Hired: GP and Wife / The Playboy Doctor's Surprise Proposal (20 page)

‘You and Niall aren’t planning to abscond while we are away?’ he said, and Caitlin could tell he was only half joking. ‘Because let me tell you, guys, as much as I am fond of your children there is no way I could survive more than one night with them.’

‘Hey,’ said Brianna, pretending to be affronted. ‘Would I ever want to be without my children?’ She smiled, but not before Caitlin saw a shadow flit across her eyes. Despite the brave way she was confronting her illness, she must inevitably think that there was always the possibility she wouldn’t be around to see her children grow up.

But she brightened up again as she and Niall, their arms around each other, watched their children pile into the car. Several trips back to the house for forgotten toys and musthave books later and they were heading out of Brisbane.

‘Only an hour late,’ Andrew said, glancing at his watch. ‘Not bad.’

‘Do you have nieces and nephews?’ Caitlin asked. ‘Coming from a large family, I have several.’

‘I’m an only child,’ Andrew replied. For a moment, Caitlin thought he was going to say something else but he seemed to change his mind.

‘I can’t imagine what that is like. With there being five of us, there was always so much activity in the house. It meant having to share, and often do without, as my parents weren’t very well off, but the bonus was we always had someone to play with. And now that we’re all older, we’re still close.’

‘Tell me about Ireland,’ Andrew said. ‘I’ve never been there.’

As they drove, Caitlin told Andrew about her life on the farm, how, when farming had become too difficult, her parents had changed direction and started breeding horses, which had turned out to be surprisingly successful. She told him about her three brothers and their families. Then, before she knew it, they were climbing the steep road into the mountains.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I must have bored you silly, going on like that.’

Andrew grinned at her.

The children, who had been listening to stories on a tape, perked up as they drove through the trees and emerged at the top of a mountain. Caitlin wound down the window and let the smell of eucalyptus waft in through the window. Flocks of vividly coloured parrots perched on every tree. Caitlin had never seen anything quite like it. As they got out of the air-conditioned car, Caitlin noticed that the air was noticeably cooler, and she sighed with pleasure. Within minutes they were surrounded by a gaggle of bush turkeys with their incongruous red and yellow necks. Gingerly Caitlin edged away from their pecking beaks as they scavenged for scraps.

Andrew laughed at her obvious discomfort as the children scampered away, shrieking with excitement.

‘Hey, kids, come back,’ Caitlin shouted. What if they fell down the steep slope in front of them? What if they hurt themselves? What if they got lost? She was beginning to regret that she had agreed to this trip. What did she know about looking after children? Although she loved her five nieces and nephews at home, their parents were always around to help. In fact, Caitlin realised with a pang of guilt, she had never taken time to do something with them. Tried to get to know them. She had always been too busy. It had taken something as serious as her sister’s illness for her to spend time with these two. But feeling guilty didn’t stop Caitlin feeling totally out of her depth.

As she started to run after them, Andrew caught her arm. ‘Relax,’ he said. ‘Let them blow some steam off after the journey. They’ll be fine.’

Feeling ridiculously out of her depth, she followed the children over to where the ground fell away. Beneath them she could see the canopy of the rainforest and in the distance the suspended walkway that Andrew had told her about. The one that would take them right across the top of the rainforest. Andrew unloaded their bags and joined her. The children, having lost interest in the rainforest, had discovered an adventure playground and had rushed off to join the children already there.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Caitlin breathed, taking in the view of the mountains in the distance. ‘We could be on our own small island here. It’s like nothing I have ever seen before.’

‘Come on,’ Andrew said, appearing delighted with her reaction. ‘Let’s check in and have some lunch.’

After checking in, they were shown to their rooms. Caitlin was to share the larger of the two with the children, while Andrew had a smaller double to himself. Both had decks overlooking the rainforest and fireplaces. Andrew’s even had a hot tub on his deck. Caitlin was glad she’d remembered to pack her bikini.

‘We’ll round up the children and then go for a walk,’ Andrew suggested. But the children were against that plan. They had made friends who were going to the children’s club and begged to be allowed to go too.

Caitlin hesitated. Would it be safe to leave them? After all, she was here to watch them and spend time with them. ‘I think you should come with Uncle Andrew and me,’ she said.

‘Do we have to?’ Siobhan moaned.

‘I want to stay here,’ Ciaran added, his mouth set in a mutinous line.

Once again Andrew intervened. He pulled Caitlin out of earshot. ‘Let them stay. The playground is supervised. The children need some time to have fun. I know they’re both too small to understand what’s going on with Brianna, but they are bound to have picked up that something isn’t quite right. Let them just have fun for a little while.’

‘Okay,’ Caitlin conceded. But she was thinking that it was unfair that this man, for all his machismo, seemed to have a better understanding of her niece and nephew’s needs than she did. Maybe it was something to do with being a paediatrician. He would have to be good with children to do his job well. In her speciality it was different. Once the babies were safely delivered, she had little to do with them. Hers was an adult speciality. Maybe she should trust his judgement. It was obvious to her he was far more relaxed around them than she was.

So after a very quick lunch, when the children hardly stayed still long enough to eat more than a couple of mouthfuls, she changed out of her shorts and into long trousers and hiking boots. Andrew had warned her about the insects on the forest floor. As soon as they had waved goodbye to Siobhan and Ciaran they set off down a steep track. As they descended the forest became denser, obscuring the sun. ‘That’s why they call it a canopy,’ Andrew informed Caitlin. They followed the stream, the sound of water becoming louder with every step. Soon they came into a clearing where a waterfall tumbled down mosscovered rocks into the stream. A sudden movement startled Caitlin and she grabbed Andrew’s arm. She found herself staring into the amber eyes of a brightly coloured toad, or frog—she didn’t know the difference.

‘You can let go now, if you like,’ Andrew suggested. ‘I don’t think we’re in any danger.’

Caitlin was mortified to find she was still clutching his arm. She could feel the heat of his skin under her fingers and the hard muscle of his forearm. She dropped her hand to her side.

‘I thought it was a snake or some other beastie,’ she apologised. ‘I don’t do those.’

‘They will be more scared of you then you of them, I promise,’ Andrew said.

‘It seems that whenever I’m around you, I act like some sort of pathetic female out of the nineteenth century.’ She laughed to cover her embarrassment.

‘I don’t think you’re pathetic at all,’ Andrew said. ‘In fact, I can imagine you more of a suffragette. Determined and tough, and not frightened of much, I would say.’ Something in the tone of his voice sent a shiver of electricity down Caitlin’s spine. The air crackled between them and she felt herself sway towards him. But then, just as quickly, the atmosphere changed. Andrew dropped his hand and moved away from her. Caitlin knew he was feeling whatever it was that lay between them. He was as attracted to her as she was to him. But she realised it was too complicated for them to start a relationship. They worked together, he was a family friend, godfather to her nephew, and then there was that strange comment from Brianna. The one about her not being Andrew’s type. All in all, whatever it was that lay between them was best left unexplored.

They walked for a couple of hours before turning round and strolling back the way they’d come. They chatted easily about work, and Andrew told her about his holiday cottage on the Sunshine Coast, just over an hour’s drive from Brisbane. ‘I try to go up at least twice a month,’ he said. ‘About the same number of times I do a clinic up there. You are welcome to use it whenever you like,’ he offered.

‘Thank you,’ Caitlin replied. ‘I might just take you up on the offer, if Brianna and the family would come too. You said I’ll be doing a clinic or two up there as well?’

‘We’ll probably do it at the same time. In many ways it’s sensible to have a paediatrician and obstetrician there together. It can save time and unnecessary trips for patients. In fact, I’m scheduled to do one next Friday. I can find out whether they’ve rostered an obstetrician in and ask if you can take their place. You can stay at the cottage as my guest. I could show you around on Saturday.’

Caitlin wasn’t at all sure whether a night in Andrew’s company on her own was a good idea. But she told herself not to be absurd. He was behaving just as she would expect a colleague who knew the family would. There was no reason to read anything more into it.

‘We’ll see,’ she said. ‘It depends on Brianna and Niall and their plans for the weekend. I don’t want them to feel abandoned. But whatever, I’d love to do the clinic if that’s a possibility.’

After dinner Caitlin put the children to bed. Happily they were exhausted after their afternoon’s excitement and soon drifted off. Andrew had suggested Caitlin might like to use the hot tub on his deck. His room was right next door to hers so they would hear the children if they woke up.

Caitlin slipped on her bikini and popped on the bathrobe that had been thoughtfully provided. The sun was turning the mountains purple and she stood on her balcony and watched as the sun slipped below the horizon. Despite all her worries about her sister she felt more at peace than she had been since she had heard the news. David had been dismayed when she had insisted on coming out here for six months, and when he’d refused to support her decision, Caitlin had realised that he wasn’t the man she thought he was. Their break-up had brought surprising relief and Caitlin knew, if she was honest with herself, that she had been using her work to avoid him for a while. The breakup had been amicable, but Caitlin had wondered if she would ever meet that special someone who would make her heart race. Much in the same way Andrew did. But that was ridiculous, she told herself. She hardly knew the man. He wasn’t her type, he lived thousands of miles away from her home, and—this was the biggie—she, according to her sister, had no chance with him.

The air was much cooler now that the sun had set, and Caitlin shivered. She knew that if Andrew had tried to kiss her back there in the forest she would have kissed him back. She had wanted him to kiss her. She had wanted to feel his lips on hers, his chest against hers. She was in lust. There was no denying the horrible truth. For the first time ever she had allowed a man to get under her skin and she didn’t know how she felt about that. Not good, came the immediate reply from that part of her brain that was still capable of rational thought. Not good at all.

She knocked on Andrew’s door. He had changed into jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. He also seemed oblivious to the fact he had a smear of soot on his forehead. He looked as sexy as hell, Caitlin thought.

‘I’m putting on a fire,’ he said. ‘It’s pretty cool now the sun has set.’

‘I can see that. You men just like making fires.’ Caitlin laughed. ‘Hang on just a moment.’ She licked her finger and, standing on tiptoe, reached up to wipe away the soot. As she leant towards him her bathrobe fell open. His hands reached down and encircled her waist, but only for a second. She saw surprise in his eyes, followed closely by something else—could it be desire?

‘I’ll just have a quick soak while you sort the fire out.’ She was dismayed to find she was almost breathless. She walked over to the tub and shed her bathrobe, placing her glasses by the side. But just before she stepped into the bubbling water, she noticed something fat and wriggly attached to her ankle. She peered at it in disgust. It seemed to be a worm of some description. She smothered a shriek of disgust and tugged, planning to fling the disgusting thing as far as she could. But the creature, it seemed, had other ideas. Now it was attached to her it seemed it had no intention of letting go. She couldn’t bear it any longer. Andrew must have caught the edge of her surprised squeak as he left the fire and came over to her.

‘Everything all right?’ he asked.

The last thing Caitlin wanted was for him to have to come to her rescue again, but the thought of spending the rest of the evening with an insect attached to her foot was equally unbearable.

‘There’s a worm or something stuck on my foot! I can’t get it off!’

‘Here, let me see,’ he said quietly. ‘Sit down on the chair over there.’

Caitlin hopped over to the chair.

Andrew took her foot in his lap. With one swift yank he had removed the offending visitor from Caitlin’s foot. Immediately blood began to ooze. He examined the insect with interest.

‘It’s a leech, but it’s gone now,’ he said. ‘Remember I suggested that you tuck your trousers into your socks on our walk? This is the reason why.’

‘Ugh,’ Caitlin said forcefully. All of a sudden she became aware that her foot was still in his lap and she was wearing nothing but her tiny bikini. She felt Andrew’s eyes flicker over her body. Slowly they took her in, from the tip of her toes, before coming to rest on her face. Every nerve in her body seemed to be tingling under his look. Abruptly he lifted her foot from his lap and stood.

‘We can stick a plaster on it. Reception’s bound to have one. I’ll just nip across and get one,’ he said.

‘It’s okay,’ Caitlin said, scrambling to her feet. ‘It’ll stop bleeding soon enough.’ But it looked as if Andrew couldn’t wait to get away from her. Grief, did he think this was some half-baked attempt to seduce him? How mortifying.