Emergency Doctor and Cinderella (7 page)

She flashed him another fiery glare. ‘If you don’t call off that stupid bet, I will resign without notice.’

Eamon took a moment to compose himself. The department was short-staffed as it was. Erin was one of the best A&E doctors he had seen. Her competence dealing with the motorcycle-accident victim showed just how valuable a part of the team she was. She was clear and concise in her directions, and she had handled the drama with enviable calm. The last thing he wanted was for her to storm out during his first week on the job, and not just for professional reasons.

‘I’ll have a word with the residents and registrars,’ he said. ‘I’m sure it’s just one of those things that got blown out to be more than it was. It was probably an offhand comment that got misconstrued.’

Her expression remained sceptical. ‘Then it had better be sorted out, and quickly. I don’t appreciate being the butt of puerile jokes amongst the junior staff.’

‘Perhaps if you hadn’t been so against working within the new guidelines none of this would have happened,’ he said.

Her eyes widened in affront. ‘So it’s my fault, is it?’

‘Don’t put words in my mouth, Erin.’

She dropped her hands from her hips. ‘I need to get back to the department. It’s been a long shift.’

‘Tell me about it,’ Eamon said on a weary sigh. ‘I’ve been here since seven-thirty this morning.’

Her expression softened a fraction. ‘Why have you stayed back so long?’

He pointed to the pile of paperwork on his desk. ‘I’m going through some patient records,’ he said. ‘It’s tedious, but it needs to be done. I need to cross-check some information from the wards.’

Her eyes flicked to the papers on his desk before they came back to his. ‘Is there something wrong with the records?’ she asked.

‘Not as far as I can tell, but then I’m nowhere near finished,’ Eamon said. ‘It’ll take me another couple of days to get through that lot.’

She opened her mouth but then pressed her lips together, as if she’d been about to say something but had changed her mind.

‘Erin, about last night…’ he began.

‘I’d rather not talk about it.’

‘We need to talk about it.’

She averted her gaze. ‘There’s nothing to talk about. We had dinner. We kissed. End of—’

‘Don’t say it.’

Her eyes flicked back to his. ‘Don’t say what?’

‘End of story,’ he said. ‘That’s what you were going to say, wasn’t it? You like those short, sharp, to-the-point statements, but that’s not really who you are, is it, Erin? Underneath that frosty façade you put up is a very warm and very sensual young woman.’

She pursed her lips like an old-time schoolmistress, shifting them from side to side for a beat or two, but even so he could see the way her cheeks bloomed with colour. ‘I should get back to finish my shift,’ she mumbled.

She made a move towards the door but Eamon stalled her with a hand on her arm. ‘Wait, Erin,’ he said. ‘There’s something I want to do.’

He brought her hand up to his mouth and pressed his
lips against her stiff fingers, all the time holding her eyes with his. He felt the tension slowly ease out of her hand, her fingers finally relaxing against the curl of his.

Her eyes dipped to his mouth, hovering there for an infinitesimal moment, before coming back to his. He watched as the tip of her tongue came out in a sweeping motion, leaving a fine sheen of glistening moisture over her lips. He felt a punch-like jolt of desire deep in his groin, his blood leaping in his veins as he imagined her soft mouth pleasuring him, her tongue tasting him, stroking his length, curling around him tantalisingly before she gave him the ultimate sensual delight.

He suppressed a shiver as he brought his head down, and her soft gasp filled his mouth as it covered hers. Her lips were soft and malleable, eager to give and to receive. Her tongue met his as soon as he went in search of it, dancing around him shyly at first, and then with greater boldness. His blood hummed through his body, thickening him as he pressed against her. She melted against him, her arms snaking around his neck, her fingers tangling in the back of his hair, making him groan as he deepened the kiss.

He had never felt so totally bewitched by a woman. She was such an enigma—uptight and prickly one minute, soft and yielding to him the next. He felt as if he could never have enough of her. She tasted so sweet and yet so sexy, a heady combination that made his head spin with erotic possibilities. He wanted her so badly his body ached with it. The surging heat of his blood was like rocket fuel in his veins.

He turned her in one movement, pushing her back against his desk, his mouth going to the scented, smooth, velvet skin of her neck, his tongue tasting her
before he nipped at her with his teeth in a playful little tug that evoked a whimper of pleasure from her. His hands went to her hips, holding her to his heat, relishing the feel of her so close. He brought his mouth back to hers, savouring its feminine allure, relishing in the way she responded to him so feverishly.

Her teeth nipped at his bottom lip, tugging on it before sweeping over it with the soft, moist salving glide of her tongue. He wanted to feel her skin, the silky smoothness of her breasts, the tightly budded nipples he could already feel digging into his chest. His hands went to shape her, the soft whimper of pleasure she gave thrilling him as he searched for the buttons on her shirt.

There was a knock on the door, jolting both of them upright. Eamon met Erin’s wide-eyed gaze before he called out in a voice that was distinctly gravelly, ‘Just a minute.’

Erin fumbled with her clothing, her breathing so ragged she felt as if she had just run a marathon with lead weights strapped on her legs. Her heart was beating madly, her mind was scrambled and her insides were quivering with unmet needs.

‘Sit down and look relaxed,’ Eamon instructed as he went to the door.

Erin mentally rolled her eyes. Relaxed? Who was he kidding? She had never felt more on edge in her life. Her nerves were jumping like live wires and her flesh was tingling from where he had touched her.

She sat on the chair opposite his desk and picked up a patient’s file, pretending to read it while Eamon spoke with the staff member at the door over a matter to do with a patient in Intensive Care. She listened with one ear, but then her eye was drawn to the patient’s name
on the document in her hands: Mrs Melina Pappas. Her heart gave a little stumbling movement in her chest as her gaze went further down the page to a section where someone had circled her signature in yellow highlighter and placed a question mark right next to it…

‘S
ORRY
about that,’ Eamon said, coming back to the desk. His eyes went to the document in Erin’s hands, the tension in the room suddenly palpable.

‘Why is my signature circled?’ Erin asked, rising to her feet. ‘What’s going on?’

He met her flinty look without wavering. ‘Nothing’s going on. I am merely checking the records, as I said.’

Erin felt her heart pick up its pace. ‘That’s Mrs Pappas’s file.’

‘Yes, I know. I wanted to make sure Arthur Gourlay’s accusation was dealt with quickly,’ he said. ‘I can find nothing in the notes to suggest anything untoward. That is your signature, I’ve already checked it.’

Erin compressed her lips, the lingering doubts circling in her head like a flock of pigeons looking for somewhere to perch. It made her feel uneasy to have uncertainty of any sort hanging over her. The thought of Eamon checking through the notes, studying her signature and every other detail to do with the patients she had treated, made her feel very ill at ease. What if there was a mistake? What if she had missed something? It was certainly possible. No one was perfect. No one
could be one-hundred-percent focused all the time, especially in a place like A&E, where there were so many distractions as critically ill patients were ferried in and out. And then of course there was the trainee staff she had to keep an eye on, residents and interns, and even registrars at times didn’t always follow directions. They were not the ones who had to take responsibility for any mistakes, however; it was the doctor who was ultimately in charge who had to step up to the plate.

‘Maybe the patient just needed more than the standard dose of pain-relief,’ Eamon said. ‘She had a gangrenous bowel obstruction, after all, a painful condition.’

‘Yes…’ Her eyes fell away from his.

He took the file and placed it with the rest of folders on his desk. ‘I’ve taken up enough of your break. You haven’t even had a cup of tea.’

Erin met his eyes briefly. ‘I don’t want you to think that I’m the sort of person who does this…’ she grimaced as she hunted for the right word ‘…you know, fraternises with colleagues during work time.’

He smiled as he sat on the edge of his desk, his arms loosely folded over his broad chest. ‘I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.’

She chewed at her lip, her hand fidgeting with her ID badge. ‘I feel embarrassed about what just happened.’

‘The kiss thing?’ he asked.

She nodded, her throat feeling tight as she swallowed. ‘That and the bet thing. I’m sorry for shooting first before asking questions.’

He unfolded his arms and pushed himself off the desk, coming to stand in front of her again. He brushed her cheek with the back of his knuckles in a feather-light caress. ‘Forget about it, Erin,’ he said. ‘I would
have jumped to the same conclusion, especially given what you’d been told. But I can assure you I had absolutely nothing to do with it. I admit I want you to commit to my plans for the department, but no doubt you have your reasons for not wanting the change. My job is to find out what they are and help you overcome your doubts.’

Erin lowered her gaze from his. ‘It’s not that I don’t care about the patients. I do. They are someone’s son or daughter, mother or father, uncle or aunt, cousin or niece, nephew—whatever. I never forget that while I’m treating them. I’m always thinking of the people waiting on the other side of A&E’s doors: what they’re feeling, the hope, the dread and the disbelief that something terrible has happened to the person they love, that they might never be the same again, or even worse not survive.’

‘I know,’ he said, resting his hands on her shoulders. ‘I feel that too. But that’s why I’m so committed to improving the system.’

She looked up into his clear, green eyes. ‘I don’t want you to think I’m deliberately being obstructive. It’s just that I…I don’t think I have anything further to offer than initial assessment and treatment.’

‘I think you’re once again underestimating yourself, Erin,’ he said. ‘I realise you’re not as comfortable as some of the others at relating to the patients and their relatives, but that is a skill that can be worked at over time.’

‘I’ve never been a people person,’ she said. ‘I like my own company.’

‘You seemed to enjoy mine a few minutes ago,’ he said with a wry smile.

Erin gave him a look of mild reproach. ‘Yes, well, you do have a rather persuasive manner about you at times.’

He grinned at her again. ‘Just you wait until I really lay on the charm. You won’t know what hit you.’

Erin tried to suppress a little bubble of excitement that rose in her, but even so it was impossible to ignore the flutter of her pulse at his words. She was already floundering in an unfamiliar sea of sensual temptation. She had lost her bearings the first time he’d kissed her, and each of his subsequent kisses had made her cling to him like a raft. She had never experienced anything like it before. Her response to him was so out of character. She had certainly been attracted to the occasional man in the past, but only in a passing manner. She had never been in love. She wasn’t sure if she had the capacity to allow someone to get that close to her. If they did, and then abandoned her, she knew she would be devastated, just as devastated as she had been each time her mother had let her down in the past. She had learned to rely on no one but herself. She felt safe that way.

Eamon Chapman, however, was threatening to disrupt that sense of safety. From the moment she had met him, he had challenged her. It was like fire meeting ice. She could feel herself melting a little further every time he was near her. Like right now, standing with his warm hands resting on her shoulders, his intense green eyes meshing with hers, the promise of passion in the sensual curve of his mouth. His body was half a step away from touching her from chest to thigh. If she let her breath out fully, her breasts would be almost brushing his chest.

‘I’m not sure this is what I need right now,’ she said, unable to hold his gaze in case her eyes belied her words. ‘Maybe it’s not what either of us need at this
point. You have an important job to do. I don’t want to distract you from it. I don’t want to be distracted from my work, either.’

He seemed to wait a beat or two before he spoke, his eyes steadily holding hers. ‘Erin, how would you feel about looking at my suggestions for the department on neutral ground?’

She looked at him warily. ‘What do you mean?’

‘There’s a meeting being held this Saturday in the Southern Highlands,’ he said. ‘It’s a one-day conference I’ve organised for A&E specialists in the area on follow-through care. You might have seen it advertised in the doctors’ room. I want you to think about coming. You might find it more useful than the breakfast meetings here. I’ve invited a couple of specialists from interstate to speak on how their departments have coped with the changes so far.’

She drew her bottom lip into her mouth, holding it there for a moment before she released it. ‘I don’t know.’

He took her hand again and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘Think about it, Erin. We could drive down together early on Saturday. I could take you to meet my parents after the conference. They’re only a few kilometres away from the hotel where the meeting is being held. I have my own cottage on their property, which has two bedrooms, so you don’t have to feel too crowded. It would only be for one night in any case.’

Her brown eyes eyed him narrowly. ‘Why would you want me to meet your parents?’

He smiled at her. ‘Isn’t that what a guy does when he’s seriously attracted to a girl?’

She bit her lip again. ‘I don’t know. I’d have to find someone to feed Molly for me.’

‘If you can’t find someone, you could always bring her along. My parents wouldn’t mind. They love animals.’

She let out a sigh. ‘Are you always so intent on getting your own way?’

He raised her chin with his fingers. ‘You know something, Erin? You have a habit of pushing me away with one hand while tugging me towards you with the other.’

‘I’m not even touching you,’ Erin argued. ‘You’re the one holding me.’

He dropped his hands. ‘I’m not touching you now.’

‘It feels like you are,’ she said without thinking.

He smiled a disarming smile. ‘Now, that’s really interesting, because I can still feel your lips on mine.’

Erin looked at his mouth, and her insides turned to mush all over again. He was so heart-stoppingly gorgeous. His smile could melt steel; just one look from those forest-green eyes could send her pulse soaring out of control. His body was so vitally alive, so intensely male. She could still feel his hard male contours against her softer ones. Her body was still reverberating with the pounding of his blood where he had pressed his need to hers. It made her wonder what would happen if they actually did make love. She was a trained doctor; she knew the female form, she understood sexual response. But somehow she knew making love with Eamon Chapman would be far more enthralling than anything she had felt or imagined.

But why was he pursuing her when he could have anyone he wanted? She’d seen the way the women on the staff looked at him. She had even heard some of the racy comments in the staff toilets about his physical assets. She was the last person he should be interested in, which made her wonder if he had an entirely differ
ent motive. Could she risk a relationship with him no matter what the cost?

She brought her gaze back to his. ‘I guess I must be quite a novelty to someone like you.’

‘Why do you say that?’ he asked.

She gave a little shrug. ‘I’m not able to offer you anything other than, well, you know…? An affair.’

His eyes darkened as they held hers. ‘So you’re considering having an affair—as you call it—with me?’

Erin disguised a little swallow. ‘That’s what you want, isn’t it?’

He continued to hold her gaze with the mesmerising force of his. ‘I would be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in taking our relationship to the next level,’ he said. ‘You’ve seen and felt the evidence for yourself.’

She gave him a wry look. ‘Indeed.’

He smiled as he brushed a strand of her hair back from her forehead. ‘We don’t have to rush into anything you’re not ready for. I get the sense you’re not very experienced. You can’t be, if you haven’t dated for seven years. But I respect that. In fact, I find it rather sweet.’

‘The novelty factor.’ She let out her breath on an exaggerated sigh as she lowered her eyes. ‘I knew it.’

He raised her chin, locking his gaze with hers, his expression serious. ‘No. Don’t keep underselling yourself like that. You are a very beautiful and desirable young woman. Why do you have such low self-esteem? Has someone hurt you in the past?’

Erin moved out of his hold, hugging her arms across her middle. ‘I can’t help being the way I am. I’ve just never seen myself locked into a long-term relationship. I don’t think I could handle the whole suburban thing: prams and pets, picnics on the weekend. I like my own space.’

‘I’m not offering you “for ever”, Erin,’ he said. ‘It’s way too early to be thinking along those lines. I’m just talking about “for now”.’

She drew in her lips as she surveyed his features. ‘I can’t help feeling this is more about your goals for the department than anything else. Michelle Oliver intimated as such. “By fair means or foul”, she said.’

Eamon shook his head. ‘No, that’s not what this is about. I admit, I do want you to adopt my strategies for change, but do you see me kissing anyone else around here?’

Erin wanted to believe this was for real, that his attraction to her was just as genuine as hers for him. ‘I’m just trying to be sensible about this,’ she said. ‘We want different things. How could a relationship between us work?’

‘It will work because of what happens when we do this,’ he said, placing his mouth over hers in a lingering kiss.

Erin felt her lips swell with immediate longing, and as he slowly pulled away her lips clung to his as if they never wanted to let go. She looked up at him, her heart feeling a squeezing tightness as she thought of the day when he would walk away from her and take up with someone else—someone more attractive, someone who wanted to settle down and play happy families, someone who would fit in with his well-to-do family. How would she feel if she was to run into him from time to time, like Sherrie Mason did? Could
she
see him as a friend, someone she had once dated but had moved on from without ill feelings or regret? Erin couldn’t see how she would be able to do it without feeling robbed of something, without feeling insanely jealous that someone else was enjoying his kisses and his touch, experiencing his lovemaking. What was wrong with her? It wasn’t as
if she was prepared to offer him anything permanent. If the grapes she eventually reaped were too sour for her taste, wasn’t that her problem, rather than his?

Erin’s beeper sounded, fracturing the silence with its shrill pulse of urgency. She glanced down at the small screen and grimaced. ‘I need to get back. There’s another MVA on its way.’

When Erin got home she felt too wired for bed. She had never been particularly good at sleeping during the day. The street she lived on was relatively quiet, but in the distance she could still hear the rumble of traffic, the occasional tooting horn, or, because the hospital was only a couple of suburbs away, a police or ambulance siren. Each time a siren sounded, she would jerk upright, her heart jump-starting with adrenalin.

After she fed Molly she got on her treadmill and ran for forty minutes, enjoying the mindlessness of running nowhere. But, once she was finished and had showered and put on her pyjama bottoms and a cotton T-shirt, she still didn’t feel anywhere near ready to switch off.

She drummed her fingers on the balcony rail as she watched the harbour with all its bustling activity, a restlessness consuming her that was unlike anything she had felt before. Her eyes kept wandering of their own volition to next door. She knew there was no possibility of Eamon being home at this hour. She hadn’t seen his car in the car park downstairs, which meant he had left before she got home. He wouldn’t have had much sleep, she thought in empathy. He had left A&E soon after the MVA victim had stabilised enough to be transferred to Intensive Care, which would have given him two hours, three at the most, to rest before he was back at the department.