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‘Yes.’
And he’d better not forget that. Nor could he deny any longer that he wanted to take another look at the painting. It would look perfect on the west wall of his sitting room, the first thing someone would see when they entered the room. It would demand attention, more than the view of the harbour bridge and the sea beyond. But still he said, ‘I don’t need a blasted painting any more than I need a pet dog.’
‘Don’t tempt me.’
CHAPTER TEN
MONDAY, AND KELLI hit the gym before starting work. Her body was exhausted, every muscle had its own tune of cramps and tiredness, but there’d been a lot of serious eating and drinking over the weekend that needed dealing with.
She’d done some weights and was clocking onto the treadmill when that sexy deep voice that lifted bumps on her skin and kept her awake the night before interrupted her concentration.
‘Hey, Kelli. Didn’t expect to see you in here this early.’ Mac strolled into sight.
‘I was at a loose end.’ Restless and wound up tighter than a ball of string and unable to focus on anything. ‘You’re early too.’
‘I’d done my laundry, cleaned the bathroom and got in groceries for the week, and still had time to kill before going into work.’ How Mac managed to step onto the treadmill beside her without doing a face plant was beyond her. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her legs from the moment he’d turned up.
Heat and need spread through her, blanketing her hang-ups about her body with something far more exciting and game changing because now she understood what that look meant, had experienced how Mac followed up with his hands and mouth. They were in the middle of the gym, surrounded by people working out. Get real. This was not the place to be craving Mac’s touch. Struggling for normality—her old normality—Kelli dredged up an inane comment. ‘I did pretty much the same things this morning.’
Mac nodded, still focused on her legs. ‘Way too wired to be hanging out doing nothing.’
So he felt the same as she did. There was no holding in the smile now spreading across her face. ‘I didn’t know you could be so domestic.’
‘Needs must,’ he grunted as he hit the buttons, finally dragging his eyes forward. ‘Now for a hard workout.’
Kelli was already jogging slowly, warming up before hitting the hills button. ‘That painting look good on your wall?’
‘Yeah.’
‘What’s wrong? You regretting your purchase?’
‘Too late for that. I’m enamoured with it, which is unnerving. I live a very clean-cut style; no mementos other than one photo, no pictures cluttering the walls, or unnecessary lampshades and furniture to dust.’
Sterile. Uninvolved. ‘Keeping the world at arm’s length.’ He’d have fifty fits if he saw her bedroom.
‘It’s who I am, Kelli.’ Oh-oh, the serious tone had switched on. ‘You’d best remember that.’
Her stomach knotted. ‘Hard to gel that version of you with the man I spent the weekend with. Sure you like living so remotely?’
‘It’s safer that way.’
‘Safe can be restrictive,’ Kelli argued, knowing she was guilty of doing the same until Mac came into her life.
‘Less confronting.’
‘To what?’ Her heart had already taken a tumble and there was quite likely a load of pain waiting in the background for the day Mac didn’t want to stare at her legs.
A pager sounded and it wasn’t until she saw Mac tug something from his waistband that she realised where the peeps had come from.
‘There goes my workout.’ Mac hit the slow button. ‘I’m wanted in ED. Seems Michael’s got a problem.’
Kelli nodded, swallowed the flare of annoyance that she’d been relegated to second. As head of department he had to go. It was bad timing, was all. They were actually talking about something serious and probably important to their future. If there was going to be a future, and she had no idea where they stood on that. No point trying to keep Mac here when he was wanted in the department. That was a no go. ‘See you later.’
‘Back to reality.’ A brief twisted smile accompanied his words.
‘Saved by the pager,’ she acknowledged.
Mac didn’t hear her. Or chose not to, striding out of the gym without finishing that uncomfortable conversation.
Suddenly the leftover fizz from the weekend dropped away, leaving her lethargic and barely able to put one foot in front of the other. The bubble had burst. Mac hadn’t changed anything. His offer to stand by her had been for the duration of the wedding. No need to discuss breaking up. Confronting her family to explain had always been part of the deal.
The problem was that she’d gone and given away her heart to Mac. Of course she shouldn’t have, but that suggested she’d had control over it. Fat chance. Spending so much time with Mac, having fun and getting to know him better, seeing a different side to the serious specialist—what was there not to fall in love with? The sparks had flown, back and forth. Leanne had commented about how hot she and Mac were together and that took involvement from both parties.
Involvement, Mac. When you get close to someone. When you share things—conversations, meals, friends and family. Involvement.
Sweat trickled down her back, soaked the waistband of her knee-length sports pants. Yuck. Her legs protested every step and her lungs moved in and out as if they were under water. Was she drowning? Under a blanket of unrequited love? Whatever Mac thought was a mystery. She’d seen desire light up his eyes uncountable times over the past three days. Had been loved with skill and abandonment, with wonder and joy. What do you think of me, Mac? Huh? Do you care enough to carry on seeing me?
Her legs won. No point in hauling them through the kilometres when they moved like lead weights.
Hitting the ‘stop’ button, she lurched against the hand bar and kept her balance. Just. Time for a shower and a coffee then she’d sign on for the shift.
Hopefully Mac would be friendly and not doing his serious thing as if she was a problem that had to be put in its box.
* * *
The department was full to bursting when Kelli slouched in. Mac was nowhere to be seen for handover, and those in the day shift were subdued. Too quiet.
‘What’s going on?’ Kelli asked Stephanie, who’d been standing behind the counter flicking through patient notes.
‘Everyone will hear soon enough.’ Then Stephanie sniffed. ‘Michael lost a patient, and he’s not coping very well. A wee boy with a massive allergic reaction to some food product.’
A wee boy. That was hard to take and, for the doctor in charge, distressing beyond imagination. ‘That’s why Mac got that message.’ And she’d been thinking he’d been in a hurry to leave her. Selfish didn’t begin to cover her thoughts. Sorry, Mac. Sorry, Michael.
‘They’re shut in his office going over what happened. Hopefully Mac can reassure Michael that he did everything right.’ Stephanie looked worried.
‘That explains the full cubicles. Down a doctor. What was Michael doing on day shift anyway?’
‘He started early to cover another registrar who went off sick. One of those kind of days.’ Stephanie handed her a file. ‘Cubicle three, male, fifty-five, arrhythmia, SOBOE, no known history. Monitor him and I’ll send a doctor as soon as I have one avail
able. We need to get things moving around here, even if we only clear some of the minor cases until Mac’s able to join us.’
‘No problem.’ Heading across to the cubicle opposite the department centre where more serious patients were kept under watch, Kelli glanced down the page of notes she’d been handed, took in the relevant details, and tried not to think about Michael and how he must be feeling. The guy was good, didn’t make mistakes, but all doctors met their challenges, and today was his turn. ‘Hi, Will. I’m Kelli, the nurse who’s going to be keeping an eye on you for the next hour or two.’
‘A lot of fuss about nothing, if you ask me. You’ve got far more serious patients needing your attention,’ Will blustered.
The woman beside him introduced herself as his wife and said, ‘Will, no one’s asking you. The nurses are telling you there’s something wrong with your heart and if you think I want you at home before we know what’s going on, then think again.’
Kelli raised a thumb in the woman’s direction. ‘Will, your wife’s right. We can’t be discharging you only to have you brought back in a far worse condition later, now can we?’
Will blanched. ‘I guess not.’
‘You’ve had a shock, physically and mentally.’ She was reading the heart monitor’s printout. ‘See how those peaks are not nice and even? That’s an abnormal rhythm and the doctors will want to find out the cause.’
‘Am I going to have heart surgery?’ All the bluster had gone out of her patient’s voice. ‘I’ve never been under the knife before.’
His wife gripped his hand. ‘It won’t be as serious as that.’ The look that she threw Kelli was imploring her to reassure her husband.
‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Your BP is high, but your lungs are clear of fluid, which is good. I’m here to keep monitoring you. A doctor will be along soon—’ cross her fingers ‘—to explain what’s happened and what your treatment might be. He’ll discuss your symptoms and results with a cardiologist who will decide the next move.’
