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Once again the islanders impressed Jenna, working together to solve the problem in a way that would never really happen in a big city.
By the time the air ambulance arrived the man had regained consciousness and the woman had been reunited with her family. Jenna listened as Ryan exchanged information with the paramedics and masterminded the man’s transfer. As the helicopter lifted off for the short trip to the mainland, she turned to him.
His face was tanned from the sun and the wind, his dark hair a surprising contrast to his ice-blue eyes.
Trapped by his gaze, Jenna stood still, inexplicably drawn to him. She forgot about the small stones pressing into her bare feet; she forgot that she was confused about her feelings. She forgot everything except the astonishing bolt of chemistry that pulled her towards Ryan.
She wanted to kiss him again.
She wanted to kiss him now.
Feeling like a teenager on her first date, she leaned towards him, melting like chocolate on a hot day. His hands came down on her shoulders and she heard the harshness of his breathing.
Yes, now, she thought dreamily, feeling the strength of his fingers—
‘Mum!’
The voice of a real teenager carried across the beach, and Jenna jumped as if she’d been shot as she recognised Lexi’s appalled tones. For a moment she stared into Ryan’s eyes, and then she turned her head and saw her daughter staring at her in undisguised horror.
‘What are you doing?’
Her heart pounding and her mouth dry, Jenna was grateful for the distance, which ensured that at least her daughter couldn’t see her scarlet cheeks.
What was she doing?
She was a divorced mother of thirty-three and she’d been on the verge of kissing a man with virtually all the islanders watching.
‘We probably ought to get back to the barbecue…’ Ryan’s tone was level and she nodded, feeling numb.
‘Yes. Absolutely.’ If Lexi hadn’t shouted she would have put her arms around his neck and kissed him.
And what would that have done for her relationship with her daughter, let alone her relationship with Ryan?
This was her new life and she’d almost blown it. If Lexi hadn’t called out to her she would have risked everything. And all for what? A kiss?
‘If they’ve eaten all the food, I’ll kill someone.’Apparently suffering none of her torment, Ryan turned towards the steps that led down to the sand, as relaxed as if they’d been having a conversation about the weather. ‘How are things, Jim?’
Jim?
It took Jenna a moment to realise that the ferryman was standing by the steps, chatting to another islander. Had he been that close all the time? There could have been a fire, a flood and a hurricane, and all she would have noticed was Ryan.
‘Another life saved, Doc.’ Grinning, Jim scratched the back of his neck and looked up at the sky, where the helicopter was now no more than a tiny dot. ‘Another good holiday experience on Glenmore. They’ll be coming back. I overheard someone saying on the ferry this morning that they’d booked a short break here just so that they could ask a doctor about a skin rash, because you lot always know what you’re doing.’
Ryan rolled his eyes. ‘I’ll mention it to Logan. We obviously need to make more of an effort to be useless.’
Jenna produced a smile, pretending to listen, wondering whether she could just slink onto the ferry and take the first sailing back to the mainland in the morning. Maybe distance would make her forget the kiss, because nothing else was working—not even an emergency.
Lexi was waiting for them at the bottom of the steps. ‘Mum? What were you doing?’
‘She was debriefing with Dr McKinley,’ Evanna said smoothly, and Jenna jumped with shock because she hadn’t seen Evanna standing next to her daughter. Last time she’d looked Evanna had been serving sausages and salad. But somehow the other woman had materialised at the foot of the steps, Charlie in her arms. ‘I gather everything went smoothly, Jenna? Rapid response from the air ambulance? Did things go according to plan?’
Grateful as she was for Evanna’s focus on the professional, Jenna didn’t manage to respond.
Fortunately Ryan took over. ‘Things don’t always go according to plan,’ he said softly, ‘but that’s life, isn’t it? Ideally I would have liked to lose the audience, but you can’t choose where these things happen.’
Jenna couldn’t work out whether he was talking about the medical emergency or the fact she’d almost kissed him. They’d had an audience for both. and she was painfully aware that she’d embarrassed him as much as herself. These were his friends. His colleagues. No doubt he’d be on the receiving end of suggestive remarks for the rest of the summer. Yes, he’d kissed her on the beach, but that had been early in the morning with no one watching.
Because Lexi was still looking at her suspiciously, Jenna forced herself to join in the discussion. ‘I—it was a bit unexpected. I’m not used to dealing with emergencies.’ And she wasn’t used to being attracted to a man. She’d behaved like a crazed, desperate woman.
