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But he also noticed that she hadn’t left him her phone number or any way of contacting her. Which meant that, as far as she was concerned, last night had been a total one-off. She didn’t want to see him again.
‘It’s for the best,’ he said—out loud, this time, to convince himself properly. Though his voice sounded a little bit hollow.
Still, he didn’t have time to brood. He started his new job tomorrow. And that would keep him busy enough to stop him thinking about the gorgeous woman with amazing hair who’d made him see stars and spent the night curled in his arms.
New job. New responsibilities. Part of a new team.
And on his own. Which was the only way that really worked for him.
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_c7be122c-1727-5bed-b6d5-bab6207e6422)
‘SO HAVE YOU met our new consultant?’ Nancy, the ward sister, asked as Joni made herself a coffee in the ward kitchen.
‘Not yet. I’ve been in the travel medicine clinic all morning, and this is the first break I’ve had today,’ Joni said. ‘What’s he like?’
‘Here he is now, so you can take a look for yourself,’ Nancy said as the door opened.
Joni turned towards the newcomer, all ready to be friendly and welcoming to a new colleague—then looked at his face and stopped dead.
Of all the wards, in all the hospitals, in all the world, he had to walk into hers.
She could see the immediate recognition in his face, too.
Oh, great. The one and only time in her life when she had a mad, crazy fling with a handsome stranger, and he turned out to be someone who was going to be working with her for the foreseeable future.
How come life ended up being this complicated and awkward?
Eric Flinders, the head of the department, introduced them. ‘This is Mr Hughes, our new consultant—Aaron, you’ve already met Sister Meadows. This is Dr Parker, our specialty reg. She’s going to be working closely with you.’
Awkwarder and awkwarder. If only the ground would open and swallow her now, she thought.
But it didn’t.
She had no choice but to face him.
‘Mr Hughes. Very nice to meet you,’ Joni said politely, and held her hand out to him.
To her relief, he didn’t mention that they’d met before and simply shook her hand. ‘Nice to meet you, too, Dr Parker.’
So much for never seeing his beautiful stranger again, Aaron thought. And now he’d just been told that he was going to be working closely with her.
The high heels, short skirt and amazing hair of Saturday night were all gone. Today, she was wearing trousers and a white coat, teamed with flat shoes, and her hair was neatly plaited into a single braid.
And he also noticed that there was a name tag on her coat. Dr N. Parker. And yet she’d called herself ‘Joni’ on Saturday night. It didn’t stack up. Had the name she’d used been an extra layer of disguise?
She was smiling, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. It wasn’t lack of friendliness he saw there, though, but sheer unadulterated panic. Clearly she was worrying that he was going to mention Saturday night.
Well, he wasn’t going to tell any tales if she didn’t. Because this was just as awkward for him as it was for her. Saturday night had been a moment of craziness; the last thing he wanted right now was to start a new relationship. And he really, really hoped it was the same for her.
‘You’ll be doing the TB clinic together this afternoon,’ Eric Flinders said. He smiled at Joni. ‘Perhaps you’d like to brief Mr Hughes on the clinic and how things work around here?’
‘Of course, Mr Flinders,’ she said.
So they worked on formal terms in the department? Aaron wondered. Or was it just Eric Flinders who insisted on formality?
Joni glanced at her watch. ‘Um, perhaps I could brief you over lunch, Mr Hughes?’
‘That works for me, Dr Parker,’ he said with a smile.
She returned his smile. ‘Good, because then I can show you where the cafeteria is and what have you. A new hospital always feels a bit like a rabbit warren until you get to know where everything is, doesn’t it?’
Now he understood why the head of the department had asked his junior colleague to do the briefing rather than doing it himself. Joni Parker was clearly the sort who took new people under her wing and made them feel part of the team. Which meant she was a sweetheart, as well as being utterly gorgeous. And that made her even more off limits, as far as Aaron was concerned.
‘Thank you,’ he said politely.
‘I’m actually due on ward rounds now,’ she said. ‘So shall I meet you here at half past twelve?’
‘Half past twelve will be fine,’ he said. And the frightening thing was that he was actually looking forward to it. Hell. He had to stop this. Right now. Joni—Dr N. Parker—was his colleague first, last and everything in between. And he’d better keep that in mind.
* * *
She was ten minutes late meeting him. ‘I’m so sorry. The ward round took a bit longer than I th—’
‘That’s fine,’ he cut in gently. ‘I know we have targets for treatment times, but if a patient needs a bit of extra time you can’t just tell them they’ve already had their allotted few minutes and they’ll just have to wait for the next appointment.’
She shot him a grateful glance. ‘Thanks for understanding. I guess we ought to head to the cafeteria right now, or we’ll be late for the TB clinic this afternoon. I’m really sorry to cut your lunch break short.’
‘It’s not a problem,’ he said.
It would’ve taken him twice as long to find the place without her showing him the way, Aaron thought as they reached the hospital café. He wasn’t surprised when Joni chose a super-healthy balanced meal rather than grabbing the nearest sandwich and a chocolate bar, and she was drinking plain water rather than a sugary drink; she was clearly very careful about her blood sugar. Saturday night really had been out of the norm for her, then.
And he really had to stop thinking about Saturday night. About how her skin had felt against his. Any relationship with her other than a working one was completely out of the question.
‘The coffee here isn’t too bad,’ she said—and then blushed, as if remembering the coffee he’d made her. ‘Um. Anyway. I guess our ward works the same as wherever you were before.’
‘Manchester.’
‘OK.’ She smiled at him. ‘So we have the usual ward work and ward rounds, referral meetings, case reviews and research meetings. Then we have the regular clinics—TB, travel medicine, parasitology and general tropical diseases. There’s also a daily walk-in clinic for people who’ve just come back from abroad, so they don’t have to be referred by their GP first. That one tends to be the usual stuff—tummy bugs, rashes and fever. Sometimes we have something a bit rarer, but for the most part it’s gastro symptoms.’
Pretty much what he’d done in Manchester. Though he noticed that Joni went through the entire run-through without actually looking him in the eye. Which didn’t leave him much choice; he was going to have to broach the subject, and they were going to have to deal with it and get it out of the way.
‘Dr Parker,’ he said softly.
She looked nervous. ‘Ye-es.’
‘It might be a good idea if we dealt with the elephant in the room.’
She blew out a breath. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t usually …’ She buried her face in her hands. ‘Arrgh. I said I’d stop apologising all the time, too. Bailey would fine me for that one.’
He knew who Bailey was—the friend who’d been at the salsa club with her—but he really didn’t follow the rest of it. ‘Fine you? Why?’
‘For apologising when I don’t need to.’ She gave him a wry smile. ‘You know how people sometimes have a swear jar if they’re trying to give up swearing, and they put money in it every time they swear? Well, I have a sorry jar. I’m banned from using the s-word more than once a day.’ She bit her lip. ‘And I bet I’ve apologised to you twice already today.’
‘Try three.’ He just about managed to hide a grin. ‘I won’t tell if you won’t,’ he said. ‘And, actually, that was what I was going to say. No telling. What happened at the weekend is just between us and has nothing to do with anyone else.’
‘Thank you.’ She looked relieved. ‘I couldn’t believe it when I saw you. I mean, in a city the size of London—what are the chances of even bumping into you again, let alone finding out that we’re working together?’
‘Pretty small,’ he agreed. ‘Though I guess, given what we both do for a living, we would’ve met again at some point—maybe through a friend of a friend of a friend.’
‘It’s not even as if infectious and tropical diseases is a common speciality,’ she protested.
‘True. But I bet you know everyone in the emergency department.’
‘I guess I do,’ she admitted. ‘If we haven’t worked together on a case, we’ve met at an inter-departmental do.’
‘As I said. Friend of a friend of a friend.’ He shrugged. ‘Maybe we should start again, as if we’ve just met for the first time. Hello. I’m Aaron Hughes, tropical medical specialist. Pleased to meet you.’ He held out his hand.
She shook it, and his skin tingled where she’d touched him. Not good. He really didn’t want to react to her like this. He couldn’t afford any emotional ties.
‘I’m Joni Parker. Also a tropical medical specialist. Pleased to meet you,’ she said.
So she’d been telling the truth about her name on Saturday, then. But ‘Joni’ didn’t start with N, and he was curious. He glanced at her name tag. ‘What does the N stand for?’
‘Nizhoni,’ she said. ‘But my first name’s a bit of a mouthful, so people tend to call me Joni for short.’
‘It’s an unusual name,’ he remarked. Not one he’d ever heard before.
She nodded. ‘It’s a bit exotic.’
‘I guess it goes with your speciality. Also exotic,’ he said. ‘And now I’m going to shut up before I dig myself another hole.’
‘I can’t argue with that. And thank you. For not—well—making a big deal out of it.’ She rewarded him with a real smile. One that made those gorgeous dark eyes light up—and that, in turn, made his blood tingle. Which was a seriously bad idea. He couldn’t afford to let himself get emotionally involved with Joni Parker, no matter how attractive he found her. He’d learned at a young age that keeping his distance was the safe way. The way not to get hurt. Loving someone just led to loss and heartbreak. Keeping your distance was the only way to survive with your heart intact.
‘I guess we both acted out of character,’ he said. ‘And now we’re colleagues. Making a big deal out of what happened is going to make work awkward.’
‘Which is the last thing you need, especially in a new job.’
‘Exactly. And I’m sure you could do without it, too. So today’s the first time we met, OK?’
‘OK,’ she agreed.
‘I think the only difference between here and Manchester,’ he said, ‘is that everyone’s more formal here. I’m used to working on first-name terms with my colleagues.’
‘We do here, too,’ she said. ‘Except for Mr Flinders—he’s a bit of a stickler for formality.’
‘So it’s first-name terms most of the time, and formal around the head of department?’ Aaron asked.
‘Pretty much,’ she said. ‘Nancy’s lovely—she’s the senior sister. Most of the team’s been here longer than I have, but we’ve got a couple of others just started—there’s Mikey, our F1 doctor, who’s not sure if he wants to do tropical medicine or emergency for his specialty, so he’s doing a six-month rotation with us to help him make his mind up, and two newly qualified nurses.’ She filled him in on the rest of the team. ‘Actually, we’re a fairly close bunch. We try to get a team night out at least once a month. We take turns in organising it, and there’s a bit of a competition about who can find the most unusual thing to do.’ She gave him the most mischievous grin. ‘I win, at the moment.’
‘What did you do?’ he asked, intrigued.
‘Pizza night,’ she said.
‘And that’s unusual how exactly?’ he asked, not understanding in the slightest. There was practically a pizzeria on every street.
Her grin broadened. ‘It’s unusual if you have to walk through a rainstorm without getting wet first.’
He looked at her, understanding even less. ‘How does that work? You’re telling me you can predict the weather?’
She took pity on him. ‘No, it was an art installation. It’s finished now, or I’d suggest you go, because it was utterly brilliant and I went four times. Basically there were sensors that picked up your movements and stopped the “rain” falling on you. Though that depended on how you moved and how quickly you moved.’
‘That sounds like fun,’ he said.
‘It was. We were like a bunch of kids, trying to get the sensors to rain on us. We tried hopping through the room, waltzing, moonwalking, doing the samba …’ She laughed, and again Aaron felt his blood heat. Hell. Get with the programme, he reminded his head. She’s off limits.
‘We’ve done ice-skating, had a tango lesson—oh, and there’s always food afterwards, whether it’s fish and chips or pizza or a curry. And then there’s the quarterly quiz night with the emergency department. The losing team keeps the winners in chocolate biscuits for a week. I hope you’re good at general knowledge, because we lost the last three.’ She gave him another of those mischievous grins that made him want to pull her into his arms and kiss her. ‘We could really do with a win this time, just to stop them gloating quite so much.’
‘I’m reasonable at general knowledge, but don’t bet the biscuits on me,’ he said, returning the grin. ‘It’s nice that you’re close to other departments.’
‘We are.’ She sighed. ‘But the new hospital director doesn’t quite see it like that. He’s sending a group of us on a team-building exercise in a couple of weeks, to one of those outdoor course places.’
‘It sounds as if you don’t approve,’ he remarked.
‘I think we do a good enough job on our own. If we really need expert help in building a relationship with our colleagues in other departments, that’d make us a pretty sad bunch. And if we really have to have the experts in, then I’d rather get someone to come in for a morning to do a team-building thing in one of the hospital meeting rooms, and spend the rest of the money on the patients, rather than spend all that cash sending teams of staff out to some expensive place.’ She shrugged. ‘But it’s not my call and I guess we have to do what the hospital director says.’
‘I guess,’ he said. ‘Can I buy you a coffee?’
She looked wary. ‘Why?’
‘Just to say thank you for showing me around and telling me pretty much everything I need to know about how the department works,’ he added swiftly.
She smiled, looking relieved; Joni Parker really was an open book, Aaron thought. What you saw was exactly what you got. Clearly she wasn’t used to hiding her emotions, the way he was.
‘You really don’t have to—I’m always happy to show people round—but thank you, a coffee would be lovely. Cappuccino, please, but no chocolate on the top.’
Yeah. He remembered. And he was glad of the excuse to leave their table before he did something reckless. Like asking her out to dinner. Because that would be a really stupid thing to do. They were colleagues. They didn’t need complications like being attracted to each other. Even if she was the most gorgeous woman he’d ever met. He needed to resist these wild, utterly ridiculous urges.
He had to hide a grimace when he brought their coffee back to their table and took a sip of his espresso. And for once he clearly wasn’t that successful in hiding his thoughts because she said, ‘You hate it, don’t you?’
‘I’m a bit of a coffee geek,’ he said. ‘So I’m not answering that one.’
She smiled. ‘In that case, I should warn you that the stuff in the ward kitchen is instant, and it’s not that posh barista-style instant coffee either. It’s whatever happens to be on special offer in the supermarket when Nancy takes the kitty and tops us up on tea and coffee. And the tea’s usually worse than the coffee.’
‘Warning heeded,’ he said.
‘So how did you get to be a coffee geek?’
It was a personal question, but not an emotional one, so he didn’t mind answering. ‘I worked as a barista while I was a student. And it was at an indie coffee house, not a chain. My boss was a super-geek—the coffee equivalent of a wine buff. I learned a lot from him.’
