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She was making him lose focus. Making him lose sight of his goals. He was here to do a good job. To get to the bottom of the Marburg virus outbreak. People were already talking. Grace was already under the microscope.
It would hardly ingratiate him or her to the director if he suspected anything had happened between them.
He pulled away, breaking their kiss suddenly. Her lips were reddened and full, her breathing heavy. She was startled and it was hardly surprising. She was standing naked in front of him and if he stayed there a minute longer he would never leave.
He put his hand back on the doorhandle. ‘I’m sorry, Grace. I have to go. This can’t happen between us.’
He yanked the door open and strode out into the warm Florida air before he changed his mind.
CHAPTER SEVEN
SHE WAS WALKING down the corridor towards him in a purple wraparound dress, flat shoes and her white coat. But in Donovan’s head she was wearing that orange bikini again and walking out from the sun-kissed ocean with water streaming from her body.
‘Donovan? Did you hear me?’ A pointed elbow stuck into his ribs.
‘Hey!’ He turned. John was looking at him with an amused expression on his face. His eyes drifted off towards Grace, who’d stopped to speak to one of the nurses in the corridor.
John raised his eyebrows. ‘If I could manage to keep your attention, even for a few minutes, that would be great.’
He felt a rush of colour to his cheeks. When was the last time he’d actually blushed? Embarrassment wasn’t the norm for him. Then again, he’d always been completely focused on the job before. After the events of last night he was wondering if he’d ever be able to focus on the job again.
He’d been right. This was why getting involved with someone at work was a bad idea. A really bad idea.
He pulled himself back into professional mode. ‘What’s up, John?’
John held out the paperwork in his hands towards him. ‘After fighting for two days, I’ve finally managed to secure us entry to the national park.’
Donovan smiled and nodded. ‘You mean after two days of careful negotiations.’
John let out a stream of colourful language. ‘No. I mean fighting.’
‘So we’re in?’
‘We’re in. You can collect the samples this afternoon.’
The words flowed over him and every sense on his body went on full alert. ‘Aren’t you collecting the samples?’
John shook his head. ‘Callum asked if I could help out in the lab once the case histories were investigated. The samples are practically meeting David at the door right now.’
Donovan bit the inside of his cheek. Darn it. He wasn’t going to countermand an order given by Callum. He might have been the first team leader on the job, but now Callum was here the final decisions would really be made by him.
He cleared his throat. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as he was expecting. ‘Where exactly are we collecting the samples from?’
John checked his reference sheets. ‘The fruit bats have some nests in the surrounding tree trunks, but their primary habitat is in the limestone caves. There is a tour of the caves and the entrance and walkways are lit up. Unfortunately, there’s no lighting further inside where the bats roost.’
The horrible creeping sensation he’d been expecting washed over his body. He didn’t care about lights. What he did care about was an open exit route.
‘How far into the caves do we need to go?’
John shook his head. ‘I’m not sure. I think it might be around eight hundred metres. I can check if you want?’
‘No. That’s fine.’
Eight hundred metres. Half a mile. Well away from any visible entrance point. Tracks in caves didn’t go in nice straight lines. Not like Roman roads. No, they would follow every twist and turn of the mountain they were worn into.
John looked back down the corridor and smiled. It was obvious he was oblivious to the thoughts currently crowding Donovan’s head. ‘I take it you’ll want to take our newest recruit on the sample-collecting expedition?’
His head jerked round. Did John know something had gone on between them? How could he?
He bit back the snappy reply that was about to form on his lips. He’d worked with this guy for three years. John was older, and maybe a whole lot wiser. It was obvious he was just yanking his chain. And he had nobody to blame but himself. John had obviously noticed the way he was looking at Grace.
That would have to stop.
‘Grace!’ he shouted down the corridor, his tone a bit sharper than he’d actually meant it to be.
She started and turned round. For a second her eyes widened as she caught the expression on his face, then she obviously realised John was by his side. Her feet moved quickly down the corridor and he willed himself not to watch the swing of her hips in that confounded dress. Her clothes—or lack of them—were going to be the death of him.
‘I’ve reviewed most of the patients,’ she started quickly. ‘There are a few who need some further attention, but most are stable for the moment.’
She was doing exactly what he would expect her to do. Getting on with the job. But even the way she said those words crept under his skin. The quick talking was obviously a self-defence mechanism. He recognised it, because he was in that place himself.
John seemed oblivious. ‘Looks like you’ve got a state park to visit.’
He held the paperwork up to her and her eyes scanned the page. Her fingers automatically moved to her hair, grabbing a little strand and twisting it round one index finger. He noticed the tiniest, subtlest widening of her eyes. ‘I’m going to collect the samples?’ Was that the smallest tremor in her voice?
John kept smiling. He didn’t notice all the little nuances in Grace’s behaviour that Donovan did. ‘Yeah, you and Donovan are going this afternoon.’
‘Can’t you go?’ Her voice had risen in pitch and her eyes were fixed on John, almost as if she didn’t want to look at Donovan in case he questioned her reaction. She hunched and then shrugged her shoulders, as if something had just irritated them.
Her scar. He hadn’t asked her about the scar last night—even though he’d wanted to.
The smile had vanished from John’s face. He reached up and touched Grace’s arm. ‘It’s part of the initiation when you join a fieldwork team. You try out all roles in the team to see where you fit best. Would you prefer not to do it, Grace? Is there a problem?’
His voice was serious, questioning with a little hint of concern. It was important that every member of the team was able to function fully—filling in for each other in case of emergency. Grace had proved herself more than capable of dealing with the clinical cases, but the DPA fulfilled many more roles than that.
She was hesitating. The look on her face told him she was searching her brain for an appropriate answer. She fixed a smile on her face. ‘No, John, it’s fine.’ Her eyes skimmed the information in front of her. ‘We’ll have guides, won’t we? And the caves are lit?’ There was an anxious tone to her voice, along with an edge of hopefulness.
Donovan was curious. She was asking the same kind of questions that he had. He hadn’t noticed her having any kind of reaction in the isolation chamber back at the DPA. Enclosed spaces hadn’t seemed to be an issue for her. So why the reluctance?
John’s eyes were flicking between them both. He was obviously looking for a steer from Donovan. He spoke smoothly. ‘I was just telling Donovan, the caves are quite deep and the fruit bats supposedly roost near the back of the caves. That’s where you’ll be collecting samples. The front part of the caves are lit for visitors, but not the back.’
She baulked. There was no other word for it.
John tried to fill the silence. ‘They’re supposed to be quite atmospheric. You know, with stalacti
tes, stalagmites and lots of fossils. The cave tours are really popular.’
It was all sounding a bit desperado now. Donovan had no idea what her issue was. But he had issues of his own.
He lifted the paperwork from John’s hands. ‘Thanks for this. Grace, I’ll meet you at the front entrance at one p.m.’
The abrupt words made her flinch. And the hurt expression on her face made him flinch in turn.
He couldn’t afford to give her special treatment. He couldn’t afford to make obvious allowances for her. She was expected to do a job. Just like he was.
He turned on his heel and walked away.
* * *
