Australian Affairs: Tempted: Tempted by Dr. Morales. Carol Marinelli

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СКАЧАТЬ CHAPTER ONE

      ‘SORRY, JUAN, I didn’t mean to wake you.’ Cate Nicholls stopped twisting a long brown curl around her finger and cringed at the sound of Juan’s deep, heavily ac- cented—but clearly sleepy—voice when he answered the phone.

      ‘It is no problem. Is that you, Cate?’

      ‘Yes.’ She blushed a little that Juan had recognised her voice. He had only done a few locum shifts at the Melbourne Bayside Hospital emergency department, but the tension between them sizzled. Cate had tried everyone she could think of before finally accepting Harry’s suggestion and phoning Juan to see if he could come in. A fully qualified anaesthetist from Argentina, he was travelling around the world for a year or two and was as sexy-as-sin as a man could possibly be and still remain popular. ‘I’m really sorry to have disturbed you. Were you working last night?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘Oh!’ Cate glanced up at the clock—it was two p.m., why on earth would he still be in bed? Then Cate heard the sound of a female voice and cringed again as Juan told whoever the woman was that he took three sugars in his coffee. Then his silken voice returned to Cate.

      ‘So, what can I do for you?’

      ‘Sheldon called in sick and we haven’t been able to get anyone else in to cover him.’

      ‘Does Harry know that you’re calling me?’

      Cate laughed—Harry, one of the senior emergency department consultants, went into sulking mode whenever Juan was around; he was still annoyed that Juan had knocked back his offer of a three-month contract to work in the department. ‘It was Harry who suggested that I call you.’

      ‘So, what time do you want me to come in?’

      ‘As soon as you can get here.’ Cate looked out at the busy emergency department. ‘It’s really starting to fill up…’ She paused for a moment as Harry said something. ‘Could you hold on, please, Juan?’ Cate called out to Harry, ‘What did you say?’

      ‘Tell Juan that even though we really need him to get here as soon as possible, he can stop for a haircut on the way if he feels so inclined!’

      Juan’s shaggy long black hair, unshaven appearance and relaxed dress sense drove Harry crazy and Cate was smiling as she got back to her conversation with Juan. ‘I assume that you heard that?’

      ‘I did,’ Juan answered. ‘Tell Harry that he loves me really.’ Cate listened as Juan yawned and stretched and she tried not to think about him in bed, naked, at two in the afternoon. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I’ll just have a quick shower and I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

      ‘Thanks, Juan.’ Cate hung up the phone and wrote his name on the board. Harry glanced over and gave a quick shake of his head.

      ‘If ever there was a man inappropriately named, it’s Dr Morales,’ Harry said, and Cate had to laugh. Juan had quite a reputation, and even just writing his name down would have a few staff scurrying off to check their make-up and hair.

      Cate refused to.

      Washing her hands before heading back out to the patients, she saw her reflection in the mirror. Yes, her shoulder-length hair could do with being re-tied and her serious hazel eyes might look better with a slick of mascara, but she simply refused to make that effort for Juan.

      She wasn’t about to play with fire.

      With three older brothers who had all been wild, to say the least, not a lot shocked the rather sensible Cate, but Juan managed to at times—either with his daredevil sports or with the endless women he briefly bedded. He raised more than a few eyebrows when he happily regaled his colleagues with tales of his trip around Australia, but what shocked Cate most was the internal fight she was having to put up to not simply give in to that sensual smile and dive headfirst into his bed.

      They had hit the ground flirting but then Cate had backed off—soon realising that Juan and his rather reprobate ways were far more than she could handle.

      Cate had returned from two weeks’ annual leave, newly single after breaking up with her boyfriend of more than two years, and her stomach had turned over at the very sight of Juan. She’d never had such a violent reaction to anyone and, foolishly, she had told herself she was just testing out her flirting wings on the sexy locum, just indulging in a little play flirt the first time they had met.

      Cate had never really thought he’d ask her to join him for a drink that night, though his eyes had said bed.

      She still burnt at the memory of their first meeting—the rush that had come as she’d met his grey eyes, the desire to say yes, to hell with it all, for once to give in and choose to be reckless. Instead, she had refused his offer politely and, in the few times she’d seen him since then, Cate had played things down—denied the attraction that sizzled between them and tried her best to keep things strictly about work.

      ‘Juan is a very good doctor, though,’ Cate reminded Harry, because even if Juan was a bit of a rake, there was no disputing that fact.

      ‘Yes, but his talent’s wasted,’ Harry said, but then sighed. ‘Maybe I’m just envious.’

      ‘I’ve never met a more talented emergency doctor than you,’ Cate said, and she meant it. Harry was a fantastic emergency doctor as well as a highly renowned hand surgeon, only it wasn’t Juan’s medical talent that Harry was referring to.

      ‘I meant maybe I’m envious of Juan’s freedom, his take-it-or-leave-it attitude. He actually doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks. It would be lovely just to work one or two shifts a week and spend the rest of the time kicking back!’ Harry gave a wry smile. ‘But, then, Juan doesn’t have four-year-old twins to worry about. Make that, Juan doesn’t have anything to worry about.’

      ‘Are things not getting any better?’ Cate asked. She liked Harry a lot and had been devastated for him when his wife had been brought in last year after a car crash. Jill had died two weeks later in ICU, leaving Harry a single father to his young twins, Charlotte and Adam.

      ‘The nanny just handed in her notice,’ Harry said. ‘Another one!’

      Cate gave a sympathetic groan but Harry just rolled his eyes and headed back out to deal with the patients. ‘It will sort itself out,’ Harry said.

      ‘Ooh!’ Kelly smiled when she saw Juan’s name up on the board. ‘That just brightened up my afternoon! With a bit of luck Juan will come out for drinks with us tonight after work.’ Kelly winked.

      ‘I’m sure that he will,’ Cate said. ‘I can’t make it, though.’

      ‘Come on, Cate,’ Kelly pushed. ‘You said that you would. It’s Friday night, you can’t sit around moping about Paul…’

      ‘I’m not moping about Paul. When I said that I’d come out, I didn’t realise that I was working in the morning,’ Cate lied.

      ‘But you said that you’d drive,’ Kelly reminded her. ‘It’s still a week till payday.’

      Yes, Cate thought, she had said she’d drive but that had been before she had СКАЧАТЬ