gaze. And his expression...well, the only interpretation she could put on it was complete incredulity. As if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing—that she was still working in his department?
Harriet shrugged. ‘He’ll soon find out you’re not. He’s one of the smartest guys I know and he can read people pretty well. I could tell him myself, just to speed up the process.’
‘No, don’t do that, Harry. It feels like I’d be trying to get something the easy way. Breaking some unwritten rule for a team that must have to rely on everyone being super competent. I’ll just have to impress him at work somehow, if I get the chance. And then you could put my name forward.’
‘Don’t try too hard,’ Harriet advised. ‘He likes to make his own decisions. If he gets pushed he’s likely to walk off and do his own thing. He’s a...what’s the word for it...when someone’s a law unto themselves kind of thing?’
‘Fascinating’ was the first word that sprang to mind. Or maybe ‘irresistible’...
‘Maverick, that’s it.’ Harriet’s nod was satisfied.
‘Hmm... I guess he is. I mean, that hair...’
‘I know. Not my thing but it doesn’t seem to put other girls off.’
‘And he was still wearing jeans under that scrubs top. And...and cowboy boots?’
Harriet was laughing again. ‘I guess when you’re that brilliant at what you do, you can get away with pretty much anything. He’s a nice guy, Sam. As long as you don’t get too close.’
‘Oh? What happens if you do?’
‘Well, you don’t. That’s just it. You get a broken heart, that’s all. Oh...speaking of hearts.’ Harriet glanced at her watch. ‘I’ve got to run. Pete’s taking me out to dinner and that doesn’t happen very often. I think...’ She bit her lip, hazel eyes sparkling beneath her tumble of auburn curls. ‘I think he’s going to ask me to move in with him.’
‘Really?’ Oh, my God, Harry. That’s almost a proposal. Are you going to say yes?’
Harriet grinned. ‘You have met Pete, haven’t you?’
‘Of course I have.’
She’d met Harriet’s boyfriend more than once. A tall, very fit fireman who was also part of the SDR, Pete had sun-bleached blond hair thanks to his favourite hobby of surfing and a body that was a testament to the number of hours he spent at the gym. He was undeniably good looking and seemed like a perfectly nice guy but...
Sam gave her head a tiny shake as she reached for her bag. There was no ‘but’. Her parents would be rapt if she brought someone like Pete home. They would be horrified if she turned up with someone like...
Like Blake Cooper.
Good grief...one glass of wine on a sunny afternoon and it had gone straight to her head, hadn’t it?
‘I hope Pete takes you somewhere really romantic.’
‘I don’t care if it’s a fast food joint, to be honest. You coming to the bus stop?’
‘No. I left my car at work.’ She hugged her friend. ‘And I’ve got some shopping to do. Catch you tomorrow, maybe?’
Luckily there was a pharmacy in the group of local shops near the wine bar. Sam headed in and grabbed an item that had been at the back of her mind all day.
Nail polish remover.
* * *
The little red car was still there.
Blake Cooper was finally heading home after a long shift. He had already worked more than his allocated hours and he would have stayed longer still so that he’d had a chance to get up to the paediatric wing and check on the baby he’d resuscitated this morning but he had another place he needed to be and someone who needed him to be there.
It made him smile to see the car again. He’d have to tell his mum about it, he decided, as he climbed onto his bike and rocked it free of its stand. A trip down memory lane for both of them was one of her favourite things. Maybe he’d even have a dig in those old boxes at the back of the garage and see if that box of toys was still there somewhere.
His smile died as he lifted his head to put his helmet on.
No way...
It couldn’t be...
But it was. The woman walking towards the little red car was none other than the new nurse from ED.
Samantha Braithwaite.
The name had burned itself into his memory banks instantly, with a similar lightning bolt kind of finality as what she looked like.
And, if he’d thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in that moment, it paled in comparison to what he was seeing now.
She’d been wearing scrubs then. With her hair no more than a lumpy knot at the back of her head.
Right now, she was wearing a gypsy-style, loose white blouse and faded denim shorts with frayed hems that showed off an incredible length of slim, bronzed legs. And her hair... Released from that knot, it was astonishingly long, reaching her waist in a fall of gentle waves that the summer evening breeze was playing with.
Forget the impression of being a princess or a model. What Blake was looking at now was more like an image from one of those magazines he’d hidden under his bed as a teenager.
Every man’s fantasy.
And she owned the vintage MG roadster? Apparently so, given that she’d climbed inside and was now rolling the soft top back.
Blake’s breath came out in a snort. Of course she did. It was probably a gift from a rich father. Or husband. A boyfriend at the very least. Women who looked like that were never alone in life.
Maybe she’d had those stupid dots painted on her nails to match its paintwork, even.
This was ridiculous. Why was he even giving this woman and her questionable life choices any head space at all? Blake jammed his helmet onto his head and kicked the engine of his bike into life. He took off with perhaps a bit more acceleration than was strictly necessary so it really shouldn’t have surprised him that she turned her head to stare at him.
What did come as a surprise was that he rather liked the idea that she was watching him.
* * *
‘How long will I have to wait?’
‘I’m not sure, Jess.’ Sam had come into one of the cubicles assigned to her on this shift, to do the obs on a patient who’d been brought into the ED by ambulance earlier this morning. She watched the drip rate of the IV fluids and slowed them a little by turning the small wheel on the line. These fluids were running simply to keep a vein open in case medication was needed at some point. ‘I can make a call and try and find out, if you like?’
She knew which of the phones on the main
