There was such a strong association for her with pain and sickness she’d forgotten that there had been good times too. Max had reminded her that she’d had laughs with some real friends along the way. A few of whom hadn’t made it out the other side of cancer. Rob had absolutely no cause to treat her as some sort of ghoul.
‘Max, I’ll come down later and walk with you to Theatre.’
Why couldn’t he talk to her with the soft-talking Scottish lilt instead of that defensive bark?
‘And maybe we could get that interview on tape while you’re here too?’ For now she could fire ahead with Max and his parents, but if she couldn’t even nail him down for five minutes it was going to be a long couple of months.
‘We’ll see.’ His eyes flashed with blue fire but this wasn’t about him, or even her.
‘Dr Campbell is one of my best friends. He brings me new cars every time I have to stay here.’ Max said his piece on the subject, then resumed making explosion sounds as he caused a four-car pile-up on his bed.
It was a heart-warming statement that managed to smooth out the frown on the handsome doctor’s forehead. ‘You don’t need to suck up, Max. We both know I have a silver Lamborghini with your name on it.’
These two together were cuteness personified. Jessica understood that the staff developed close bonds with the children—she’d become attached to the nurses she’d seen nearly every day—but it was rare for someone of Rob’s status to take such a personal interest. He would probably relate more if he had boys of his own but Jessica knew nothing of his personal circumstances.
He turned his back on her to walk away but that terrier spirit in her wanted his name in her diary before he left. She reached out to stop him. ‘So, we can go ahead and schedule that interview?’
The muscles in his arm bunched beneath her fingers and she had to fight to concentrate. This was a guy who worked out and someone she clearly had explosive chemistry with. Unfortunately, a quick check on his ring finger confirmed he was already taken.
‘Why do I get the impression that not many people say no to you?’ Rob cocked his head to one side as though he was studying some new incurable disease.
Goosebumps rippled over her skin. In her job she was used to being challenged; the thrill of it reminded her she was alive. Although, judging by her quickening pulse, it could be said she was enjoying it too much at present.
‘They do. I simply choose to ignore it.’ Something she was going to have to do about those hottie vibes radiating from her new married opponent.
ROB SWITCHED ON the air conditioning in his car in an attempt to cool the after-effects of his early-morning workout and hot shower. He reckoned the gym was missing a trick with their opening times. A twenty-four-hour haven for members whose shift patterns and insomnia left them with too much time on their hands would make a fortune.
He’d stayed at the hospital until after Max’s surgery, making sure there was a friendly face by his side when he came round from the anaesthetic. Even though he’d been exhausted by the time he’d returned home and fallen into bed, the tiredness hadn’t overridden the all too familiar nightmares. Rob might not have been at the scene of the accident but it didn’t stop him imagining their terror, hearing them call for him before the sickening crunch of the impact.
Sometimes he would even wake from his fitful sleep thinking he could hear Mollie crying from the room next door, a sound which always pulled on his heart-strings like a harp. He’d be out of bed and on his way to tuck her in before he realised his mind had played a cruel trick on him. Thanks to his own stubbornness and a dumb kid in a stolen car, he’d never have a chance to comfort his daughter again.
The first rays of the dawn light often came as a blessing, heralding the start of a new working day where he had plenty to keep his thoughts busy. It was the downtime, such as sitting in this logjam of cars, which let his mind wander towards those things beyond his control.
As he edged forward in the morning traffic, he spotted a familiar figure by the side of the road. Jessica, with her slinky grey silk dress hitched up to her thighs, was running after a bus, barefoot. Rob slowed the car to watch the spectacle. Sure enough, there she was with those ludicrous heels in her hand for a second time. Silver ones today. He wouldn’t be surprised if she had matching shoes for every outfit in her, no doubt, vast wardrobe.
He wound down the window as he tailed her. ‘You should really invest in a pair of flats.’
She slowed to a casual walk although her face was flushed from her exertions and he’d already heard her swear as the bus pulled away. Jessica leaned through the open window and the auburn waves of her hair tumbled over her shoulders. ‘Are you going to sit there sneering all day, or be a gentleman and offer me a lift?’
He opened the door and turned off his MP3 player so he didn’t lose the upper hand here by revealing his love of cheesy pop music. Even though she was the last person he wanted to spend time with, he could hardly leave her stranded when they were going to the same place. Next time he might be inclined to pretend he didn’t see her and save himself from suffocating in her spicy perfume.
‘I didn’t have you down as the type to use public transport,’ he remarked.
The expensive clothes and the matching pearly-pink mani-pedi she was sporting weren’t in keeping with the thick exhaust fumes belching out from the bus in front. No, she’d be more at home in a sports car with the top down, cruising the streets of Monaco or somewhere equally fabulous.
‘I never did get around to taking driving lessons. Besides, the buses run regularly into the city centre from here and I don’t have to worry about finding a parking space. It’s my fault I’m late. I slept in this morning.’ Jessica leaned one hand on his leg to balance herself as she bent down to slip on her shoes. It was such an innocent, yet intimate, act but it burned his skin where she touched him. The rush of blood in his ears drowned out the majority of her chatter—something about missing breakfast—as she squeezed his thigh.
He hadn’t expected to react so … primitively … to being in close quarters with a woman he’d barely spoken to until twenty-four hours ago. It wasn’t as if he’d been a monk all of this time, where one touch from a woman could send him into raptures. He’d had a few flings but he lived by three rules—no one from work, no more than one night and keep things strictly physical. His partners knew the score from the start, so he could walk away without any emotional complications. No one would ever get close enough where he’d have to battle his conscience over replacing Leah in his life.
Jessica was attractive, successful and apparently incredibly tactile. What wasn’t to like? Unless you only engaged in overnight shenanigans and the lady in question was at your place of work for the next four weeks. In other circumstances he might have acted differently, encouraged further exploration of his person, but this would only be asking for trouble. He shuffled in his seat as his body seemed to outgrow his trousers and he was glad when she removed her hand before things became uncomfortable for both of them.
‘I … er … thought you might like to know Max’s surgery was a success. The surgeon managed to remove all traces of the tumour.’ He switched back to the topic guaranteed to draw out her ruthless side and remind him she was a no-go area.
‘I already know, but thanks.’
‘Oh,
