The Playboy Doctor

She was unable to argue with that fact. The truth was that, despite his casual attitude, Seb Macaulay was clever. Very clever. Not that he used his brain, of course. He’d socialised his way through medical school and had managed to pass his exams having barely attended a single lecture. In fact, he’d seemed bored with the whole thing. Until they’d started the clinical section of their course. Once he’d been allowed to see real patients, Seb had never missed a day.

And since he’d qualified she hadn’t heard much about him. Just the odd rumour that he was doing glamorous jobs. Which was nothing less than she would have expected. He wasn’t the sort of man to bury himself in a deprived, inner-city practice.

Suddenly she was curious about just what he had been doing last. ‘So is that what you’re doing at the moment? Locum work?’

‘Not really.’ He suppressed a yawn. ‘Actually, I’ve just finished a stint on a cruise ship.’

Her mouth tightened. A cruise ship. Typical! ‘I see.’

‘I seriously doubt that you do.’ For a brief second the humour left those blue eyes and she caught a glimpse of a side of him she’d never seen before. A serious side. But then it was gone and he gave a careless shrug. ‘But it doesn’t matter. George didn’t stipulate that we had to understand each other—just that we had to work together.’

‘We can’t possibly work together, Dr Macaulay,’ she said stiffly. ‘Our approach to life is too different.’

He gave a short laugh. ‘Yes, well, fortunately we’re not talking about life here, we’re just talking about the job.’

‘You see?’ She sat up straighter and glared at him. ‘That is exactly what I mean. To you it’s just a job—’

‘And to you it’s your whole life,’ Seb drawled, his eyes narrowing as he watched her. ‘Let’s not waste time arguing about which one of us is right. I seem to remember telling you as a student that it was possible to work and have fun at the same time.’

She was feeling totally out of her depth. She just couldn’t cope with someone like Seb Macaulay. He was too arrogant, too confident—too male. And he made her feel... feel...strange...

‘Surely George must have known we’d have nothing in common,’ she murmured, rubbing her fingers over her aching forehead. ‘Why did he choose you? He said that he was asking a family friend—’

‘I am a family friend.’ He straightened and walked over to her desk, dropping his muscular length into the chair by her desk. ‘I was at school with Sam.’

‘Sam?’ Her mouth fell open in disbelief. ‘Sam went to the same school as you?’

Surely George and Nancy wouldn’t have had the funds for that type of education for their son.

‘Sam was a bright boy, he had a scholarship.’ Seb ran a hand through his hair, his expression suddenly impatient. ‘Look, enough questions. I thought you were supposed to be busy. If you’ve been handling George’s patients as well as your own, there must be plenty for me to do.’

Offhand she couldn’t think of a single thing. The mere thought of working alongside this man was so unlikely it was ludicrous.

‘It won’t work, Dr Macaulay,’ she said finally, nervously touching a strand of pale blonde hair that had escaped from the knot on the back of her head. ‘I’m sorry to have wasted your time but there’s been a mistake. You’ll have to find a job elsewhere.’

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, Joanna!’ He was visibly controlling his irritation. ‘Look, I agree that this situation is hardly ideal for either of us. You think I’m a glamorous playboy with more money than sense, and I think you’re an emotionally repressed workaholic whose idea of excitement is a night in with a textbook. It doesn’t matter! No one says we have to like each other. We just have to work together and that should be easy enough.’

She stared at him, carefully hiding her dismay at his words. Was that really how people saw her? An emotionally repressed workaholic?

‘I can manage by myself,’ she said finally, and he lifted an eyebrow in disbelief.

‘With the number of patients you and George have on your lists? Don’t be ridiculous. No doctor could manage that number single-handed. Especially in the holiday season. No.’ He shook his head and gave a resigned shrug. ‘You need help, and we’d better both just accept that I’m it.’

‘Help?’ Her voice rose and she almost winced as she heard herself. Normally she was a gentle, mild-mannered person and here she was acting like a fishwife. ‘You’re not my idea of help, Dr Macaulay—’

A muffled scream from Reception distracted her and Joanna broke off and tilted her head slightly. ‘What on earth was that?’

Before Seb could answer, the door was yanked open and a breathless Laura stood in the doorway, her eyes wide with panic.

‘Dr Weston, come quickly! Little Katy Ball has stopped breathing.’

Joanna stood up quickly. Too quickly. The room suddenly swam in front of her eyes and she swayed slightly. Immediately strong fingers clamped onto her shoulders and propelled her safely back into the chair.

‘Are you all right?’ Seb’s sharp question penetrated the black fog descending on her brain and she nodded slowly, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

‘I’m fine.’

‘Well, you don’t look fine.’ His eyes were narrowed. ‘You’d better stay here while I see to the child.’

‘No!’ Joanna stood up again, but this time more slowly, her fingers clutching the desk for support. ‘She’s my patient. I’ll see her.’

‘Well, join me when you’re ready.’

The screams grew louder and with a last frowning glance in her direction Seb sprinted out into Reception, leaving her to follow at a slower pace.

‘Dr Weston, help—help!!’ Katy’s mother was clutching the child against her chest, her face wild with fear. ‘She can’t breathe properly—Oh, God, please, help her, don’t let her die. It was the bee, I know it was the bee. Oh, why didn’t I see it?’

For a moment Joanna stood rooted to the spot, still feeling slightly odd, her mind totally blank.

Fortunately Seb’s reactions were faster. ‘I’m Dr Macaulay, Dr Weston’s new partner. Give her to me.’ He cut through Mrs Ball’s hysterical rambling and swept the limp little figure into his arms. ‘Laura, call an ambulance—tell them it’s urgent. She needs adrenaline—fast!’

‘In my room...’ Finally Joanna sprang to life and she ran back to her consulting room, grabbing the necessary drugs.

‘Why’s her breathing so noisy?’ Katy’s mother had followed them and was hovering uncertainly in the doorway, her face chalk white.

‘It’s called stridor,’ Seb said briefly, his eyes on Joanna as she drew up the injection. ‘It’s because her breathing tubes are swollen. Where did the bee sting her?’

‘On the back of her neck,’ Mrs Ball sobbed, ‘it was such a sunny day I promised her we could have our tea in the park. The flowers are gorgeous at the moment. I didn’t think about the bees...’

Seb held the child while Joanna gave the injection. ‘We need to give her some oxygen and get a line in.’

Joanna nodded agreement and together they worked to stabilise the child. By the time the paramedics arrived, her condition had improved dramatically.

‘I’ll go with her in the ambulance,’ Seb said briefly, and Joanna hesitated.

‘I ought to go—’

‘No.’ Seb shook his head and helped himself to some equipment from her trolley. ‘You’re better off here in case someone calls you out. I don’t know the area well enough. We’ll talk later.’

And with that he strode after the paramedics, leaving her staring, open-mouthed, totally drained after the exaggerated emotions of the past few minutes.

She sank into her chair and stared blankly at the flickering computer screen.

How had this happened?

How had her neatly ordered life been turned upside down so quickly? One minute she’d been safe in her own little world, overworked but very happy with her daily routine. And then Seb Macaulay had strolled casually back into her life and triggered more emotion in five minutes than she’d imagined she was capable of feeling in a lifetime.

After just five minutes in his company she was ready to kill someone. And if he was intent on working as a locum, it was probably going to be him.