sighed. ‘I thought I said I wasn’t going.’ He had to be deaf as well as organised.
‘You did.’
‘So you are planning on going alone.’
‘Nope.’ Zac leaned back as a girl placed two overfull coffee cups on the table and took away their order number. ‘I want you to come with me.’
So do I. ‘No.’
Those eyes that matched the coffee in colour locked onto her. ‘Are you telling me no? Or yourself, Olivia?’
‘We’d probably end up hating each other.’
‘Somehow I don’t think so.’ Shock widened his eyes. So he hadn’t thought it through. ‘But we won’t know if we don’t try.’
What was this about? Zac had made it clear he’d only been interested in sex last time round. Her hands were back in her lap, her fingers aching with the tightness of her grip. ‘Is this so you can then walk away with no regrets? Did I finish it too soon last time?’
Now his gaze dropped away. He leaned far back and draped one arm over the top of the chair next to him. His eyes cruised the cafeteria before returning to her, a guarded expression covering his face. ‘I’ve learned more about you in the last twenty-four hours than I ever did in those eight weeks last year.’
‘Then you’re probably up to speed and there’s nothing more to find out.’
Zac stared at her. ‘You’re selling yourself short.’
To hell with the coffee. Pushing up from the table, she aimed for a moderate tone. ‘No, I am not. What you see is what you get, and as for Fiji, you get nothing. I’m not going.’ But I want to. Really, really want to.
Of course he followed her. He was persistent if nothing else. Unlike last time. ‘Rethink that, Olivia. We don’t have to live in each other’s pockets while we’re there, but it would be fun to lie in the sun together, to share a meal under the stars.’
The problem was that if she lay on the beach in her bikini beside Zac in his swimming shorts they would end up having sex. Not that doing so didn’t appeal. Of course it did. Her mouth watered, thinking about it. But she’d made up her mind the day she’d walked out on him that they weren’t going anywhere with their relationship because she couldn’t afford to get her heart broken. Neither had she wanted to break his—if it was even up for grabs.
Zac pulled his phone from his pocket and read a message. ‘Your battery’s nearly here.’
‘Good. Thanks for arranging it.’ She didn’t know why she felt small and mean, only knew she was floundering, fighting between going with him on that trip and staying away from temptation. She was looking out for herself, something she’d always done. Her mother had never put her daughter before herself, never would. She gasped. That meant she was the same as her mother. Putting her determination to remain alone before anyone, anything else. But … But I’m doing it for a good reason. Dad left Mum because she’d worn him down, tossed his love back in his face again and again. I’m not doing that to a man I might fall in love with.
A hand on her elbow directed her to the elevator. Seemed that Zac was always taking her to the lift. ‘Five days of sunshine and no patients. Sounds wonderful to me.’
Ain’t that the truth?
At least Olivia hadn’t questioned why he was so adamant they should go to Fiji together. He should be grateful she was refusing to go, but the thought of being alone when he should be celebrating with his family grated. A distraction was needed and Olivia would certainly be that.
But, more than that, it was time to start changing from being reactive to his family’s attitude to becoming proactive in sorting out what he wanted for his future—starting with taking time off from his heavy work schedule to have some fun. Hell. When was the last time he’d done that? Nothing came to mind except the hours he’d snatched to be with Olivia eighteen months ago.
The sound of squealing tyres filled the basement garage as they exited the elevator on the way to the outside car park. The smell of burning rubber filled his nostrils. ‘What the hell?’
A nearly new, upmarket car raced past them. At the end of the lane it spun left, the rear wheels sliding out of control. Just when impact with parked vehicles seemed imminent the driver got the car under control.
Zac pushed Olivia back against the now closed elevator doors, tugged his phone from his pocket to call Security, and cursed. There was no signal down here. ‘The driver looked very young. How’d he get in?’
The garage and car park were reserved for medical personnel and accessed with a swipe card. The car flew past them again as Zac looked around for a wall phone. Spying one by the stairwell door, he changed direction, only to spin around when he heard an almighty thump, followed by a metallic crashing sound. Then ominous silence.
‘He’s hit someone and then slammed into a vehicle!’ Olivia began running in the direction of the crashed car.
Zac raced alongside her. ‘We need someone down here, taking charge of that kid.’ A boy looking about fifteen staggered out of the car, looking shocked and bewildered.
‘Where did she come from?’ he squawked as they reached him.
Zac’s hands clenched as he saw a woman in blue scrubs sprawled across the concrete, a pool of blood already beginning to form by her head. ‘What the hell were you doing?’ Zac shouted at the kid as he dropped down to his knees beside the unmoving woman.
‘Hey, steady.’ Olivia reached across from the other side of the woman to grip his arm. Shaking her head at him, she said, ‘This nurse needs our undivided attention.’
‘You’re right,’ he ground through gritted teeth. ‘Kid, get on that phone by the elevator and get help down here fast.’
Without a word the youth was gone, and Zac could only hope he was running for the phone.
Zac felt for a pulse, and sighed with relief.
Olivia was carefully feeling the nurse’s head. ‘Amelia, can you hear me?’
A low groan was the only answer she got.
‘Amelia, you’ve been in an accident. There are two doctors with you and we’re going to check your injuries.’
‘How much do you think she’s heard?’ Zac wondered aloud.
Olivia shrugged. ‘We can’t be sure anything we say registers.’
‘You know her?’ Zac noted the odd angle of the nurse’s legs and checked for bleeding in case a blood vessel had been torn. ‘No major swelling indicating internal bleeding.’
‘I can read,’ Olivia muttered.
The name badge. Duh. Left his brain behind this morning, had he? With gentle movements he began assessing her hips and thighs for fractures. ‘Broken femur for starters. This knee has taken a thump too.’ His fingers worked over the kneecap. ‘Smashed, I’d say.’
Their patient groaned
