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‘No, you wouldn’t.’ He hooked his fingers into the pockets of his jeans and lounged against the reception desk. He had a lean, athletic physique, honed to perfection by his obsession with dangerous sports. ‘You wouldn’t ask my advice if you were hanging off a cliff by your fingernails. You’re so crazily independent, Riggs, that you’d drown rather than ask someone to throw you a lifebelt.’
‘Then it’s a good job I’m not drowning,’ she said coldly, walking through to the reception area and automatically picking up some scattered toys and returning them to the basket. ‘And for your information, I’d take the lifebelt as long as you weren’t the one throwing it. Now, are we going to sort this problem out?’
He shrugged and stifled a yawn. ‘What’s there to sort out? You need a locum. I’m here.’
She straightened one of the chairs. ‘As far as I’m concerned, those two statements are not linked.’
He drew a breath and she lifted a hand to indicate that she hadn’t finished. ‘What I need, McKenna, is a serious doctor willing to do some serious work. What I don’t need is some image-hungry film-star medic with an over-inflated ego which is going to get in my way every time I try and see a patient.’
To her surprise and immense irritation, he smiled. An all-male, sexy smile that tugged something deep in her pelvis.
Damn, he irritated her.
Completely aware of that fact, he straightened up and strolled towards her, a dangerous gleam in his blue eyes as they swept her face. ‘Oh, boy, oh, boy, I really do unsettle you, don’t I,
Riggs? Why is that, I wonder?’
‘Do you want a list?’ She backed away, trying to maintain her personal space. ‘And I can’t imagine this is exactly your idea of heaven either. Why did you agree to it?’
His blue eyes glittered. ‘I told you. Emotional blackmail on the part of my father. He was ill. He needed a holiday. He couldn’t find anyone else. That kind of thing. Tugs at the heart.’
‘You don’t have a heart.’
He grinned. ‘Ouch. Been reading my press cuttings again, Riggs?’
‘Hardly.’ Her glance was impatient. ‘The way you run your love life—or should I say sex life—is your business. But the practice is my business. Your dad certainly never mentioned to me that he was having trouble finding anyone.’
Sam gave a careless shrug. ‘Well, the fact is I’m here now. Make the most of me.’
She angled her head and lifted an eyebrow. ‘Excuse me? I’m supposed to be honoured that you’ve graced us with your presence? Let me tell you something, Dr Charm, I’m not at all convinced you’ll know a real patient when you see one. You see, here in real life surgery land, the problems aren’t staged.’
His gaze didn’t flicker. ‘Is that so?’
‘What happens when you deal with something that doesn’t make good television? Are you going to pass them through to me? Or do you grab a textbook?’
He examined his fingernails thoughtfully. ‘You really aren’t going to make this easy, are you, Riggs?’
She bit her lip. Somehow he made her feel small, childish. ‘It’s just that this practice is busy,’ she said wearily, sweeping her dark hair away from her face and risking eye contact. ‘I need proper help. Heavy-duty help.’
Sharp blue eyes searched hers. ‘My dad hasn’t been pulling his weight, has he?’
She didn’t trust herself not to give too much away so her own eyes slid from his, away from that penetrating gaze that saw too much. ‘Your dad is a good doctor. The best.’
‘But he hasn’t got the stamina that he used to,’ Sam said softly, running a hand over the back of his neck and giving a frustrated sigh. ‘Damn. It’s hard, watching your parents grow older. You have this vision of how they are and you never want it to change. I always knew this moment would come, but that doesn’t make it any easier.’
She frowned. ‘What moment?’
His hand dropped to his side and his glance was ironic. ‘The moment when I have to decide whether to go into the family business.’
‘You mean, take your father’s place?’ She stared at him in horror. ‘You can’t possibly be serious! You don’t need me to remind you that you couldn’t wait to leave Cornwall at the earliest opportunity. Even if we go along with your dad’s plan, it’s only short term. No one suggested it was for ever. He’s coming back…’
Sam looked at her. ‘And when he does, he’ll retire and spend his days fishing.’
Anna shook her head. ‘He won’t retire.’
Sam gave a sigh and stabbed long fingers through his dark hair. ‘He has to. We both know that. And you being stubborn about it isn’t going to change that fact.’ He paced over to the reception area. ‘But while he’s working out how to break the news to you that this is all too much for him and he doesn’t want to do it any more, we’ll get the place in order. And work out a plan. Things are going to have to change around here.’
Anna felt as though she’d been doused in cold water.
