What in the world was happening to him? Gideon wondered
Just four weeks ago his life had been ordered, settled. Heâd had his work, his career, and that was all heâd wanted, and then a golden-haired girl with large blue eyes had cannoned into him on the hospital staircase, torn his character to shreds, and nothing had been the same.
Because youâre falling in love with her, a little voice whispered at the back of his mind. He crushed the voice down quickly. It wasnât trueâcouldnât be true. He liked his life the way it was. No emotional entanglements, no potential for heartache, and yetâ¦
She was blowing on Jamieâs chips to cool them, and all he could think was how wonderful it would be to turn her head, to capture those lips with his own and taste them.
Sex, he told himself firmly. These thoughtsâthese feelingsâthey donât mean anything except that your hormones have kicked into life.
But it wasnât just sex, he realized with dismay when Annie laughed at something Jamie had said, then turned to share the joke. Yes, he wanted to hold her, to touch her, but he also knew that he never wanted to let her go.
ANNIE was going to be late. Very late.
âTake the lift to the fifth floor,â the porter had said. âTurn right when you get out, then left, then right again, and Obs and Gynae is through the double doors at the end of the corridor.â
It had sounded so easyâso simpleâand it probably would have been if the Belfield Infirmaryâs ancient elevator buttons had been working properly, and if what theyâd proclaimed to be the fifth floor hadnât, in fact, turned out to be the third.
I am not going to cry, Annie told herself as she hurried down yet another of the Belfieldâs rambling Victorian corridors in a desperate search for the stairs. Grown-up women of twenty-eight didnât cry. Jamie hadnât cried this morning when sheâd left him at the day-care centre, and he was only four.
âYou will remember to come back for me, Mummy?â was all heâd said, his blue eyes huge in his little face, his small nose reddened by the cold January wind. âYou wonât forget?â
And sheâd been the one whoâd got all choked up, and now she was on the verge of tears all over again because she was late. Late for the first job sheâd had since Jamie was born, and if she messed it up she was never going to get another one.
âItâs full time, you know, Dr Hart,â the head of administration at the Belfield Infirmary had said, gazing at her uncertainly. âAnd your shifts wonât always be eight until four. There may be some night work, some afternoon shiftsâ¦Look, I guess what Iâm trying to say is, you have a young child. Are you sure youâre up to it?â
And Annie had said of course she was up to itâhad even gone out and bought two of the most modern medical manuals to make doubly sure she was up to itâand now everything had gone wrong, and she hadnât even started.
âWhoa, there, whereâs the fire?â a deep male voice protested as she raced out of the door marked STAIRS and cannoned straight into him.
âIâm sorryâso sorry,â she gasped, temporarily winded. âBut I should have been in Obstetrics and Gynaecology ten minutes ago, andââ
âHey, calm down,â the man interrupted, amusement plain in his voice. âSo youâre late. Itâs hardly a hanging offence, is it?â
Which was all very well for him to say, she decided, prising her nose out of his rough tweed jacket and looking up. Nothing and no one would ever frighten this man. He was bigâseriously big. OK, so at five feet six she wasnât exactly a giant herself, but this man had to be six feet five at least.
âPleaseâyouâll have to excuse me,â she exclaimed, trying to sidestep him without success, âbut itâs my first day on the ward, and Iâm supposed to report to a Dr Dunwoodyââ
âYou work in Obs and Gynae?â he interrupted, his forehead pleating into a sudden frown.
âAs from today I do.â She nodded. âIâm the departmentâs new junior doctor.â