He had also sensed Ruth’s deep-seated aloneness, the layers of suppressed emotion, and her struggle for acceptance, things he felt sure stretched back into her past rather than relating solely to her present post. That knowledge, and the desire for her not to be alone any more, had driven him to so nearly make his offer of a job. That Ruth loved the day-to-day work with patients was obvious, but her workplace did not provide the support and the challenges she needed. He was sure of it. Now he had to find a better time and a better way to discuss the future.
The nurse halted outside a small room and knocked on the closed door, opening it and saying a few words before moving back to allow him to enter. Rico thanked her and went in, his gaze immediately settling on Ruth. She looked up, green eyes cloudy with fatigue, her welcoming smile tired but enough to send a jolt to his heart. He sat down next to her, automatically reaching for her hand and giving it an understanding squeeze before he turned his attention to the anxious couple opposite.
‘Mr and Mrs Michaels, this is Dr Linardi,’ Ruth introduced. ‘He was at the restaurant, too, and did much to help when Jamie was injured.’
‘I did nothing more than support Ruth. The skill was all hers,’ Rico insisted, but Jamie’s parents would hear no argument and were effusive in their thanks.
‘We don’t know what would have happened had the pair of you not been there and acted so quickly,’ Mr Michaels said.
Mrs Michaels nodded tearfully, shredding a damp paper tissue in her hands. ‘We’re so grateful to you both. The consultant here says that Jamie’s condition would be much worse without your quick action and care of him. They plan to transfer him to a specialist burns unit,’ she explained, fresh tears welling.
‘That’s where Jamie will get the very best care, treatment and rehabilitation,’ Ruth explained gently.
As she tried to reassure the couple, Rico returned the grip of her fingers, offering his silent support. He knew that Jamie had a long recovery ahead of him after the freak accident that had seen his hands, arms, neck, shoulders and chest suffer serious burns. He had slipped on some spilled oil that had not been properly cleaned away, and he had instinctively reached out to try to save himself, landing on the working gas rings and setting fire to some of his clothing. Thrashing around in fear, momentum had seen him fall to the floor, unfortunately dragging two large pans of boiling water down on top of him. The flames had been extinguished but they had already done some damage, only increased by the scalding water.
Ruth had taken charge in the chaotic kitchen, instructing someone to call an ambulance while she set about caring for twenty-year-old Jamie, the terrified trainee chef, removing any items of clothing and accessories that were not adhered to his skin. After soothing and cooling the burns with water, Ruth had then had started to cover some of the injured areas with cling film, careful not to wrap it around Jamie’s limbs so that if they began to swell, they would not be constricted. The cling film protected against infection, shielded the burned flesh from the air and so helped reduce the pain, yet still allowed the injured areas to be seen.
The paramedics had swiftly joined them, and had been impressed by Ruth’s treatment and quick thinking. Her knowledge and competence had been no surprise to Rico, however. Once IV access had been gained and pain relief given, Jamie had been gently lifted onto a stretcher and taken out of the restaurant. There had been no hesitation when the paramedics had asked for Ruth to accompany them in the ambulance, and Jamie, unsurprisingly, had not wanted to let go of her hand. Having refused point blank to abandon Ruth, Rico had grabbed her bag and his jacket, and had gone along, too.
Given the extent of Jamie’s injuries, the ambulance had bypassed the local hospital, whose casualty services had been scaled down, and had rushed him to the nearest city hospital with full accident and emergency facilities. Once there, Rico had joined Ruth in giving the trauma team a detailed debrief of all that had happened before and after the arrival of the paramedics.
‘The car is waiting for us,’ he told Ruth now, concerned for her and eager to get her back to the hotel for some rest.
Much to his relief, Ruth nodded her agreement and rose to her feet, almost swaying with exhaustion. He slipped his arm round her, tucking her close to his side, his hand cupped possessively over the curve of her hip. They said goodbye to Mr and Mrs Michaels—who had Ruth’s email address so they could send updates on Jamie’s progress—and left the shaken parents in the care of a nurse who would escort them back to their son.
‘I hope Jamie will be all right,’ Ruth murmured as they walked towards the main exit, outside where the car waited to take them back to the hotel.
‘He has the best chance thanks to you.’ Rico shook his head, proud of the calm efficiency and compassion she had displayed while aiding Jamie. ‘You were amazing, carissima.’
Aware that Ruth’s coat had been left at the restaurant in the confusion, Rico took off his leather jacket and slipped it around her shoulders, his blood heating at the way she snuggled into it, closing her eyes for a moment as if savouring his warmth and his scent.
Ruth’s sweet smile stole his breath. ‘I couldn’t have done it without your help.’
‘Nonsense,’ he chided softly as they climbed into the back of the car.
As she stifled a yawn, he drew her into his arms where she nestled, unresisting. There was so much more he wanted to say, and so much he still had to learn about her, but it was very late and she was visibly weary. Which was inevitable as she came down from the charge of adrenalin she had been running on since the accident. To prove his point, within seconds she was asleep. Smiling, he cradled her close, the fingers of one hand softly stroking the fall of her silky hair as he relished the feel of her against him.
Her lavender scent teased him. It was an old-fashioned fragrance, one he usually associated with his grandmother. Nonna Emanuela was eighty years old and a real character. Yet on Ruth the lavender’s subtle freshness was innocent yet heady. Wholesome. And mixed with her own unique womanliness it was sensual and arousing. Everything about her was surprising and unexpected. He felt dizzy and off balance with the way she had changed his whole world since the moment he had first set eyes on her. It was hard to believe that was less than twenty-four hours ago.
Some while later, Rico looked out of the window into the darkness of the night as the car skimmed the edge of Morecambe Bay. The waters gleamed black and mysterious under the crescent moon that hung high in the clear, inky, stardusted sky. Then the driver turned between the stone gateposts that marked the entrance to the hotel, and pulled up in front of the imposing building, bringing their journey, and his opportunity to hold Ruth in his arms, to an end.
‘Ruth?’
Rico hated to wake her, hated even more that he would have to let her go. He gently stroked one downy-soft cheek, the reflection of light spilling out from the hotel casting the shadows of her long sooty eyelashes on her skin. His lips brushed across her forehead.
‘We are here, carissima,’ he told her, running one hand up and down her arm, giving her a gentle shake. ‘Come on, sleeping beauty, it is time to wake up.’
‘Hmm…?’
An endearing frown knotted her brow as she stirred, firing his blood as she stretched sinuously against him. Her eyes slowly opened and focused sleepily on his, a becoming blush pinkening her cheeks as she realised just how close they were. Her movements were jerky and uncoordinated as she drew away. Rico reluctantly released her, allowing her to put some distance between them.
‘I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep,’ she murmured, her voice unsteady, her hands fussing with her hair before smoothing down the skirt of her dress.
‘There is nothing to apologise for.’ Far from it. The fifteen minutes he had been able to cuddle her close had been heavenly…but all too short. ‘It has been a busy day, not helped by the events of the evening.’
After thanking the driver and discovering he had already been paid, Rico climbed out and waited for Ruth. A moment of h
esitation followed, then she accepted the hand he held out to her, her palm sliding across his before their fingers entwined, hers looking pale and delicate against his darker ones. He adjusted his jacket around her shoulders as they walked towards the entrance in the chill of the night air. The door, locked at this hour, was opened for them by a concerned night porter called Charlie, who informed them that the news of what had happened at the restaurant had filtered through. Indeed, the restaurant manager had located Ruth’s coat and returned it to the hotel, offering his thanks for their help, refusing payment for their unfinished meal, and inviting them back any time for dinner on the house.
Taking their leave of Charlie, they head towards the stairs. Ruth slipped off his jacket and handed it back, tossing her coat over one forearm. Not wanting to be parted from her, Rico escorted her to her room, sensing the growing tension in the silence, and the shimmering electricity that always sparked when they were together.
‘The evening didn’t go quite how I expected,’ he said when they reached her door.
‘I know.’ Ruth’s smile was wry. ‘But I enjoyed it, thank you. The meal was lovely. And I learned a lot to share with Judith and Pippa.’
He took her free hand in both of his, craving the physical contact. ‘There is still much for us to discuss. But that can wait until tomorrow—or later today,’ he corrected with a rueful smile after a glance at his watch. ‘I liked being with you this evening, carissima,’ he told her, tucking a strand of hair back behind her ear, his fingers lingering, caressing her baby-soft skin.
‘Rico…’
Uncertainty wavered in her voice. He looked into stunning eyes, seeing the dawning awareness in their depths before his gaze dropped to her mouth. The temptation was too much. He could not resist another second.
‘I have to kiss you.’ Her eyes widened in response to his husky, needy appeal, and he felt the tremor that ran through her. Conscious of her wariness, and determined to build the trust between them, he tried to rein in his urgent hunger and asked her to make the decision—praying she would agree. ‘May I, Ruth?’
Rico held his breath as the seconds ticked by and he waited for her answer. Anxiety, longing, doubt, excitement, even a flash of fear showed in her rapidly changing expressions. He wanted to unravel all those emotions, to understand what lay behind them, but further questions would have to wait until later because Ruth nodded her assent and drove every thought from his brain.
Knowing her nervousness, he endeavoured to keep his desire in check. He cupped her face, his heart pounding and his chest tight, feeling as awkward as a callow youth about to experience his first kiss. He’d never been so jittery, but this moment was one of the most important of his life as it was his first kiss with Ruth. And it was vital that he do this right.
He called on every scrap of patience he possessed and took his time, determined not to rush her. First he kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose. He kissed each closed eyelid in turn before whispering kisses down one cheek and around the curve of her jaw. Ruth swayed towards him, her hands inching up to his shoulders, fingers tightening as he teased a kiss to the corner of her mouth and lightly nibbled his way across the swell of her lower lip to the other corner. Rico’s gut knotted as she moaned, instinctively turning her head as her mouth sought his. Unable to wait another moment, he set his lips to hers, tentatively at first, learning, exploring, savouring this special moment.
Any plan he had to take this slowly, to be gentle, even chaste, evaporated in the first second. The instant their mouths met, the passion bubbling just beneath the surface ignited, and he could no more halt the onrushing need than he could stop breathing. The craving to taste her was irresistible. He whispered the tip of his tongue along the seam of her luscious lips and they parted in instant invitation. An invitation he needed no prompting to accept.
It was as if a match had been set to a tinderbox, setting off an unprecedented explosion of hungry passion that consumed everything…every part of them fusing together. One taste, he had told himself. But he knew from the first that one taste of Ruth was never going to be enough. She was like nectar. An elixir. Addictive, potent and heavenly. Patience snapping, he slid one hand back to fist in the silken strands of her hair, while the other grazed down her spine to the tempting curve of her derrière, urging her against him, needing her as close as possible as the kiss moved from slow exploration to drugging possession.
Ruth’s soft whimper of surrender undid him. As did her shy but eager participation as he changed the angle and deepened the kiss even further. She responded instinctively to the hot passion of their kiss, her fingers spearing into his hair and her body arching into him. Her inexperience was obvious. Wonderful, yet hard to understand. But he was so swept away on the rolling tide of desire that nothing else mattered as he learned every contour of her mouth, savoured her sweetness, and encouraged her to explore in return. He teased her tongue, stroking and gliding, sucking on her, drawing her into his mouth.
He had never experienced this runaway urgency before, and he lost all reason, forgetting where they were, forgetting that this was meant to be a gentle first kiss. Groaning, driven to the edge by his need of her, he took more, intensifying the contact, drunk on her taste, her scent, his hips rocking against hers, his body hot and tight with arousal. For a few more endless minutes Ruth was with him, just as demanding, just as involved…and then he sensed the change in her. She started to tense and then to pull back. As her withdrawal registered, Rico struggled to think of her needs and not his own, putting the brakes on, easing them down, gentling and soothing her as the fiery, erotic kiss came to an end.
Rico opened his eyes and focused on Ruth’s face. She looked like a doe caught in the headlights. Desire was evident in her green eyes, but it was offset now by confusion, shock and a touch of fright. Her breathing was as ragged as his own and he could see the wild beat of her pulse at the hollow of her throat, one that matched the pounding of his heart.
His fingertips skimmed over her flushed cheeks, the pad of his thumb tracing rosy, kiss-swollen lips. ‘It is all right, carissima.’
‘Rico, I have to go now.’ Her words were nearly as shaky as her hands, betraying her nervous state as she fumbled for her key.
‘I know,’ he reassured her.
And he did know…but it didn’t mean he liked it. As she retreated from him, emotionally and physically, he berated himself for allowing things to get so out of hand, for rushing her when he knew she wasn’t ready. But the blaze of passion…Dio! It was incredible between them. The last thing he wanted to do was to leave her alone, but he knew he must. For now. If he pushed too much he would frighten her away, and already the kiss had raged way beyond what he had intended. The power of what they shared had spooked her. He didn’t know why, or what lay behind her inexperience and lack of self-confidence as a woman, but he intended to find out.
‘Sleep well, Ruth,’ he said now, holding the door open for her but reluctantly remaining on the wrong side of it in the deserted corridor. He hoped she would rest and that the incident with Jamie would not prey on her mind. ‘You have my mobile number. Call me any time if you need anything or you want to talk. Promise me.’ She nodded, but lashes lowered to hide her expression. He tipped up her chin and waited for her to look at him. ‘Goodnight, carissima. We will talk again later.’
‘Goodnight.’
Slowly he released her and, after a few more silent moments, the charge fizzing between them, she stepped back and closed the door. Rico stood and stared at it, willing for it to open again and for Ruth to change her mind, knowing that she wouldn’t. Her air of innocence was real. There were no pretensions about her. He was more and more attracted to her, and more determined than ever that he had to find a way round the complications of the clash of his professional life and his personal life.
He walked to his own room, knowing he would never be able to sleep for thinking about her, wanting her, wishing he was spending the night with her in his arms. He frown
ed as he thought of those flashes of genuine fright in her eyes and his earlier suspicions grew that someone at some time had hurt her. Badly enough that the heady passion and loss of control scared her. A cold rage combined with the searing ache in his gut. He needed to find out what had happened so that he could help to release the sensual side of her that was so seldom allowed free rein.
A while later, he lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He had only a few hours left to come up with a workable plan—one that would persuade Ruth to stay and so buy him some time to earn her trust and to convince her that her future lay with him. In every way.
If she didn’t know better, she would think the last twenty-four hours had been a dream, Ruth admitted, reaching the end of the pool and doing a lazy tumble-turn before starting another length.
Despite all the upheaval—perhaps because of it—she had only managed a few snatches of sleep. She had woken up shortly before five a.m., and, after tossing and turning for a while, wide-awake, her mind abuzz, she had given in. Putting on her two-piece swimsuit she had wrapped herself in a towelling robe and tiptoed through the hotel. Everywhere had been deserted, the only noises coming from the kitchen, and Ruth had been glad to have the indoor pool to herself.
Aside from her love of learning, swimming was her main hobby and relaxation away from work. Having swum competitively for her school and county in her youth, when living in the south of England, she still swam every day if she could. That Strathlochan had a superb fifty-metre pool—one of many excellent facilities in the town’s combined leisure centre—had been one of the reasons she had moved there. She usually found the exercise both invigorating and soothing, but alone in the semi-darkness of the much smaller hotel pool, her thoughts continued to intrude.
Strathlochan made her think of Gina and Holly, both of whom had left text messages on her mobile phone. She had sent noncommittal replies, saying that the conference was interesting and she was being kept busy, but declining to mention anything about Rico. She had no idea what to say about him and, at the moment, it was all too new and confusing to share.
Italian Doctor, Dream Proposal / Wanted: A Father for her Twins Page 6