An Unexpected Proposal

She looked into his face and then wished she hadn’t. She felt absurdly close to tears. She didn’t want this man to be kind to her. She wanted him and the unsettling feelings she felt when she was near him to go away.

‘I’m fine.’ She shrugged her shoulders and his hands fell away.

Marcus lifted his hand and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, which had loosened from the tight knot at the nape of her neck. Madeline pulled back as the urge to lay her head against his chest took hold.

‘Dr Harrington,’ one of the paramedics called. ‘Coming,’ she replied, and stepped away from Marcus on shaky legs.

CHAPTER TWO

MADELINE was sitting in the family waiting area with Brett when Marcus finally tracked her down. On their arrival the hospital staff had efficiently taken over. After briefing them, Madeline had left to call Mr Sanders. She hated that part the most. Talking to shocked families in grave situations always made her feel helpless.

She was feeling really weary now, staring blankly at the opposite wall, her eyes gritty again. Marcus pushed a steaming cup of coffee towards her face. She blinked, staring at him, unseeing at first until her body pulsed betrayingly and recognition dawned. Overwhelming tiredness made her irritable.

‘I told you there was no need to come,’ she said, ignoring the coffee. Didn’t he have a child to get back to?

‘Take it, Maddy,’ he ordered in a soft voice which nonetheless brooked no argument. The pungent aroma of coffee hit her and her stomach growled. Madeline realised she hadn’t eaten since breakfast on the plane. She took the polystyrene cup.

He handed Brett a cold can of soft drink and sat down beside her. They drank in silence, Madeline desperately trying to quell the frisson of awareness just sitting next to Marcus was causing. Their arms occasionally brushed and she was awake again. Fully, completely awake.

Pull yourself together, she lectured herself. He is unavailable. So are you, or you will be again soon anyway. And you’re going to squash this man like an ant on Monday—you don’t want to be lusting after him as you’re giving him his marching orders. The thought kept her focussed and a smile curved across her full mouth and glittered in the emerald depths of her eyes.

She imagined the look on his face as she handed him the notice of eviction. The fantasy was marred by a sudden pang of guilt. They may not see eye to eye on treatment methodologies but he was an actual doctor and obviously very skilled, and had helped her tonight without question, despite her previous hostile threats.

‘Plotting my demise, Maddy?’

His low growl in her ear caused a riot of sensations to surge through her. Startled that he could so accurately read her thoughts, she turned to face him, composing her features to disguise her inner turmoil. ‘How did you guess?’ she parried lightly.

‘Maddy, Maddy.’ He laughed and stroked the dark stubble on his jaw. ‘Don’t ever play poker.’

Madeline followed the caress intently, sidetracked by sudden wanton thoughts of his stubble brushing against her skin. Her nipples hardened and as she watched him his eyes widened and his hand stilled at her blatant arousal.

She stared for an age, caught in his intense blue gaze. The bustle of hospital life continued around them, oblivious to the sexual energy arcing between them.

‘Dr Harrington.’

A young nurse interrupted. Madeline blinked and looked at her in a slightly disorientated fashion. ‘Y-yes?’

‘Mrs Sanders has just gone up to Intensive Care.’

‘Oh,’ said Madeline, pulling herself together, ‘Thanks, I’ll go right up.’

The nurse’s attention, however, had strayed to Marcus. She was smiling at him, an invitation in her eyes. Marcus winked at her and Madeline rolled her eyes. Thank goodness she’d never been a slave to her hormones. How did people get things done? Stay focussed? Function?

She left him to it, taking Brett up to see his mother and waiting with him until his father arrived, leaving shortly after. She was surprised to see Marcus lounging at the nurses’desk, waiting for her, but was unsurprised to hear the tinkle of laughter as two more nurses fell under the skater boy’s charm.

‘I’ll give you a lift home,’ he said, straightening as she approached.

‘I’ll catch a taxi,’ she threw over her shoulder as she walked past him.

‘Don’t be silly, Maddy,’ he said, in a voice that made her feel like a disobedient child. ‘You look exhausted. Do you know how long it’s going to take to get a taxi on a Saturday evening?’

She stopped walking and sighed. He was right and she was tired, so very tired. What could it hurt? She nodded her assent. He raised his eyebrows at her, obviously not having expected such easy capitulation, but she was just too exhausted to care.

A few minutes later Madeline eyed the fire-engine red MG convertible doubtfully. ‘This is yours?’

‘Yes,’ he smiled lazily.

‘Hocus-pocus pays, huh?’ she gibed.

‘What did you expect me to drive?’

She looked him up and down. He was still in the same clothes—buttoned this time. She could see the paint in his hair and remembered him flying up off the concrete wall, his skate-board attached to his feet. ‘Something old and beat up,’ she said.

He threw back his head and laughed—a rich, throaty noise that weakened her knees. ‘You are a shrew,’ he stated. ‘Get in, Maddy.’

She obeyed meekly, fearing that her knees wouldn’t support her for much longer. She sank into the well-worn soft leather of the bucket seat.

‘Not much room for a child seat in here, Dr Hunt.’

He laughed again. ‘The name is Marcus.’

‘Maybe…but I’m going to call you Dr Hunt,’ she mimicked his earlier words and he laughed again.

‘Touché, Maddy. Touché.’

They rode with the top down and, apart from Madeline giving him the directions to her house, they drove in silence. The steady purr of the engine and the caress of the warm night air against her skin lulled Madeline to sleep.

Marcus took the opportunity to study her and felt a stupid little flutter somewhere in the vicinity of his heart. She was utterly gorgeous. Completely intriguing. The diamond on her finger mocked him and he almost sighed out loud. Pity. He lived by a strict code—no attached women, no matter how much his body insisted.

He pulled the car up outside her apartment block in the valley and switched off the engine. He didn’t want to wake her but felt compelled to touch her at the same time.

‘Maddy,’ he said quietly, lightly stroking her cheek. She wiggled and murmured something unintelligible.

‘Maddy,’he said, louder this time, and watched with regret as she opened her eyes. She sat up abruptly and Marcus’s hand fell away.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, embarrassed. ‘I didn’t mean to fall asleep.’

He shrugged. ‘You were tired.’

They were quite close in the car and even in the dim light Madeline knew that something was happening inside her that had never happened with Simon. Marcus dominated the small space—his blatant sexuality too big for such close confines. This wouldn’t do at all.

Oh, God! She was so confused. She needed a sleep! She was losing control of the situation completely. He rode a skateboard. He had a child. OK, that didn’t mean he was married but he had responsibilities.

She cleared her throat. ‘Anyway…thank you…for before. After the way I carried on I’m surprised you came.’

He shrugged. ‘I would never ignore a medical emergency. Some things are bigger than petty differences.’

‘Still, I think I owe you an apology.’ ‘Accepted,’ he said, half bowing in the small space. ‘Does this mean my imminent eviction is not on the cards?’