You did well in there. Teenagers are often the most difficult cases to deal with. They don’t know how to act—they’re kids at heart but trying desperately to be adult. We have to get the next few days right. How we deal with these burns will have a huge effect on the rest of that girl’s life. Both physically and psychologically.’ From his experience the mental scarring was often the worst and could change the very core of an injured person for life.
Kara nodded, eyes alight, blonde curls shivering. Something unbidden shivered through him too. She’d been damned good at handling Safia, so he was pleased to have her on his team. But … really it was more than that. She was a weird kind of unsettling—and yet settling at the same time.
Her eyes narrowed. ‘I can’t believe the admitting hospital staff didn’t think of offering her some anxiolytics to help raise her mood. Maybe we could have a chat with her about that too?’
‘I guess they were dealing with her immediate issues, like keeping her alive.’ He held the door open to let her through. Which was an action he immediately regretted. The barrage of flashing bulbs that had greeted him that morning met them as they stepped into the room, catching her unawares—but he was interested to see just how well she could handle this part of the job.
‘Is Princess Safia here now?’
‘What can you tell us about her condition?’
Next to him Kara stood tall, her shoulders snapped back, confident. Declan held back a smile as he watched her survey the room with a tilt of her chin. She wore her army upbringing in her stance, and he had no doubt she would answer the press’s queries with aplomb and professionalism, but he wasn’t game enough to test her with that just yet. In fact he wasn’t game enough to do anything that involved any more contact with her than he had to. The woman was mysteriously alluring. So that meant avoiding her at all costs.
No doubt a better man would probably not even allow her to assist him when his hormones were acting as if he was eighteen years old again. But he had stopped being a better man a long time ago—the day he’d lost all faith in love.
Kara’s scent wove around him … something exotic that reminded him of brilliant blue skies and endless heat and the tang of flowers on the breeze. His abdomen tightened as seemingly endless heat rippled through him too.
He took a step away and glanced at the floor, trying to take a moment to focus. But all he could see were those ridiculous but sexy shoes, slender tanned ankles leading up to the hem of her skirt, and farther on up to a place where his imagination ran wild.
He ran a hand through his hair and shook that image from his head. Damn fool. Since when had he allowed a woman to distract him at work? Since the second he’d seen her firing back at the Sheikh’s aide? Or was it that kiss?
He quieted the audience with a raise of his hands and a smile. Keep them on side and they might actually let him have time free to do his job. ‘Thanks for coming to this meeting. We didn’t want you getting chilly out there. We’re already busy enough without dealing with hypothermic journalists as well. Hope you enjoyed the tea and biscuits.’
Laughter rippled round the room. He waited for it to stop.
‘Thank you for your patience, everyone. I have permission from Safia’s family to confirm that she is indeed now here at Princess Catherine’s Hospital and that I am treating her as an in-patient. I’m sure you are all aware of the car accident she had a few days ago. I can confirm also that, thanks to the great care she received at Aljahar Hospital, she is now in a stable condition, but her injuries mean that she will be under my care for some time. The family again asks for privacy. Thank you.’
‘What does the Sheikh think about this?’
‘Naturally His Highness is devastated about his daughter’s injuries, but he is working with us to get the best possible outcome. Of course we are deeply honoured to have him here.’
‘How long will Safia be with you?’
‘That depends entirely on her progress and response to treatment. It could be a few weeks.’ He paused for effect. ‘Okay, I don’t think there is anything more we can tell you. Either myself or a member of my team …’ He indicated to Kara and she stepped forward and smiled, self-confidence rippling off her. ‘This is Ms Stephens, who will be working with me. Either one of us will be updating you on Safia’s progress as and when appropriate.’
‘They don’t teach you that at medical school.’ Kara joked as they walked towards the afternoon out-patient clinic. ‘They should have “Dealing with the Press” lessons. Confidentiality is such a thorny issue—especially when you’re treating someone famous.’
‘No one wants to know about you if you’re not. But this is a high-profile issue and we have to deal with it—it’s just another part of the job. You have to be careful not to give away too much information but just enough to keep the hacks satisfied.’
‘It’s a bit of a tightrope. I can see I’ll have to be careful.’
‘I can fix you up with our in-house Head of PR, Lexi, at the Hunter Clinic if you like? She could give you some pointers if you think you might need them.’ Why, oh, why was he even thinking of getting further involved in this woman’s life? ‘But I reckon you’ll be fine.’
‘Really?’ Her smile was genuine. ‘Thanks. I’ll see how I go.’
That compliment sat between them as they neared the clinic. He’d have to be careful about that—giving her the wrong impression. But something about Kara drew him to her. Even with his internal alarm bells blaring.
As he tried to walk down the narrow corridor without brushing against her and risking an escalation of his already over-excited libido she spoke. ‘So, how many sisters do you have?’
‘What?’ He stopped short, still getting used to her forthrightness. Maybe it was an Aussie thing. No, maybe it was just a Kara thing. ‘Sorry?’
‘You were telling Safia about your sisters. “They call me Dec,” you said, or something.’
‘Why do you need to know?’
Her forehead furrowed into a deep V and her eyes sparked with humour and intrigue. ‘I don’t need anything. I was just making conversation. It’s what human beings do to fill that very long gap between birth and death. Communication.’
She held his gaze and it felt as if she was throwing down a gauntlet. One he could run with or one he could walk away from.
‘Only, I don’t have any siblings, and I always thought it’d be nice to have some. It’s just a chat, Declan, as we while away the minutes. Not an interrogation.’
She was right. It was just talking. It wasn’t exactly baring his soul. And he’d always been a sucker for gauntlets. ‘Well, if I were you I’d rejoice in your single-child-dom, Kara—because, trust me, you do not need four sisters.’
‘Four? Wow.’
‘All younger. All a giant pain in the ass …’
She laughed. ‘Growing up amongst that must have been busy. But fun, though?’
‘It was messy … crazy … loud. Very loud. And
