‘Logan’s looking terrible,’ Janet clucked as she locked the surgery door. ‘Four cups of coffee he’s asked for this morning. It’s a wonder his hands aren’t shaking too much to hold his stethoscope. And the same yesterday.’
‘Kirsty’s probably keeping him awake,’ Evanna mumbled, as she returned a set of notes she’d borrowed. ‘Disturbed nights.’
‘Well, you can tell from the shadows under his eyes that he’s having disturbed nights, but I don’t think Kirsty is the culprit.’ Janet checked the clinic list for the afternoon. ‘He told me only yesterday that she goes right through the night now, bless her.’
‘So what’s keeping him awake?’ Evanna delved into her bag for her keys and Janet gave a sigh.
‘I don’t know, but I was hoping you did. You’re the one he talks to, Evanna. Through all of last year when he was struggling to keep everything going, you were the only one he really talked to.’
Evanna stilled. It was true. Logan had found her easy to talk to. But since she’d stripped naked in his bathroom, he’d hardly spoken a word to her that didn’t revolve around patient care.
Which meant only one thing. Clearly he felt as awkward about the whole incident as she did, which was entirely ridiculous, she told herself as she waved goodbye to Janet and made for the door. They’d known each other all their lives. Surely they could get themselves past one embarrassing incident?
If he wasn’t going to tackle the subject then she would. She’d mention it and dismiss it as if the whole incident had been nothing more than a laugh.
Logan kept the top down on his sports car, hoping that the breeze might clear his head.
Four cups of coffee and a splash of cold water on the face had done little to revive him and he vowed to have an early night.
Then he remembered that an early night was going to make no difference whatsoever. It wasn’t going to bed that was a problem, it was sleeping when he got there. Eyes open or eyes shut, he saw Evanna. Naked. Her creamy, smooth skin still glistening and damp from the shower, her hair trailing down her back. It had been two days since he’d walked in on her but he couldn’t erase the image from his brain.
He felt himself grow hard and cursed repeatedly, jabbing the car into gear more viciously than was necessary.
He was afraid to stand up when she walked into a room in case she noticed the effect she had on him.
What was the matter with him?
Why was his reaction so extreme?
Was it just because he hadn’t had sex since Catherine’s death? And so what if it was? What could he do about it? He was hardly likely to go up to Evanna and suggest that they spent a steamy night between the sheets together, was he? What was he supposed to say? Oh, good morning, Nurse Duncan. Doug McDonald’s blood pressure has come right down on his new drug regime and, by the way, do you fancy stripping naked and sleeping with me because I can’t get your body out of my head?
Suffering from an intense bout of male frustration, Logan pulled the car to the side of the road and switched off the engine.
He sat for a long moment just staring out across the sparkling sea while he sifted through the options.
Forget the whole thing, that was the obvious option. But he’d just spent an extremely frustrating two days trying to do exactly that, and it hadn’t worked. So forgetting her wasn’t an option.
But what was the alternative?
Tell her how he felt? Ask her out?
He almost laughed as he anticipated her reaction. He’d known Evanna all her life. If he asked her out, she’d laugh and, anyway, they already spent a great deal of time together. She was in and out of his house, helping him with Kirsty and joining his extended family for meals. She was his sister’s best friend. How was he supposed to make it clear that he wanted the time they spent together to be different? How was he supposed to let her know that when he asked her to spend time with him, it wasn’t a platonic invitation.
How did you turn a deep and lasting friendship into a love affair?
The answer was that you didn’t.
If anything were going to happen between them, it would have happened years ago. When they’d been teenagers, fooling around on the beach. When she’d had sleepovers with Kyla. When they’d started working together. They’d had so much opportunity.
And if Evanna had felt anything for him at all, why would she have been so appalled that he’d seen her naked?
There was no way she could have failed to be aware of his reaction to her.
And yet she hadn’t flirted or even laughed. She’d been shocked. Embarrassed. Unable to hide herself quickly enough.
Hardly the reaction of a woman keen to alter the status of their relationship.
If he showed her how he felt and she rejected him, it would make their working situation intolerable.
Which meant that somehow he had to get his feelings under control.
Somehow he had to behave as if nothing had happened.
As if he wasn’t constantly fantasising about her body.
It was impossible to miss the irony of the situation, he thought to himself as he ran a hand over his face and breathed out heavily. Finally, he was interested in a woman again. For the first time since Catherine’s death he wanted to get out there and live, instead of just surviving from day to day. But the object of his attentions was just about the only woman on the island who had never made a pass at him.
‘Evanna? Have you been listening to a word I’ve been saying? Hello? Is anyone in?’
Evanna gave a start, a far-away look in her eyes as she focused on her friend. ‘Sorry. Did you say something?’
‘No, I’m just chatting to myself for entertainment really. I love the sound of my own voice,’ Kyla quipped, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. ‘I’ve been talking to you for ten minutes and you’ve been staring out of the window with a glazed expression on your face. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was boring.’
Evanna shook her head and gave a guilty smile. ‘Sorry. I was thinking about … something.’
‘Humph.’ Kyla threw her a penetrating look. ‘I don’t suppose that something is six foot two, has blue eyes and shares my DNA?’
Evanna ignored the question. ‘So, what were you telling me about?’
‘Well, I don’t have a lifetime to repeat it, so I’ll just summarise,’ Kyla said dryly. ‘Are you going to the beach barbecue next Saturday?’
Evanna frowned. ‘I’d forgotten about it.’
‘How could you possibly have forgotten the highlight of the Glenmore social calendar?’ Kyla sat back as Meg placed a towering ice cream in front of her. ‘Thanks. I’ve been fantasising about this all day.’
Evanna shook her head in disbelief. ‘How you can consume so much ice cream and still fit into your clothes is beyond my understanding.’
‘Life is to be lived,’ Kyla said airily, sticking her spoon into the ice cream. ‘So—are you coming?’
Would Logan be there? Probably not, Evanna decided. He never went. And she needed to get out. She needed the distraction. ‘I’ll be there.’
‘Good. Ethan and I will meet you on the beach. They’re going to do a lifeboat demonstration at six.’
‘Well, I refuse to be a volunteer victim.’
‘We probably won’t need a volunteer,’ Kyla said cheerfully,