Twin Surprise For The Italian Doc. Alison Roberts

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      And there it was again...

      Distraction. A delicious buzz of anticipation at the knowledge he would be seeing Georgia again.

      It had always been a given that he would thoroughly enjoy coming to this competition again.

      A smile took over his face as he spotted Georgia sitting in the driver’s seat of the girls’ vehicle. He just hadn’t realised how much better it would be this time.

      ‘Cute,’ he murmured.

      The swift glance from Luke held a note of surprise. Or maybe concern. Did he think that Matteo was here to chase women rather than focus on their performance? He thought fast, putting a casual smile on his face as he shifted his gaze from the woman in the driver’s seat. ‘I didn’t notice that before.’

      The look of surprise increased as Luke raised his eyebrows. ‘You mean Georgia? Or Kate?’

      Okay. Maybe his interpretation of that glance had been accurate.

      He hoped his laugh was as casual as his smile.

      ‘Oh, the girls are both cute but that wasn’t what I was looking at. Have you seen what is tied to the front of their car?’

      It was a stuffed toy bear that was wearing a kilt and holding a set of bagpipes.

      Matteo rolled down his window and pointed to the toy, raising his voice so that Georgia could hear him. ‘He is going to get dirty, I think.’

      ‘All part of the fun.’ Georgia was grinning at him as she called back. Holding his gaze.

      Mio Dio... That smile. The sparkle in those eyes. It was enough to make Matteo’s breath catch. For an odd warmth to ignite in his gut and then spread all the way through his body.

      What was it about this woman that was so different?

      So compelling?

      Could Georgia feel this same unusual level of attraction? Possibly not, by how focussed she clearly was on what she was about to do.

      ‘Which one of you is going to do the driving? You’re only allowed one person in the vehicle.’

      There was a hint of something in her eyes. A challenge perhaps? Or did she want to watch him showing what he was capable of?

      His lips twitched in a suppressed smile. He would be more than happy to demonstrate any skill she might be interested in—and he was apparently good at many things that women liked...

      But did Luke want to do the driving?

      No. His companion was already unclipping his safety belt.

      ‘You do it,’ he said to Matteo. ‘You’ve got far more experience with emergency driving skills than I have. I’ll wait with Kate.’

      ‘Cool.’ Matteo nodded as Luke got out of the car. He could focus now.

      He needed to know exactly what was required to make sure he aced this particular test.

      He needed to make sure he impressed Georgia...

      * * *

      ‘You’re a bit quiet, Georgie. Not worried about the next task, are you?’

      ‘Not at all. I was just thinking about that driving test. I could have done better.’

      Georgia wished she’d done better. She might not have been able to see his face but she’d known that Matteo was watching her and the effect had been to make her very uncharacteristically self-conscious. Clumsy even. She had felt his gaze on her like a physical touch of his hand on her skin and the hyperawareness it had created had messed with her concentration. How embarrassing had it been to send those road cones flying on her first attempt at the serpentine? It wasn’t until she had been able to shut him out of her thoughts that she’d been able to demonstrate what she was capable of.

      ‘You did great.’ Kate’s tone was reassuring.

      ‘Not as great as Matteo,’ Georgia muttered.

      Kate grinned. ‘He was something else, wasn’t he? I’ve never seen anyone drive like that. So fast. And he didn’t touch a single cone.’

      Georgia scowled. ‘Thanks for reminding me.’

      Kate laughed. ‘Let it go. I’ll bet there are other things he’s not as good at. He’s a boy. And he’s Italian. Maybe he had a Ferrari when he was a teenager.’

      Oh, man, there was an image to play with. A younger version of Matteo Martini. With much longer hair perhaps, behind the wheel of a very fast car. With that easy grin on his face and only one hand on the wheel because his other arm would be over the shoulders of the girl in the passenger seat. Because there would be a girl, no doubt about that. Or maybe his hand would be resting on her leg, his thumb making lazy circles on that sensitive skin on her inner thigh. The girl would be smiling, too, of course. Georgia certainly would be...

      It was ridiculous to experience a twinge of something so easily recognisable as envy.

      No, it was even worse than envy. This felt like jealousy, thanks to the way Georgia’s eyes were narrowing. She shook her head to stop it happening.

      ‘What’s the next task about?’

      ‘It’s called “School Bag”. We’re being called to a teacher who has tripped over a school bag and is lying on the floor, not moving. She’s unconscious but breathing. Head injury, do you think?’

      ‘I’m sure it won’t be that simple. We’ll have to make sure we rule out other causes of unconsciousness. Was the fall the cause or did she fall because of something else?’

      ‘Like a cardiac event.’

      ‘Yes. Or hypoglycaemia, drug overdose, a stroke, seizures, anaphylaxis, alcohol. It’s a long list.’

      ‘Let’s hope there’s someone around who can tell us exactly what happened. We need to know how she was acting immediately before she fell.’

      The only other people in the classroom with the unconscious woman, however, apart from the silent judges, were a group of young children who were taking every advantage of their teacher being unable to control them. Some were having a race around the room, jumping from one desk top to another. One was ripping pages from a textbook. They were all shouting and laughing.

      The teacher was lying face down near the blackboard. A school satchel was close to her feet, spilling its contents of an apple, drink bottle and box of pencils. Kate felt for a pulse on their patient’s neck the moment they got close enough.

      ‘Hello...can you hear me?’

      ‘You have no response,’ a judge informed her. ‘The heart rate is one hundred and twenty.’

      They rolled their patient carefully so that they could protect her airway. The noise in the classroom increased and Kate was hit on the head by a ball of screwed-up paper. Georgia’s head СКАЧАТЬ