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‘Are you OK?’
Her eyes flew open and clashed with his. ‘Fine. I’m fine.’
‘Your eyes were closed.’
‘I’m fine.’
Blue eyes laughed into hers. ‘It’s hard to check an X-ray with your eyes closed, Doctor.’
She knew he was teasing her but she couldn’t respond. Suddenly her whole body was tingling and trembling and she just wanted him to grab her and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe. Or maybe she wanted to be the one to do the grabbing.
The thought startled and horrified her by equal degrees and she took a step away from him and locked her hands behind her back just to be on the safe side.
When had she last wanted to grab a man?
Never. The answer was never and the fact that she’d wanted to grab Josh…
Oh!
The fact that she was having those thoughts was too humiliating for words. What if he knew? What if he could sense it?
He was still watching her and the look in his eyes had gone from gently teasing to something infinitely more dangerous and unsettling.
He gave a short laugh. ‘Well, well…’ His voice was soft and his eyes dropped to her mouth and lingered there. ‘This is becoming interesting, wouldn’t you say, Dr O’Brien?’
Shocked by the power of her reaction to him, she rammed her wayward thoughts back where they belonged and called on the willpower that had been her fuel for as long as she could remember. ‘X-rays are always interesting, Dr Sullivan,’ she said, her tone cool, her eyes fixed on the film in front of them. ‘And this one is looking fine.’
He shifted closer. Her body sensed his and melted, but she kept her eyes forward. His breath warmed her neck. ‘There’s nothing there you want to explore further?’
Was he talking about the X-ray or their relationship? She concentrated on the film, tried to ignore the fact that he was standing so close they were almost touching. ‘Nothing at all.’
‘Are you sure about that?’
It wasn’t right that a man should have such a sexy voice. ‘Absolutely sure.’
‘Speaking personally, I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.’ Something in his wry tone made her turn and she saw a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, which she hadn’t expected to see there.
So he wasn’t thrilled about the attraction either.
She gave a cynical smile. Why should that surprise her? Of course he wasn’t thrilled. It didn’t take a genius to calculate that she wasn’t his type of woman. Josh Sullivan was an attractive, single male with a carefree bachelor lifestyle. Why would he want to find himself attracted to a single mother who came with baggage?
‘In my experience, life is rarely easy, Dr Sullivan,’ she said crisply, ‘but as human beings we’re given the ability to make sensible choices. That’s what distinguishes us from animals.’
There was a hitch in his breathing and his eyes were fixed on her mouth again, as if he wasn’t able to look away. ‘You think so?’
The core of her body heated and stirred and she struggled to force thinking to dominate feeling. It was a hell of a battle.
‘Absolutely.’
His eyes lifted to hers. ‘So you’re not having trouble concentrating, then? Your body isn’t burning up and your mind isn’t woolly?’
She hid her alarm. Was he feeling that way, too? ‘Not at all.’ Despite her best efforts, her voice was little more than a croak and he gave a slow nod.
‘Well, if that’s truly the case,’ he said softly, turning his gaze back to the X-ray, ‘I’m interested to know why you just missed a fracture the size of the Grand Canyon. Care to explain that, Dr O’Brien?’
* * *
Josh manipulated the child’s shoulder carefully. ‘Does this hurt?’ He’d almost kissed her. ‘What about this?’ She was a single mother and he’d almost kissed her. In public, with the entire department watching.
