of farmers had arrived to tend to the injured sheep and a shot fired out, the first of many. Lucy flinched before giving a self-deprecating laugh. ‘Obviously I’ve been living the city-girl life for too long.’
He smiled wryly. ‘No one likes to see animals injured. Even the farmers are going to find this tough.’
‘True.’ She tilted her head as if she was sending some sort of non-verbal message to him.
He turned and saw small groups of people gathering, all edging towards them looking slightly stunned and shocked, and needing to talk about what had happened so they could absorb it and put it into perspective. His day, already late starting due to the emergency, just got even busier.
You’ve got a competent doctor standing in front of you so use her.
The thought of how he’d warned her off yesterday loomed large in his mind, but he could no longer deny the fact that he was exhausted and with this disaster he absolutely needed help.
‘Lucy.’ The rest of the sentence stuck in his throat.
‘Yes?’ She shoved her hands into the pockets of her cargo pants and rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet as if she wanted to move away and move fast.
He swallowed and forced up the words. ‘Can you examine the driver of the truck for me, please, while I get started on the day’s work?’
Her chestnut brows rose to her hairline. ‘Are you sure you trust me in the clinic?’
He sighed, knowing he should have seen that coming. ‘Based on how you treated Geraldine, I trust your clinical skills implicitly. I appeal to your conscience and ethical standards that you respect the rules regarding confidentiality, and unless you have William’s written permission, you do not look at his file.’
He held his breath, half expecting her to hit him with an Australian expression that said he could damn well work on his own.
Her grey eyes flickered. ‘Fair enough.’
He blinked. ‘Excuse me?’
It was her turn to sigh. ‘Yesterday …” She tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth.
Mesmerised, his gaze dropped, glued to her plump mouth and the flash of white against ruby-red. Heat socked him, rushing into every crevice and he instantly wondered if the visual lushness they promised would be matched by the touch of his lips against hers.
Now isn’t the best time for this.
Horrified that he was lusting after a colleague—especially after he’d just given a speech on professionalism—he dragged his eyes to her face and tried to remember what they were talking about. ‘You were saying?’
She cleared her throat. ‘Yesterday, I was a little bit … strung out. I haven’t seen William in a long time and…’
He thought about his ex-wife, about his parents and siblings and had a moment of understanding. ‘Family can make you crazy sometimes.’
‘You have no idea.’ She lifted her chin sharply in an increasingly familiar action and her hair fell back from her cheeks. ‘As much as I hate to admit it, yesterday you had a point.’
He couldn’t stop the triumphant smile racing across his face. ‘So, you are saying I was right?’
She crossed her arms, but a twitch of her lips softened the rebellious stance and her voice held a teasing air. ‘I could agree with you or I could help you out. You choose.’
An unexpected sense of lightness streaked in under the stress of the last hour, which was layered on top of the permanent tension of his life and his fears for Ignacio. He grinned, enjoying the banter and the fact that she’d made him laugh. His days were divided into being a doctor and being a father, but right now, in this moment he was Marco and that didn’t happen very often. ‘For now, I will take your help.’
‘Done.’ Lucy shielded her eyes and squinted up the street. ‘Looks like Deb’s got the driver in the ambulance so I’ll go with them to the hospital.’ With a quick wave she walked away, dodging stray sheep.
He should have turned and headed towards his car, but he stood watching the seductive swing of her hips and the way the material of her pants caressed the sweet curve of her behind. His fingers flexed into the same shape and his blood descended with a rush to his groin.
‘Marco. Dr Rodriguez?’
Through a fog of lust, he somehow recognised his name and he jerked his head around so hard that he heard a crunch. Emily Blair, a young mother from the primary school, stood staring at him with a slight frown on her face and a disposable coffee cup in her hand. She’d been very kind to him and Ignacio since their arrival, often bringing around food and inviting Ignacio on play dates. Marco knew Emily wanted more out of their friendship, but he didn’t want to offer her more. He didn’t want to offer any woman more because it was easier that way. No one got hurt.
‘Are you okay, Marco? You look a bit …”
Aroused. Turned on. Marco uttered a silent oath and tried to think cold and chilling thoughts. What was it about Lucy Patterson that had him acting like a teenage boy? He mentally started listing off all the bones in the body until his blood returned to his brain and common sense resumed.
Emily pushed the coffee toward him. ‘You don’t look your normal self, but it was a pretty horrible accident. I thought you might need some coffee.’
‘Gracias. This is very thoughtful of you.’ He accepted the cup being careful not to brush her hand with his.
‘Do you need to talk about it?’
Her hopeful expression made him feel like a jerk. ‘I am sorry, but I cannot stay and talk. I need to get back to the clinic because I have patients waiting.’ He started to back away and raised the coffee in a salute. ‘Thank you again, Emily.’
He turned before he saw disappointment line her face.
Three hours later, Marco couldn’t quite believe that he was standing in an empty waiting room. He leaned against the counter and spoke to Lisa, the clinic’s friendly receptionist. ‘I thought there must be something wrong with the computer. There must be more people to see me, no?’
Lisa shook her head with a smile. ‘Not until afternoon clinic starts at two. Don’t look so worried. For once you get a lunch break.’
Yet, based on his patient load over the last few weeks, none of this made sense. ‘But I started late and—’
‘Didn’t Sue tell you?’
‘Tell me what?’
‘Lucy Patterson’s been seeing patients all morning.’
As if on cue, he heard Lucy’s musical voice drifting down the corridor saying, ‘Make an appointment with Dr Rodriguez for Friday and by then your blood test results will be back. Meanwhile, David, the most important thing for you is to get some rest.’
A moment later David Saunders appeared at the desk and Marco turned, walking directly to William’s consulting room. Lucy was reaching over the examination
