Читать книгу Medical Romance October 2016 Books 1-6 - Amy Andrews - Страница 11

CHAPTER ONE

‘OMG, FLICK, I wish you’d been able to see this place.’

Luci had spoken to her best friend several times already today but she couldn’t resist calling her again to update her on her good fortune.

‘It’s nice, then?’ She could hear the smile in Flick’s voice.

‘Nice! It’s amazing.’ Luci wandered around the apartment while she chatted. ‘It’s right on the harbour. The beach is just across the road. I’m looking at the sea as we speak.’ She could hear the waves washing onto the shore and smell the salt in the air. ‘I don’t know how Callum is going to manage in my little house.’

It was a bit odd to be walking around a stranger’s apartment. Luci had spent her whole life surrounded by people she knew so to travel halfway across the country to swap houses with a stranger was odd on so many levels. It had all happened so quickly she hadn’t had time to consider how it would feel. Callum Hollingsworth’s apartment on the shores of Sydney Harbour was modern and masculine. While her house wasn’t particularly feminine it was old and decorated in what she guessed people would call country style. No surprises there, it was definitely a country house. It was clear that her house-swap partner’s taste in decorating was quite different from hers. She felt self-conscious, wondering what he would think of her place, before she realised it didn’t matter. She didn’t plan on meeting the guy.

She heard the whistle of the Indian Pacific through the phone. The two friends had spent the past few days chilling on Bondi Beach, a girls’ getaway that Flick had suggested before Luci settled into her house swap and study course in Sydney, and Flick returned to South Australia on the iconic trans-continental train.

‘Are you on the train?’ Luci asked.

‘Not yet,’ Flick replied. ‘I’m just grabbing a coffee and waiting to board.’

‘Make sure you call me when you get home,’ she told her.

‘Of course I will. What are you going to do with the rest of your day?’

‘I think I’ll take a stroll around my new neighbourhood. The hospital is a half-hour walk away so I might head in that direction. Work out where I have to be tomorrow. I don’t want to be late.’ Luci was enrolled in an eight-week course in child and family health being run through the North Sydney Hospital and she needed to get her bearings. ‘Look after my mum and dad for me.’

That was her one big concern. As an only child of elderly parents—her mother called her their ‘change of life’ baby—Luci was nervous about being so far away from them, but Flick had promised to keep an eye on them. It wasn’t hard for her to do as Luci’s dad was the local doctor and Flick worked for him as a practice nurse.

‘I will. Enjoy yourself.’

Luci ended the call and had another wander around. It wasn’t a massive apartment—there was an open-plan kitchen, living and dining room with a large balcony that looked out to the beach across the road. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a small laundry finished it off, but it had everything she would need. She dumped her bags in the spare bedroom. Having the two bedrooms was a bonus because she didn’t feel comfortable about taking over Callum’s room. That felt too familiar.

The sun shone on the water of Sydney Harbour, white boats bobbed and the houses peeked out between eucalyptus trees. Luci couldn’t believe how perfect it looked. She’d grown up in country South Australia, born and bred in Vickers Hill in the Clare Valley, and she’d never travelled far. Her father very rarely took holidays and when he did they spent them on the coast, but the coast she was familiar with was the Gulf of St Vincent with its calm waters, like a mill pond. It never felt like the real ocean.

Then, when she’d married her high-school sweetheart at the age of twenty-one, they’d had no money for holidays. She’d married young, as had most of her friends, but she hadn’t found the happy-ever-after she’d wanted. Like so many other marriages, hers hadn’t lasted and she found herself divorced and heartbroken at twenty-five.

But now, perhaps, it was time to travel. To see something of the world. She couldn’t change what had happened, the past was the past. She had grieved for a year, grieved for the things she had lost—her marriage, her best friend and her dream of motherhood—but she was recovering now and she refused to believe that her life was over. Far from it. She had a chance now to reinvent herself. Her teenage dream needed some remodelling and this was her opportunity to figure out a new direction, if that’s what she decided she wanted. She was finally appreciating the freedom she had been given; she was no longer defined by her status as daughter, girlfriend or wife. No one in Sydney knew anything about her. She was just Luci.

It was time to start again.

* * *

Luci turned off the shower and wrapped herself in one of the fluffy towels that she’d found in the guest bathroom. She pulled the elastic band from her hair, undoing the messy bun that had kept her shoulder-length bobbed blonde hair dry, then dried herself off. She was exhausted and she was looking forward to climbing into bed. She was far more tired than she’d expected to be. She’d spent the past three days sitting in lectures. She’d thought that would be easier than the shift work on the wards that she was used to, but it was mentally tiring.

Still, it was almost the end of her first week. Only two more days to go before the weekend. Perhaps then she’d have a chance to see something of this side of Sydney. She and Flick had walked from Bondi to Bronte and back and had spent the rest of their time relaxing. Sightseeing hadn’t been high on their agenda but Luci had never visited Sydney before and she wanted to get a feel for the city.

She was familiar with the route from Callum’s apartment in Fairlight to the hospital on the opposite side of the Manly peninsula as she was walking that route every day. She was getting to know the local shopkeepers and was exchanging ‘good mornings’ with a couple of regular dog walkers. It was a far cry from Vickers Hill, where she couldn’t take two steps down the main street without bumping into someone she knew, but she was starting to feel a little more at home here. She kept herself busy, not wanting to give herself a chance to be homesick. Being somewhere new was exciting, she told herself, and she had limited time so she needed to make the most of her opportunities.

The people in her course were getting friendlier by the day. It seemed city folk took a little longer to warm up to strangers but Luci had gone out to dinner tonight with a few of them, just a burger in Manly, but it was a start and Luci knew she’d feel even more at home after another week.

She knew where to catch the ferry to the city and she’d walked on the beach but she hadn’t yet had time to test the water in the tidal swimming pool that was built into the rocks. That would be added to her list of things to do. She hadn’t done nearly as much exploring as she had planned to, and if all the weeks were this busy, her two months in Sydney would fly past. She’d have to make time to see the sights, but first she needed some sleep.

She hung the towel on the rail in the bathroom, went through to her bedroom and slid naked between her bedsheets. She kept the window blinds up and the window slightly open. From the bed she could see the stars in the sky and the sound of the ocean carried to her on the warm spring air. The ocean murmured to itself as it lapped the shore. It was gentle tonight and she could imagine the waves kissing the sand, teasing gently before retreating, only to come back for more.

She dozed off to the sound of the sea.

* * *

It felt like only moments later that she woke to an unfamiliar sound. A slamming door.

She was still getting used to the different sounds and rhythms of the city. She could sleep through the early morning crowing of a rooster and the deep rumble of a tractor but the slightest noise in the middle of suburbia disturbed her. Rubbish trucks, the tooting of ferry horns, slamming of car doors and the loud conversations of late-night commuters or drinking buddies on their way home from the pub all intruded on her dreams, but this noise was louder than all of those. This noise was close.

She heard footsteps on the wooden floorboards and saw light streaming under her bedroom door as the passage light flicked on.

Shit. There was someone in the house.

She put her hand on her chest. Her heart was racing.

What should she do?

Call out?

No, that would only draw attention to herself.

Find a weapon of some sort? She’d seen a set of golf clubs but they were in a cupboard near the front door. She couldn’t get to them and there was nothing in the bedroom. Maybe a shot of hair spray to the face would work—if only she used hairspray.

Should she call the police? But how quickly would they get here? Not fast enough, she assumed.

She had no idea what to do. She’d never had to fend for herself.

She sat up in bed, and scrabbled for her phone in the dark. She was too afraid to turn on the light, worried it would draw the attention of the intruder. She clutched the sheet to her chest to cover her nakedness. Perhaps she should find some clothes first. She didn’t want to confront a burglar while naked.

She could hear him crossing the living room. The tread of the steps were heavy. Man heavy. She could hear boots. The steps weren’t light and delicate. He wasn’t making any attempt to be quiet. There was a loud thump as something soft but weighty hit the floor. It didn’t sound like a person. A bag maybe? A bag of stolen goods?

Her heart was still racing and the frantic pounding almost drowned out the sound of the footsteps. That made her pause. This had to be the world’s noisiest burglar. She hadn’t had much experience with burglars but surely they would generally try to be quiet? This one was making absolutely no attempt to be silent. Plus he had turned the lights on. Definitely not stealthy.

He was a terrible burglar, possibly one of the worst ever.

But maybe he thought the house was empty? Perhaps she should make some noise? Enough noise for two people.

She heard the soft pop as the seal on the fridge door was broken. She frowned. Now he was looking in the fridge? Making himself at home. She was positive it wasn’t Callum. Luci had spoken to Flick earlier in the day. Callum had well and truly arrived in Vickers Hill and according to her friend he was creating a bit of a stir. Luci hoped he wasn’t going to prove difficult—he was supposed to be making things easier for her dad, not harder, but she couldn’t do much about it. All it meant to her was that it wasn’t Callum in the apartment. And she was pretty sure by now that it wasn’t a burglar either, but that still meant a stranger was in the house.

She needed to get dressed.

She switched on the bedside light and was halfway out of bed when she heard the footsteps moving along the passage. While she was debating her options she saw the bedroom door handle moving.

OMG, they were coming in.

‘You’d better get out of here. I’ve called the police,’ she yelled, not knowing what else to do.

The door handle continued to turn and a voice said, ‘You’ve done what?’

When it became obvious that the person who belonged to the voice was intent on entering her room she jumped back into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, grabbing her phone just in case she did need to call the cops.

‘I’ll scream,’ she added for good measure.

But the door continued to open and a vision appeared. Luci wondered briefly if she was dreaming. Her heart was racing at a million miles an hour but now she had no clue whether it was due to nerves, fear, panic or simple lust. This intruder might just be the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on. Surely someone this gorgeous couldn’t be evil?

But then Ted Bundy sprang to mind. He was a good-looking, charming, educated man who just happened to be a serial killer. ‘Don’t come any closer,’ she said.

He stopped and held his hands out to his sides. ‘I’m not going to hurt you, but who the hell are you and what are you doing in my room?’ he said.

‘Your room?’

Was this Callum? She was certain she’d chosen the guest bedroom but, anyway, what was he doing here? He couldn’t have got back to Sydney that quickly. He was supposed to be a thousand miles away, staying in her house. That was how a house swap worked. ‘Why aren’t you in Vickers Hill?’

‘What the heck is Vickers Hill?’

Luci frowned. ‘Who are you?’

He couldn’t be Callum. So whose room was she in exactly?

‘Seb. Seb Hollingsworth.’

Seb.

‘You’re not Callum?’

A crease appeared between his superb blue eyes as he frowned. ‘No. I’m his brother.’

Luci almost missed his answer, distracted as she was by the thick, dark eyelashes that framed his eyes.

‘Brother!’ Why hadn’t Callum warned her? She sat up in the bed, taking care to make sure the sheets prevented any sort of indecent exposure. ‘Callum didn’t mention you.’

‘So you do know Cal, then?’

‘Sort of.’

He lifted one eyebrow but said nothing.

Luci could play that game too. And she used the silent seconds to examine the vision a little more closely.

He truly was gorgeous. Tall, really tall, with thick dark hair, chestnut she’d call it. He had eyebrows to match that shaded piercing blue eyes and a nose that may or may not have been broken once upon a time. His lips were full and pink, and a two-day growth of beard darkened his jaw.

His torso was bare but he held what appeared to be a black T-shirt in his hand. Just what had he been planning on doing? she wondered, before she was distracted again by his broad shoulders and smooth chest. He reminded her of someone, she thought as her eyes roamed over his body.

The statue of David, she thought, brought to life. He was made of warm flesh instead of cool marble but had the same, startling level of perfection.

Her heart was still beating a rapid tattoo. Adrenaline was still coursing through her system but not out of fear. Now it was a simple chemical, or maybe hormonal, reaction.

‘I think you have some explaining to do,’ said the living, breathing statue.

In Luci’s opinion so did Callum, Seb’s absent brother, and she was blowed if she was going to explain herself while she lay in bed naked. She clutched the sheet a little more tightly across her breasts. ‘Let me get dressed and then we can talk.’

The corner of Seb’s mouth lifted in a wry smile and there was a wicked gleam in his blue eyes. Luci felt a burst of heat explode in her belly and she knew that the heat would taint her body with a blush of pink. She could feel the warmth spreading up over her chest and neck as Seb continued to stand in the doorway. Did he know the effect he was having on her? She had to get rid of him.

‘Can you give me a minute?’ she asked.

‘Sure, sorry,’ he replied, looking anything but sorry. ‘And while you’re at it,’ he added, glancing at the phone that was still clutched in her hand along with the sheet, ‘do you think you could ring the police and tell them it was just a misunderstanding? I don’t want the neighbours getting the wrong idea.’

‘I didn’t actually ring the police,’ Luci admitted.

He turned and left the room, pulling the door closed behind him, and she could hear him laughing, a deep, cheerful sound that lifted her spirits.

Luci waited to hear his footsteps retreat before she was brave enough to throw off the sheets once more. She climbed out of bed on shaky legs and pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. She padded down the hallway to the open-plan lounge and kitchen to find Seb with his head in the fridge, giving her a very nice view of a tidy rear covered in denim. His bare feet poked out of the bottom of his jeans.

She stepped around a pile of luggage that had been dumped beside the couch. A brown leather jacket was draped over a duffel bag and a motorbike helmet sat on the floor beside a pair of sturdy boots, the boots that had been stomping down the passage. There was a thick layer of reddish-brown dust covering everything.

She ducked through the kitchen and into the dining area, where she stood on the far side of the table, putting some distance between them. Despite the fact that he looked like something created by Michelangelo and appeared to be related to the owner of the house, she wasn’t prepared to take his word for it just yet. Until she’d decided he wasn’t a serial killer she wasn’t taking any chances.

He stood up and turned to face her. His chest was now covered by his black T-shirt—that was a pity—and he had two small bottles of beer in his hand.

‘Beer?’ he asked as he raised his hand.

Luci shook her head.

He put one bottle back in the fridge, closed the door and then twisted the top off the other bottle and took a swig. He watched her as she watched him but he didn’t seem as nervous as her. Not nearly.

He stepped over to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down. He pushed the chair back and stretched his legs out. He was tall. His legs were long. He was fiddling with the beer bottle and she couldn’t help but notice that his fingers were long and slender too.

He lifted his eyes up to meet her gaze. ‘So, sleeping beauty, do you have a name?’

‘Luci.’

‘Luci,’ he repeated, stretching out the two syllables, and the way the ‘u’ rolled off his tongue did funny things to her insides.

‘So where’s my big brother? And why are you in my bed?’

Luci swallowed nervously. His bed? Of course, his room, his bed. That warmth in her belly spread lower now, threatening to melt her already wobbly legs just a little bit more.

‘I didn’t know it was your bed. I didn’t know anyone else lived here.’

Callum hadn’t said anything but she’d never actually spoken to Callum. Not that she was about to divulge that bit of information. That would just come across as odd. Her dad’s practice manager had organised the whole house-swap thing. Luci had exchanged emails with Callum and had been intending on meeting to swap keys but he had messaged her to say his plans had changed. He’d left Sydney a day earlier than they had discussed so he’d left a key under a flowerpot for her, but she was certain he hadn’t mentioned a brother. Not at any stage.

So what did this mean for her house-sitting plans? Would Seb ask her to leave? Would Callum?

‘So where is he?’ Seb wanted to know. ‘Should I be checking the rest of the house? You haven’t done away with him, have you? Did he treat you badly and you’ve sneaked in here to have your revenge?’

Luci laughed and wondered about the type of women Seb associated with if that was the direction his thoughts took him. ‘He’s in Vickers Hill.’

‘Ah, Vickers Hill. You mentioned it before. Where is that exactly?’ Seb arched his right eyebrow again and Luci found herself wondering if he could also do that with the left one. The idea distracted her and she almost forgot his question.

‘In South Australia. In the Clare Valley,’ she explained as she stepped into the kitchen. She needed to put some distance between them. To give herself something to do, she switched the kettle on, taking a mug and a green tea bag from the cupboard.

Seb took another pull of his beer. ‘What is he doing there?’

‘He’s gone to work in a general practice. It’s part of his studies.’ She didn’t mention that he was working with her father. If Callum wanted his brother to know what he was up to, he could tell him the finer details. But Seb not knowing Callum’s movements only led to more questions. Where had Seb been? Why didn’t he know what was happening? His room certainly didn’t look inhabited. It had looked exactly like a guest room, which was what Luci had expected. There had been no sign of his presence other than a few clothes in the wardrobe, which she had assumed was the overflow from Callum’s room. But perhaps those clothes belonged to Seb.

‘So, if Cal’s in Vickers Hill, what are you doing here?’

‘We’ve done a house swap,’ she replied as she poured boiled water into her mug.

‘A house swap?’ he repeated. ‘How long are you staying?’

‘Eight weeks. Until Christmas.’ Please, don’t ask me to leave tonight, she thought. She was half-resigned to the fact that her plans were about to change but she really didn’t want to pack her bags and find somewhere else to stay in the middle of the night. This was her first trip to Sydney. ‘If that’s all right,’ she added, pleading desperately. She had no idea where she’d go if he asked her to leave. Back to Bondi, she supposed, but the prospect of doing that at this late hour was not at all appealing.

Seb shrugged. ‘It’s Cal’s house, whatever plans you’ve made with him stick. I just crash here when I’m in town. I called it my room but, I guess, technically it’s not.’

Luci wondered where he’d been. Where he’d come from. But she was too tired to think about that now.

‘I’ll stay in Callum’s room,’ he added.

‘Thank you.’ She threw her tea bag in the bin and picked up her mug. ‘I guess I’ll see you in the morning, then.’

She took her tea and retreated. Seb looked interesting and she was certainly intrigued. He was giving her more questions than answers and she needed, wanted, to find out more, but it would have to wait. She had to get some sleep.

But sleep eluded her. She tossed and turned and wondered about Seb. Maybe she should have just stayed up and got all the answers tonight. Instead she lay in bed and made up stories in her head, filling in all the blank spaces about the handsome stranger with imagined details.

It wasn’t often she got to meet a stranger. And a gorgeous, fascinating one to boot. In Vickers Hill everyone knew everyone else and their business. Meeting someone new was quite thrilling compared to what she was used to. Excitement bubbled in her chest. A whole new world of possibilities might open up to her.

She smiled to herself as she rolled over.

Things had just become interesting.