She pivoted back to face him, her balance tested. ‘How can you be so sure? I can’t just leave for a year and expect to return to the same position.’
‘What if you could?’ His jade eyes usually so full of flirtatious fun, suddenly became serious.
A ripple of apprehension skated through her. Linton Gregory didn’t do ‘serious’all that often. ‘The chief wouldn’t be happy. He’s already sent Doug Johnston to Muttawindi and now with Kate and Baden married I imagine maternity leave will loom pretty quickly. So me leaving would send the chief into a hypertensive fit.’
She jumped down off the rail, needing to put some more distance between them. ‘Besides, this is all hypothetical because we can’t even ask him until he gets back from the annual conference. You need help now. An agency from Adelaide or Sydney could supply you with an experienced nurse tomorrow.’
‘Oh, come on. Now you’re living in fantasyland.’ Grumpiness and fatigue rode on the words. ‘The Flying Doctors attract staff because of the history of the organisation, the planes and a sense of adventure.’ He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. ‘But Warragurra Base is a little more prosaic.’
She chased a tuft of wool with the point of her boot. ‘But it attracted you. You came up from Sydney.’
‘I did, but it’s part of my career plan. I’m not staying for ever. One more year and I’ll be back in the big smoke, sailing on the harbour.’
An irrational jolt of pain shot through her. It was crazy, especially when she knew he didn’t really belong in Warragurra.
He jumped down from the rail and walked toward her, his gait relaxed. ‘But this conversation’s not about me, it’s about you. I’ve spoken to the chief and he sends his regards.’
Her head shot up, taking in the high cheekbones, the smiling lines around his eyes and his cat-that-ate-the-cream grin. Apprehension exploded into full-blown panic. She’d forgotten that Linton thrived on getting his own way.
He leaned one arm against a beam. ‘The chief agrees with me that a year in A and E will be a fabulous way to use your health promotion skills and it will hone your emergency skills.’
Her stomach clenched as her tenuous grip on control disappeared from under her. Anger spluttered to life. ‘My emergency skills don’t need honing.’
‘True, but A and E is a different level. The chief thinks you will bring back more than they will lose by letting you go for a year. When you return, you’ll return to a promotion.’
She stamped her foot as frustration swamped her. What was it about men just taking over? Her father and brothers did this to her all the time and she hated it. ‘And what if I just don’t want to work with you?’
His handsome face broke into deep creases and his chest started to heave as deep, reverberating laughter rocked him.
She summoned every angry, indignant fibre of her being and tried to pierce his self-satisfied aura with a withering look. ‘I’m glad your self-esteem is so well fortified.’
He wiped a laughter tear from his eye. ‘Oh, now, Emily, be fair. The few times we’ve worked together we’ve done exceptionally well. Hey, I even let you boss me around sometimes and I can count on half a hand the people I’ve allowed to do that.’
They did work together well. She hated it that he’d recognised that. It gave her one less argument to cement her case. She tried not to slump against the wall as she bent her leg and pressed the sole of her foot into a groove.
He causally leaned over a rail, his chin resting on his fist. ‘And then there’s your Master’s.’
Her mouth went dry. ‘What do you know about my Master’s?’
His eyes flickered for the briefest moment. ‘Don’t you remember? Last year when we had to sit out that dust storm you told me you wanted to do your Master’s in emergency nursing, but with Kate being away you’d put it on hold.’
Her blood dropped to her feet. He’d actually listened. Listened and remembered. It was completely unexpected—Nathan had never listened, it had always been all about him. She shrugged. ‘It was just a pie-in-the-sky idea.’
He clicked his tongue. ‘It shouldn’t be.’ He gave her a sly look. ‘Warragurra Base would be the perfect place for you to work while you undertook your Master’s.’
Her brain tried to keep up. Every time she had an argument he neatly countered it with almost effortless ease. But right now he was playing dirty pool. He knew she desperately wanted to do her Master’s and that as much as the chief and the Flying Doctors supported the idea in principle, with the way staffing had been lately, it hadn’t been possible.
Achieving her Master’s would mean career security, senior positions and a higher salary. And she’d need that as, unlike her friends, she wouldn’t ever be in the position of sharing income with a loving partner. Study leave hovered over her like the devil tempting her into his lair. Was this an opportunity she could really afford to pass up?
Linton pushed off the rail, walking round to lean his back against the wall so he stood next to her.
His heat slammed into her, dissolving all coherent thought. Emily breathed deeply, forcing air into her constricted lungs, in the hope her brain would soon get the much needed oxygen. Think.
She tried to fortify her resolution. Working at Warragurra Base meant working with Linton. Unrequited love from a distance had been tormenting enough. Up close and personal it would be torture. But still her words rushed out unchecked. ‘How much study leave?’
White, even teeth flashed at her. ‘What about you work a nine-day fortnight? The hospital will pay you for two days a month study leave.’
She narrowed her eyes. If she was selling out she should at least get a good deal. ‘And one week to attend the “on campus” study component?’
He arched one brown eyebrow and tapped his top lip with his forefinger. ‘As long as you can work it so the roster isn’t short.’
She hugged her arms across her tightening chest as she committed herself to a path she’d told herself she’d never take. ‘I can do that.’
He crossed his arms, his biceps straining against the soft cotton of his sleeves. ‘Then we have a deal.’
Deal. The word boomed in her head over and over like the low bass of heavy metal. What have you just done? She silenced the words. Her decision was a career move. Linton would eventually leave town and she would get over her crush. Life would go on and she would have extra qualifications. ‘A deal? I guess we do.’ Somehow she managed to squeak the words out.
He grinned and leaned sideways, nudging her with his shoulder. ‘See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?’
She looked up into a pair of emerald eyes full of satisfaction. And why not? He’d just solved his staffing problem. All was good in his world.
But she’d just taken out a loan on her soul for a chance to study. Unless she was careful, the repayments on the loan would be pieces of her heart.
Emily stared at herself in the mirror in the Warragurra Base Hospital locker room, adjusting to seeing herself in green. Gone were the navy trousers and blue shirt of the Flying Doctors uniform. In their place green scrubs hung baggily revealing nothing of the shape that lay underneath. Hiding the big breasts and the short waist.
You are so ugly. High school had been a nightmare.
University hadn’t been much better. Cover yourself up, you don’t want to put people off their dinner. Nathan’s derisive words boomed in her head. The memory of his curled lip and scornful look wormed its way back into her thoughts despite her best intentions to never let him back into her life in any shape or form.
He’d been the one to put the final