for.
‘Leave it with me at the moment,’ Beth decided. ‘Hopefully I won’t need to call you but at least we’ll give you a party tonight to make up for it if I do.’
Alex was careful not to look directly at Susie. To make his query general. ‘Is everybody going to the gala dinner?’
‘Of course,’ Susie said. ‘We never miss a good party in this neck of the woods, do we, Charles?’
‘No.’ But Charles sounded as though enjoying himself was the last thing he was thinking about, which was hardly surprising given Lily’s illness. ‘And that reminds me, I’ve got a meeting with the restaurant staff to talk about seating arrangements. You want to have a look around the resort, Alex?’
Alex shook his head. ‘I’ll see it at lunchtime. I might go and see what Stella’s up to as soon as I’ve got a free moment.’
‘I think she’ll be on the beach,’ Susie told him. ‘She’s been roped in to help judge a sandcastle competition later.’
‘Oh!’ Beth checked her watch. ‘Are you going in to see Jack, Susie?’
‘On my way. He needs a good physio session to get his lungs clear.’
‘Remind Miranda of the time. She wants to go and admire Josh’s sandcastle.’
Alex paused for a moment as he left the medical centre, pulling his sunglasses off his head to cover his eyes and enjoying the touch of sunshine on his bare legs and arms. Funny that it didn’t seem remotely unprofessional to be dressed in casual summer clothing here, even when seeing a patient.
The warmth was as sensuous as the heady smell of some tropical flowers growing nearby and Alex found himself stretching, letting his muscles go as he took a deep, appreciative sniff before setting off on what felt like a lazy ramble.
The spell of island magic had caught him. This was a place where senses were heightened and the ones he normally relied on, like sight and sound, were strangely less important than taste or smell or touch. A seductive environment that stirred all sorts of desires to explore those senses further.
Alex let his breath out in a contented sigh as he entered the shade of the forest walk. He had a few minutes to himself, which was a rare pleasure. He had most of the rest of the day to spend focused on the most important person in his life—his daughter. For the duration of this walk, however, there was no harm in letting his thoughts drift back to where they were being irresistibly drawn, was there?
No.
It couldn’t hurt to think about Susie.
As he had been, rather a lot, since last night.
She couldn’t have known how desperate he’d been. Desperate enough to ask for help for the first time in his adult life.
He’d never done it before. He hadn’t done it when his world had turned upside down with his young wife dying so suddenly and tragically, leaving him with an infant daughter. Help had been offered, of course. Too much help, but Alex had needed to deal with his grief by taking control. Using instinct and sheer willpower to learn to care for a baby and to try and put his life back together.
He hadn’t asked for help even when a second, potentially lethal blow had been delivered by fate and his beloved daughter had been diagnosed with cancer. It had been easy to take control then. To use his knowledge and contacts to put together the best possible medical management.
But last night he’d lost it. There had been no way to win by force or willpower, and instinct had completely deserted him. He’d had to ask for help from someone he wasn’t sure he could trust. He’d handed an alarming amount of power to a woman who could have used it to pay him back for his rudeness on their introduction. Or to strike a cruel blow to his confidence as a parent. But she hadn’t used that power for anything other than the benefit of Stella.
In fact, Alex was quite sure Susie would be incapable of cruelty. He had seen her concern. Her understanding. Her willingness to help.
Somehow, magically, as they’d shared that glass of wine, she’d slipped through a barrier he’d considered impenetrable. Mistrust had evaporated and it was possible to see her as a genuine person with no personal agenda. A very beautiful person.
Yes. Susie was part of the magic.
A temptation to his senses. All of them. She was beautiful to look at. The sound of her voice and laughter a pleasure. If he, say, kissed her, he would know what she tasted like, wouldn’t he? Whether her hair or skin smelt of any tropical scents. At the very least, if there was any dancing involved with this gala dinner tonight, he could take her in his arms and he would know what it felt like to touch her…
Alex changed direction abruptly, taking a fork of the track that had to lead to the beach.
A dip in the ocean was what was needed here.
He could only hope it would be cool enough.
‘MORE champagne, Susie?’
‘Go on, then.’ Susie held her glass out. ‘It’s not as if I have to walk home, is it?’
‘You don’t even have to ride your bike. We can just pour you into the lift. Star’s dad did us a favour, really, didn’t he?’
‘You and Mike should have had the penthouse suite. It’s ridiculous having me rattling around in there by myself.’
‘We’ve got a room that opens into the pool complex. It’s perfect. We went swimming in the dark last night. Very romantic. There was no one else around. We could have swum naked if we’d wanted to.’
‘And did you?’ Susie gave her best friend a suspicious glance and then her jaw dropped. ‘You did! You’re a wicked woman, Emily Poulos.’
‘It was Mike’s idea.’
Susie felt the need to change the subject from romantic midnight swimming. ‘This place is enormous, isn’t it? We must have a hundred people at this function and it’s completely separate from the rest of the guests.’
‘I hear a bit of juggling went on. This room is the hub of the convention centre and there’s a medical conference on this weekend.’
This was a nice, neutral topic. ‘Anyone from Crocodile Creek at the conference?’
Emily shook her head. ‘It’s very specialised. Epidemiology.’
Susie smiled. ‘Skin…right?’
Emily laughed. ‘No. Causes of diseases and stuff. Hey, you made a joke!’
‘What’s so unusual about that? You trying to tell me I’m no fun to be around?’
‘No.’ Emily touched her arm in a gesture that spoke of long familiarity and close friendship. ‘It’s just…I don’t know…I got the feeling something was bothering
