didn’t allow them to fraternise with the surgeons uninvited out of hours. And if the group of surgeons included Rob, they’d definitely keep their distance.
But Ellie knew there was another reason why Jess wouldn’t approach the hot guy. Jess had been quite genuine in pointing him out to Ellie and even if he hadn’t been talking to Rob she wouldn’t have gone over, because Jess was completely besotted with Adam.
Adam Carmichael; the token male in their house, their mostly absent landlord, Ruby’s brother and their resident Casanova rolled into one. There was never a shortage of women traipsing through his door when he was in Sydney and the girls often joked that he should put a revolving door on his bedroom so he could move his conquests in and out more efficiently. And, even though he was completely wrong for her, Jess had a thing for Adam.
Ellie wished Jess would meet somebody who would take her mind off him, someone who was ready for a real relationship, someone who wouldn’t break her heart. But despite Ellie’s pleas Jess seemed quite determined to ignore any other possibilities, including the hot guy. And in that case, Ellie decided, she might as well enjoy the view.
She looked back into the bar. Hot Guy was still talking to Rob but he was looking at her. Their gazes locked and something flashed through her. A jolt, a strike, a shock to the heart, and the rest of the room receded as the spark of connection flared. She sat still, riveted to the spot as he looked her up and down without a hint of embarrassment. She should have been horrified but all she could do was wait for him to finish. Wait for his eyes to meet hers again. Without consciously acknowledging her actions, she was waiting to see if she could work out what had happened with that first glance. What was it?
His gaze returned to her face and there it was again. A flash of what? Recognition? Ellie wondered if he knew who she was. She mentally shook her head. No. Rob would never have talked about her.
She didn’t move, she couldn’t move. She knew she was staring but she couldn’t stop. She felt a blush spread up her neck and into her cheeks but still she couldn’t look away.
His smouldering good looks had a slight wildness about them, an edginess, which drew her to him. She imagined she could feel the heat radiating from him. Her fingers itched to touch him and if he’d been standing beside her she knew she would have reached out to feel him. She could imagine the heat of his hands burning her skin and that made her blush even more.
He held her gaze, a hint of mischief in his eyes, almost as though he could read her thoughts, and then he grinned at her. Ellie smiled back. She didn’t mean to and she was surprised to find her face was capable of expression but her smile was an automatic response to the power of his.
She tore her eyes away from his, forcing herself to break the connection. She tried to focus on the conversation going on around her, tried to behave normally, tried to pretend she hadn’t just shared a moment with a hot stranger.
She had no idea how successful she was being but thankfully the arrival of Ruby’s fiancé, Cort, provided a welcome distraction.
Cort was a senior emergency registrar and Ellie wondered if he knew who the hot guy was. She didn’t have to wonder for long.
‘Do you know who the guy in the black T-shirt is over there? The one who’s talking to Rob Coleman?’ Ruby inclined her head in their direction as she asked Cort the question.
‘That’s James Leonardi,’ he said as he took in the group. ‘He’s a new registrar.’
‘In Emergency?’ Ellie asked. Was the new reg working with Cort?
Cort shook his head. ‘Orthopaedics.’
‘Orthopaedics?’ Ellie repeated. She didn’t know whether to be nervous or delighted. The hot guy was an orthopod? She was going to have to work with him?
‘He’s transferred from Royal North Shore. I understand the director of orthopaedics poached him, and apparently there are high expectations of him.’
Ellie was vaguely aware that Cort was still talking but her mind had wandered off in the direction of the hot guy. James Leonardi. His name sounded Spanish or Italian. She should have known. That would explain where the heat was coming from, he would have passionate blood running through his veins, it was almost tangible. It was in his eyes too, in the look he had given her. Fire, heat and passion.
There was a silent humming in the air around her. She could feel it and she was convinced it was coming from him. How was it possible to feel such an instant connection with a complete stranger?
She shifted in her chair. She needed to change position. She needed something else to look at. She was going to be working with the man so she needed to picture him in a white coat, in a sterile environment. In theatre scrubs. No. That wasn’t helping. He looked just as good in her imagination.
Maybe she should go home. Maybe it was a case of out of sight, out of mind.
CHAPTER TWO
ELLIE stepped into the shower and tried to let the water wash away thoughts of Dr James Leonardi. Out of sight, out of mind hadn’t worked terribly well. He’d been in her dreams all night. Her subconscious had been infiltrated by a stranger.
But he didn’t feel like a stranger.
She closed her eyes and his image burst into her head. She could instantly recall the line of his shoulder under his T-shirt, the slight curl in his black hair and the heat in his expression when he’d looked at her with his dark eyes. She let her memory linger on the curve of his butt and the long sinewy length of his back as she rinsed her hair before she opened her eyes, turned off the shower and attempted to banish all further thoughts of him from her mind. She needed to focus. She had to work with him. She couldn’t let her fantasies rule her thoughts.
And a fantasy was all he could be. She wasn’t going to date another doctor. She wasn’t going to make that mistake again. It was too awkward when things went badly. She’d learnt that much from her experience with Rob. The orthopaedic ward was definitely off limits and, therefore, so was James Leonardi.
But putting him out of her mind was easier said than done. Especially as he was all anyone wanted to talk about at handover that morning.
‘Have you seen the new doctor?’
‘Yep.’
‘Isn’t he superb?’
‘Is he Italian? He looks Italian.’
‘I was on yesterday when he started and he’s as Australian as you and me.’
‘Oh, you lucky thing. Is he as gorgeous as he looks?’
Listening to the nurses’ gossip, it was as though the outside world had ceased to exist. This new world appeared to revolve entirely around Dr James Leonardi. Ellie kept quiet. She had nothing to contribute, she hadn’t actually met or spoken to him, and her thoughts were not for sharing.
The CNC handed Ellie a stack of files. ‘You can accompany Dr. Leonardi on his rounds this morning—you know the patients better than anyone. I’ve given you George, Mavis, Dylan and Jenny.’
Ellie wondered if she’d been given this job because of her silence rather than her nursing skills. Not that it mattered. She took the files and went to
