And then she’d vanished. He’d looked for her immediately after the next dance, but she’d gone.
And then, when she’d faced him on the ward…
He took a swig of coffee. Leave her alone. That would be the sensible thing to do. Anything else would be breaking all his rules, professional and private.
Except…he couldn’t.
‘Down, boy,’ he said softly to his libido.
It didn’t take the slightest bit of notice.
Lucy somehow managed to avoid Nic for the rest of her shift. Usually she stayed later than she needed to, because the team on River was overstretched and she didn’t mind giving up her free time. She loved her job. But today she needed to get as far away from Nic Alberici as she could. Until she’d managed to get her hormones under control and could treat him with detached professionalism.
The next day, she thought she’d managed it.
Until Nic walked into the side-room where she was talking to Liza Andrews.
‘Mr Alberici.’ Liza was beaming. ‘Thanks so much for what you did for us yesterday—you and Dr Williams. You saved our lives.’
‘Pleasure,’ Nic said. ‘How are you both today?’
‘Tired, but fine. Lucy sleeps all the time.’
Nic cast a quizzical look at his senior reg.
‘This Lucy,’ Lucy explained, still holding the sleeping baby.
‘We called her after you both—Lucy Nicola,’ Liza told him.
‘Thank you. It’s an honour,’ he said quietly. He stroked the baby’s cheek. ‘She’s beautiful.’
‘And Rosemary says the white stuff on her skin—vernix—will wash off in a couple of days.’
‘When they’re overdue it goes the other way—they’re like little, wrinkled old men with very dry skin and you go through tons of moisturiser,’ Nic said.
To Lucy’s horror, he actually sat down on the arm of the chair she was using. Not quite close enough to touch—but close enough for her to feel his body heat. Why couldn’t he have sat in the chair on the other side of the bed? Why did he have to invade her space like this?
‘My turn for a cuddle,’ he said, holding his arms out.
For one heart-stopping moment, she thought he meant a cuddle with her. But, of course, he meant baby Lucy.
‘You’re worse than the midwives—want to keep the babies all to yourselves,’ he teased.
‘I’d better get on anyway,’ she said, gently transferring her tiny bundle into his arms and making sure that the baby’s head was supported.
You’re avoiding me, his eyes accused.
Tough, hers said back. ‘Bye, Liza. Catch you later, Nic,’ she said a lot more casually than she felt, and left the little room. Why did he have to look so—so sexy, holding baby Lucy?
‘Get a grip,’ she warned herself, and went to check the file of her next patient.
But her avoidance strategy didn’t last long. She’d seen two more patients when Mal met her in the corridor. ‘Boss wants a word with you,’ he said.
‘What about?’
‘Dunno. He did say as soon as you could manage it.’ He gave her a wicked grin. ‘What have you been up to, Luce?’
‘Working, Malcolm,’ she said, clearly a shade too defensively because his grin broadened.
‘I’ll believe you, Luce.’
Lucy decided not to dignify him with a reply and went down the corridor to Nic’s office. She rapped on the door.
‘Come in.’
She put her head round the door. ‘You wanted a word?’
He nodded. ‘Come in and close the door, please.’
Her heart sank. What was she supposed to have done now?
He waited for her to sit down, and the knot in her stomach tightened. She hadn’t done anything wrong. So why did she feel as if she were about to be carpeted for some stupid mistake? The tension in the room grew until she wanted to scream.
And then he smiled at her. ‘I wanted to apologise,’ he said, ‘for embarrassing you at the ball the other night.’
She stared at him in disbelief. He was apologising?
‘If you want to slap my face, feel free—any time,’ he said, shocking her further. Did this mean that kiss hadn’t been a set-up? But, given what she now knew about him, thanks to an old friend she’d trained with, he could be teasing her again.
There was only one way to find out. ‘Why did you do it?’
‘Kiss you?’ He gave her a wry smile. ‘Why do you think?’
‘You always have to rise to a challenge.’ The words were out before she could stop them.
‘Something like that.’
So it had been a set-up. She lifted her chin. ‘Then you’re very easily manipulated. And you’ll find certain junior staff more than willing to take advantage of that.’
He frowned. ‘I’m not with you.’
‘If someone dares you to do something, you’ll just do it?’ She rolled her eyes.
‘Dares me to do what?’
It was her turn to frown. Weren’t they talking about the same thing? ‘You were dared to kiss me at the ball.’
Lucy thought someone had set him up him to kiss her? Nic just about managed to stop his jaw dropping. She really had that low an opinion of herself? But why? Didn’t she know how gorgeous she was? ‘Lucy…it wasn’t like that,’ he said carefully.
‘Wasn’t it?’
‘No.’
‘So why did you kiss me, then?’
‘Because I wanted to.’ He tipped his head on one side. ‘Why do you think I was dared to do it?’
‘Because…’
The words clearly stuck in her throat. Though he could guess what she was going to say. His brief getting-to-know-the-team conversation with Rosemary had told him an awful lot more than the senior midwife realised. Especially about Lucy. Which meant he had to handle this carefully.
‘You looked as if you wanted to be a thousand miles away,’ he said. ‘I wanted to…’ He lapsed into Italian.
‘Sorry. Latin, yes, as long as it’s medical—Italian, no,’ Lucy said.
He smiled wryly. ‘I said I wanted make you smile. It was all meant to be a bit of fun. Theatrical.’
‘It was that all right,’ she said drily.
Until their mouths had actually touched. Then it had become a whole new ballgame. A much, much more serious thing. He couldn’t help looking at her mouth now. Big mistake. It reminded him how she’d tasted. And he wanted to do it again. And again. Somewhere they wouldn’t be disturbed.
Here, a little voice said inside his head. Here and now. Your office door is closed…
He should be detached and professional. He was her colleague—a colleague who’d taken the job she’d been doing