STEPHANIE pulled her car into her brother’s driveway and couldn’t resist the urge to slam the door after she’d climbed out. She locked the car and stormed up to knock on Stephen’s door, but he opened it before she could get that far.
‘What’s the matter?’ He was dressed in his old painting clothes.
‘Ooh, that man.’ Stephanie walked past him, through the house, straight through to the lounge room, where she slumped onto one of the sofas.
‘At least I know you’re not talking about me.’ He sat down next to her and waited. Stephanie took his hand in hers.
‘You’re so good to me. I’m so glad you’re finally here.’
‘Steph? You’re starting to scare me. Whenever you get all mushy like this it means something’s not going your way.’
‘It’s him.’ She let go of his hand and pushed away, standing to pace the room.
Stephen thought for a moment before nodding. ‘The new director. What’s his name?’
‘Oliver. Oliver Bowan.’
‘Right. The one all the nurses were drooling over yesterday at Emergency.’
‘Were they drooling?’ Stephanie looked bothered.
‘Even Nicolette thought he was good-looking.’
‘Oh?’ She changed tack and grinned at her brother. ‘You don’t look as though you enjoyed that revelation. Does it bother you that Nic might fancy someone besides you?’ She knew her words were making him uncomfortable and was glad to have a break from her own emotions even for just a few minutes. ‘Last I saw, you were taking her home earlier this morning.’
‘Hmm.’ Stephen stood and walked out of the room. She followed him into the 1970s décor kitchen, glad to see he’d started removing the orange, brown and purple swirling wallpaper. ‘Croissant and coffee to start with?’ He took two cups from the cupboard.
‘Answer the question, Stephen.’
‘What question is that, Stephanie? You haven’t asked me one.’
‘Not verbally.’ She grinned. ‘How do you feel about Nic?’
‘I hardly know her.’ He poured coffee. ‘Besides, we’re soon to be professional colleagues so you’ll just have to content yourself with the two of us being friends.’
Stephanie laughed at the idea. ‘Friends? Yeah, right.’ She leant forward and kissed him on the cheek. ‘If you’re waiting for my blessing, you have it. I can’t think of anyone else who is more perfect for you than Nic.’
‘Steph,’ he growled.
‘If, however, you need to delude yourself for a bit longer, then that’s fine, too.’
‘Steph!’
This time she acknowledged his warning tone. ‘OK. Just don’t leave it too long. She’s a beautiful woman and some other man might snap her up.’
‘Stephanie!’
‘All right, all right. We won’t talk about it any more.’
‘Thank you.’ He shook his head and smiled at her. ‘Now it’s my turn to grill you. Why does Oliver Bowan have your knickers in a knot?’
‘He doesn’t.’ She accepted the coffee and sat down at his kitchen table. ‘My knickers are perfectly fine.’
‘Glad to hear it. Then why does he make you so mad?’
‘He wants to change everything.’
‘At the hospital?’
‘Yes.’
Stephen nodded. ‘His prerogative.’
‘Today? Does he need to change things today? The man wasn’t supposed to start until Saturday, but as he’s now here he wants to get down and restructure the entire department.’
‘Why does that bother you so much?’
‘It doesn’t bother me.’
‘Sure, Steph.’ He didn’t believe her. ‘Why does it bother you so much and does it have anything to do with the happy sensations I was experiencing a few hours ago?’
Stephanie put her coffee-cup on the table. ‘He kind of kissed me.’
‘But you hardly know him.’
‘That’s not all. He’s staying in Gregor’s house.’
‘What? With you? Why?’
She explained about the estate agent mix-up. ‘And that’s not all.’ She grimaced, knowing how her over-protective brother was going to take the news about Oliver’s daughter. As she expected, Stephen hit the roof.
‘You can move back in here. We’ll drive round now and get your stuff.’
‘No. It’s fine.’
‘It’s not fine.’
She stood and placed a hand on his arm. ‘It is fine. I’m fine. Although he makes me a little frustrated at times, I kind of, well…I kind of like him.’
‘You kind of like him. He kind of kissed you and he kind of has a daughter. Is he really divorced? Can you trust anything this man says?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m not going to discuss this with you any further. I’m not moving back here because you have your own life going on and I’m not going to cramp your style.’
‘There’s nothing to cramp. I’ve already told you, Nicolette and I are just friends.’
‘Right. Forgive me for not believing you.’ She reached for a croissant and pulled it apart. Thankfully, Stephen sat back down and watched her for a moment before following suit.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said eventually. ‘I didn’t mean to jump down your throat.’ He raked a hand through his hair. ‘I just know how hard it’s been for you to have relationships, especially during the past year with me overseas.’
‘And now you’re here and you know how much I value your opinion.’
‘So you don’t mind if I check this Oliver guy out?’
She laughed, feeling better. ‘Just be subtle…well, try at least.’ She took a sip of her coffee. ‘I know the man I eventually marry must understand the relationship we have, and I know that’s partly the reason none of my previous boyfriends went the distance. Besides, with you not being around last year, it made it impossible for me to get a second opinion.’
‘And now I’m here you feel as though you can take a chance?’
‘If it ends in disaster you’ll pick up the pieces and help me get back on my feet again. After all, that’s what brothers are for.’
‘You’re not the most experienced person when it comes to relationships, Steph, and I mean that in the most wonderful way. You’re so giving and accepting and that’s when you end up getting hurt.’
‘You think that because Oliver’s not only been married but has a child he’s going to run rings around me?’
Stephen nodded. ‘He has experience in relationships that you don’t.’ He took her hand in his. ‘You really like him?’
‘I do.’ She gazed at her brother. ‘We have this…connection.’
‘When I saw you at the accident site, you didn’t seem too impressed with him.’
Stephanie couldn’t help the smile that spread over her lips. ‘Oliver thought you and I were dating. He became a little curt with me.’
‘He was jealous? But he hardly knows you.’
Stephanie laughed and kissed her brother’s cheek. ‘Oh, I’ve missed you so much. Now, are you going to feed me, or are you going to feed me?’
Stephanie was on her way back to the hospital, her stomach full of food, when her cellphone rang.
‘Stephanie, where are you?’
‘Oliver?’
‘Who else would it be?’
‘Plenty of people,’ she countered as she pulled her car to the side of the road so she could talk. ‘What’s up?’
‘We’ve just had a call come in and I need you to go out on retrieval.’
‘There’s no one else?’
‘Meaning?’
‘Well, it’s my day off so I’m kind of low down on the list to be called in.’
‘I wouldn’t have called you if I didn’t need you.’ His voice had that haughtiness in it and she instantly knew he was annoyed. It surprised her how well she knew him so quickly. ‘Where are you?’
She sighed, resigning herself to a ‘Clayton’s’ day off—the day off you had when you weren’t having a day off! ‘I’m ten minutes from the hospital.’
‘Just get here,’ he barked, and disconnected the call. It seemed the ogre from last night was back, and this time he didn’t have the excuse of being misinformed.
When she arrived at the hospital, she parked her car and headed for his office. No sign of him. She went to A and E but still couldn’t find him. She bumped into Jade. ‘Have you seen Oliver?’
‘He’s in the tearoom, waiting for you, so he can start briefing everyone.’
‘Thanks.’ Stephanie grimaced and rushed to the tearoom, not wanting to hold things up any longer.
‘Ah, Dr Brooks. Glad you could join us. Now we can begin. Two bush walkers have become lost in the mist around Jamieson Valley. Not only that, they took a wrong turn and ended up on the Golden Path, which is apparently closed. Now, you would think that would be enough for our intrepid explorers but, no, they wanted more excitement. They decided to climb their way up the closed path, and when the mist rolled in one of them slid, causing the other to follow, and both are now badly hurt. The reason we know all this is that they’ve dialled 112 on their cellphone and contacted emergency services. The call came through approximately ten minutes ago.
‘David from police rescue will be co-ordinating the search and needs the medical team in place and ready for action.’ Oliver consulted a sheet of paper. ‘Arnold?’
‘Yes.’
Oliver looked at the man who had answered. ‘You’ll be on point. You’ll be liaising directly with the police rescue squad, as well as managing the whereabouts of our people.’
‘Hey, tell me something I don’t know,’ Arnold teased, and people smiled. ‘I’m the point guy and I’m good at it,’ he said in his best Dirty Harry voice. Stephanie risked a glance at Oliver to see how he’d taken this answer to his instructions and was surprised to find him smiling as well. She released an unsteady breath, glad he’d been able to find his sense of humour.
‘OK.’ He handed out a few more jobs, people nodding and asking a few questions to make sure they knew exactly where they were needed. ‘Stephanie, you’ll be with me.’
‘Ooh,’ Arnold said, and made a few kissy noises. Stephanie could feel her face beginning to grow hot. She was used to Arnold’s teasing and should have half expected it, but again was concerned how Oliver might take it.
‘Oh, keep quiet,’ Oliver told him, his smile still in place. ‘You’re just jealous because she doesn’t get to stay with you.’
‘You’ve got that straight,’ Arnold replied, and winked at Steph.
‘All right, people. Let’s get moving. The ambulance leaves in ten minutes.’ As people bustled out of the room, Oliver’s gaze met Stephanie’s. ‘Got a second?’
‘Only one. The ambulance leaves in ten minutes.’
He came and stood beside her, straightening the papers he held in his hand. ‘How was brunch?’
‘Good.’ She glanced down at the paper and noticed he had the preplanned lists she’d written regarding allocation of staff for emergency procedures. ‘I see you’ve been working hard.’ She motioned to the notes.
‘Yes. In fact, I’d just finished browsing through them when the call came through, so they’ve been very helpful.’
‘We’d better get moving if we’re going to make that ambulance,’ she said.
‘I know. Listen, the reason I wanted you with me was because—’
‘I’m a brilliant doctor. I know.’
‘No, seriously…’
‘Oliver, you don’t need to explain.’
‘I just don’t want you or the rest of the staff thinking I’m playing favourites.’
‘You mean you’re not?’ she replied, feigning surprise. That small, sweet grin she was beginning to love spread across his lips.
‘It’s just I mentioned to Lauren this morning about our accommodation mix-up—as you suggested we should—and she told me she was surprised a girl like you was my type. Now, I have no idea what that means, neither do I care, but I wanted to give you a heads-up that the grapevine rumours have already started.’
Stephanie tried not to wince at the label. A girl like her. Terrific. She filed it away. Now was not the time. ‘Hence Arnold’s reaction?’
‘Exactly.’
‘OK.’ She shrugged. ‘Thanks.’ She headed out of the room, forcing her mind to focus on the tasks ahead.
She was one of the last to get into the ambulance, her bright orange retrieval suit matching those of her colleagues, and, as she had yesterday, she chose the transport Oliver wasn’t in. Yesterday she’d chosen it because she’d wanted the distance from him. Today she needed everyone to see that they were just colleagues, nothing more. But you are something more, the little voice inside her head said, and she frowned, brushing it away.
‘So…’ Kevin, the paramedic, said. ‘I hear you and Oliver are sharing a place.’
Stephanie smiled, knowing the rest of the staff who were travelling with them were almost holding their breath with excited anticipation to hear what she was going to say. ‘Yes. It’s only for a few weeks until he finds permanent accommodation. In fact, his daughter arrives tomorrow, along with the housekeeper-cum-nanny. I’ll either be hibernating in my room or doing double shifts at the hospital.’
‘Sounds like a plan,’ Kevin remarked, and after that, nothing else was said. Discussion turned to the possible scenarios they might find. Stephanie was pleased with the information she’d managed to relay and was proud of the way she’d done it—without letting the rest of her colleagues see exactly how much their new boss really affected her.
When they arrived, David had a headset on and was speaking rapidly to one of his staff. He motioned for Stephanie to come over and, without saying a word, held out an abseiling harness to her. She immediately put it on.
‘Going somewhere?’ Oliver asked as he sauntered over. David spoke intently to his staff member and held out a harness to Oliver as well.
‘Looks like, wherever it is I’m going, you’re coming, too, boss.’
‘Looks that way.’
‘Right.’ David turned his attention to them. ‘The bush walkers have been located. Nothing too life-threatening, from what my people can see, although if they stay down there much longer, they run the risk of hypothermia.’
‘Stabilise and evacuate?’
‘Got it in one. I thought we might need a few extra of your people to go down but the two of you will be sufficient. Once you’re down, let Arnold know what you need, he’ll get it together and we’ll get it down for you. Getting them out is going to be a different matter. We’re going to need to venture a few kilometres back the way they walked this morning before we can hook up the ropes to get them out. The tree foliage is too dense here.’
‘OK,’ Stephanie said as David put a hard hat on her head, making her earrings tinkle. ‘What’s the best way to get down?’
‘There’s a disused walking path over there. That’ll take you about half of the way, and from there we’ve rigged up a rope you can hold on to while you navigate to the bottom. They’re not far from there.’
He handed Oliver a walkie-talkie. ‘Give us a shout if you run into trouble.’
Oliver tucked the communication device into a pocket in the retrieval overalls. ‘Let’s grab the emergency medi-kits from Arnold then we’re ready.’
It was another five minutes before they set off, the medi-kits secure inside their overalls to ensure their hands were free.
‘Ready to rock ’n roll?’
Oliver smiled. ‘Ladies first.’
After receiving David’s blessing they headed off. As they descended, Stephanie pulled on her pair of heavy-duty gloves so she was ready when they came to the next section.
‘So, is your brother doing anything that’s going to hinder the rescue operation today? He’s not trapped somewhere? Playing with matches? Nothing like that?’
‘I don’t know. I don’t think so or, should I say, I don’t feel so.’
‘Thank goodness for that.’ The path was becoming a little steeper now and when David had said it was disused, he’d meant overgrown. Glad of the heavy-duty overalls, Oliver pulled on his gloves to help fend off the coarse bushes and not risk cutting his hands. ‘So, tell me, what did Lauren mean when she said “a girl like you”? It has me intrigued.’
‘I thought it didn’t bother you.’
‘It doesn’t. It’s just something I’d like clarified and, besides, we have the time.’
‘Perfect climbing-down-the-hill conversation, eh?’
‘Something like that.’
Stephanie concentrated on where she was putting her feet, and as she was in front she was also trying to make sure she didn’t accidentally whack Oliver with the branches she was holding back to clear the path. ‘The phrase, “a girl like you” can have so many different connotations.’
‘Exactly, which is why I’m asking.’
‘Well, let’s break it down a little. Lauren is a very good nurse but a determined flirt.’
‘Agreed. I’ve hardly set foot in the place and she’s already asked me out.’
‘Is that why you told her about our…living arrangements?’
‘She was inviting herself around for dinner tonight. She wanted to cook for me.’ His tone was incredulous and then he shuddered. ‘As I said, she’s from the same mould as my ex-wife, and I’m definitely not going down that track again.’
‘OK. So if Lauren is a flirt, what do you think she would mean by her comment?’
‘Someone different to her?’
‘Exactly.’
‘But I already knew that.’ Oliver groaned as though disappointed he hadn’t found out any new information.
‘Look, there’s the rope. Thank goodness. How David calls this a path is beyond me.’
‘Do you know how to hook the harness to the rope?’
‘Yes. Do you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Hmm. A man of hidden talents, eh?’
‘A woman of hidden talents. Hey, is that what Lauren meant?’
‘Oh, give it a rest.’
‘Tell me what she really meant and stop avoiding the issue.’
Stephanie had hooked herself to the rope and held it firmly in position as she turned her back on the steeper part of the mountain, preparing to go down. ‘In Lauren’s world, the phrase means I haven’t had much experience with men.’
‘Really?’ His eyebrows were raised in surprise and, without wanting to say any more, Stephanie began her descent. She heard Oliver call in on the walkie-talkie that they were at the rope and heading down. She presumed one of David’s men would be at the base, waiting for them.
When the sections allowed, she gave a few little jumps, covering more distance, but for the most part, the area was quite dense and therefore required all her concentration.
Sure enough, when she reached the ground, one of David’s men, Billy, was there to greet her. ‘Hi, Steph,’ he said. ‘Where’s your partner in crime?’
‘On his way.’
‘Good. Once he’s down they’ll be sending the stretchers down via pulley so I need to re-rig this rope.’
‘He shouldn’t be far.’
He wasn’t. Oliver touched down and unhooked his rope.
‘I’ll let David know you’re down,’ Billy said. ‘Walk about two hundred metres along the path in that direction…’ he pointed ‘…and you can’t miss them. Two of our staff are keeping the patients company.’
‘Thanks, Billy.’
As they headed off, Oliver walked behind her. ‘So what does that mean?’
‘What?’ she asked as she pulled off her gloves and stowed them in a pocket.
‘That you haven’t had much experience with men.’ Oliver followed suit with his own gloves.
‘It means just that.’
‘You’ve never had a broken engagement? Steady boyfriend for years and years?’
‘Nope. I’ve had a few boyfriends—all one at a time,’ she added with an impish grin.
‘Good. Good to hear that.’
‘But none of them stuck.’
‘Stuck?’
‘You know, gelled.’
‘Why? Are you too picky? Too fussy?’
‘You’d better believe it. No second best for me.’
‘Is that a warning?’
Stephanie merely smiled. ‘Besides, if I feel like hanging out with a man, I have Stephen, remember.’
‘That’s right. The twin brother. I guess any man worthy of you must first receive your brother’s blessing?’
‘Of course. What about you? Do you have any siblings?’
‘Yes. I have one brother. We don’t talk, are completely opposite, so naturally we have nothing in common.’ He paused. ‘Well, maybe, except for Nadele.’
‘Your ex-wife?’
‘She told me the day before I left to come to Australia that she was seeing Augustus.’
‘I presume that’s your brother. Does that bother you?’
‘No. In fact, they’re perfect for each other. You see, Augustus doesn’t like children, can’t tolerate them.’
‘Ah. So if Nadele gets together with Augustus, you have a better chance of getting Kasey away from her mother’s influence?’
‘Wow. You’re not just a pretty face, Dr Brooks.’
Stephanie turned and smiled at him. ‘Why, thank you.’ As she wasn’t looking where she was going, she stumbled and Oliver quickly put out a hand to stop her from falling. They both stopped, their bodies close, their breaths mingling. The contact was sudden and unexpected, yet both of them reacted as though they’d been starving for it. The moment continued to hold as they gazed into each other’s eyes. The timely hissing from the walkie-talkie brought them both back to reality with a thud.
‘Hmm.’ Oliver frowned as they started off again, pulling the radio from his pocket and answering David’s call. ‘We should be almost there,’ he said. ‘Is there a problem?’
‘One of the patients has lost consciousness.’
‘OK. The path isn’t too bad here so we’ll step it up.’
‘Safety first,’ David reminded him.
They picked up the pace and continued along the path, glad when it became wide enough for them to walk side by side. Stephanie had been conscious of Oliver walking behind her and although she knew the orange retrieval suit wasn’t very flattering, she couldn’t help feeling his gaze roving over her from time to time.
Finally they heard the police rescue staff in the distance and both pulled out their medi-kits ready for action.
‘I’ll take the unconscious patient, you do triage on the other one.’
‘Understood.’ Stephanie had her medi-kit open so the instant she knelt by her patient she was able to pull on a pair of gloves. ‘Hi, I’m Stephanie.’
‘Inga.’
‘Where does it hurt?’
‘My arm, my leg. I think I twisted my ankle. Is Utta all right?’ She gestured to her friend.
‘He’s being looked after.’ Stephanie felt Inga’s ankle and wasn’t surprised when her patient gave a yelp of pain. ‘Anywhere else?’
‘No, but I feel sore everywhere. My backside hurts.’
‘OK.’ Stephanie picked up the medical torch and checked Inga’s eyes, but both pupils were reacting normally. Next, she unfolded the cervical collar from the kit and placed it around Inga’s neck. ‘How about your head? Does it hurt anywhere?’
‘I think I bumped it.’
‘Where?’
Inga showed her the spot and although Stephanie could feel a lump forming, there was no blood.
‘Steph,’ came Oliver’s call.
‘I’ll be back in a moment, Inga.’ Stephanie stood and walked the few steps to where Oliver was tending to Utta. She knelt down.
‘His left arm feels broken and he has a possible dislocated shoulder.’
‘That’s probably what took the brunt of the fall.’
‘Left pupil is a little sluggish and there’s a crack at the base of his skull.’
Stephanie checked Utta’s pupils. ‘Probably what’s caused the loss of consciousness. Utta?’ she called. ‘Utta, can you hear me?’ She took the pulse in his fractured arm, making sure there was still a steady flow of blood. It was weak but it was there. Carotid pulse was a little stronger, which gave them both a positive indication.
‘Utta?’ Inga said, but Stephanie blocked out the other woman’s panicked calls.
‘We’ll need to get him out a.s.a.p. Do you have a sphygmo in your kit?’
‘No. Want me to get Arnold to send one down?’
‘Yes. Utta’s going to go into shock if we’re not careful.’
‘Give me the walkie-talkie.’ Stephanie took the radio from him and called up their request. ‘You think he’s going to be stable enough to move?’
‘I want his BP checked before I make that call.’
‘Right. I’ll give Inga pain meds so I can splint her ankle, then at least she’ll be ready for transfer.’ She returned her attention to Inga. ‘Are you allergic to any medications?’
‘Utta? How’s Utta?’
‘Utta is unconscious at the moment, Inga. He hit his head a bit harder than you did. We’re monitoring him as best we can and hopefully soon we’ll have you both out of here.’ Once they’d arrived, both police rescue men had gone to do the next part of their job—one to help with the stretchers and the other to prepare the area from where the stretchers would be winched to the top.
‘I want to give you something to take away the pain, but I need to know if you’re allergic to anything.’
‘No. Not that I know of.’
‘Have you had morphine before?’
‘Yes.’
‘Good.’ Stephanie drew up the injection and administered it. ‘That should help.’ She checked Inga’s eyes and pulse again. ‘Good,’ she repeated. ‘OK. We’ll just let the morphine take effect.’
She turned to Oliver who had just finished bandaging Utta’s head. ‘Bleeding under control?’
‘Yes. Left pupil still a little sluggish. Right one is fine.’
‘Pulses?’
‘No change.’
Stephanie returned her attention to splinting Inga’s ankle and once she’d finished, they heard the sounds of people heading in their direction. ‘Hallelujah,’ she said as a larger emergency medi-kit was carried into view by one of their police rescue colleagues.
Stephanie took Utta’s BP with the sphygmomanometer. ‘We need to move him, now. Get the stretcher.’
Working together as a team, they successfully transferred Utta to the stretcher, all of them rather pleased when their patient groaned in pain. ‘Hello, there,’ Oliver said with a smile. ‘Utta? Can you hear me?’
Another groan. ‘Good. We’re about to take you out of here so hang in. Steph, you stay with Inga and I’ll head up with Utta.’ Their gazes locked for a moment and both acknowledged the growing awareness between them, but then Oliver smiled and said a little more tenderly, ‘See you up top and remember—be safe.’
She returned his smile. ‘Yes, boss.’
‘The other stretcher was on its way down when we left to bring this one here, so Billy and Krystal should be along with it in another five minutes,’ her colleague said.
‘Great. Thanks.’ Stephanie watched them head off before taking Inga’s vitals again, glad to have the sphygmo to check her patient’s blood pressure. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Foolish.’ Tears glistened in Inga’s eyes and she shut them tight.
‘Hey. You’ll both be fine.’
‘The mist just came from nowhere.’
‘It does that and has caught many an unsuspecting tourist unawares. Are you in any pain?’
‘No.’
‘Good. Shouldn’t be too much longer and you’ll be following Utta out of here.’
Inga sniffed. ‘He will be all right, won’t he?’
‘He’s regained consciousness so that’s a good sign.’ At this information Inga seemed to relax and, thankfully, Billy and Krystal appeared soon after. ‘All right, Inga, let’s get you organised and on your way out of here.’ Stephanie checked her patient’s vital signs before they moved her, and when she was settled and all the equipment had been accounted for and packed away, they headed off to the extraction point.
As they walked along, they encountered more mist and Stephanie was grateful for the helmet on her head, complete with light. She followed Billy, with Krystal bringing up the rear, and when they stopped for a break she checked Inga again, wrapping the space blanket more securely around her. ‘The last thing we want is you getting cold,’ she told Inga with a smile. ‘Not much longer and we’ll have you out of here.’
Unfortunately, it was a bit longer than anticipated as they needed to wait for the mist to thin a little before they could winch the stretcher out. Utta’s stretcher had made it to the top just after the mist had rolled in.
Oliver was still at the bottom, having let the police rescue staff escort the stretcher up. ‘They know more about that than I do, and Utta was as stable as I could get him,’ he told Stephanie as they sat down to wait.
Finally the call came down to say they were ready to begin, and Billy and Krystal escorted the stretcher up.
‘It won’t be long.’ Billy grinned at them as the winches started. ‘I promise we won’t forget you.’
‘You’d better not, Billy. I know where you live, remember,’ Stephanie retorted good-naturedly, and although she wouldn’t admit it to any of her colleagues, she was more than happy to be left alone with Oliver.
When the rescue party was out of sight and the natural sounds around them returned, they resumed their waiting positions, Stephanie sitting on a small rock opposite Oliver.
‘You know, annoying as it is that we can’t move, it’s really very pretty here.’ He looked around him at the slowly lifting mist.
Stephanie was happy he seemed to find an affinity with this place, with these mountains. ‘When you lived in Sydney, did you come up here much?’
‘I remember coming up here on a school excursion and I’m pretty sure we visited the Three Sisters, but about the only thing I can recall about that trip was that the girls’ school came along, too.’
Stephanie smiled. ‘Chasing girls rather than looking at the sights?’
‘Something like that.’ Oliver’s gaze filtered with hers. ‘Now, though, I’m more than happy to do both. Chase the girl and look at the sights.’
Stephanie’s smile slowly disappeared and her lips parted. His gaze said he liked looking at her, even though she was dressed in an orange suit. Her heart rate increased and she marvelled at the way she was a sucker for his smooth-talking lines.
‘Well, if you said things like that and looked at the girls back then the way you’re looking at me, it’s no wonder you remember little about that trip.’
His face was serious as he said, ‘I’m not feeding you lines, Steph. I’m a good twenty-odd years older than the boy who was here all that time ago. How can you doubt that I find you attractive? That I think you’re not only intelligent but beautiful as well?’
A nervous laugh escaped her lips. ‘In an orange suit and green hair. Don’t you think they clash?’
‘On some people maybe, but not you. You carry it off with finesse.’
‘It’s so easy to believe everything you say while we’re down here, in this little bubble of white, but don’t forget I’m still a girl with little dating experience.’
‘I think you do yourself a great injustice. It’s not the amount of experience I care about but how sincere you are, and perhaps that’s one of the things which makes you unique from the Laurens of this world. You are sincere and in my life that’s been a rare commodity and is something I value highly when I find it.’
He didn’t move from where he was sitting but somehow she found herself beside him, unaware she’d moved. He didn’t speak, he didn’t make a move to touch her. Instead, he merely looked at her and she at him.
‘I’m scared of you,’ she whispered.
‘Surely you don’t mean that.’
‘I’m scared of how you make me feel and the fact that I don’t even know you. You’ve been in my life less than forty-eight hours—’
‘And yet the time we’ve spent together has been intense and riddled with emotions.’
‘Yes. See? You seem to know me so well.’
‘That’s because I do. It’s as though I’ve been waiting for you all my life.’ As soon as he said the words, he shook his head and groaned. ‘I can’t believe I just said that.’
Stephanie smiled, feeling her earlier apprehension float away with the mist. ‘Pretty corny, Dr Bowan.’
‘Yes, but nevertheless it’s the truth. As is the fact that I want to kiss you again.’
She felt a wave of pleasure spread over her at his words, warming her through and through. ‘When you say things like that, I find it hard to breathe.’
He nodded, still not making a move. ‘Hyperventilation isn’t good, Dr Brooks.’
She kept wondering why he didn’t make any effort to touch her. He was saying all the right things but not following through on them. Then it dawned on her. He wanted her to make the move, to let him know this really was what she wanted. She’d met him head on that morning but, still, he’d initiated the kiss. Now it was her turn, but she’d always let the man lead before.
‘Oliver.’ She reached and caressed his rough cheek with her fingertips. ‘I feel so vulnerable.’
‘So do I.’
‘I don’t know if this is a good idea or not.’
‘Neither do I.’
Her tongue came out to wet her lips and his gaze eagerly followed the action. Drawing on the yearning that seemed to have tripled in an instant, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.