his barriers, how she was there with him. No one did that. No one. He shrugged free of her hand, his eyes firmly locked on Reid. Don’t think you’re getting the chance either. His past rose higher, flared, threatening to overwhelm him. Bile soured his tongue. ‘I’ve got to talk to that man.’ It was that or charge past him to shut himself away in his cabin and not come out for six weeks. Six weeks. Why had he made that blasted phone call?
Ethan was walking towards him like they did this every day, but as he got closer Chase saw the tight lines around his mouth, the rigidness in his shoulders. Chase’s heart was still drumming that slow, heavy rhythm as he nudged his feet forward. ‘I’d have known you anywhere.’ Even after sixteen years.
‘Same.’ Ethan did the unexpected. He embraced Chase, tight, strong, hard.
Tears sprang to Chase’s eyes. He refused to let them out. Refused. And won, by a scratch. Stepping back, he stared at the other man who’d haunted him for so long. Thump, thump, in his chest. This was relief over finally meeting up. It was time. Not that he had any expectations of this being an easy ride. No, the coming weeks were going to test patience and forgiveness on both their parts.
‘I’ll take my gear,’ came the voice of female reason from behind him.
He barely noticed Kristina lifting the weight from his shoulder, although as she began walking away and he was watching Ethan, she slipped into his mind, sitting on the edge, like she was not going to be easy to ignore. Right now that was about the only thing he was certain of.
Hell, Nick, what have I done?
Six weeks later
‘KRIS, GOT A MINUTE? I’d like you to look at my patient.’
Kristina Morton ignored the man, even when his voice was like fingers picking at keys on a piano. Only that morning everyone had returned on board from a three-day break, and she’d missed him way too much for someone she wasn’t involved with.
‘Kris, over here,’ Chase called again, a little less friendly and a lot louder.
She continued walking through the overcrowded cabin towards the steps leading out on deck. About once a week he used the abridged version of her name, winding her up something awful. He hadn’t a clue to the depth of anger and hurt being called Kris caused her—neither was he about to.
‘Kristina, your attention now.’
Kristina’s back straightened, her chin jutted forward and her arm began lifting in a salute. Stop. You’re not in the army now. Being the person in charge of personnel on this ship didn’t give Chase the right to shout at her. Or shorten her name. But, she sighed, he had finally used the name she answered to. Slowly turning, she asked calmly, ‘Which patient do you want me to see?’
Determination radiated out of eyes that reminded her of an English forest on a damp day. Chase wasn’t used to being ignored. Everyone complied with his requests no questions asked, but then they weren’t usually delivered as abruptly. So it was her that got his boxers in a twist. Good. Because he certainly kept her panties in a knot. Those sparks she’d experienced on day one of this adventure hadn’t died down one bit. Instead, they’d got brighter, sharper, hotter during the weeks of working together. Neither of them had made a move to explore where that raw attraction might lead. She did her best not to be alone with Chase, and suspected he did the same, but the relentless ache was getting to her, and she spoke more abruptly than she’d intended. ‘Is it the pregnant lady needing help?’
‘Sorry I yelled,’ he growled around a wary smile. ‘You didn’t seem to be hearing me.’
‘Really?’ She tipped her head sideways, locked her gaze with his and tried to deny the surge of longing those eyes brought on. Another six weeks of working alongside him. Keep this up and she’d either dislike him intensely or have gone raving mad with desire by the time she left the ship for good. Somehow she doubted dislike would make it onto the ladder.
Chase blinked and his face relaxed some more. ‘Yes, that lady. She won’t let me near. No doubt because I’m male.’
‘You know that’s not uncommon.’ The pregnant women who arrived on the ship via the rescue efforts weren’t used to men pressing their bellies and listening to their unborn babies through stethoscopes.
‘I keep hoping for a different outcome.’ Chase smiled ruefully. She knew he ached for these people like she did. ‘This woman doesn’t speak English.’
‘I’ll find Zala and ask her to explain what we’re doing and if it’s all right to continue.’
Chase’s chin lifted a notch. ‘Zala?’
Kristina smiled to herself. Chase wasn’t the only one who got onside with the refugees effortlessly. He just thought he was. ‘She arrived yesterday. I overheard her asking for water in English.’ Not that it had been easy to understand her mangled pronunciation, but when she’d handed the girl a bottle of water she’d received the most beautiful smile imaginable and a garbled thank you. ‘I don’t know how much she understands but any is better than none.’
‘Agreed. Bring her in and see if we get any further with our patient.’
Kristina gasped. Why hadn’t her senses warned her Chase had moved closer? Suddenly her body was getting up to speed with the fact that this man was too near, sharing the same air as her. Damn the attraction for those arms and legs, for the flat stomach and strong jawline nailing her feet to the floor. She’d spent six long weeks trying to kill off the annoying magnetism Chase’s body had for her. Her mind had it worked out—he was not a man to get close to. He was self-contained in every aspect, appeared to work every hour day and night, was on a life mission to save people no matter where that took him—or so the gossip went. Gossip that fitted with what Libby had told her. She couldn’t risk falling for someone who couldn’t settle down in a place for more than one Christmas in a row. Because, while she wasn’t any better, she was at least working on it.
Time to try some other tactic for moving past the unusual longing to get to know this man who dominated her mind so much. He was all wrong for her, as she was for him. He didn’t have time for anyone who wasn’t a patient in need of his extraordinary medical skills, so she had to stop thinking about him in any role other than the director from whom she took orders. Instructions, not orders. Whichever.
Dreaming about his body and what she’d like to do with it didn’t change the fact she had no room for people who didn’t have time for her. There’d been enough already, starting with her parents. Adding someone else to the list was a recipe for disaster, especially when she had an uneasy feeling that she could get a weeny bit too intrigued by Chase.
Out on deck Kristina made her way through the hordes of people waiting patiently in the shade provided by tarpaulins strung from bulkheads to railings to be seen by the medical staff. Her heart ached for them and made her grateful she could help with their untreated deep-tissue injuries, burns from fuel, malnourishment, infections. Thank goodness Claire had left the ship. Her pregnancy made her vulnerable to illnesses she wasn’t prepared for. Now, there was someone whose life had changed since coming on board the ship. Claire had found love and a wonderful future to look forward to with Ethan.
Kristina shoved aside her envy and focused
