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No, it probably wasn’t what he’d meant at all.
She shook her head imperceptibly and tried to concentrate on the question he had more likely been asking.
‘It will depend on how the surgery goes. If it’s successful, Mandy suggested returning with our patient on the supply plane since it’s scheduled to fly into Jukrem in a couple of days.’
‘And if the surgery isn’t successful?’ he prompted gently when she stopped.
Her throat felt suddenly tight. She couldn’t explain what it was about this patient or her baby that had got to her as it had. She saw plenty of sorrow and death in this job, and it was never easy to accept, but one grew accustomed to it.
What other choice was there?
‘If it isn’t...’ she gritted her teeth ‘...then I guess I’ll be returning with your team at first light tomorrow.’
‘Understood.’
She nodded, forcing herself to remain upbeat for the sake of the mother and baby if nothing else. They might not be able to hear or understand her, but either way she wanted to keep the atmosphere around them a positive one. It mattered to her.
‘So, at Rejupe we’ll get to sleep in decent beds for a night or two, enjoy hot showers and eat food that doesn’t come from a can. Maybe we’ll even have the opportunity to go into the local town and buy some gifts for back home.’
For a moment he just watched her, making her feel as though her body was turning inside out. And still the word reverberated around her head. Us. Hayden and herself. Was it possible? Did she even want it to be?
‘Sounds good.’ He spoke at last. ‘I want to speak with the project coordinator here anyway to get the lie of the land, so to speak, and then I think I like the idea of a hot shower. But maybe after that you can show me around this market of yours.’
Surely her body shouldn’t so instantly thrill to the notion? As though a part of her was hoping for...what? A repeat of that kiss? Or more, such as a repeat of their night together?
And why not? a voice whispered in her head.
No matter how much she tried to avoid him—admittedly, she hadn’t tried that hard at times—it was as though fate kept throwing them together, telling her to be bolder and have some fun. Again.
But then what? Where would it go from there?
Relationships out in places like this, in NGO camps in the middle of nowhere, weren’t exactly encouraged. Back at training they were frowned upon, usually because any tension between the couple inevitably fed through to the rest of the team.
Then again, she’d known ple
nty of couples to hook up on missions and if both parties were discreet, putting their roles first and not allowing their relationship to make anyone else feel awkward, it went largely ignored.
It was just that she’d personally never had a hook-up. She’d never wanted to. Never even been tempted. Until now.
Until Hayd.
The devil on one shoulder was whispering that this was a second chance to break out of her usual shell. To pursue something with Hayden, safe in the knowledge that it couldn’t last past the three months’ time limit imposed on them by the date when he and his unit were due to return home.
She couldn’t get hurt if she put a definitive end date on it. Right?
But the good girl on her other shoulder was reminding her that getting together with a colleague was a potential distraction. That she had a job to do, and that didn’t include acting like some kind of lovelorn teenager around the brother of the woman who was—for all intents and purposes—the closest thing she’d ever had to a best friend.
The issue was that she didn’t seem to be able to control herself where Hayd was concerned. That gave her two options. She could either roll with it and indulge in the attraction for the first time in...well, ever. Or she could consider removing herself from temptation altogether and ask the project coordinator for a transfer away from Jukrem—and Hayd—altogether.
Bridget knew what the logical solution was. So what did it say that it was definitely not the choice she wanted to be making?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SEVERAL HOURS LATER Bridget was standing under the shower and simply revelling in the glory of the hot water rolling over her.
The handover had gone as well as she could have hoped, with her accompanying the mother as she’d been whisked into surgery, whilst Hayden—still carrying the baby—had been led to the neonatal ward.
The surgery had been promising and the team had done everything they could. Now it was just a matter of waiting. And hoping. And that meant enjoying the shower, which was nothing like the power showers of back home but certainly better than the solar showers she’d been having in Jukrem.
