Affini. The man who’d unfortunately kept coming to mind since she’d returned to Venice. The man whose hands and mouth had been all over her two months ago. The man who hadn’t bothered to call her again after that very intimate night together.
Aubrey felt a little as if she might just fall over, as though she’d been physically struck at the surprise of seeing him right there in front of her. She barely noticed the elderly man standing next to him as Enzo’s dark eyes met hers for several breathless heartbeats. He recovered from the shock more quickly than she did, moving next to her to get something from the cupboard she’d just been snooping in, then turning to the elderly man with instructions. Aubrey didn’t hear a word he said, feeling utterly frozen as she watched Enzo and the patient move down the hallway, with Enzo opening the door to the reception area for him, then following behind.
Aubrey sagged against the countertop, her hand to her chest, trying to breathe. Did she have any chance of slipping out the back door before he came back? Though if she did, what would that accomplish? She’d come to Venice to work. Was it her fault that he, incredibly, worked at this clinic, too? Gulping down the jittery nerves making her feel numb from head to toe, she forced herself to stand as tall as possible and stared at the door, willing herself to look calm and confident.
Proud that she managed to be standing there in a normal way when the door opened again...assuming he couldn’t see her knees shaking...she met his gaze. The look on his face was completely different than the last time she’d seen him, which was the night they’d parted in the wee hours of the morning. Then, his eyes had been filled with warmth, his sensuous lips smiling and soft.
These lips could have belonged to someone else. Hard and firmly pressed together. His silky eyebrows formed a deep V over his nose as he stared at her.
“Aubrey. To say this is a surprise is an understatement. How did you know I work here?” His voice was a little hard, too. Ultra-chilly. She’d have to be dense as one of the posts sunk into the silt of the lagoon if she couldn’t read loud and clear that he was not pleased to see her at all.
Something painful stabbed in the region of her heart, but the nervousness and, yes, hurt filling her gut slowly made way for a growing anger at the strange suspicion in his eyes. As if she’d come here on purpose to stalk him or something. “I didn’t. I didn’t even know you were a doctor. Something you conveniently forgot to mention.”
“You knew Dante is a doctor.”
“So that meant you had to be one, too? From the way you talked about the restoration of the old homes here, I thought you were an architect or in the construction business or something. You at least knew I was a nurse traveling with Shay.” She wasn’t about to add that her attraction to him and excitement about deciding to let herself enjoy a little carnal pleasure on the trip had been foremost in her mind, not the thought of what he did for a living, since right now he clearly had other things on his mind. Like being ticked off that she was there.
Well, he wasn’t the only one feeling beyond annoyed right then. It was painfully obvious that he’d never planned to contact her when she was back in Venice, and she wasn’t sure if she was angrier at him for that, or at herself for wishing he’d wanted to.
“I assumed you were working at the hospital with Shay.”
“Well, you assumed wrong, the same way I did.” She tipped her chin and stared him down, her chest pinching tightly at the way he was looking at her. As if she were some black rat that had scurried out of the sewer into his clinic.
A long slow breath left his lips as he stuck his hands in the dress pants that fitted him as impeccably as the ones he’d taken off as fast as possible the last time she’d seen him. His white lab coat was swept back against his hips, and even through his dress shirt his strong physique was obvious. The body she’d gotten to see in all its glorious detail.
The jerk.
“Our time together before was...nice, Aubrey. But this is a problem.”
Nice? The most incredible sexual experience of her life had been nice for him? “Why?” she challenged, beyond embarrassed and steaming now. “You’re obviously a man who enjoys women. I enjoyed our night together, too. But that’s long behind us. Now we move into a professional relationship, which won’t be a problem for me at all.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire, her inner self mocked. Though maybe it was true. Right now, if he tried to kiss her, she just might punch him in the nose.
“Listen.” He shoved his hand through his hair. “I think it’s better if we look at other options.”
Other options? The rise of panic in her chest shoved aside her anger with him. Nora had said he was director of the clinic. Did that mean he could toss her out if he wanted? She knew there weren’t any positions available at the hospital. What if there wasn’t a single other place to work in all of Venice?
“Enzo, there’s no reason we can’t work through this. I—”
“Dr. Affini.” Nora rushed into the hallway with a boy who looked to be about seven trailing behind. Blood stained his torn pants and dripped onto the floor with every step he took. “Benedetto Rossi is here. He fell off his bike. I tried to call his father and his nonna but haven’t reached either of them. I’ll keep trying.”
“All right.” Instantly, the frown on Enzo’s face disappeared, replaced by a calm, warm smile directed at the boy. “Were you taking the corners too fast again?” he asked in English.
The boy responded in quick Italian, gesturing wildly and looking panicked. Enzo placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder and led him to an examination room as the boy talked, his head tipped toward the child as he listened. Aubrey hurried to follow. Enzo might not want her here, but maybe she could prove he needed her anyway.
The boy stopped talking to take a breath, and Enzo took advantage of the brief break in his recitation. “Sit up here.” He swung the child up onto the exam table. “And speak English, please. I know your papà likes you to practice, and the nice nurse here is American. I’m going to take a look, okay?”
Benedetto nodded and sucked in a breath as Enzo leaned over to carefully roll back the boy’s ripped pants. The skin beneath sported a wide, bleeding abrasion. It was a nasty one, to be sure, but at first glance it didn’t look to be deep enough to require stitches. Not that his leg couldn’t still be fractured in some way.
Time to show how competent and vital to this clinic she could be, right? Before Enzo booted her out the door for having nice sex with him?
Aubrey shoved down the anger and worry and stab of hurt still burning in her chest and opened a few drawers. Pulled out the supplies she’d need to stop the bleeding, washed her hands, and snapped on gloves. “That’s an impressive scrape you’ve got there,” she said to the child, smiling to relax him. And herself, if she was honest. She was glad Enzo had asked the boy to speak English, because she hadn’t been able to understand a single word he’d said. “You’re obviously a very tough guy. Is your bike okay?”
“No.” The panicked look came back. “The wheel is bent, and the tire is flat. Papà is going to be angry.”
“Oh, surely he won’t be angry when he sees you were hurt,” Aubrey said.
“Yes, he will.” He licked his lips and turned his wide-eyed attention back to Enzo. “Nonna will be, too. I was supposed to be getting bread and seppioline, but I went to play with Lucio first. And then
