She shook her head, trying to clear it. She had other things to think about than a perfect stranger. It was time to go to work. She searched through her bag for an elastic band to tie up her hair. The air was muggy, heavy with moisture, and having her hair hanging halfway down her back was making her feel hotter. She gathered her dark hair into a ponytail that hung in a thick rope between her shoulder blades, picked up her bag and headed for the air-conditioned comfort of the corrugated-iron and weatherboard building.
She walked past the helicopter that was the latest addition to the QMERT fleet. The night crew was obviously back at base and she wondered what kind of shift they’d had. She hummed show tunes as she crossed the tarmac, pushed open the door to the base and headed for the communications centre. Comms was always her first port of call as she always wanted to check what was happening.
‘Morning, Lou, what have I missed?’ she greeted the dispatch officer who was stationed at her desk.
‘Nothing much,’ was the answer. ‘The boys have just got back from an IHT,’ Louise went on, using the abbreviation for an inter-hospital transfer, ‘but other than that it was pretty quiet overnight.’
Georgie pulled a face, her dark eyes flashing with good humour. She loved the pace and hype of busy days. Flying off in the helicopter to save lives was a huge buzz and while quiet days were good because they meant no one was getting injured, busy days meant the chance to put her skills to use.
‘It’s not all bad,’ Louise added. She knew how Georgie felt about quiet days—everyone on the team felt the same. ‘The new doctor starts officially today. Showing him the ropes should keep you out of trouble.’
‘That’s Josh Wetherly, right? The emergency specialist from Brisbane?’ Georgie recalled some details from the bio that had been circulating about him.
Louise nodded. ‘His experience looks pretty good on paper but, trust me, he looks even better in real life. I reckon you’ll be more than happy to show him around the chopper and maybe even around Cairns.’
Georgie rolled her eyes. She was used to Louise trying to find her a man. Louise and her husband had been married for twenty-five years and she thought everyone deserved the same happiness. Georgie didn’t disagree. Her parents were also a fine example of a happy marriage, but she didn’t want to be reminded that at twenty-seven years of age people were starting to expect her to settle down. There were still things she wanted to do before she settled down to domestic life and she certainly didn’t need another mother figure trying to find her a husband. Her own mother was perfectly capable of that! Besides, at fifty and almost twice her age, Louise’s idea of a hot man was not quite the same as Georgie’s. It took more than good manners and a nice head of hair to get her attention.
One of the reasons Georgie had moved to Cairns had been to get away from the pressure her family had been putting on her to find a partner but so far her plan wasn’t working too well. Her family continued to show a tendency to send eligible bachelors her way and she’d lost count of the number of blind dates she’d been obliged to go on. She didn’t need Lou on her case as well. She needed a project, something to occupy her time so she could legitimately say she was too busy to date. Showing Dr Wetherly around Cairns wasn’t her idea of a suitable project. She’d have to find something else.
The phone on Louise’s desk rang before Georgie could think of a smart retort. She waited for Lou to take the call, knowing it would probably mean a job for the team.
Lou jotted notes as she spoke to the clinical co-ordinator in Brisbane, nearly fourteen hundred kilometres south of their Cairns base. The information the retrieval team received was almost always third hand: the emergency call would be put through to headquarters in Brisbane and, depending on the location of the emergency, the Brisbane co-ordinator would pass the call on to the dispatch clerk in Brisbane, Townsville, Toowoomba or Cairns. They would then pass the information on to the retrieval team. QMERT was responsible for an area extending in a radius a few hundred kilometres around Cairns, including the waters and islands in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Australia. The Royal Flying Doctor Service took over to the north up to Cape York and further inland into the Outback, while QMERT Townsville covered the area to the south.
Louise hung up the phone and relayed the scant information she had to Georgie. ‘A four-month-old baby in respiratory distress. She’s in Tully hospital, they’ve requested an IHT. I’ll find Pat—’
‘And I’ll get changed and track down Dr Wetherly.’ Georgie finished Lou’s sentence. She knew she had time. Pat, the helicopter pilot on duty, would need to get details about the flight and landing, do his pre-flight checks and refuel if necessary. She only needed a few minutes to get changed and find the new doctor. A job this early in the morning wasn’t going to be an ideal introduction for the new recruit on his first day but there was no way around it. She just hoped he was up to the challenge.
She headed for the change rooms to stow her bag and change into the navy and grey jumpsuit that was the retrieval team’s uniform. As she pushed open the door and stepped around the privacy wall that screened the room from the corridor she was greeted by the sight of semi-naked men. The QMERT building was not overly large and the change rooms were unisex. There was a central changing area divided by lockers with male and female showers and toilets off to each side, which afforded a little privacy but not a lot.
The night-shift team was changing to go home. Sean, the duty doctor, was towelling his hair after his shower; she recognised his stocky build even though his face was hidden under a towel. And Marty, an intensive care paramedic like herself, was already dressed and was pulling his motorbike helmet from a locker.
‘Morning, guys,’ she said in greeting.
As Marty stepped away from his locker Georgie could see a third man at the end of the room. He was stripped to the waist, his jumpsuit top hanging on his hips. His back was tanned and smooth, muscular and strangely familiar. She could see two dimples at the base of his spine, just above his waistband, teasing her in a repeat performance. Georgie felt her heart rate increase. It couldn’t be, could it?
He was turning around now at the sound of her voice and his abdominals rippled down his side. Did she dare move her gaze higher?
She lifted her eyes. Abdominals and then pectoral muscles came into view followed by full lips that were smiling, and above those a narrow, perfectly straight nose and grey eyes. Gunship grey.
Her eyes widened. Standing in front of her, semi-naked, was the cute doctor from yesterday. All that was missing were the Australian flag board shorts.
He was the new doctor?
She could feel her heart beating in her chest and she imagined everyone else could hear it too in the quiet of the room.
‘You’re Dr Wetherly?’ She broke the silence but didn’t apologise for bursting in on him while he was changing. Anyone who was at all self-conscious needed to learn to change in the bathrooms. Besides, she’d been treated to the same spectacular view yesterday and looking at this man’s semi-naked body she couldn’t think of a single reason why he might need to hide away. She swallowed hard, forcing herself to continue speaking. ‘I’m Georgie Carides.’ She took a deep breath and tried to relax.
‘Please, my name’s Josh,’ he said as he extended his hand and stepped forward to meet her halfway. He was several inches taller than she was and as he closed the distance between them her gaze fell on his bare chest. Again. It took all her self-control to force her gaze up to his face. But even that was no great hardship. His grey eyes were watching her with amusement and she realised he was still holding his hand out, waiting to shake hers, while she stood there, staring at him. She couldn’t believe he was the new doctor.
Quickly she clasped his hand, unprepared for the