They were supposed to be continents apart. What on earth was he doing in Australia? She knew he’d spent five years working for Doctors Without Borders. He was still friends with a lot of the people they’d trained with. And even though she’d pretended not to, she’d spent the last five years searching mutual social media sites with her heart in her mouth, hoping she wouldn’t ever hear bad news about him. That was the trouble with working in humanitarian missions—sometimes they took you into places with armed conflict.
Trouble was, five minutes in Nathan’s company could make her mad. No one else in her life had ever managed to spark that kind of reaction from her. But there was just something about Nathan and her alone in a room together. Sparks always flew. Sometimes good. Sometimes bad.
It was clear he still hadn’t forgiven her for leaving. She couldn’t blame him. But if she’d told him why she was really leaving he would have put his life—and Charlie’s—on hold for her. She hadn’t wanted that—she couldn’t do that to them. They’d just lost their parents; they’d needed to focus on each other.
And if she told him now why she’d left, she would be betraying Darius’s trust. Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
She stared out at the perfect blue Coral Sea. It was no wonder they’d picked one of the Whitsunday islands for this show. At any other time, with any other person, this would be perfect.
Too bad Nathan Banks was here to spoil it for her.
‘EXACTLY HOW LONG will this take?’ The director was scowling at them both.
Nathan shrugged. He couldn’t care less about the man’s bad attitude. ‘It’ll take as long as it takes. We need to see every participant and have a quick chat about their medical history—then we’ll be able to tell you if anyone is unsuitable for the challenge tomorrow.’
The director stomped out of the door, closing it with an exasperated bang.
Nathan smiled at Rachel. ‘Now, where were we?’
Rachel lifted the printed list. ‘Okay, we have nine celebrities and one backup that we’ll need to assess if he arrives.’ She frowned. ‘This doesn’t seem right. Aren’t they all supposed to be filmed jumping from a plane and rowing or snorkelling their way here? What are they doing already on the island?’
Nathan shrugged. ‘The magic of television. They arrived yesterday when I did. They plan to do the filming later on today, pretending they’ve just set foot on the island. But they haven’t seen the camp yet. They spent last night in one of the cabins and you want to have heard the list of complaints.’
She shook her head as she looked over the list. ‘More fool me. I had no idea they faked their arrival. Want to take a bet on how quickly one will bail?’
He held out his fist. Old habits died hard. He and Rachel used to do this all the time. She blinked as if she were having a little flash of memory, then held out her fist, bumping it against his. ‘Six days.’
He shook his head. ‘Oh, way too ambitious. Four days.’
She frowned. ‘Really? But they’re doing it for charity. Surely someone wouldn’t give up that easy?’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘You really think these people are doing it all just for charity?’
‘Of course.’ She looked confused and Nathan sighed and picked up the list.
‘Let’s see. Darius Cornell—actor—let’s leave him for now. Diamond Dazzle—model—she’s looking for a lingerie contract. Frank Cairns—sportsman—he’s looking for a presenter’s job somewhere. Molly Bates—comedienne—she needs the publicity for her upcoming tour. Tallie Turner—actress—she just needs a job. Pauline Wilding—politician—always likes to be in the papers. Fox—boy band pop star—he’s hoping some teenagers remember his crazy name. Billy X—rapper—with his past history he’s probably about to be arrested for something, and Rainbow Blossom—reality TV star. She probably doesn’t want to fade from the spotlight. Are any of these people actually celebrities? Do any of them have a real name?’
He saw Rachel’s lips press together and waited for her to immediately go on the offensive for her apparent ex. But she surprised him. She didn’t.
‘I didn’t realise you were such a cynic.’
‘I guess we really didn’t know each other at all, did we?’ he shot back.
The words hung in the air between them. He sounded bitter. And he was. But even he was surprised by how quickly the words had come out. They’d never had this conversation before. She’d just told him she was leaving and hotfooted it out of the hospital as if she were being chased by a bunch of killer zombies.
Five years of missions for Doctors Without Borders had loosened his tongue. He’d dealt with armed conflict, natural disasters and epidemics. He was less willing to placate and tolerate. Life was too short—he knew that now. He and his brother had lost their parents to an accident eight years ago, and he’d lost too many patients all over the world.
She flopped down into the chair next to him, letting her floral scent drift under his nose. That was new. Rachel didn’t smell like that before. She’d always worn something lighter. This was stronger, more sultry, more like something a woman eight years on would wear. Why would he expect anything to stay the same?
‘Actually, you’re right,’ she muttered, going back to the original conversation and completely ignoring his barb. ‘Darius is probably the most well-known of them all. Five of them I don’t recognise and three I’ve never even heard of.’
It was almost a relief that finally they could agree on something.
‘How do you want to do this?’ She pointed to the pile of notes. ‘Do you want to go over each patient individually or do you just want to split them up?’
Splitting the pile would be easier and quicker. But Nathan wasn’t about to let her off so easy. He needed to have another doctor he could rely on. Rachel had been a good doctor eight years ago—but he’d no idea how she was now. ‘Let’s do them together. That way, if either of us is on call we’re familiar with all the patients. There’s only nine—this won’t take too long.’
He picked up the nearest set of notes and started flicking. ‘Diamond Dazzle—real name Mandy Brooks. She’s had liposuction, two breast enlargements, one skin biopsy, one irregular smear test and lots of Botox. She apparently had her lips done a week ago—so we’ll need to keep an eye on her for any signs of infection.’
Rachel shook her head. ‘Why would an already beautiful twenty-two-year-old think she needs all this?’
Nathan put the file back on the desk. ‘Beats me.’ He folded his arms across his chest. ‘Do you think this makes her ineligible for the challenge? Having spiders or rats crawl over her body—and probably face too—will make her more vulnerable to infection.’
‘I think just being in the jungle alone makes her at higher risk. Who would do that? Know that they’re coming somewhere like this and go for a procedure less than a week before?’
Nathan smiled. He knew exactly where she was coming from but he also knew the answer. ‘Someone who wants to be on TV.’
Rachel shook her head. Some of her hair was coming loose and the curls were starting to stray around her face. It was odd. She hadn’t aged as much as he had. There were a few tiny lines around her eyes and her body had filled out a little. But nothing else. She was every bit as beautiful as he remembered.
His face and skin had been weathered by five years of on and off postings in countries around the world. The last had been the worst. The sand felt as if it would never wash off and the darkening of his skin—coupled