could console herself with sugar.
She knocked on the door and opened it when she heard a muffled, ‘Come in.’
Even dulled, his voice did wicked things to her pulse.
Damn. She was in trouble if his voice could make her legs weak through a closed door.
‘Hey,’ she said as she opened the door and shut it behind her then walked towards him all businesslike, concentrating on the plate of shortbread. ‘I come bearing gifts.’
She glanced at him as she drew level with his desk and was pleased she was close enough to a chair should she collapse into it. Glasses. He was wearing glasses. Sexy glasses. The kind of trendy, designer wireless frames that hunky male models wore in advertisements for optometrists.
She wouldn’t have thought he could look any sexier. She’d seen him naked, for crying out loud. But she’d been wrong. Callum with glasses was a whole other level.
‘You wear glasses?’
It was possibly the dumbest thing she’d ever said. She might as well have said she’d carried a watermelon.
He peered at her over the top of those glasses. ‘So do you.’
‘Oh...yes.’ She absently touched the frames she’d pushed to the top of her head. ‘Just for reading and computer work.’
‘Same here.’ He took them off and tossed them on his desk and Felicity wished he’d put them on again.
He stared at her, obviously waiting for her to say something. ‘Did you want something?’ he asked, looking pointedly at the plate of shortbread.
His tone was brisk. Not unfriendly but businesslike. It appeared she wasn’t going to have to worry about any lines they’d crossed. He’d obviously retreated as far as he could.
It was just the bucket of cold water she needed.
‘I came to check you’d received the file I sent you and to bring you these. Mrs Robbins made them for the new doctor. They’re the best in the district. You also have a jar of Mrs Randall’s rosella jam and Cindy Wetherall has made you a mulberry pie.’
He blinked. ‘But...why?’
The incredulity in his voice would have been comical had it not been utterly genuine. Felicity shrugged. ‘It’s the country. That’s how we welcome newcomers. Also there’s a rumour going around town that the new doc is hot so you’ve gone to the top of the eligible list.’
‘Eligible?’
‘Yes, you know. Marriage, babies, the whole enchilada. We don’t get a lot of new blood around here.’
His face morphed from mystified to horrified, which was another salient warning. He looked like two rusty forks would be welcome about now.
Obviously marriage and babies were not on his agenda. Or not in Vickers Hills anyway.
‘What did you think you were going to get when you traded the city for the country?’
If her voice was a little on the tart side she didn’t care. Honestly...for someone who’d come across as intelligent and articulate on the train, he was being rather obtuse.
‘Not this.’
‘Well...you’d better get used to it.’ She plonked the plate of biscuits down. ‘You’re going to be well fed around here.’
He looked at them like they were a bomb that could possibly detonate at any moment. Oh, for Pete’s sake... She had the strange urge to pelt him with one.
‘Anyway... Did you get the files?’
He put his glasses back on and her pulse gave a funny little skip despite her annoyance. He looked at his computer screen. ‘Thanks, yes. I’ve figured out the system and I’ve been reviewing all the charts for the week.’
He was being thorough. That was good. Being prepared and focused. Doing his homework.
But she still wanted to pelt him with shortbread.
‘It looks pretty light,’ he said, his eyes still glued to the screen. ‘I’d see double the amount of patients in an afternoon in Sydney.’
There was no criticism in his voice. He was being matter-of-fact but it irked Felicity. She bit her tongue against the urge to tell him he could turn right around and go back to his precious Sydney.
It appeared their talk wasn’t going to be necessary. It was obvious he didn’t want to be here. She’d been worrying about nothing.
‘Trust me, it’ll take us all afternoon.’
‘Okay. The clinic usually starts on time?’
‘Yes. There are no appointments between twelve and one so we can have lunch then afternoon clinics start at one on the dot.’
‘That’s very civilised.’
Felicity gritted her teeth. Again, his tone wasn’t critical but anger stirred in her chest anyway.
She supposed they didn’t get time for lunch in Sydney.
‘Well, you know what they say, the family that eats together stays together.’
He glanced at her. ‘And you’re all family here.’
Why did he make that sound like they were some kind of cult? ‘Well...yes.’ Where the hell was the charming guy from the train? The one she’d slept with?
Talk about a Jekyll and Hyde!
He nodded as if he was absorbing her answer before returning his attention to the screen. Felicity had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. ‘Do me a favour? Have a look around here for the plaster saw when you’re done with the charts?’
She’d planned on looking for it herself but frankly she didn’t want to be around him any longer than she had to be. And she didn’t need the temptation of a plaster saw in her hand when she felt like causing him physical harm.
‘Sure,’ he murmured, still focused on his computer.
Felicity wasn’t sure if that was his way of dismissing her or not but she took her leave anyway.
She had no idea if he noticed.
CALLUM GLANCED UP as the door clicked shut. He hadn’t realised Felicity had slipped out. He sighed and threw his glasses on the desk again, massaging the bridge of his nose with two fingers.
Damn it. He’d been too short with her. He hadn’t meant to be, she’d just caught him at a bad moment. He’d been trying to concentrate on his work, to push away the powerful feelings of regret that were threatening to swamp him, but sitting here at his desk in a Vickers Hill general practice he couldn’t deny them any
