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‘You can’t learn everything about a country from a history book.’
‘Ri-ght.’
The sing-song intonation she gave the word only served to tick him off further. Women. When he got hold of Tracy, he was going to give her hell.
But Tracy wasn’t here at the moment, and Dr. Stefani Wilson was. ‘I don’t think you and this job are going to mesh.’
She hitched her handbag higher onto her shoulder, but there was now a hint of wariness in her gaze that made him frown. ‘Is that right? You know … I don’t believe I caught your name.’
‘Matt. Matt Palermo.’
‘Well, Mr. Palermo. Why don’t you let me worry about whether the job and I are going to suit each other? If you’ll just take me to Tracy Hinton—who evidently felt I was adequately qualified for this position—I’ll soon be out of your hair.’
‘Not bloody likely.’
‘Meaning?’
‘Two things. One, if you take this job you won’t be “out of my hair” for a very long time. And, two, Tracy obviously didn’t inform you of the living arrangements.’
‘She spelled it out quite nicely. She and I will be living on a hospital boat, traveling from village to village. We’ll be out for weeks at a time.’
‘You … and Tracy.’ He nodded, a small smile coming to his face when he realized she had no idea who he was. And he wondered if that was a simple mistake, or if Tracy had her hand in that as well.
‘Yes. Why? Don’t you think two women can handle the job?’
‘What I think has no bearing on anything, or Tracy never would have hired you.’
‘What an awful thing to say.’
‘Not really. And Tracy won’t be the one living with you.’
She blinked once, then again, his response evidently surprising her. ‘Okay, so it’ll be another doctor. It doesn’t really matter who it is.’
‘Doesn’t it?’
A hand went to her stomach and she plucked at the hem of her shirt. ‘Not at all.’
‘So it wouldn’t bother you to discover that we—you and I—will be living together, if you take this job.’ He caught sight of a pale sliver of skin beneath her blouse as she fiddled with it. He forced the rest of the words from his suddenly dry mouth. ‘We’ll be under the same roof. For weeks at a time. Possibly months.’
She sucked down an audible breath and held it for a second or two before the muscles of her throat relaxed. ‘I can handle it, if you can. Besides, there’ll be another doctor on board to play chaperone, if you’re worried about me throwing myself at you.’ Her brows arched. ‘Are you the ship’s captain or something? The cook?’
He laughed. ‘Unfortunately for you, it’s neither of the above. And if you get on that boat, you’ll have to put up with me 24-7.’
‘Because?’ Her teeth came down on her lower lip as if she realized something terrible was heading her way.
‘Because I’ll be your traveling companion, not Tracy. And I happen to be the only critical-care doctor within a hundred-mile radius.’
CHAPTER TWO
Stevie perched on the seat of the Land Rover, keeping her body braced against the passenger side door as they navigated around the worst of the potholes. The ones they couldn’t avoid, they plowed straight through.
With her teeth clicking together like castanets, she tried to gather her wits. Okay, so the introduction to her new job wasn’t going quite like she’d expected. No cheering, no gratitude. Just a doctor who acted like he’d rather she drop off the face of the earth.
So what? She wasn’t here to bask in anyone’s praise. She’d come to help people.
The memory of Michael’s laughter when she’d shown him the article on Projeto Vida swept through her mind. ‘Seriously?’ he’d said. ‘What kind of person practices medicine in the jungle?’
Too embarrassed to admit she found the idea fascinating, she’d laughed along with him and had quickly blanked out the computer screen. The truth was, she’d toyed with the idea for the past year. She used to think Michael felt the same way, that he wanted to give back to those in need. Why else would he be at the helm of a public hospital?
Certainly not just to commandeer a private room for his little no-tell rendezvous, like the one she’d caught him having with a female doctor. On her birthday, of all things.
Humiliation and pain washed through her, bringing with it an inner scream of frustration. Why couldn’t she get past this?
She must have made some sound because her new colleague’s head swiveled toward her. She squirmed in her seat before tilting her chin a bit higher.
Just because the good doctor wasn’t thrilled about having her on board it didn’t mean she should tuck her tail and go scurrying back to New York—no matter how much she wanted to right now. She’d agreed to stay for two years, and she intended to see them through, down to the very last day.
‘So, why leave New York and come to our little neck of the rainforest?’
She gave a guilty start. He couldn’t possibly know what she’d been thinking. ‘Why do people normally do these types of things?’
His eyes searched hers before turning back to the road. ‘Sometimes they don’t think through the realities like they should.’
‘And sometimes they just want to help.’
‘Right. The last two doctors who “wanted to help,” ended up leaving before they’d been here a month. It would have been better if they’d just mailed Projeto Vida a check.’
‘Money can take the place of qualified doctors these days?’
His hands tightened on the wheel. ‘No, but it doesn’t help our cause when the faces change each time the boat pulls into a village.’
Interesting.
‘You’re talking about earning people’s trust.’
‘Yep. And it’s mighty hard to come by these days.’
No kidding. She knew that for a fact.
She turned in her seat, her attitude softening a bit as she watched him shove a dark lock of hair off his forehead with an attitude of resignation. ‘Every time someone leaves, you’re the one who has to break the news to the villagers, aren’t you? How long have you been with Projeto Vida?’
‘Long enough.’
‘Maybe it’s time you started thinking about packing it in yourself, Dr. Palermo.’
‘No.’ He glanced back at her. ‘And if you’re going to take a trial run down the river with me, you’ll need to call me Matt.
We try to be as informal as possible. The villagers will use your first name as well.’
She ignored the last part of his speech and concentrated on the first. ‘Trial run? I signed up for two years.’
He grunted. ‘So did the others.’
‘Maybe I’m tougher than they were.’ She smiled at him. ‘Maybe I’m even as tough as you.’
Dark brows winged upward. ‘Doubtful.’
‘That sounds suspiciously like a challenge.’
‘Does it?’
Stevie could swear his lips twitched as he said it and that the grooves where his frown lines sat became a little less pronounced. ‘It does. And you might be sorry later, because I rarely back down from a challenge.’
Unless it came from her cheating ex as she’d hightailed it for the nearest exit. If you leave now, you’ll have a black mark on your record! His shouted warning had cemented her decision to leave the hospital. To leave him.
‘We’ll soon see, won’t we?’ said Matt.
One of his tanned hands dropped from the wheel to the seat between them. There was a fresh cut across the knuckle of his middle finger that looked deep, and several old scars marring the back of his hand. Something about those hurts, old and new, made her stomach twist. This was a man who didn’t play it safe. Who put his all into everything he did. That was something Stevie could relate to. She’d gained a few new scars of her own over the last month or so.
‘You use protection, don’t you?’
He glanced over, eyebrows high. ‘Excuse me?’
Oops. That hadn’t come out right.
‘Surgical gloves,’ she clarified, touching a spot just beneath his cut, not sure where the urge came from. ‘Especially when you have injuries.’
He curled his fingers into a fist, the muscles in his forearm bunching. ‘Of course.’
‘Good.’ She gave a brisk nod as if the heat from his skin hadn’t just singed her. As if she wasn’t scrubbing her fingertips across her thigh in a vain attempt to remove the sensation.
He frowned, and Stevie realized he’d seen her reaction. Heat prickled along her scalp, and she turned her head to look out at the scenery. ‘How long until we get to the boat?’
‘About a half-hour.’ They hit another pothole, and she scrabbled for a handhold to avoid careening off the seat and onto the floorboards.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I keep forgetting you’re not used to roads like this.’
‘It’s okay. At least it’s not one big construction zone, like in New York.’
‘Which is why the roads there don’t swallow small children.’
She blinked. Wow, did the man actually have a sense of humor? Her mouth opened to respond when his cellphone went off.
He braked, fumbling to pull the phone from the holder on his belt. Stevie glanced back to make sure there were no cars heading their way, but the road was deserted, which made it odd that he’d stopped at all. Maybe he was a little more cautious than she’d thought.
‘‘Ello?’ He listened for a few seconds looking straight ahead. ‘Yep, she’s here. Listen, I told you what I wanted. Surely there were other appli—’
He sighed. ‘Just keep looking, will you?’
Her brows went up. So much for his ‘changing faces isn’t good for the cause’ spiel. It didn’t stop him from trying to swap her face for someone else’s post haste. Which meant she’d be out of a job, unless she went crawling back to Michael.
Fat chance of that happening.
‘I don’t know. She had quite a pile of suitcases, but she didn’t say anything about … Hold on.’ Matt pulled the phone away from his ear, glancing her way. ‘Mosquito nets?’
She nodded. ‘A hundred and fifty of them, just like Tracy asked for. I also brought a case of repellent wipes for use on board the boat.’ She frowned. ‘Don’t tell me you actually thought I had clothes in all those suitcases?’
Matt suddenly found himself unable to meet her eyes. Okay, so he’d misjudged her on one count. ‘Yeah, she brought them,’ he said into the phone.
‘Good,’ said Tracy. A few seconds of silence crawled by. ‘Listen, give her a chance, will you? You and I both know you need another doctor on that boat. So don’t say anything stupid.’ A laugh rose in his throat, which he quickly suppressed. Too late. He’d already said several stupid things. And for the past few minutes he’d suddenly realized how lonely his job was. The simple touch of Stefani’s fingers and the concern in her voice when she’d noticed the scratch on his hand had hit him in a dark corner of his mind.
He sent her a quick glance to find her staring out the side window in an obvious attempt not to eavesdrop. A long strand of hair had come loose from her bun and now trailed down her cheek, the tip curling just above her shoulder.
A strange sense of longing swept over him. What had Tracy been thinking, sending a woman? Didn’t she realize how flammable this situation could become? He tried to snuff out the image of Stefani’s long nimble fingers sliding across his skin, her surgeon’s brain dissecting and memorizing his every reaction. Or her long dark lashes fluttering shut as he …
He shook his head, realizing Tracy was waiting for his response. ‘Right. “Don’t say anything stupid.” I’ll do my best.’
She laughed. ‘Don’t make me come down there.’
As much as he wanted Tracy to witness her folly firsthand, he knew he couldn’t afford to hang around the port and do nothing. Waiting for Stefani’s arrival had already put him two days behind schedule, and he had people counting on him. As soon as they got to the boat, they needed to be on their way.
‘Your concern is duly noted, but I’m a big boy, in case you haven’t noticed.’
‘Oh, I have. And I’m counting on you to act like one.’
Paint—long peeling ribbons of white—clung to portions of the boat. Other sections were laid bare, like bones stripped of their flesh. Stevie could have been looking in a mirror at her own reflection.
She was pretty sure this wasn’t what Matt had in mind when he’d mentioned battlefield triage, but the vessel certainly looked like it had been through a warzone.
And come out on the losing end.
This couldn’t be the medical boat. She tugged the doorhandle on the Land Rover and stepped out of the car, while Matt went around and hauled her luggage from the back of the vehicle.
The wall-to-wall grins on the faces of two men who’d disembarked from the ship and now hurried toward them said her premonition was correct. This vessel was indeed going to be her home for the next two weeks. Who was she kidding? Try two years. She shut her eyes and sent up a quick prayer. She’d put her name on a contract, effectively signing away her life. She’d see the far side of thirty before she left Brazil.
Matt smiled at the new arrivals and clapped each of them on the back before introducing them to her. ‘Nilson and Tiago, this is Stefani Wilson, the newest member of our team.’
Everything was said in Portuguese, so she should have understood it easily, but Stevie found herself having to concentrate to make out the words through their thick accents. But they were friendly and welcoming, more than she could say for Matt. The two crew members gathered up her luggage as if it weighed no more than a couple of sacks of groceries and took off toward the ship.
She bit her lip, her hopes of being mistaken fading. Even if the men weren’t already scampering up the gangplank, the raggedy lettering on the back of the boat spelled her fate out in no uncertain terms: Projeto Vida. This was the medical ship, for better or worse.
‘Home, sweet home.’ Low graveled tones slid across her senses like calloused hands moving over soft skin.
Palpable. Dangerous.
Shivering, she glanced up to find his attention fastened on the boat and not on her. Anything that could wring that kind of reaction out of the man couldn’t be all bad. Right?
Maybe she should try to see the ship from his perspective. ‘So this is it, then?’
