Her hands were still around his neck where she’d wrapped them as a reflex action and they were standing only inches apart, encircled in each other’s arms. She tilted her head slightly to look up into Nick’s eyes, acutely aware of how close they were, how close their mouths were. Separated by mere inches.
It was so, so tempting to close that gap, to eliminate those few inches. But, amazing as he was, he was also the man who had made it clear he didn’t want to get involved. Lifting her mouth to his only to be rebuffed wasn’t how she wanted to end the night.
‘It’s incredible,’ she said as she forced herself to let go of him and take a step backwards, concentrating on what was the real breakthrough of the day. ‘Do you know how unlikely this was to happen? At his age, to actually be able to overcome his fears to voice his thoughts?’ Focusing on Charlie’s achievement wasn’t made easy by Nick’s hands still resting on her forearms. The heat of his fingers marked her skin, tempting her again to overstep the mark they’d set. She swallowed hard. ‘It’s close to a miracle.’
Nick nodded. ‘I’ve always said cricket was the sport of miracles.’
‘Consider me converted.’ She made the quip and turned so Nick would have to drop his hands. If he kept touching her, she wouldn’t be responsible for what she did. A girl could only take so much and she was learning that promises weren’t all they were cut out to be. ‘How do I get a season pass?’
‘That’s football-speak. You’ve got a way to go before we get you standing at the crease.’ He stepped towards her again and her heart flipped in her chest with the hope he was about to break their promise. But all he did was put a hand on her shoulder in a fleeting touch.
‘We’ll talk more tomorrow but right now I’d better get going. I’ve got a very important patient on my operating list in the morning.’
It took her a moment to realise he was talking about Charlie’s tonsillectomy. It had slipped her mind with tonight’s progress.
‘I hope he got an early night for his op,’ he added, raising an eyebrow at her.
Rosie clutched her forehead and groaned. ‘He’s going to be exhausted. What sort of an aunt am I?’
Nick laughed as he took her hand and led her from the kitchen towards the front door. ‘If you’d had him home and in bed early, the stars wouldn’t have been out—’
‘And we wouldn’t have had our miracle,’ she finished off.
They were at the door now and she said a little prayer for the second miracle of the night. A kiss that wasn’t on the cheek. A kiss that couldn’t be mistaken for one between friends.
Nick pressed his lips for the briefest of moments on her cheek, and a raw sense of longing settled over her. As the door closed behind him, she knew what was behind the longing. She was in deeper than she’d thought.
Somewhere between that first meeting and now, she’d fallen in love with him.
How had this happened? She’d promised to look after the twins, she’d thought her focus was on them, how had she let Nick under her guard? The truth was she’d known she was in trouble from the first moment she’d seen him and she’d just been more in danger with every smile, every glance. When she closed her eyes she could recall everything about him, his smile, which side his cowlick fell to, the little crease he got between his eyebrows when he was thinking and the shape his abdominal muscles made as they tapered into his waist.
She’d fallen in love with him. She’d sell her soul for his kiss. He was the missing piece in this cobbled-together new life she had.
And she’d stupidly, stupidly promised to be just his friend.
Charlie was showing no ill-effects following his surgery. So much so Rosie wondered why she’d spent the night tossing and turning with anxiety over today. Another benefit of parenting, she said to herself: induction into a lifelong acquaintance with anxiety. As she watched her nephew from her seat beside the window, she could see that, far from showing any negative after-effects, he seemed to be lapping up the attention of his sister and grandparents. Maybe the out-of-character behaviour was a further sign of last night’s progress?
The private room was perfect, allowing Charlie the freedom to chat to his family without reservations. Rosie had the feeling that Nick had something to do with the room allocation, private rooms would usually be kept for patients who’d undergone more major surgery.
Movement in the doorway made her look up and, as if her thoughts had conjured him up, there he stood. The lazy somersaults she was accustomed to feeling in her stomach when Nick appeared had transformed into crazy loop-the-loops and if she managed to act like everything was normal, it would be astonishing.
She’d definitely fallen for him. Fallen in love, and fallen hard.
He was dressed in a steel-grey suit that emphasised his blue-grey eyes, with a crisp white shirt underneath. He dominated the space but in a confident way, without a hint of arrogance. He wasn’t wearing a tie but, other than when Rosie had seen him at the dinner, this was the smartest she’d seen him dressed. He looked fantastic but he also looked as though he was on his way out. Not surprising since it was almost seven in the evening, but she had to bite back regret at the thought of him going somewhere. Without her.
Her parents had turned their heads as he’d entered the room. Nick nodded at them in acknowledgement and then looked at her, clearly wanting her to make the introductions. She stood and gestured from her parents to Nick as she said, ‘Mum, Dad, this is Nick Masters, Charlie’s ENT specialist. Nick, these are my parents, Jane and Bill Jefferson.’
‘Nice to meet you,’ he said. He stepped towards them, smiling, and shook hands with them both before focusing on Charlie. Standing at the foot of Charlie’s bed, he flicked through Charlie’s case notes, checking his medications. ‘How are you feeling, Charlie?’
‘My throat feels scratchy.’ His voice was raspy.
Rosie felt her parents’ startled gazes swivel to her as Charlie spoke, and she nodded at them quickly, confirming she’d explain later.
‘Sorry about that. That’s what happens when I do my job properly. Now the really important question, did you have to eat any jelly?’ Nick grinned at Charlie as they shared their own private joke and Rosie caught her mum’s look of appreciation. The full effect of Nick’s smile wasn’t wasted on her either.
‘No.’ Charlie shook his head.
‘Excellent. Your tonsils came out without any complaints. You’ll be feeling as good as new very soon.’ Nick reached one hand into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a specimen jar.
‘What’s that?’ Charlie asked.
‘These,’ he said as he passed the clear plastic container to Charlie, ‘are your tonsils. Not everyone has the stomach for it, but I thought you were the type of boy who’d want to see what they look like.’
Charlie inspected the contents of the jar closely. ‘Cool.’
‘Can I see?’ Lucy asked, peering at what looked like two small walnuts in their shells. She gave a dramatic shudder, sticking her tongue out. ‘That’s gross.’
‘Can I keep them?’
‘Sure.’
‘Sweet,’ rasped Charlie, still looking at the jar, oblivious to Nick’s apparent enjoyment of the exchange.
‘The only question now is, will Rosie mind seeing them on your bookshelf?’
‘Nah, she’s cool.’
Nick glanced at Rosie, his hands deep in his pockets, his smile not remotely altered. Her laugh was forced. Pretending to be natural with Nick in front of her mum’s watchful eyes was not proving easy.
Whereas Nick was as natural as if he’d only met her that morning. Nothing could have been more depressing. Where was the change in expression when he looked at her? Where was the flash of private meaning, a sign of something deeper between them? His expression hadn’t changed from the way he’d looked at Charlie. Or her mum and dad.
‘Come on, Lucy, I think it’s time we went and got you some dinner, if you’ve still got an appetite after seeing those tonsils,’ Jane said t
o her granddaughter before she leant down to kiss Charlie goodbye. ‘We’ll see you at home tomorrow, Charlie,’ she said, directing an unspoken question at Nick.
‘If everything goes according to plan, he’ll be home after breakfast.’
Her dad shook Nick’s hand as they left the room and her mum bestowed her biggest smile on him. Strange they should meet him and have no idea who he’d become to their daughter. To them, he was just Charlie’s miracle-worker, his ENT specialist.
Rosie walked with her parents to the door, telling her mum in a brief whisper she’d explain about Charlie’s breakthrough later on.
Nick was checking Charlie’s throat. ‘How’s it looking?’ she asked, still trying to act nonchalant and no doubt failing miserably. With her parents gone, it was all she could do to stop from blurting out her realisation of her feelings the previous evening. Nonchalance was too, too much to ask for.
Nick kept his gaze on Charlie. That was probably a godsend. Given her almost total lack of sleep the night before, one slightly sensitive glance would render her a mess. ‘Looking good. A touch red but that’s to be expected.’ He gave Charlie a playful punch in the arm. ‘I’ll see you in the morning. As long as you’ve had some solid breakfast like toast and your throat looks okay, you’ll be able to go home.’
‘Toast? Won’t that hurt?’ Charlie asked.
‘Little bites and drink some juice while you’re chewing to soften it, that’s the secret. Chewing actually helps your throat muscles. Sometimes your throat can get a bit sorer in a few days, so it might be a bit uncomfortable over the weekend.’
‘Can I go to Nippers’ training on Sunday?’
‘You won’t be ready to run around too much by then. You’ll need to take it a little bit easy until next week.’
Charlie’s face fell and Rosie explained, ‘It’s just CPR training. They do an annual update, basic first aid and resuscitation practice. No swimming.’
Nick nodded. ‘That might be okay. How about we see closer to the time?’
‘You could come too if you want, Nick, they always need more helpers.’ The eagerness in Charlie’s hoarse voice tugged at Rosie’s heartstrings.
Nick looked at Rosie, seeming to want her okay. She shrugged as if it was all the same to her. As if!
‘The more the merrier.’ Him being there would make her merry, anyway, but she was doing her best not to let that particular secret out. ‘You’d be more than welcome as long as your skills are up to date.’
‘I’ll see what I can do.’ Nick paused as the nurse who was looking after Charlie came into the room, interrupting the conversation. ‘I’ll let you know.’
All of a sudden Nick seemed in a hurry to leave. It was dark outside now and Rosie’s thoughts returned to Nick’s plans for the evening. She was conscious of a palpable loneliness, knowing they didn’t include her. Nick said his goodbyes, giving Charlie a high-five and reminding the nurse the room was out of bounds to jelly.
Rosie watched him go, mentally crossing her fingers that he’d agree to spend another Sunday with them.
The nurse bustled about, checking Charlie’s temperature and taking his other obs. ‘Do you want me to organise a trundle bed?’ she asked, interrupting Rosie’s musings. ‘Are you staying the night?’
Rosie brought her attention back to the matter at hand. ‘Would you like me to stay?’ she asked Charlie.
‘I’m okay. I can see the stars from here.’
She hadn’t noticed that Charlie’s bed faced north-east, the same as his bed at home. He could look out of the window and see the same stars. It was then she knew Nick had definitely had a hand in securing this room for Charlie. Could he get any more perfect?
‘Let’s get you settled and then I’ll leave you to sleep.’ She passed Charlie his favourite soft toy, a well-loved dog he’d had since he was a toddler, and put up the bed rail. ‘Remember you push this button if you need the nurses in the night,’ she said, indicating the call bell that was attached to the rail before kissing him goodnight. ‘Sleep tight and I’ll be back first thing in the morning.’
Bending down, she kissed the top of his head, smoothing his hair with her fingertips, stroking his cheek. Charlie didn’t seem at all anxious about being here by himself. She couldn’t believe that would have been the case even a week ago and she knew it was due to Nick.
As she left the room, she was thinking Charlie wasn’t the only one Nick had wrought such changes on in such a short space of time. Nick had lifted a good part of the load from her shoulders just by being involved with Charlie’s care. Let alone the miracle he’d brought about with her nephew’s speech.
And if that wasn’t enough, he’d made her fall in love with him. It was a joke, it really was. And the joke was on her because while she was building castles in the sky around the idea of Nick joining their little family unit, he was content with friendship.
She was head over heels. He saw them as ‘just friends’. Was there ever a phrase that sounded so warm yet cut so deep?
He knew she was interested in him.
Nick would have been blind not to pick up on that, but so far they were both making good on their promise of friendship. He hoped Rosie would continue it because the thought of having her out of his life did bad things to his head. And at the same time, getting involved was impossible.
Every spare moment he had needed to be spent on building his practice. He couldn’t even afford many more lazy Sundays like they’d had yesterday at the cricket. He doubted he’d make Nippers this coming weekend. As fantastic as time on the beach sounded, it was an indulgence he couldn’t afford. But, then, how could he not now that Charlie had admitted him into his inner circle? Somehow he’d have to solve this dilemma to everyone’s satisfaction. He knew that would be almost impossible.
He was caught.
He’d seen Rosie glance at his attire, knew she’d concluded he was going out for the evening. He wished she was right but instead, he had another meeting with his accountant and he knew that at the end of this, if he wanted to hang on to his partnership, he’d be even deeper in debt.
As expected, he came out of the meeting deeper in debt and even more convinced that a satisfactory resolution with Rosie was impossible. His brief celebration for achieving some of his career and financial goals now looked very premature. And as for every getting involved with anyone, ever again, the idea was ludicrous. Rosie deserved to have someone looking out for her. Not just for her, she was a threeperson package deal. She deserved someone who not only adored her but could take care of her. At the moment he was going to be hard-pressed to keep the roof over his own head.
He had nothing to offer Rosie’s small, vulnerable family.
Nothing but a pile of debt, a banged-up old car and a rundown house with a huge mortgage.
Nick walked beside Rosie, following the twins down the steps to the beach, waiting for her as she stopped on the last step and slipped off her footwear, those ridiculous green flip-flops with the enormous yellow flowers. The rest of her outfit was simple in comparison. A plain white, long-sleeved beach shirt covered most of her, leaving just her long, slim legs on display. Rosie bent down to retrieve her footwear and her shirt rode up higher, exposing a few more inches of tanned thigh. He groaned inwardly.
Why hadn’t he just said he had to work when Charlie had reiterated his invitation? It would actually have been more truthful than saying he was free to come. He really wasn’t free. There was a mountain of papers he should be attending to right now. On top of which, being around Rosie but unable to act on his attraction was torturous. And they were only twenty minutes into the day.
Was it stress clouding his judgement or was it, purely and simply, Rosie? How else could he explain his presence today? Another Sunday and here he was again, spending the day with Rosie and the children. Why couldn’t he stay away?
They made their way to the registration tent erected next to the central lifesaving tower to get their instructions from Douggie, the training c
oordinator. ‘Rosie, can you and Dr Masters run one of the CPR stations?’
‘Do we have to teach CPR?’ Nick asked, not sure he’d remember enough for that.
Douggie shook his head. ‘The paramedics will take the Nippers through the practical first, you just watch them perform CPR afterwards. There’s a list of questions they need to be able to answer, it’s pretty straightforward.’
Rosie looked at Nick. ‘Sounds good to me,’ he said.
‘Great. Put these T-shirts on, they’ll identify you as being officials so we can see who is supposed to be working with the children.’ He handed them each a dark navy T-shirt with ‘Bondi SLSC Official’ stencilled across the back in large white letters.
‘Sure.’ Rosie took both shirts and handed him one. In the middle of the tent, without a minute’s hesitation, she whipped off her loose white shirt to reveal a white bikini top, a very short pair of shorts and an expanse of smooth, tanned skin.
He was totally unprepared for this scenario and for the surge of desire she elicited in him. The intensity of his physical craving for her left him speechless and close to staring.
He wasn’t the only one. There was never a shortage of attractive women on Bondi Beach but, even so, a dozen pairs of eyes had swivelled to attention as Rosie slipped her shirt over her head. And now she was standing semi-clad while she shook out the new top. Interested eyes had ample time to appreciate the view.
She had curves in all the right places. Her breasts were perfect spheres, her waist narrow and her hips flared out, giving her a very feminine shape. Her long legs were highlighted by her very short shorts and her stomach was flat and tanned. As she slipped the surf-club shirt on over her bikini Nick wouldn’t have been surprised to hear a sigh of regret from the men gathered in the tent.
The thought irritated him. Ludicrous, since she wasn’t his, couldn’t be his. Frustrated, angry with himself and circumstances, he started to look away but at that exact moment she turned her eyes to him. She’d seen him watching her, and from the smile playing around her lips, the knowledge didn’t displease her. Their gazes were locked, their feelings unspoken, yet he knew their thoughts were identical. Rosie smiled, a halfsmile, an invitation. She was aware of his reaction.
Italian Doctor, Dream Proposal / Wanted: A Father for her Twins Page 29