About That Night...

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’ve got us some extra pillows.”

“And what are they for?”

“To put down the middle of the bed.” She almost dropped her fork. They were still sleeping in the same bed? Oh, no.

Her skin was starting to tingle. The hairs on her arms were standing on end. Sharing a bed with Evan Hunter? Pillows or not, she wouldn’t sleep a wink.

“You okay with that?”

He seemed so cool. So calm and collected. His mind was obviously focused on the job and not doing a merry dance around the thoughts of a heated kiss a few months ago.

Not the way hers was.

“I’m fine with that.” She put her fork down. “I’ve had enough. I think I want to get to bed early.”

She’d said the words. She hadn’t meant them to come out sounding like that. Sounding as if she was hinting at something. She wanted to die of embarrassment and felt the rush of blood to her cheeks.

Evan kept his eyes fixed on his dinner plate. He handed over the key to the room. “I’ll let you go on ahead. I’ve got some things to work out with Frank. We’ll probably be talking late into the night. Leave the door on the latch. I promise I won’t wake you when I come up.”

She nodded and just about grabbed the key from his hand, thankful that he seemed to have missed the implication of her words. “Good night, then.” She sped off to the room. The sooner she had her head under the covers the better.

This was going to be a long night.

Evan watched her retreating back. In the artificially lit room he could see her silhouette through her thin yellow dress, showing the curve of her bottom and hips. He did his best to look away.

This was all going to end in disaster.

He’d lied. He didn’t have to see Frank about anything. He’d been given all the information he could possibly need.

The worst thing was that he’d left all the paperwork in the room. He was going to have to hang around and kill time with nothing to do.

It had seemed easier to make something up. To let her slip away and get to the room without him pretending not to watch her every move.

Leave the door on the latch. He cringed at his words. It was like something an old married couple would say to each other. Where had that come from?

Everything about this situation was just too uncomfortable.

He’d caught a waft of her floral perfume the other day and it had invaded his senses, instantly taking him back to that night in the bar.

The night when Violet had drunk too many glasses of wine and had virtually propositioned him in the corridor leading to the back exit. The night when he’d had too many whiskies and had no resistance to her in her red dress and spiked heels, her hair all mussed up on her head.

The feel of her hungry lips on his had made him forget where they were and the consequences of his actions.

By the time someone had interrupted them, he’d practically had her dress up around her waist.

Hardly the ideal position for a DPA team leader and a member of his staff.

And the next day it had been as if nothing had ever happened. He sometimes wondered if Violet even remembered the incident.

Surely she hadn’t been that drunk? Because that thought made him sick to his stomach. That would mean he’d taken advantage of her. Something he would never do.

But in the meantime her floral scent lingered around him.

How could he sleep in a room tonight with that aroma and all it conjured up in his mind?

There was no question about it.

Violet Connelly was going to drive him crazy.

CHAPTER THREE

THE LIGHT AIRCRAFT touched down in a cloud of dust.

“We’re here.” Violet pressed her nose up against the glass window, trying to take in the wide landscape ahead of her.

Natumba state covered more than eighteen thousand square kilometers, and they’d landed in the northernmost tip, at the three local government areas most affected by polio. Only a few days ago there had been another two diagnoses of wild poliovirus.

Part of her was relieved they weren’t going to be based in the capital, Natumba. There was another team already based there.

But the wide open landscape and vast terrain made her realize the huge task they were undertaking and the number of miles they’d need to cover. All in the blistering heat.

There were a few figures dressed in white next to the landing strip, along with a whole host of multi-terrain vehicles—some looking a little worse for wear.

“That must be Dr. Yusif. He said he would meet us here and take us to the campsite.”

“I didn’t expect it to be so green. I expected it to look more barren.”

Evan turned as he unloaded their bags and all the supplies from the plane. “Natumba is quite an agricultural state—they produce a lot of groundnuts. The land is supposed to be well cultivated and irrigated.”

“And the villages?” She left the question hanging in the air between them.

Both of them had read as much as they could about the surrounding area. Only half of the population in the area had access to portable water and appropriate sanitation. Health care was limited and the education system in a state of neglect.

Although the government had launched national campaigns to raise awareness about polio, the reality was the message wasn’t reaching the villagers.

“Nigeria isn’t all savannah. The far south has a tropical rainforest climate and good rainfall. There are also areas of saltwater swamp and mangroves. The border with Cameroon has highlands and a rich rainforest. It’s not the dry desert wasteland that some people expect.”

Dr. Yusif was striding across the ground to meet them. He was dressed in a white shirt and trousers with a white kufi cap on his head. “Welcome, welcome.” His smile reached from ear to ear. “I’m so glad to see you.” He shook hands with them both and guided them over to the vehicles. “Grab your bags and let’s get on the move. It will be too hot to travel if we don’t start now.”

“How far away is the campsite?” Violet asked as she slid into the backseat of the four wheel drive. The upholstery of the seats were ripped and scorched by the sun. She pulled her skirt down to stop her skin from sticking to the surface. It must be around one hundred degrees in here, nothing like the comfortable, air-conditioned vehicles they’d had in the city, or that she took for granted back home.

“It’s only around an hour, but the roads can be rough. Hold on to your hat!”

Evan slid in next to her and they listened as Dr. Yusif filled them in on some of the background to where they’d be working. Violet clung onto the grab handle on the roof as the car pitched over the uneven terrain—anything to stop her sliding across the seat and landing in Evan’s lap.

He was managing to look as cool and calm as ever. How did he do it? The sweat was already starting to trickle down her spine and she was wishing she had pulled her hair off her collar with an elastic band.