for caring. Now, I’m going to put these files away and collect my things from the staffroom.’
Chloe watched her go, sighing as she rose to her feet and made her own preparations to leave. With luck, she’d have time to go home, feed the cats, shower, change and have a snack before Kate dropped Jem off. It had been another long, busy week and she was tired. She loved her job but it could be very demanding on her time and energy, and she never knew when she could be called out by one of her mothers during the night or at a weekend. Babies didn’t follow a nine-to-five, five-day-a-week schedule! Smiling to herself, she gave her room a final check and then turned to leave, shocked to find Oliver blocking her doorway.
Oliver leaned against the doorframe and watched as Chloe finished tidying her desk, a smile on her face as she turned towards him. He regretted the way that smile faded, to be replaced by wary uncertainty as her footsteps faltered and she hesitated just out of his reach. Knowing faint heart never won fair lady, he pressed ahead with his plan to ask her out.
‘Hi.’
‘Hello.’ She looked puzzled as her gaze met his then flicked away again. ‘Is something wrong?’
As nervous as a teenager, he summoned a smile and tried to look more confident than he felt. ‘No, not at all. I was just wondering… Would you like to come out for a drink or something tonight?’
‘Me?’ Amazement shone in her green eyes before she ducked her head.
‘Yes, you!’ He couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head at her total lack of self-awareness. Surely guys asked her out all the time? ‘Why not you?’
She regarded him in silence, apparently devoid of an answer. Closing the distance between them, he couldn’t resist brushing a few wayward strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail back behind her ear. This close to her, he saw the tiny network of faint scars that crisscrossed the side of her neck and dipped to her left shoulder. He’d not noticed them before. As his fingertips trailed over the series of narrow white lines, he felt the shiver that rippled through her at his touch before she froze as if in shock.
Concerned at the thought of her being hurt in any way, his voice dropped to a husky whisper. ‘What happened, babe?’
‘Nothing.’ Beneath his fingers he detected the rapid and irregular beat of her pulse. ‘An old childhood mishap.’
Oliver didn’t believe her. He could tell from her evasive tone, not to mention the shadow of remembered pain clouding her eyes, that there was much more to the event that had left these marks on her satin soft-skin than she had divulged. He was alarmed because he had never felt this intensely about a woman before. Why Chloe? What was it about her that drew him? He was impatient to know all about her, but he sensed her skittishness and knew he needed to take his time with her.
‘So,’ he said, getting them back on track and reluctantly removing his hand from her skin, ‘about tonight…’
‘I’m sorry, I can’t.’ Her voice sounded less steady and assured than before. ‘We can talk more about any patient queries you have next week.’
She thought he was asking her out to talk about patients? Frowning, he shook his head. ‘No, that’s not it.’ Frustrated that she didn’t seem to understand his intentions, he thrust his hands in his pockets to stop himself reaching for her again. ‘Chloe.’
She shifted uneasily, looking ready to flee. ‘I already have plans, Oliver. I need to go.’
‘Sure.’ He was still puzzled by her reaction but he let it go…for now. Knowing she often met up with physiotherapist Lauren Nightingale and some of their other friends, he smiled again. ‘Girls’ night out?’
‘No. Not this time.’
‘You have a date?’ Bitter disappointment and a wave of jealousy coursed through him. Had his caution meant he had missed his chance? Had some other man beaten him to Chloe?
She edged around him towards the door, her movements jerky. ‘Excuse me. I’ll, um, be late.’
‘Of course.’ Swallowing a curse, he reluctantly stood aside to let her by. ‘Maybe another time.’
Scowling, unsure of himself, wondering what the hell he was doing chasing after the woman when he wasn’t sure he was ready to get involved, he watched Chloe hurry to the stairs and disappear from view. He had been positive she wasn’t seeing anyone. Her rejection left a sour taste in his mouth and an ache inside him. Not to mention the fact she had seemed so surprised that he would ask her out at all. Why was the idea so strange to her? What was wrong with him? Did Chloe just see him as some feckless playboy, like so many other people did?
Why was he even torturing himself over her? There had always been women who wanted to be with him, but he hadn’t been interested in any of them. All he could think about, all he wanted, was Chloe. Something about her drew him in. In some inexplicable way, just being around her centred him, calmed him, made him feel real. There was so much about her he had yet to discover and he sensed there was something mysterious she held inside. He wanted to know her. Wanted Chloe to trust him, to open up to him. The prospect of an evening alone wondering where she was, what she was doing…and, dammit, who she was doing it with…was distinctly unappealing.
‘Oliver?’
Glancing round in surprise, he saw Kate hovering at the staffroom door. He moved to join her, thankful to discover they were alone.
‘How are you doing, Kate?’ he asked, concerned that she had looked pale and stressed since the upset with Nick.
‘I’m fine.’
He wasn’t taken in by the brave smile she sent him. ‘You can talk to me. If you ever need to.’
‘Thanks.’ He saw her knuckles whiten as she gripped her hands tightly together.
‘I’m sorry about today. About Nick ducking out of the antenatal meeting.’
‘It’s not your fault.’ She tried another smile, no more successful than the last. ‘Nick and I have to work this out between us, Oliver.’
‘OK.’ He’d back off…for now. But he’d be keeping his eye on her just the same.
Kate’s expression lightened as she watched him. ‘How about you?’
‘Me?’
‘I’ve noticed you seem smitten with our Chloe.’
‘Yeah.’ That was one way of putting it. Oliver sent Kate a rueful smile. ‘Not that I’m getting very far. Chloe treated me with the same friendliness she does everyone else for the first few days I was here but now she’s cooled and it’s almost impossible to get close to her.’
Now Kate’s smile was genuine. ‘I think it dawned on her that you were seeing her in a way that the other doctors don’t.’
‘I was interested from the first moment I met her.’
‘Chloe wouldn’t have realised that,’ Kate commented, surprising him.
‘Why not? She’s a beautiful woman. Men must beat a path to her door.’
Kate shook
