Or kissing, perhaps...?
Maybe it was just as well she’d be safely confined to the hospital during working hours and not floating around remote islands with a good-looking young helicopter pilot. Romantic liaisons with FIFO staff happened—of course they did—and Jack was not shy about enjoying the opportunities, but for Sam it was a no-no. He’d always kept any such casual hook-ups to the times when he was on a break a long way away from here. This was his home and, as such, it was too important to mess with by indulging in something that he’d seen lead to long-lasting negative fallouts in others.
He didn’t need the clipboard he was holding to remind him that this was work time. Supplies were being unloaded from the small plane that was their regular link with the mainland of Australia and, amongst them would be the important medical packs containing drugs and all the other items Sam had ordered. They’d run low on dressings and suture packs after an unusually high number of minor trauma incidents in the past couple of weeks.
‘Let’s check that everything we ordered has come in,’ he said to Jack. ‘We don’t want to hold up the pilot in this weather.’
The wind had picked up even as they walked towards the plane.
‘G’day, mate.’ Sam extended a hand towards the male newcomer. ‘I’m Sam Taylor—one of the permanent doctors at the hospital here.’
‘Good to meet you. I’m Matt.’
‘Welcome to Wildfire Island. Is this your first FIFO experience?’
‘Sure is.’ Matt’s smile was rueful. ‘Might be the last, too, after that flight.’
‘Oh, come on, Matt.’ The girl was now restraining her hair with both hands to keep it from covering her face. ‘It was fun.’
Her grin suggested that a bumpy ride had been a bonus and Sam couldn’t help grinning back. A young woman who was gutsy as well as gorgeous? What man wouldn’t appreciate that combination of attributes?
‘I’m Lia Roselli.’ She had to let go of her hair with one hand as she extended it to shake Sam’s. The wind snatched the tumble of dark curls and plastered it across her face and she was laughing as she scraped it free.
The sound was as attractive as the rest of her. No wonder Jack was grinning like an idiot. It was only then that he realised that his own mouth was still widely stretched. It was an effort, in fact, to pull his lips back into line.
‘I’ve got a hair tie somewhere.’ Lia delved into the soft leather shoulder bag she was carrying. ‘Sorry, I should have tried to arrive looking a bit more professional, shouldn’t have I?’
‘You weren’t to know there’s a cyclone brewing.’ Jack turned to her after shaking Matt’s hand. ‘I’m Jack Richards.’
‘Oh...you’re my pilot.’ The search for the hair tie was abandoned as Lia took his hand. ‘Awesome. I’m looking forward to working with you.’
‘You’re the paramedic?’
Sam didn’t mean to sound so astonished. He deserved the look he got from both the newcomers. Even Jack’s eyebrows shot up. In just a few words he’d managed to make it sound like he not only had a prejudice against male nurses but that he didn’t think females were up to the kind of dangerous work that helicopter paramedicine could throw at them. He didn’t think either of those things. If he was really honest, the tone had probably come from disappointment more than surprise, and what was that about? Even the nurses tucked safely away in the hospital were not immune to Jack’s charm, so what chance did Lia have?
Good grief... Was that oddly unsettling flash something other than disappointment? Jealousy, even?
‘Sam didn’t get the memo.’ Jack was trying to rescue him. ‘And, I have to admit, it’s the first time we’ve had a female paramedic as a FIFO.’
‘First time for a male nurse, too?’ Matt was smiling. ‘Good thing we’ve come, then, isn’t it, Lia? Time the glass ceilings were broken around here.’
They all laughed, which broke the awkwardness. The distraction of having to check the delivered supplies off against the order form took a few more minutes and by the time the FIFOs’ luggage was brought out from the back of the compartment, Sam was ready to make amends for his faux pas.
‘It is a good thing,’ he told Matt as the new nurse retrieved his backpack. ‘We’re trying to encourage more islanders to train as nurses and you’ll be a role model that might open a few eyes. How would you feel about dropping into the high school over on Atangi and giving a bit of a career talk?’
‘I’m up for anything,’ Matt said. ‘I love my job and I’d be only too happy to encourage the lads.’
‘Hey...I love my job, too.’ Lia was beaming at Sam. ‘Maybe I could come and inspire the girls?’
Jack was grinning again. ‘You up for anything, too, huh?’
The flirting was unmistakeable. The flick of the long braid Lia now had her hair confined to was also an obvious message. And she could deal with more than the weather.
‘Anything professional.’ Her tone was a warning. Romance had been the last thing on her mind when she’d decided to take this job. It was the last thing on her mind any time these days, thanks to the time and emotional energy her family required. And even if she had been interested in meeting someone, it wouldn’t be Jack. She’d met his type too many times before. Dated them. Been dumped and hurt when they moved on—as they always did if it looked like the girl was getting serious.
Had she been too abrupt? Lia softened her tone. ‘I’m up for the new experience and if I like it I’ll come back next time. Sounds like the guy I’m replacing got a nasty leg fracture and won’t be back for a while.’
‘I told him paragliding was a dodgy hobby.’ Jack reached out as if he was going to offer to carry Lia’s pack but then changed his mind and adjusted his sunglasses instead.
Sam hid a smile. So Lia could look after herself.
‘Not that he wasn’t good at it.’ Jack seemed to be scanning the clouds now. ‘Just got unlucky, I guess.’
‘Lucky for me...’ Lia hoisted her backpack as if it weighed nothing. ‘Especially the timing. Who knew they paid so much more for coming here in the cyclone season?’
Sam’s inner smile vanished without a trace. The disconcerted look on Lia’s face made him realise that something of what he was feeling must be showing but he didn’t care. He had better reason than most not to care about someone to whom money was all-important, hadn’t he? He turned away.
‘Let’s go,’ he told Matt. ‘I’ll show you your accommodation and then give you a tour of the hospital.’
* * *
What had just happened there?
Lia had her backpack settled onto her shoulders and she was ready to go. Didn’t she have accommodation to see? Wouldn’t a tour of at least the emergency department of the hospital be appropriate for someone who could be delivering seriously unwell people to a place that might be short on staff experienced in dealing with resuscitation?
Maybe it had something to do with that very unsubtle attempt at flirting that had come from Jack. Of course she’d knocked him back. She was about to spend two weeks working with the man and the only relationship she wanted was a professional one, hopefully based on mutual respect and trust.
And what about that reaction to Matt being the nurse?
Lia’s high spirits dimmed a little. Was it expected to be part of the deal? Did FIFOs get paid so well because it was assumed they would provide a bonus service to men working in isolated places?
They probably did when they were working with Sam Taylor—if he was single, that was, which seemed unlikely. How many men who were that good-looking were still