She thought for a moment about Hugh’s situation. ‘Can you try talking to her husband again?’
‘I might.’ Hugh nodded. ‘What did your dad do?’
‘Not much.’ Emily gave a tight smile. She could hardly tell Hugh she had been worried that if things didn’t improve, and quickly, that her dad would have been out of the door.
‘So, what did you do?’
‘I took her to see her GP,’ Emily said. ‘I rang them and explained my concerns and then made the appointment for her and took her. Things did pick up. It took a while, but they did.’
Yes, things had picked up. Emily had done everything she could to not fall in love with her two half-brothers, but getting up at night, bathing them, feeding them, of course she had.
‘How is she now?’
Emily chose not to answer.
‘I’d better go.’
‘Emily?’
She didn’t want to answer, she didn’t want to say that, yes, while Donna was fine now, she wasn’t so sure that the marriage was.
‘Stay for a bit longer,’ Hugh pushed.
She didn’t want to, though, because she opened up too easily to him.
Fleeting.
She recalled Annie’s words.
Heartbreak.
Neither of those did she need.
She wanted her perfect man—one that meant she could hold onto her heart.
Right now that heart was hammering in her chest and very possibly about to be set free if that lovely, sexy mouth moved just a few inches closer, which it was possibly about to do.
‘I really do have to go …’ Emily chose to play it safe.
‘Why?’
‘I told you—I don’t want to miss my lift.’
‘And I told you—I’m very happy to drive you home.’
Hugh had more than noticed Emily and had hoped to get to know her some more tonight.
In the weeks she had been at The Royal she had intrigued him—Emily was friendly yet distant at the same time, and not just with him. Yes, she chatted easily with her colleagues and there was no doubt she was an extremely efficient nurse yet, and Hugh couldn’t quite put his finger on it, she held back, really revealing nothing.
Until tonight.
That small sliver of information about her parents had Hugh wanting to know more about Emily.
She was a curious girl, Hugh thought.
Something told him there was a lot more going on in that sensible head of hers and her cool exterior told Hugh that the full force of his charm would not be welcomed just yet.
Yes, his intention had been to take things very slowly until Gina called Emily’s name.
‘Emily!’
Hugh watched as she turned to the sound of her name but this time it was Hugh’s stomach that plummeted as he realised that it was Gina who would be driving Emily home.
Just yesterday Hugh had voiced his concerns about Gina to Alex and then Mr Eccleston, the head of anaesthetics. The decision as to whether or not to speak with Gina’s boss had been eating at him for weeks. Hugh had been through medical school with Gina—they were good friends and he had always looked out for her.
But he had to look out for the patients first.
He could not turn his back so had voiced his concerns and the truth was tonight he wasn’t sure that Gina hadn’t been drinking, or even if she was on something else.
All he knew now was that he could not let Emily get into a car with Gina and, given the delicate nature of his complaint, neither could he share his concerns with Emily. He instead chose to act on the undeniable sexual tension between them.
‘I’m taking you home.’
His words were very decisive and Emily looked back at him. An alarm was ringing in her head, warning her to just walk away now, except there was something else signalling louder.
Instinct.
She had never been more aware of it. Simply, her instinct told her to accept the kiss that was nearing.
‘Emily!’ They could both hear Gina calling her name again, but this time it seemed to be coming from a very long way off.
She caught the fresh tang of him, a scent that had remained trapped in her senses since the first day they had met. Oh, where was her perfect man when she needed him? The one that didn’t move her so.
Hugh lowered his head and his mouth brushed hers. Soft and warm, it made her own lips want to part like the Red Sea but she somehow held them closed. Except that meant she inhaled his scent, and the scent of Hugh was possibly more potent so she borrowed the wall behind her to lean on. His lips were more insistent now, nudging hers as his hands held her face, and finally their mouths commenced their first dance—a gentle dance at first to accustom themselves, then a playful dance that began to tease, but when their tongues met it was like an accelerant.
Hugh actually felt the shift. One minute they were kissing and the next their mouths belonged to each other. The party disappeared, the only noise was them—cool to his words she was hot to his mouth, Hugh felt as if he’d tripped and found a portal as he held the passion that burned in his arms. His hands left her face and moved to her hips without thought and were made very welcome for her bottom left the wall and the press of her body was as suggestive as his.
He pulled back but only because to continue would have them on the edge of indecent. Emily could taste his breath, see his lips wet from hers and she wanted to be back there now, yet she resisted the call of her body and moved her hips away from him.
Oh, it wasn’t that Hugh was bad that terrified her, it was that he was so, so good.
‘I really do have to go.’
She moved to the side and slipped past, and Hugh watched as she walked off, both trying to get his breath back and trying to ignore the fact he had been dismissed. Then he smothered the smile that came to his lips when Louise told Emily that Gina had just gone. ‘She said you looked busy.’
There was a flush on Emily’s cheeks but it wasn’t from embarrassment, it was from arousal by the man who was now by her side.
‘Let’s go.’
It could have been an awkward ride home except Emily knew that she was possibly approaching the ride of her life.
Never, in all her twenty-three years had a man detonated her the way Hugh had.
His hand was on her thigh as they drove and she took no offence for hers was on his
