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Well, he’d been sincere about kissing Melody. He’d been trusting that his feelings were reciprocated. But honourable? His thoughts had hardly been honourable as he’d held her against him, pressing his mouth to hers, wanting her as close as possible.
What had he been thinking? He had responsibilities. He had a job to do. His behaviour was far from professional yet at the same time it was becoming increasingly difficult to control his desire where Melody was concerned.
She was interfering with his work, his concentration, and it wouldn’t do. Right at this moment he was supposed to be working with his staff but he’d needed to see her, needed to touch her, needed to kiss her.
He opened his eyes and paced the room, forcing his thoughts into order. He’d kissed a woman who wasn’t Veronique. His wife had died only eighteen months ago and here he was yearning for someone else. He was sure that if their positions had been reversed, Veronique wouldn’t have forgotten him so quickly and the knowledge stabbed at his heart.
George grimaced, pushing his fingers roughly through his hair and clenching his jaw. Never before had he allowed any woman to come between him and his work. He’d always separated them into neat little sections. He’d always prided himself on being one hundred percent focused where work was concerned but now he appeared to have no control whatsoever.
He had the responsibilities of the visiting orthopaedic surgeon Fellowship to uphold. He had responsibilities to his staff. He had lectures to write, operations to perform and scheduled deadlines to meet. Even when the tour finished in early December, he was due back at his hospital in Melbourne. They were waiting for him. He had obligations there as well.
Yet one look at Melody and everything had gone! Gone! He shoved his hands in his pockets, thoroughly disgusted with himself and his behaviour. How could a woman make him lose control—over everything? Everything he’d prided himself on being. Reliable, responsible, respectable.
‘Ha!’ he snorted in self-disgust. He hadn’t even treated Melody with respect. She’d been studying and trying to focus on an extremely difficult procedure and he hadn’t cared. Hadn’t given her the same consideration he was sure she would have given him had the situations been reversed.
He stopped pacing, his jaw clenched tightly. He shouldn’t have kissed her. Shouldn’t have—but he had. At least he was man enough to accept his actions and take responsibility for them.
George dragged a deep breath into his lungs, the faint traces of her perfume lingering in the air around him. The awareness between them had been almost unbearable yet now—now both knew how incredible they were together. Kissing Melody hadn’t solved anything. It had only increased his desire, his yearning, his curiosity—and that made everything worse!
* * *
Melody was tired of concentrating. She’d had three long and meticulous hours in Theatre but at last the first stage of her patient’s hand reconstruction was completed. Now they needed to wait and see what happened before she could attempt the next stage.
Wearily, she de-gowned and shuffled to the tea room to write up the notes. Once she’d finished, she sipped her coffee and put her feet up on the seat. Closing her eyes, she sighed, glad the day was coming to an end. ‘Just the dinner to get through.’
She’d hoped to get out of it altogether but she knew that wasn’t professional. ‘I hate being Acting Director,’ she mumbled out loud as she quickly finished her coffee.
Melody had hoped to be able to go home, enjoy a relaxing bubble bath, but now she would just have to make do with a quick shower before getting dressed and heading to the hotel for yet another event. She was looking forward to George’s talk this evening. She was still constantly amazed that with so many dinners and lectures, he still managed to keep every talk fresh and interesting.
‘George,’ she sighed, as she drove home and headed into her apartment. If she didn’t at least make an appearance tonight, she had the strange feeling he’d probably ring to make sure she was all right. She smiled at the thought. That was nice. Attentive and thoughtful. Apart from kissing her right before she’d had to perform an intricate surgical procedure, he’d always been attentive and thoughtful. Then again, while he’d been kissing her, he’d most definitely been attentive and thoughtful.
She couldn’t help but smile and brush a hand across her lips as she remembered just how attentive he’d been. As she finished getting dressed, tonight choosing to wear a white embroidered bustier and a straight, black, silk skirt that came to her ankles, she couldn’t help but wonder what George might think of her outfit, especially the split at the back of the skirt, which was not only sexy but practical as it enabled her to walk without shuffling along. She secured her hair up in a high ponytail, letting her curls do their thing. Slipping her stockinged feet into black shoes then picking up her clutch purse, she was finally ready to go.
