Masquerade (4 page)

Lip to lip, chest to chest, hip to hip. They were made for each other.

He dealt with the necessary protection and paused above her, holding himself a hair’s breadth away from her entrance. His lips gently touched hers, belying the muscle and strength and power enclosing her and asked her a simple question.

“Are you sure? Just tonight?”

She fully appreciated his question, but if she didn’t want to be here she wouldn’t have followed him to his room. She knew what was at stake.

In answer to his question, she lifted her hips encouraging him to take what she was offering.

With a single thrust, he slid inside her warm, moist center. She arched her back, sighing, relishing the feel of him as her inner muscles contracted around him. Then she was lost as every increasing thrust swept her up in a vortex of sensations, leading up to the moment where they both were crying out their completion.

He held her close, raining soft kisses over her face as her body subsided from the power of her climax. Even in her sensual haze, Sophie wondered whether one night with Alex would be enough. Would she have the strength to walk away from him? It was something she didn’t want to think about right at that moment. She would just enjoy the rest of the night and deal with the aftermath at a later time. When she had her erratic emotions under control.

If she ever did.

• • •

Sophie gazed down at the man sleeping peacefully in the big bed. He was the man who’d played her body like a first violinist in an orchestra. He’d made her body hum and sing like no one ever had.

Now she must walk away.

Alex had said he wasn’t in a place for a relationship and with her new promotion neither was she. A relationship between them would never work. Her hours were long, erratic, demanding, and, at times, tragic. She would disappoint and let him down time and time again. He needed someone who would always be at his side.

She would take the memories they had created and when life got unbearable, she would bring them out and soothe her frazzled nerves.

How she longed to climb back in that bed and throw all caution to the wind. But she couldn’t. She had to be strong.

Their night together was something out of the ordinary. A fairytale, but one that could never have a happy ending. She would never see him again.

She touched her fingers to her lips and then placed them against his bare shoulder. She daren’t place them anywhere else in case he woke.

Picking up her shoes and purse she walked toward the door, and with one last glance over her shoulder, she turned the handle and walked out.

• • •

It might’ve been the click of the door. It might’ve been the empty space in the bed where a warm body should’ve been. It might’ve been instinct that jolted Alex out of his slumber, but whatever it was, he knew that sleep would be elusive for the rest of the night.

Sophie had left.

He didn’t bother calling out; stillness permeated the air. He knew she had gone. All she’d left behind was the elusive scent of her subtle perfume and a crushed pillow.

Flinging back the covers, he slung his legs over the side of the bed, breathing deeply as he thrust his fingers through his hair, bringing memories hurtling back of Sophie doing exactly the same at the height of her passion.

He swore and banished the memories from his mind. It was one night, both had agreed. Then why did he feel one night would never, ever be enough? He’d been captivated by her from the moment he’d caught a glimpse of her silver dress. She’d stood out among the sea of people. When he found himself seated next to her, it had taken all he had not to reach out and touch her blonde hair. He gave a small smile as he recalled the way her eyes are sparkled blue fire when she’d pierced the prawn as if it had bitten her. The soft curve of her mouth when she smiled at something someone said. Her skin was as soft as it had looked when he touched her. Her beauty was classic and ethereal, that was the only way he could describe her. He would remember their one night for a long time.

He pulled on his trousers and wandered over to the window where the curtains still stretched across the glass, stifling the room.

Opening the heavy material, his gaze was drawn to the horizon. The first fingers of a new day glowed behind the hills, beckoning him to embrace all the wonders of a new year. Like a new baby crying out its welcome when it first enters the world from the safety of its mother’s womb.

Fingers touching, curling on the cool glass, he accepted the invitation the sun offered. He had a new job and adventure to look forward to.

A relationship would never have worked between him and Sophie. He’d tried that once, even going so far as to marry. But the pressures of his career and the hours he worked made a relationship too hard to maintain. No woman liked playing second best to patients.

Sophie would never understand the life of a doctor. She was a society woman who expected to attend charitable functions on any given evening, like the ball last night. He would disappoint her again and again and again with a phone call each time to say he was caught up with a patient.

No, it was better this way. Better that she’d left and they didn’t have to face the awkward morning-after talk.

He would embrace his new position and put this night down to a beautiful memory.

It was what they’d agreed on — one night. Only somehow, he knew it would be a long time before he experienced a night like that again.

“I need that IV in now. What the hell is the hold up?” the intern on duty thundered nervously at her.

Sophie took a steadying breath, willing her fingers to still their shaking. It was a procedure she had done time and time and time again but today, her first day back after her break, her mind was full of cotton wool.

It didn’t help that the patient’s veins were near impossible to locate due to his injuries.

She pushed the cannulae into the vein she’d finally been able to source, the small blue line raising weakly against the skin of his hand. She felt a slight resistance before, at last, the quick slide of the needle as it entered the vein. She relaxed at the reassuring sight of the trickle of blood coming through the hub.

“I’m in and attaching the second IV now. Blood for a transfusion should be here shortly.”

She checked the flow of the other IV and was satisfied it was still providing the patient with much needed life-saving fluid. She focused solely on the task of stabilizing the young motorcyclist. He needed her to be on top of her game, not letting her mind wander to places it shouldn’t be.

She could hear the yelling of instructions around her. A multi-car accident had everyone working to capacity. What they really needed in here was a set of experienced hands. The intern should be out handling a patient with non-life threatening injuries. Today they were short a doctor and desperately needed all hands on deck with the traumas coming through the doors. It was why she was helping with this particular victim; she could gently prod the doctor until a resident was free.

In the next instant, the privacy curtain was thrust aside. Hopefully, help had finally arrived.

“What’s the status of the patient?”

She stilled, that voice, so rich and sensual and commanding. Totally unforgettable. A voice that sent her insides quivering like the ripples on a pond after a stone had been thrown in. The last voice she expected to hear in her hospital. With her heart hammering loudly, like an orchestra of kettledrums, she raised her eyes and glanced at the newcomer. Hoping against hope her assumption was wrong.

Luck wasn’t on her side.

It was Alex.

His dress and tone were that of a medical professional, not a scared relative.

Her hand gripped the IV stand. Her stomach dropped to her feet and the blood rushed to her head. She thought she was going to faint. She gulped in air, trying to calm her frazzled nerves.

What was he doing here?

She bit the inside of her lip, wishing she would wake up and find out it was all a dream. A dream brought on by nerves from starting her new position. But all the biting achieved was a throb on her lower lip.

She was still in the resus cubicle. And, now, so was her one night stand.

Her fantasy lover, the man she’d pushed aside her inhibitions for. He wasn’t meant to turn up for real in her life. He was meant to stay as a memory. One she pulled out of the recesses of her mind when life got too much to bear. He especially was not meant to turn up in her professional life.

How could this be happening?

If she’d had any idea on New Year’s Eve that he was a doctor, and that the next time she’d see him would be in her hospital, there was no way she would’ve followed him into his hotel room.

What was she going to do?

The beeping of the monitor forced her attention back to her patient. She would have to deal with Alex turning up at the hospital after her patient was in a more stable condition.

Adopting what she hoped was a voice he wouldn’t recognize she listed out the injuries.

“Twenty-four-year-old male motorcyclist presenting with suspected fractures to his skull, left femur, and tibia. More than likely a crushed pelvis.” She took a breath before continuing with the list. “Significant blood loss, saline IV attached. Bloods are on the way. The patient was also given a shot of morphine at the scene. We’ll know the full extent of his injuries once he’s stable enough to be taken up to x-ray.”

She couldn’t avoid it any longer — she had to face him. It would be career suicide if she ignored a doctor. She didn’t want to be reported to the new director of emergency, either. How ironic if the new nursing unit manager was reported on her first day on the job. Déjà vu all over again.

Imagining her spine was made of unbending steel, she raised her eyes and met his penetrating gaze head on.

She saw the shock filter across his face before it was quickly blanked out. She thought for a moment she’d imagined it. He turned his attention back to the other doctor.

“I’ll take it from here,” he commanded, slipping his stethoscope from around his neck and placing it on the victim’s chest. His brow furrowed at what he was hearing.

She watched as he flicked the stethoscope out of his ears. His nimble fingers began to palpate the patient’s stomach. She remembered how they’d felt as he’d feathered them across her skin.

Stop it. You have a potentially dying patient and you’re remembering the feel of his fingers on your skin. Concentrate.

“I don’t like the feel of his abdomen, his breathing is shallow. How’s his pressure?” Alex’s impersonal tone dragged her out of her inner thoughts.

Now wasn’t the time to be dwelling on things she had no control over. Calling on her professional training, she did what she was trained to do — put a patient’s needs above her own.

“Not good, he needs to be in theater, not down here.”

Sophie glanced up and her eyes met Alex’s, the expression in his gaze unreadable. His voice washed over her again. “Then let’s get him there.”

Sophie pulled herself together as she worked side by side with the man who could, potentially, ruin her career. How she kept her cool, she had no idea. They worked together in perfect harmony. Every time she anticipated Alex’s every move, question and request, she could hear the respect growing in his voice. Clearly, he hadn’t expected her to be able to deal with an emergency. What
was
his impression of her on New Year’s Eve?

Did he think she was purely a socialite? It was highly likely he did — most people thought she flitted around the social scene the first time they met her.

But here she was, showing her worth and providing him with information he needed even before he asked. It was as if they had been working together for years, not twenty minutes. Perhaps they’d connected in more than just a physical way that night.

She shuttered her thoughts. She didn’t want to go there. Not yet. She knew the night had to be dealt with — if left alone it could, like a simple scratch, fester into something more serious.

“Right, let’s get him upstairs.”

Again Alex’s voice penetrated her thoughts as finally the patient was stable enough to be transferred to x-ray. His prognosis didn’t look hopeful but she sent a silent prayer to anyone who may be listening that the young patient would make it. She also gave silent thanks that Alex had accompanied the patient, giving her some breathing space. Some time to collect her thoughts before the inevitable confrontation between them happened.

Ripping off her bloodstained gloves, she threw them into the trash, thankful her shift was finally over. If only she could solve her other problems like that. Rip them off and throw them away like a pair of soiled gloves.

She should be elated. She’d survived her first shift in her new position as nursing unit manager — only just. Helping out with a multi-trauma accident wasn’t what she’d expected on her first day. But she knew occurrences like that were going to be rare — her job was now going to be more administration based, with the added perk of mentoring a new breed of nurse.

She dispelled the memories of the last time she’d held the position. The way she’d crumbled under the pressure. Not this time, though. This time she wasn’t going to let the self-defeating talk take her over. Demeaning and eroding her self-esteem like she let it the last time. She was a stronger person now and she was going to be the best unit manager the department had ever seen.

With that resolve thrumming through her, she made her way to the staffroom. She had just enough time to grab a quick coffee before handling the paperwork for change of shift, and maybe a chance to start on all the other administrative papers already starting to mount on her desk.

When was the new director of emergency going to show up and take some of the load off her? She had hoped he’d arrive before her shifted ended.

Just her luck he’d be some arrogant, old-fashioned doctor who looked down his nose at nurses. What joy it would be sharing an office with someone like that. He’d probably demand she do her work at the triage desk.