Read Online Career Girl in the Country / The Doctor's Reason to Stay by Fiona Lowe / Dianne Drake - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Fiona Lowe / Dianne Drake
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‘This is a mistake.’ His words shredded the night air—harsh, ragged and uncompromising.
You’re a machine, Poppy, not a woman.
The memory of Steven’s voice taunted and the fire in her body chilled to ice. Her legs shook, followed by the rest of her, and she desperately wanted to evaporate like water against parched ground. Instead, she lifted her chin, locked down every emotion and pulled her blouse shut tight. ‘That’s what they all say.’
She strode to the car, slamming the door against his voice, and gunned the vehicle out of the car park, not caring how the hell he got home.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘E XACTLY
where
is Victor Chu’s fluid balance chart?’ Matt’s head pounded and the backs of his eyes ached.
Jen frowned but her mouth moved into an anxious smile. ‘It’s clipped to his chart board.’
‘If it was there, I wouldn’t be asking.’ He spun the chart board so it skidded across the desk. ‘His pulmonary oedema is worsening and he’s now on a strict fluid intake, which I’d write on the chart, if I could find it.’
She pulled the sheaf of charts out of the folder and started going through them one by one. ‘You don’t look very well. Do you need some of my winning combination of complex B and C vitamin drink?’
‘I’m
not
hungover.’
She smiled overly brightly as if she didn’t believe him and produced the elusive, pink, fluid balance chart.
‘I’m not.’ He sighed and tried to swallow his defensive tone. ‘I had a terrible night and no sleep.’ He wrote his orders on the chart and added a new drug regime in an attempt to dry Victor’s lungs and maximise the effectiveness of the weak beats of an old and tired heart. ‘I just need coffee.’
‘There’s a fresh pot in the lounge.’
He nodded his thanks and backed away from her sympathetic glance. He didn’t deserve it. Not this time when his lack of sleep had nothing to do with grief and everything to do with Poppy. God, why on earth had he kissed her?
But he knew why. He’d had plenty of time to think about it as he’d walked the three kilometres home. He poured himself a large mug of the aromatic brew and closed his eyes, instantly seeing Poppy’s plump, lush lips. He forced his lids open but it didn’t help—he could still see the after-image of their shape and colour, and that, combined with those startling eyes, had him almost permanently hard. It had rendered his restraint so thin it was friable. Last night, standing so close to her under that bright, white moon, with her intoxicating perfume spinning around him and her body heat rolling into his, it had all combined to demolish the tattered shreds of his self-control. All he’d known was that he’d ached to touch her, craved to taste her, and hungered to savour her.
So he had.
And she’d flooded him with unforeseen and unrestrained passion. Passion that had roared through him, feeding his desire with so much fuel that he’d almost combusted on the spot. His body had taken over, emptying his mind of everything except the white-hot pleasure of sex. And he’d revelled in it. It had been so long since he’d felt alive like that and nothing had existed except two hot bodies seeking each other.
Touch me.
Her tremulous and breathy voice had sliced through him, penetrating his lust-fogged mind like a knife and dumping reality upon him as he’d realised who he’d been kissing.
Not Lisa.
Hell, he’d had his tongue down the throatof another woman and it hadn’t been enough: he’d wanted so much more.
So he’d pulled away, despising himself for betraying Lisa.
What about betraying Poppy?
He stifled a groan and slugged more coffee. He hadn’t seen her since she’d stormed away from him and he’d been in no state then to even try and call her back. Even if his mind and voice had worked, he knew she would never have stopped to listen and he’d been incapable of telling her the truth.
‘Matt, ambulance is pulling in,’ Jen called out as
‘This is a mistake.’ His words shredded the night air—harsh, ragged and uncompromising.
You’re a machine, Poppy, not a woman.
The memory of Steven’s voice taunted and the fire in her body chilled to ice. Her legs shook, followed by the rest of her, and she desperately wanted to evaporate like water against parched ground. Instead, she lifted her chin, locked down every emotion and pulled her blouse shut tight. ‘That’s what they all say.’
She strode to the car, slamming the door against his voice, and gunned the vehicle out of the car park, not caring how the hell he got home.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘E XACTLY
where
is Victor Chu’s fluid balance chart?’ Matt’s head pounded and the backs of his eyes ached.
Jen frowned but her mouth moved into an anxious smile. ‘It’s clipped to his chart board.’
‘If it was there, I wouldn’t be asking.’ He spun the chart board so it skidded across the desk. ‘His pulmonary oedema is worsening and he’s now on a strict fluid intake, which I’d write on the chart, if I could find it.’
She pulled the sheaf of charts out of the folder and started going through them one by one. ‘You don’t look very well. Do you need some of my winning combination of complex B and C vitamin drink?’
‘I’m
not
hungover.’
She smiled overly brightly as if she didn’t believe him and produced the elusive, pink, fluid balance chart.
‘I’m not.’ He sighed and tried to swallow his defensive tone. ‘I had a terrible night and no sleep.’ He wrote his orders on the chart and added a new drug regime in an attempt to dry Victor’s lungs and maximise the effectiveness of the weak beats of an old and tired heart. ‘I just need coffee.’
‘There’s a fresh pot in the lounge.’
He nodded his thanks and backed away from her sympathetic glance. He didn’t deserve it. Not this time when his lack of sleep had nothing to do with grief and everything to do with Poppy. God, why on earth had he kissed her?
But he knew why. He’d had plenty of time to think about it as he’d walked the three kilometres home. He poured himself a large mug of the aromatic brew and closed his eyes, instantly seeing Poppy’s plump, lush lips. He forced his lids open but it didn’t help—he could still see the after-image of their shape and colour, and that, combined with those startling eyes, had him almost permanently hard. It had rendered his restraint so thin it was friable. Last night, standing so close to her under that bright, white moon, with her intoxicating perfume spinning around him and her body heat rolling into his, it had all combined to demolish the tattered shreds of his self-control. All he’d known was that he’d ached to touch her, craved to taste her, and hungered to savour her.
So he had.
And she’d flooded him with unforeseen and unrestrained passion. Passion that had roared through him, feeding his desire with so much fuel that he’d almost combusted on the spot. His body had taken over, emptying his mind of everything except the white-hot pleasure of sex. And he’d revelled in it. It had been so long since he’d felt alive like that and nothing had existed except two hot bodies seeking each other.
Touch me.
Her tremulous and breathy voice had sliced through him, penetrating his lust-fogged mind like a knife and dumping reality upon him as he’d realised who he’d been kissing.
Not Lisa.
Hell, he’d had his tongue down the throatof another woman and it hadn’t been enough: he’d wanted so much more.
So he’d pulled away, despising himself for betraying Lisa.
What about betraying Poppy?
He stifled a groan and slugged more coffee. He hadn’t seen her since she’d stormed away from him and he’d been in no state then to even try and call her back. Even if his mind and voice had worked, he knew she would never have stopped to listen and he’d been incapable of telling her the truth.
‘Matt, ambulance is pulling in,’ Jen called out as
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