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If she hadn’t kissed him, she wouldn’t have ever known just how well Josh could kiss and she wouldn’t now be imagining all sorts of things that she shouldn’t be imagining. It was a good thing he couldn’t read her thoughts, or she’d be in big trouble.
All week her mind had been somewhere else. She’d been dropping things and staring into space until Hannah had actually asked whether she had a hearing problem.
And all the time Josh had been watching her. Stalking her. His pirate eyes full of promise. Promise of plunder and pillage.
She closed her eyes and tried to talk some sense into herself. Some solid, sensible, single-mother sense. But, no matter how hard she tried, her brain and her body just didn’t seem to listen.
Her heart was fluttering with excitement and nerves and no matter how many times she told herself that it was just an evening with a colleague, she couldn’t stop the feeling of lightness that spread through her body.
Because, of course, it wasn’t just an evening with a colleague.
It was a date.
A date with Josh Sullivan. And when did she ever date? It just wasn’t something she did. And she wasn’t just worried about the end of the date, and what happened then, she was worried about the date itself.
What if she did something wrong? Or said something wrong? She was out of practice making small talk with men and she wasn’t at all sure that she knew the rules. Was she supposed to flirt? Were there certain subjects it was better to avoid?
Cursing herself for behaving like a teenager, she tried to concentrate on the steady stream of minor injuries that flowed through the department on a typical Saturday.
One man had spent too long in the hot August sun and came in looking more than a little embarrassed, his face blistered and red.
‘Ouch,’ Kat said gently, as she picked up his notes and gestured to the vacant chair. ‘Have a seat, Mr Banks. No need to ask what the problem is.’ She eyed his scarlet skin with a sympathetic look in her eyes. ‘That looks painful. Did you fall asleep in the sun?’
He looked sheepish. ‘How did you guess?’
‘Because I’ve seen it before. People always underestimate how hot the sun can be, especially right on the beach because there’s so often a breeze. It masks the temperature.’ She stood up and washed her hands and then examined his face carefully. ‘We usually leave a simple sunburn exposed because it’s pretty awkward to get a dressing to stay on the face. Come round to the dressing clinic with me and we’ll get it cleaned up.’
She found Hannah finishing off a bandage on a lady with a sprained ankle. ‘When you’ve finished there, could you sort out Mr Banks for me, please?’ Kat put his notes in Hannah’s tray. ‘Just clean it up with diluted chlorohexidine solution and then cover it with liquid paraffin.’ She turned to the patient. ‘We’ll give you a tube to take home and you need to clean it twice daily.’
‘Can I shave?’
‘It’s important that you do,’ Kat told him as she wrote instructions in his notes. ‘It reduces the risk of infection. And make sure you sleep propped up on a couple of pillows for the first couple of days to reduce the swelling. How long are you here on holiday?’
‘Until the end of the week.’
‘Well, it probably goes without saying that you should stay out of the sun, and if you have any problems come back to us.’ Kat smiled at him and slipped the pen back in her pocket. ‘Enjoy the rest of your holiday.’
She left the patient with Hannah and returned to the cubicle where she was seeing patients. Josh was sprawled in the chair, waiting for her.
‘About tonight…’
Instinctively Kat glanced behind her to check that no one was listening, and he gave an amused smile. ‘Ashamed of me, Kat?’
Hardly. ‘I just don’t want to be the subject of gossip.’ She was having enough trouble handling her feelings when they were private. She certainly didn’t want everyone else to know.
‘Neither do I.’ He rose to his feet in a smooth movement. ‘Do you like Italian?’
At the moment she didn’t feel as though she’d be able to eat a thing. Her insides were just too jumbled. But she managed a smile. ‘Love it.’
‘Good.’ He stepped closer. ‘Three hours to go.’ His voice was low. ‘I’ll pick you up at the cottage at eight. Can I ring the doorbell, or will that wake Archie?’
She ran her tongue over her dry lips. ‘Archie’s spending the weekend with Mary because I’m working.’
A slow smile spread across his face. ‘So you don’t have a curfew?’
‘I don’t want to be too late.’ She felt her cheeks heat. ‘I have to pick up Archie the next morning and then we’re working.’
‘Ah, yes.’ He smiled. ‘You’re a doctor, too, and I’m in your light.’
