‘Oh, really.’
‘Just ask my mum.’
‘Oh, I’m sure to get an unbiased opinion there,’ she said sarcastically.
‘Hmm, you’re right,’ he mused thoughtfully, stealing a carrot stick from Claire’s lunchbox. ‘On second thoughts, ask my sisters. They have absolutely no illusions about me and they still think I’m irresistible.’
Campbell grinned again and stole a cherry tomato this time.
‘Hey,’ she protested feebly, growing weaker at the intimacy of him helping himself to her lunch.
‘I’m starving,’ he cajoled, and closed his eyes and sighed rapturously as he bit into the ripe, red flesh. ‘Hmm. This tomato is delicious. So flavoursome.’
‘My father grows them,’ she said, distracted by his moan of enjoyment and the slow trickle of juice leaving the corner of his mouth.
Campbell opened his eyes and caught Claire staring. She was watching his chin where he could feel some juice trekking slowly downwards. Her stare was so intense and hungry he couldn’t have been more surprised if she’d reached over and unzipped his fly. In fact, she might as well have, from the way his body was reacting.
‘Claire, if you’re trying to convince me that you don’t want me, staring at me like that isn’t the way to go about it.’
His words registered on a superficial level only. They didn’t penetrate her intense concentration. She knew she shouldn’t be looking but the juice drew her gaze like a moth to flame.
‘Claire,’ he whispered hoarsely.
It was a ragged, desperate sound that succeeded where his words hadn’t. She gasped slightly, dragging her eyes away, shocked at her behaviour. It was practically X-rated. Her hand trembled as she passed him a paper napkin and tried to deny how bereft she felt that he was the one wiping the errant juice away and not her.
Oh, God, get a grip. What was the matter with her? Why did this man get to her so much?
‘Is it because of him?’
‘Him who?’ she asked, wary again.
‘The man you dated years ago who broke your heart. Or so the story goes.’
‘Been snooping, Campbell?’
‘No, not at all. It’s amazing the stuff people will tell you.’
‘Mind your own business,’ she snapped, rising to wash her dishes at the sink.
‘Oh, come on, Claire,’ he persisted. ‘If I’m paying the price for his sins, surely I deserve to know why.’
‘Campbell!’ She let her exasperation show.
‘OK. I’ll leave you be if you tell me.’
‘Yeah, right.’
‘I promise. Cross my heart.’
She turned to assess the honesty of his statement. He looked sincere and … it was way too good a deal to pass up. His relentless pursuit was annoying. Really, it was. And pointless. And as difficult as she found even breathing when he was near, she couldn’t be with him. They had no future.
‘All right.’ Her shoulders sagged and she came back and sat at the table. ‘We were young. No, correction, I was young. A third-year student nurse. Shane was a resident. We were in love, or at least … I was in love with him. He said he wanted to marry me and then some … stuff happened to do with my family and he … he dumped me.’
Campbell sat in silence as she laid out the bones of something that had obviously been such a big part of her life. Her complete lack of emotion as she gave just the facts spoke volumes about her hurt.
‘How old were you?’
‘Twenty.’
Campbell covered her hands with his. ‘What stuff?’
‘It doesn’t matter now,’ she said quietly, and removed her hands. She wasn’t going to tell a virtual stranger things that even now were too painful to think about.
‘Shane was a fool.’ Campbell’s voice held an edge of contempt.
She met his gaze and read the compassion in his emerald depths. Easy to say when he didn’t know the half of it.
‘No. It hurt for a long time but I think I’d have done the same thing if our situations had been reversed.’
It had been a traumatic chapter in her life. Her mother being diagnosed with Huntington’s disease had been a gut-wrenching time. Not to mention the real possibility that the disease could have been inherited by herself. The last thing she had needed had been her finance deserting her in her hour of need. But he had.
It’d taken the better part of a year to get over Shane’s betrayal. But with the passing of time, Claire had been able to see his side. It had been a tough call for someone in their prime, like Shane, to confront the possibility of his fiancée falling prey to a debilitating genetic illness. The hurt had dissipated but the determination not to make the same mistake with someone else lingered.
‘I don’t care what it was. If he’d really loved you, he’d have stayed.’
Claire shook her head sadly. Some things were too big, too awful to deal with. She knew that too well. ‘You, Dr Deane,’ she said, injecting a light teasing quality into her voice, ‘are a romantic.’
‘Guilty as charged,’ he grinned. ‘So, how about tonight?’
‘Campbell! You promised.’
‘Sorry, I lied. I had my fingers crossed behind my back.’
‘You tricked me.’ She glowered and marched back to the sink.
‘You can’t give up on men because of one stupid guy. I won’t let you. It’s not fair to compare me to him. Give me a chance, I’ll prove to you that we’re not all the same.’
‘Campbell,’ she sighed, turning to face him, ‘it’s not just about Shane. There are other reasons …’ Big reasons. ‘He just helped to put everything into perspective.’
‘I’m never going to give up, Claire. You may as well surrender now.’
‘I’ve been pursued by some determined men, Campbell. I’ve never surrendered.’
‘Honey, trust me. I bring new meaning to determined.’
‘Well, bring it on, honey. But be prepared to lose.’
The instant her challenge was out Claire wished she could retract it. Damn him. Damn him for goading her into throwing down the gauntlet.
Campbell grinned. He felt an energy zinging through his body and revelled in how good and alive it made him feel. She made him feel. His pager beeped and he checked the message. ‘Labour Ward. One of my ladies is in. I asked them to page me when she was ready to deliver.’
He walked slowly towards her as he talked, stopping a hand’s length away. His gaze captured hers for a long moment.
‘I’ll be seeing you,’ he said quietly, and walked away.
* * *
As it turned out, Claire reluctantly made her way to his office a few hours later with a document that required his signature urgently so she could send it off with the last courier run. Martin had been on the phone to her, harassing her about how important it was to have the document on the Minister’s desk by close of business.
Internal mail would have been way too slow and the document too urgent and sensitive to trust to this not always reliable service.
Although Claire had resigned herself