was obviously fighting the attraction as much as he was. He glanced at her lips, so full, so luscious, just waiting for him to kiss them.
He wanted to kiss her. He’d wanted to ever since they’d first met in her office. He instinctively knew she’d taste sweet—gloriously sweet—and that after he’d had one taste, he’d want more. The knowledge hit him hard and fast and he eased back a little. He’d been about to kiss another woman!
Jackson dropped his hands and stepped away. Susie swayed for a moment at the suddenness of his departure before recovering. She forced her wobbly knees to cooperate as she walked over to the table and sat down. She placed Mr Barnes’s case notes on the table and opened them up to the operation notes. She stared at the blank page for a whole ten seconds, unable to recall anything she’d done during the operation.
She looked over at Jackson who was still standing in the doorway, raking an unsteady hand through his hair. ‘I shouldn’t have come,’ he said, and he walked over and sat down opposite her.
‘Probably,’ she agreed.
‘The fact remains that we’ll be working closely together for the next five days. I don’t want there to be any…bad feelings between us.’
Susie forced a smile. ‘None. We can’t help what we feel but we can control it.’
‘True.’ He stood. ‘So I will leave you to write up your operation notes and see you for ward round tomorrow morning.’
‘See you then,’ she replied, but the look he gave her just before he walked out of the room told her that controlling their mutual attraction would be easier said than done.
Later, as Susie brushed her teeth before climbing into bed, she reflected on what an up-and-down sort of day she’d just had. In her mind, she could clearly hear her father saying, ‘Most days just run one into the other and then, out of nowhere, comes a day that can change your life for ever.’
‘Oh, Dad,’ Susie whispered into the night. ‘You’re so right.’ Her mind was full of mixed-up emotions. Happiness, confusion, excitement, anticipation…and guilt. What on earth would happen tomorrow? She closed her eyes, wondering whether she’d ever get to sleep.
It seemed only five minutes later that her alarm started to buzz and Susie reached out a hand to switch it off. She peered through her lashes at the digital display. Six-thirty. Time to rise and shine.
She stretched languorously in her bed, remembering the dream she’d had. She’d been at the snow with her family, enjoying toboggan rides with her nieces and n
ephews. Suddenly the children had changed to become her own children—a boy with short dark hair and blue eyes like his father, and a little girl with a mop of auburn curls like her mother.
Susie had laughingly slid down the mountain with her children on the toboggan—to their father who was waiting for them. When they’d finally come to a stop, two big strong hands had reached down to help both children out before they’d come to her aid as well. Two big strong hands that had secured themselves around her waist as she’d tilted her head up for a loving kiss. Two big strong hands whose touch still burned against her skin, causing goose-bumps to cascade over her body.
Jackson’s hands!
Susie sat bolt upright in bed, her eyes as wide as saucers. Her heart was thumping rapidly against her chest and she felt a sheen of perspiration bead her forehead. What was she doing, dreaming about Jackson Myers? The man was becoming much too intrusive in her thoughts when he had no right to be.
He was only here for another five days. ‘Five days!’ she told herself aloud as disbelief turned to anger. She shoved the bedcovers aside and stomped to the bathroom. Wrenching on the shower taps, Susie allowed the spray of the hot water to calm her down. ‘You can do this,’ she told her reflection as she dried her hair. ‘You’re a professional. Just go to the hospital, smile politely at him, do your work and just…just concentrate on…on…’ She desperately thought of something else to think about before the answer hit her. ‘Your research.’
How had he managed to do it? For the past six months, since her last engagement had been terminated, Susie had focused solely on her work. She had refused dates and had even avoided going out in a group. At least since Greg had left the hospital for a job in Sydney, people had stopped giving her pitying looks.
And now there was Jackson. Within twenty-four hours he’d managed to make her feel extremely feminine and vulnerable. He was so charming. His manners were faultless and yet…she’d noticed a sadness creep into his eyes every now and then. She was intrigued by him and it was the last thing she wanted to be.