by Sarah Morgan
She stiffened, thrown by the sudden change of subject. ‘I’ll bear that in mind.’
She had every intention of making some enquiries but she had no confidence that she’d be able to afford anything other than a pleasure trip. Not that she had any intention of revealing her financial details to Josh. She organised her own life and had done for years.
He was standing so close to her that she felt the brush of his arm against hers, felt the power of his body.
And what a body.
Heat spread through her and she wished she hadn’t seen him without his shirt. She closed her eyes briefly, trying to erase the image. She needed to work harder, she decided. Needed to drive out those thoughts before they blossomed and grew into something she couldn’t control. She didn’t have room for those feelings in her life.
‘Are you OK?’
Her eyes flew open and clashed with his. ‘Fine. I’m fine.’
‘Your eyes were closed.’
‘I’m fine.’
Blue eyes laughed into hers. ‘It’s hard to check an X-ray with your eyes closed, Doctor.’
She knew he was teasing her but she couldn’t respond. Suddenly her whole body was tingling and trembling and she just wanted him to grab her and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe. Or maybe she wanted to be the one to do the grabbing.
The thought startled and horrified her by equal degrees and she took a step away from him and locked her hands behind her back just to be on the safe side.
When had she last wanted to grab a man?
Never. The answer was never and the fact that she’d wanted to grab Josh…
Oh!
The fact that she was having those thoughts was too humiliating for words. What if he knew? What if he could sense it?
He was still watching her and the look in his eyes had gone from gently teasing to something infinitely more dangerous and unsettling.
He gave a short laugh. ‘Well, well…’ His voice was soft and his eyes dropped to her mouth and lingered there. ‘This is becoming interesting, wouldn’t you say, Dr O’Brien?’
Shocked by the power of her reaction to him, she rammed her wayward thoughts back where they belonged and called on the willpower that had been her fuel for as long as she could remember. ‘X-rays are always interesting, Dr Sullivan,’ she said, her tone cool, her eyes fixed on the film in front of them. ‘And this one is looking fine.’
He shifted closer. Her body sensed his and melted, but she kept her eyes forward. His breath warmed her neck. ‘There’s nothing there you want to explore further?’
Was he talking about the X-ray or their relationship? She concentrated on the film, tried to ignore the fact that he was standing so close they were almost touching. ‘Nothing at all.’
‘Are you sure about that?’
It wasn’t right that a man should have such a sexy voice. ‘Absolutely sure.’
‘Speaking personally, I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.’ Something in his wry tone made her turn and she saw a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, which she hadn’t expected to see there.
So he wasn’t thrilled about the attraction either.
She gave a cynical smile. Why should that surprise her? Of course he wasn’t thrilled. It didn’t take a genius to calculate that she wasn’t his type of woman. Josh Sullivan was an attractive, single male with a carefree bachelor lifestyle. Why would he want to find himself attracted to a single mother who came with baggage?
‘In my experience, life is rarely easy, Dr Sullivan,’ she said crisply, ‘but as human beings we’re given the ability to make sensible choices. That’s what distinguishes us from animals.’
There was a hitch in his breathing and his eyes were fixed on her mouth again, as if he wasn’t able to look away. ‘You think so?’
The core of her body heated and stirred and she struggled to force thinking to dominate feeling. It was a hell of a battle.
‘Absolutely.’
His eyes lifted to hers. ‘So you’re not having trouble concentrating, then? Your body isn’t burning up and your mind isn’t woolly?’
She hid her alarm. Was he feeling that way, too? ‘Not at all.’ Despite her best efforts, her voice was little more than a croak and he gave a slow nod.
‘Well, if that’s truly the case,’ he said softly, turning his gaze back to the X-ray, ‘I’m interested to know why you just missed a fracture the size of the Grand Canyon. Care to explain that, Dr O’Brien?’
* * *
Josh manipulated the child’s shoulder carefully. ‘Does this hurt?’ He’d almost kissed her. ‘What about this?’ She was a single mother and he’d almost kissed her. In public, with the entire department watching.
Worse than that, he’d almost offered to take the pair of them sailing. He frowned. Had he gone mad? Since when was taking a child sailing his idea of a good day out?
He gave himself a mental shake.
He needed to pull himself together.
Kat O’Brien wasn’t the woman for him. All right, so she had curves that should be made illegal and a personality that drew him like a magnet, but she wouldn’t be the sort of woman happy to indulge in a light-hearted relationship. She wasn’t the woman for him and he most certainly wasn’t the man for her. No matter how good she looked in her nightdress.
She’d expect him to bond with her son. And he wasn’t equipped to be anyone’s father figure. The weekend had proved that. It hadn’t even occurred to him that it was strange for a six-year-old to be wandering around without a parent. He’d been too busy thinking about his boat.
Josh ran a hand over his face and forced himself to concentrate on what he was doing. ‘I’m going to send him for an X-ray,’ he told the mother, ‘just to be on the safe side.’
He was pretty sure it was fractured.
‘An X-ray? But we’re on holiday.’ The mother looked annoyed. ‘Will it take long?’
Josh looked at her, struggling to hide his disapproval. He didn’t know much about parenting but he was pretty sure that Kat wouldn’t have reacted that way. She would have been worried about her son. She would have put him first no matter what. And she wouldn’t have been thinking about her holiday if her little boy was injured.
He didn’t think he’d ever forget the expression on her face when she’d come flying into his garden to claim her child. He’d seen terror, relief and a love so powerful that it had pulsed like a force field, protecting her child from danger.
Josh shook himself.
There he was, doing it again! Thinking about Kat and her son. It was time to get a grip.
He pulled himself together and rose to his feet. ‘I realise that you’re on holiday, but it will take as long as it takes,’ he said easily, delivering a smile that melted the woman’s annoyance like butter in a microwave. ‘But you’ll have a better time once he’s sorted out.’ He handed her a form. ‘Follow the green line on the floor—it leads you to X-Ray.’
He watched them go and then turned round to find his sister-in-law watching him, laughter in her eyes. ‘Hello, handsome. How do you do it?’ Louisa walked forward, stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. ‘She was all ready to moan.’
‘You know me.’ He gave her a hug, careful of her bump. ‘Can’t bear moaning women. Talking of which, how’s the hippo doing?’ He winked at her. ‘And what are you doing here? I thought we’d got rid of you once.’
‘I’m fat and uncomfortable,’ Louisa said happily, ‘and I’m here because I need you to do me a favour.’
Josh groaned but his eyes were twinkling. ‘The answer is no.’
‘You never say no to me,’ Louisa said placidly, rubbing a hand over her stomach in an automatic gesture, ‘and I need you to take a look at Vera. I would have asked Mac but he’s windsurfing.’
‘Is he now?’ Josh felt a rush of jealousy. ‘Lucky devil.’
‘He’s enjoying his last few weeks for freedom,’ Louisa reminded him. ‘You’ll still be out there windsurfing when he’s walk
ing around soothing a baby with colic.’
‘True.’ Josh looped his stethoscope round his neck. ‘So what’s the matter with Vera?’
Vera was the elderly lady who lived near his brother and Josh knew that Louisa kept a close eye on her and her equally elderly sister.
Louisa’s smile faded. ‘I don’t know. I popped round to take her one of my chocolate cakes this afternoon and she was very confused. Not herself at all.’ She hesitated, chewing her lip. ‘I’m worried she might have had a stroke or something. Do you think that’s possible?’
‘I don’t know until I see her,’ Josh pointed out gently, thinking how sweet Louisa was and how well she suited his brother. ‘Where is she now?’
‘Sitting in my car. I’m parked in the ambulance bay.’
Josh rolled his eyes. ‘It’s a good job you’re pregnant or you would have been shot.’ He took her arm. ‘Come on, then, let’s get her out and see what’s going on. And, for goodness’ sake, move your car before the paramedics start moaning at me.’
‘Thanks, Josh. You must be thinking I’m a nuisance.’
‘Actually, I’m thinking that my previously uptight, stiff-necked, stubborn big brother is a lucky guy.’ He adjusted his stride so that she could keep up, eyeing her abdomen with a curiosity that wasn’t all professional. ‘Does that hurt?’
She laughed and shook her head. ‘Not hurt, exactly. But it’s uncomfortable and I’ve stopped getting any sleep at night because it wakes up and kicks me.’
Josh gave a shudder. ‘Sounds awful.’
‘It’s fantastic,’ she said simply, her eyes shining as she looked up at him. ‘I can’t wait to meet him or her and be a mum.’
For some unaccountable reason Josh felt a lump in his throat. ‘You’ll be a great mum.’
‘It’ll be your turn next, Josh.’ She slid her arm through his as they walked back through A and E. ‘I’m working on it as we speak.’
If he’d been eating he would have choked. ‘You’re working on it?’ He stopped dead, a suspicious frown in his eyes. ‘What’s that supposed to mean? What are you up to? What are you working on? Are you interfering again?’
‘Me?’ Louisa put a hand in the centre of her chest and looked innocent. ‘Do I ever interfere?’
‘Constantly.’ They reached the ambulance bay and Josh pushed open the doors. ‘Don’t mess with my love life,’ he warned, holding the door open so that she could walk through. ‘I’m happy with it the way it is.’
‘That’s because you don’t know any better.’ Louisa walked past him, a shine in her eyes. ‘But you’re about to learn, Josh Sullivan, you’re about to learn. Trust me on that one.’
* * *
Kat was mortified.
She’d missed an enormous fracture.
She’d been so wrapped up in Josh that she’d totally lost her powers of concentration.
Still thorougly embarrassed by the incident and wondering just how much Josh had guessed about her feelings, Kat watched as he examined the old lady on the trolley.
After the X-ray incident, as she now termed it, she’d seen a couple of patients by herself to restore her equilibrium and her confidence. She’d given advice on a simple case of sunburn and examined a badly sprained ankle. And when she’d finally felt she could look him in the eye again, she’d gone in search of Josh, only to find him moving Louisa’s car.
‘She’s too pregnant to be driving this thing,’ was all he’d said after he’d parked it neatly away from the ambulance bay and strode back into the department.
And now he was examining the old lady brought in by Louisa, and Kat watched him work in silent admiration. On the surface he seemed like the archetypal playboy, she mused, but there was much more to him than that. So much more depth.
He was gentle and reassuring and extremely thorough, asking a series of detailed questions as he conducted his examination.
Obviously he knew the patient and Kat wondered who she was.
‘You seem dehydrated, Vera.’ He straightened. ‘The weather is very hot at the moment. Have you been drinking enough?’
‘The dog’s escaped,’ Vera mumbled weakly, and Josh frowned and glanced at Hannah, the staff nurse, who gave a little shrug. ‘Do you know where you are, Vera?’
‘The dog escaped, you know,’ the old lady fretted, plucking at the blanket with her fingers. ‘I forgot to close the door.’
Hannah took her hand and gave it a squeeze. ‘Don’t you worry, Vera, everything will be fine.’
Josh looked at Vera, his gaze impassive. ‘I’m going to run some tests, Vera, and see what they show.’ He looked at Kat. ‘Can you get a line in so that we can give her some fluids, and take bloods.’ He listed the tests he wanted. ‘I just need to make a couple of calls.’
Kat nodded and watched as he left the room. Then she turned her attention back to the patient.
‘I don’t want to have an accident. Have I had an accident?’ Vera shifted on the trolley. ‘Oh, I do hope not. It’s so embarrassing.’
Something clicked in Kat’s head. ‘Vera, are you having trouble getting to the toilet on time?’
‘No.’ The old lady licked her lips, her mouth dry. ‘I don’t go much.’
‘Right.’ Kat asked a few more questions then gave Hannah a quick smile and slipped out of the room to look for Josh.
He was just finishing a phone call. ‘I’ve called the medical reg. They’re expecting her on the medical assessment unit. My guess is she has an infection.’
‘Probably a kidney infection,’ Kat said quickly, her cheeks slightly pink as she caught his quizzical gaze. ‘In my opinion, she’s been suffering from incontinence so to try and control it she’s stopped drinking.’
Josh looked at her. ‘You could be right. Makes sense, I suppose. Good thinking. We need to do a dipstick test on her urine.’
‘Hannah is doing one now.’
Josh nodded and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. ‘All right. We’ll transfer her up to the medical assessment unit and they can take it from there.’ He walked back into the cubicle and explained to Vera what was happening even though she didn’t seem to take any of it in. ‘I’ll tell Louisa and she can give Alice a ring, Vera. Don’t worry about a thing. Hannah is going to take you upstairs now.’
Kat followed him out of the room. ‘How do you know Vera? And who’s Alice?’
‘Her sister.’ Josh strode towards the staffroom. ‘They live next door to Mac. Louisa adopted them at Christmas. They were one of her projects.’
Kat laughed. ‘Like Hopeful?’
‘Nowhere near as troublesome as Hopeful,’ Josh drawled, pushing open the door of the staffroom and stopping dead as he saw the number of people in there. ‘I didn’t know we were throwing a party.’
It seemed as though the entire staff had gathered to say hello to Louisa, and Kat felt something shift inside her.
What did it feel like to be part of a small community like this, where everyone not only knew their neigh-bours but cared for them? Where the staff all really minded when you left and wanted you to come back? What was it like to truly belong? For a moment she envied Louisa and then she pushed the thought away.
Her life was good. She didn’t have anything to complain about.
She caught Louisa’s gaze on her and forced a smile. ‘Hello again.’
‘Hi.’ Louisa struggled to her feet and Josh strode forward and helped her.
‘You weigh a ton and you’re disrupting my department. Clear off, before I call the authorities and have you removed.’
Louisa smiled, unrepentant. ‘It would take a crane to remove me now. How’s Vera?’ They moved to one side so that they couldn’t be overheard.
‘Kat thinks she has an infection brought on by lack of fluid. She’s dehydrated.’ Josh frowned. ‘Do you know if she has a problem with incontinence?’
‘Alice, her sister, would know.’ Louisa looked at Kat. ‘You think she’s restricting her drinking?’
‘I think it�
�s possible,’ Kat said, and Louisa nodded thoughtfully.
‘Could be. Smart thinking. Well…’ Her brow cleared. ‘To be honest, it would be a relief if it was that and nothing worse. I’ll pack her off to the GP once she’s home and better. She can talk to him about the options. And holding off on the fluid isn’t going to be one of them.’
Josh smiled at Kat. ‘You can safely rely on my sister-in-law to interfere until it’s sorted out,’ he said mildly. ‘Interfering is her special talent.’
‘Come to lunch on Sunday,’ Louisa said impulsively, catching Kat by the arm. ‘I owe you a whole string of sausages after what happened the other day.’
‘Oh!’ taken by surprise Kat just stared at her. ‘Well, I’m not sure. I—’
‘Say yes,’ Josh advised. ‘She makes a barbecue sauce that’s enough to bring a man to his knees.’
Kat hesitated. She was so unaccustomed to receiving social invitations that she didn’t really know how to react. In her last post, everyone had worked together and then gone home and lived separate lives, often miles away from each other. She wasn’t used to working as a member of such a close-knit team. Did she want to go? Did Louisa really want her? ‘But I have Archie…’
‘Well, of course you have Archie,’ Louisa said happily, ‘and he’ll be a wonderful playmate for Hopeful. To be honest, he isn’t the best dog to have around at a barbecue.’
‘He isn’t the best dog to have around at any culinary event,’ Josh pointed out in a dry tone, and Louisa sighed.
‘That is true. He does love his food. But most of all he loves other people’s food.’ She giggled and turned back to Kat. ‘So will you come?’
Her smile was so genuine that Kat couldn’t do anything but accept. ‘All right. Thank you very much.’
‘Twelve o’clock and dress casually. Better bring something to swim in, too.’ Louisa took a pad and pen out of her bag and scribbled a map. ‘We’re just down the beach from you. If you’re feeling really decadent, you can just walk along the sand, otherwise you can take the more conventional route and use the road. See you there.’
CHAPTER FIVE
‘WE’RE going to a barbecue? Truly?’ Archie jumped up and down with excitement. ‘On the beach?’