Letting Go With Dr Rodriguez. Fiona Lowe

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СКАЧАТЬ Creek and the surrounding district.

      A fizz of anger shook him and for the first time in a long, long time his inherent good manners deserted him. He didn’t greet her and instead left her extended hand hovering between them.

      Damn it. Lucy’s plan of coming unobserved into the clinic after hours was unravelling faster than a skein of wool in the claws of a cat. It had taken all day to drive from Perth and she’d only arrived half an hour ago. During that time she’d been parked outside in her new car with a cap pulled low on her head so she wouldn’t be recognised. She didn’t want to talk to anyone in town before she’d seen William and she wanted to read his medical file before she spoke to him.

      When Sue had finished her methodical locking-up routine and had double checked everything, Lucy had been certain the clinic was empty and that she was good to go. Even then, she’d held back, checking the immediate area for other cars parked in the clinic car park or nearby. Only then had she been convinced the building was empty.

      You got that wrong.

      She had to fight hard not to bite her lip. That the man in front of her could grace the runway of a fashion show and make every woman in the crowd swoon was a given, but considering an average-looking guy had just tossed her aside, treating fidelity as if it was completely expendable, she was now giving all men a wide berth. No matter how handsome or how thick, dark and wavy was the hair which fell over the top of tanned ears and teased fingers to brush it back, she would not be tempted. She was especially impervious to square, broad shoulders that despite her being in her highest heels were at perfect head-resting height. She’d been fooled by the promise of a safe haven more than once.

      No, the effort required not to bite her lip came from the derisive look that scoured his high cheek bones and burned from his rich-cocoa-coloured eyes. The look that said, I wouldn’t touch your hand if you were the last woman on earth.

      He crossed his toned arms with their dark hairs almost standing on end over his wide chest and completely ignored her hand. ‘I do not know you.’ His accent thickened. ‘You should not be here.’

      You know he’s correct.

      She gritted her teeth against her conscience and told herself she had the right to be here. Mustering up a smile, the winning one she’d used a lot as a child to get her own way, she forced her hand to stay hovering between them despite wanting to whip it back by her side and dry the sweat on her jeans. All she needed to do was explain who she was and her plan would be safe. ‘I’m Lucy Patterson. You emailed me about William.’

      ‘You’re William’s daughter?’ Chocolate brows shot halfway up an intelligent forehead and his gaze raked her from head to toe as disbelief momentarily pushed his anger aside.

      She was used to this reaction, having experienced it often from the age of sixteen when it had become obvious she was never going to grow any taller. Once it had made her laugh and she’d had a steady stream of jokes at the ready about her and William’s excessive height differences. Only that had been before everything had changed and a lifetime lie had been exposed. ‘Like I said, I’m Lucy Patterson.’ She tilted her extended hand slightly.

      He slowly uncrossed his folded arms and slid his right palm against hers, his long fingers curving around her hand like a splash of dark paint against a white canvas. The heat burned her, shooting up her arm before diving deep and leaving behind a trail of addictive tingles and shivers.

      Oh, no. Not now and not here. Shocked at her body’s reaction, she abruptly pulled her hand away to the safety of her side. After the debacle that had been her relationship with Daniel, she didn’t want or need any type of attraction to any man. Especially one in Bulla Creek where she wouldn’t live again even if they paid her.

      Marco didn’t seem to have noticed her hasty end to their handshake. ‘Lucy Patterson, why are you here?’

      Lucy wondered if perhaps his English wasn’t as good as she’d assumed. She smiled again. ‘You wrote to me and asked me to come, so here I am.’

      Two deep lines etched into the bridge of his nose. ‘I asked you to come and visit your father, not the computer in this office.’

      The muscles in her cheeks ached from the continual bright smile. A smile that didn’t seem to be having any effect on its intended target. She went for chatty. ‘I’m not sure what doctors are like where you come from, but in Australia the combination of being male and a doctor makes the worst type of patient.’

      Marco tilted his head in thought and a curl fell forward. ‘This may be.’

      Yes, she was getting somewhere. ‘So it makes sense for me to read his medical history before I see him.’

      So now you’re lying to other people and not just yourself.

      Again, she silenced her conscience. Let me do things my way.

      Marco continued to stare at her with a questioning look. ‘But you are not William’s doctor.’

      ‘No, but I am a doctor.’

      Again his gaze censored her. ‘Then you should know better.’

      She tossed her head, overriding the sliver of guilt that pierced her and instead converted it into righteous indignation. ‘William hasn’t mentioned to me that he broke his leg and at his age a fall can be a sign of other things so it makes sense for me to read his file.’

      ‘Your father is not so ill that he can’t speak. William is very capable of telling you the information.’ A look of realisation suddenly shone brightly in his enigmatic eyes. ‘Have you spoken to him?’

      She shrugged so as not to squirm and held onto her bravado. ‘Thank you for emailing me, but I’ve got it all under control.’ She moved back toward the computer.

      In two long strides he was by her side with his hands on her upper arms and suddenly her feet left the floor.

      Abject offence roared through her. ‘Hey! Put me down.’

      A moment later, she was back on terra firma with Marco, feet wide apart, standing solidly between her and the computer and blocking her path.

      His glare matched hers—incensed and scowling. ‘As William’s doctor and partner in this practice, I will not allow you to read his file without his permission.’

      She held onto her dignity by a thread. ‘I’m his next of kin.’

      ‘Sí, so you know that does not give you the right to read his file.’ His hand shot out. ‘You have a key to the clinic?’

      Her arms shot over her chest as guilt and anger hammered her. ‘I’m not giving it to you.’

      ‘You do not work here and I do not trust you.’

      ‘I grew up here.’ Words spluttered in her throat, chained by a rush of conflicting emotions that made her sway. ‘God, I spent so many Saturday mornings playing in the waiting room that it was my second home. You’re the stranger here, buddy, not me.’

      He didn’t even flinch. If anything he seemed more implacable than ever and the quietness of his voice didn’t hide for a moment his firm intent. ‘Go and talk with your father.’

      The СКАЧАТЬ