knew she shouldn’t be staring but it had been a very long time since she had seen a man in such fabulous physical condition. Her pulse fluttered like a trapped moth beneath her skin.
She was less than a metre away from him. She could reach out with one of her hands and slide it down his ridged abdomen; her fingers could splay over his maleness, stirring it to fervent life with the merest brush of her fingertips.
‘It’d be tough, though, don’t you think?’ she asked, forcing her mind away from the temptation of his body. ‘Being blind, I mean.’
Matt opened his eyes and turned to look at her and then wished he hadn’t. The shadow of her cleavage was right in his line of vision and the delicious curves of her breasts were outlined by the sheet tucked against her. Even if he closed his eyes again he knew it would be impossible to erase that vision from his mind.
Possibly for ever.
‘Aren’t you exhausted?’ he said. ‘You’ve had a tough day, by anyone’s standards.’
She wriggled under the bedclothes again and let out a tiny sigh. ‘I guess I am a bit tired …’
Thank God, Matt thought as he watched her eyelids start to droop. He watched as she drifted off, her mouth relaxing into a soft plump curve, her slim form covered by the sheet making him wish he could run his hand over her, exploring every dip and curve of her body.
He clenched his hands into fists, scrunching his eyes shut, but the gentle sound of her breathing kept him awake for most of the night.
Bright morning sunlight pierced Kellie’s eyelids and she sat bolt upright and rubbed at her eyes. ‘Hey,’ she said, glancing at her watch. ‘Aren’t we supposed to have left by now?’
Matt dragged his head off the pillow and looked at the bedside clock through slitted eyes. He muttered a stiff curse and threw off the bedclothes without thinking.
He suddenly saw Kellie’s eyes go wide and then the delicate rise of colour rush up over her face. He reached for the bathrobe he’d discarded the night before and, tying it with more haste than security, lunged for the phone.
Kellie overheard every word of the exchange, realising as the heated conversation went on they would have to hurry or they would miss the only flight to Culwulla Creek that day, which would mean a long road trip in a hire car from Brisbane.
Using the sheet as a cover, she scuttled into the bathroom and tried not to think about what she had seen in that brief lapse when he had leapt from the bed, although she knew it was going to be very hard to erase it from her mind.
Matt was built like a bodybuilder, not the over-the-top anabolic steroids type but the type that sent female pulses soaring. Pumped muscles, leanness where leanness looked best, like on the flat planes of a stomach that looked as if it had been carved from a slab of marble.
When she came out dressed in her rinsed-out shorts and top and running shoes he was dressed and ready to go. ‘We have to hurry,’ he said, scooping up his doctor’s bag. ‘They’re holding the flight for us but only because we’re medical personnel.’
The attendant smiled at Matt as he led the way up the gangway. ‘Well done, Dr McNaught,’ she said, ‘and with three minutes to spare.’
Matt gave her a brief smile in return and, nodding in apology to the already seated and belted passengers, indicated for Kellie to precede him. ‘You can have the window seat,’ he said with a deadpan expression. ‘And the armrest too, if you want it.’
Kellie grinned up at him as she wriggled into the seat. ‘Is that a sense of humour I see peeking out from behind that gruff exterior of yours?’ she asked.
His expression remained bland but she saw his lips twitch slightly as he took his seat and began rummaging for his end of the seat belt.
‘Is this what you’re looking for?’ she asked, holding up the clip-in end of the belt, her eyes twinkling mischievously.
Matt took it from her slim warm fingers, his body tingling all over at that merest of touches. She was smiling at him in that impish way of hers, the mixture of tomboy and sexy siren that befuddled his brain and other parts of his anatomy. He could feel the way his groin was already tightening, the ache building even more when she ran her tongue over the pink sheen of her lips in that slightly nervous, uncertain manner of hers. He thought of that soft mouth exploring him, the tip of her tongue tasting the essence of him, licking from him the life force that was banked up inside him to the point of bursting. All night he had thought of her hands skating over him, discovering his contours, feeling the length and deep throbbing pulse of him in the slim sheath of her body, the feminine heart of her convulsing around him as he drove himself to paradise …
Kellie peered at him curiously. ‘Are you all right, Matt?’ she asked.
Matt gave himself a mental shake and resettled in his seat, wincing as he had to accommodate a little more of himself than normal. ‘I’m fine,’ he muttered. ‘These seats are so damned uncomfortable. There’s not enough leg room.’
‘That’s because you’re so tall,’ she said, pushing his elbow off the armrest and smiling at him playfully.
Matt reached for the in-flight magazine in the seat pocket, even though he’d read it a thousand times before. Those long legs of hers were still in his line of vision. He couldn’t help imagining them looped around his, her mouth on his, her tongue mating with his as they strove for mutual fulfilment.
He felt her shoulder lean into him. ‘Interesting article?’ she asked.
He schooled his features into impassivity as he looked at her. ‘Absolutely riveting,’ he said, and turned back to the piece on emu-oil investment.
CHAPTER TEN
RUTH WILLIAMS was at the airstrip when they alighted from the plane. ‘I organised one of Jack Dennis’s boys to take your car to the clinic,’ she said to Matt. ‘I didn’t want to leave it out here overnight, especially with your medical equipment on board. I can give you a lift back into town.’
‘Thanks, Ruth,’ Matt said. ‘That was thoughtful of you.’
Ruth turned to Kellie. ‘You must be exhausted. What a drama to face on your first official day with us.’
‘Yes, it was,’ Kellie said, looking down at herself ruefully. ‘That’s the longest run I’ve ever been on. Next time I’m going to take an overnight backpack just in case.’
Ruth gave her a rueful look. ‘I did warn you things can happen out here in the blink of an eye.’
‘Yes, well, I’m a believer now,’ Kellie said as they made their way to Ruth’s car.
The clinic was fully booked so Ruth dropped off Matt before taking Kellie to the Montgomerys’ cottage so she could get changed and drive herself back to town.
By the time Kellie made it back to the clinic the waiting room was full. Every available chair was taken and three male patients were standing. A small child was howling piteously in one corner, his harried mother doing what she could to placate him while nursing an infant at her breast.
Trish gave Kellie
