Читать книгу One Summer At The Beach - Natalie Anderson - Страница 17

SIENNA woke early and found her body ached all over—serious workout stiffness. Rhys hadn’t been kidding when he’d suggested testing how much she was capable of. He’d pushed her to the edge and beyond.

A huge chunk of her loved the hedonism of it—her body revelling in the physical release. But inescapable thoughts niggled at her. There was a part of her searching for more. Wanting more from him.

A couple of times in the night he’d turned to her, saying nothing but taking her again with an almost desperate desire. As if he was seeking something from her, but she didn’t know what it was. She wished he’d open up. She was used to listening to people, getting their stories out, but he was that guarded, didn’t offer up a thing—not verbally. His actions told her. He drove inside her as if the physical satisfaction she gave pacified some other, deeper demon inside him.

She rolled over and watched him sleeping. His expression was relaxed, dark lashes curved on his cheek, his mouth soft and sensuous in repose. She was sure he had needs, certain he had hurts, but she couldn’t figure them out—couldn’t figure him out. She didn’t know if she was going to have time to. But she was damn well going to try.

He opened his eyes, looked about with a fidgety air that signalled he wasn’t quite a natural hedonist either. ‘We need to get out of this room.’ He threw back the sheet and slid from the bed. ‘Come on, we’ll come back and shower. Right now I’ve got something you’ve got to do at least once in life.’

She pulled on her skirt, then hunted for her tee—a crumpled mess half under the bed. With a grin Rhys handed her one of his shirts. The relaxed intimacy of his action made her gooey inside. She didn’t bother with a bra, just slipped a couple of buttons through. Suddenly not concerned about covering the scar. It was early, there’d be no one about and Rhys had seen it all. The loose cotton was cool and wearing his clothing made her feel sexy. His sparkling expression hinted he liked it too.

‘Let’s go before I get a better idea.’ He laughed and she felt freedom—to explore everything with him.

Barefoot, he led the way down the stairs. She watched, amused at his vitality and good humour. He grabbed a bag from the back of the reception counter—the light was on but for once it seemed Curtis wasn’t home. They snuck out across the quiet street and onto the beach.

She followed him across the sand. ‘What?’

‘Beach volleyball.’

‘Oh, no.’

‘The tiny bikini is not mandatory.’ He winked. ‘Well, it would be if this was our own private beach—actually then we’d be having a naturist tournament. Sadly, it’s not, and as you are is just fine.’

‘Rhys, I really suck with balls.’

He froze. Shot her a look. Started to laugh.

Fire-engine-red, she laughed too.

‘I have a feeling you’ll do just fine. Anyway, it’s early, no one’s around to watch.’

Yeah, just you. It was all right for him. She watched the way he bent and pulled a ball from the bag. He had effortless grace, natural style.

He tossed the ball from one hand to the other, obviously amused by her reluctance. ‘I thought you wanted to live now?’

She lunged for the ball as he threw it. ‘You were one of those guys who could do any sport, weren’t you? Rugby in the winter…’

‘Cricket in the summer.’ He laughed. ‘Basketball, swimming, sailing.’

‘And you were good all round.’ She retrieved the ball from where it had rolled along the sand, lobbed it back.

‘Excellent all round.’

She raised her brow.

He threw it back and spread his hands in mock humility. ‘Well, that is the family motto.’

‘You have a family motto?’

His humour dimmed and his grin became barely there. ‘Do the best, be the best—excellence all round.’

‘Wow.’

‘We have a duty to perform.’

‘A duty?’

‘Sure. A responsibility.’

She dropped the ball. Again. It took less than three minutes for him to realise she hadn’t been kidding about her lack of skill. Laughing, he resorted to even simpler passes. ‘A little practice, you’ll go far.’

He chuckled at her ‘yeah right’ expression and abandoned the game completely. He toyed with the ball as they walked along the edge of the water. She gazed across the blue to the high-rise buildings. Loving the vibrancy of the city. Bright-eyed, she turned back to him. ‘I’ve thought of something for the list.’

‘Yeah?’

‘I want to walk over the Harbour Bridge. You done that?’

‘Hundreds of times. And I’ve driven over it thousands.’ Sydney Harbour Bridge—the world-famous landmark and fairly key to being able to move around the city.

She giggled. ‘I mean climb it. You know, they put you in harnesses and you climb up the arches.’

Rhys stared back at her, his good mood sinking. Of all the places in the whole city, she wanted to go there? Too high profile. They took endless photos on that thing. Rightly so, it was a great experience, but he wasn’t going to be caught in the company of a woman—especially one as beautiful as Sienna—and have the snaps sold. This was his holiday, his escape, his moment of fantasy out of his real life and he wanted to protect it. He wanted to have time with her—just her and him and no interference. No prying eyes. ‘I have a better plan for today.’

‘What’s better than the view from up there? It’s not too hot, it’s not windy.’

‘Yeah, but I have something that can only be done today. Right now, in fact. Let’s go!’

She was giving him a funny look but he didn’t care. Right now he was too busy thinking over what he was going to come up with list-wise that could be done without attracting too much attention. And the guilt was eating him up. But he’d spent most of his adult life swallowing back guilt—why was he gagging now? He was in serious trouble. The only way he could assuage it was to do the things to her that had her shaking in his arms, shaking in joy. If he kept her in a state of bliss, he’d be absolved.

‘Come on.’ He pulled her to him, planted a kiss. Got waylaid as usual—he couldn’t ever have just one kiss from her. He pushed at the shirt she wore, running his fingers along her delicate bones, wanting to take it off completely. His desire for her was in no way diminishing. He finally pulled back, stared into her flushed face. ‘We need to get moving.’

Back in the hostel they darted past Reception, nodding at Curtis who was looking strangely edgy. For a fleeting moment Rhys felt sorry the guy had to work so many hours. Sienna tripped into the little bathroom. He let her monopolise the shower for a few minutes while he scratched round for an action plan. Hell, he must be able to think of something. Then the sound of the water spraying clued him in. Waterfall. Fountain. There must be one somewhere in the city.

Sienna followed a pace behind Rhys as he headed to the train platform. He’d hustled her out of the bathroom and got them back out the door. Curtis on Reception had said hi as they passed again. She’d seen the speculation in his eye. The overly keen interest as he watched them depart. What did he care? Surely they weren’t the first hostel inmates he’d seen get it together.

They got on a train, mixing in with a few commuters, shared a secret smile as they sat close on the seat. Enjoying the rocking motion. Sienna secretly enjoying a fantasy of being alone in the carriage with him, late at night, with no threat of other passengers arriving and—

‘Ever had sex on a train?’

Apparently they were wired into the same fantasy. She shook her head and grinned at him, admitting with her eyes she’d been dreaming about that exact scenario.

He bent his head and kissed her. ‘We’ll add it to the list.’

The park was beautiful—surprisingly green. It smelt fresh but the humidity was on the rise again. They walked through, around one corner into an isolated spot—trees and bushes forming a natural canopy. Then she heard it, the gentle trickle of water. Behind a small railing was the most pathetic fountain she’d ever seen.

‘We came to see this?’

His grin was slightly shamefaced. ‘You’re in Sydney at the height of summer. You can’t go expecting amazing waterfalls and fountains. We have water restrictions.’

She leant at the railing, struck dumb by the idea that he thought this was better than climbing up the Sydney Harbour Bridge. ‘A kid couldn’t splash in that, let alone two full-grown adults.’

He stared at it. ‘No.’

‘And though the morning’s warm already it’s not quite hot enough.’

‘No.’ He turned her in his arms to face him. Kissed her gently.

She pulled back to look at him in reproach. ‘You think a few kisses are going to turn this into the experience of a lifetime?’

He didn’t appear remotely abashed, green twinkling in his eyes.

‘You must rate yourself pretty high.’

‘I’m sorry, Sienna.’ He sighed then, and it was a sigh of genuine regret. ‘I’m not myself around you.’

He pulled away, picked up her bag from where it sat beside them, neatly clipped it onto his own. She grinned as he did so, not really minding at all. Just liking spending time with him, getting to know him, feeling more relaxed and content than she ever had. It was nice walking with nothing on her shoulders, feeling the warmth of the breeze through her tee shirt. It used to annoy her no end when her brother insisted on carrying her bag or heavy things. But Rhys taking the burden didn’t bother her at all. He wasn’t doing it because he was worried for her. He was just being nice. Really he’d been nothing but nice to her from the moment they’d met. He offered nothing more. Expected nothing more. He’d been honest from the beginning. He wanted her. And when she was gone, it was done. She was the one who’d have to get over it. And as the moments passed there was even more of an ‘it’ to get over.

On impulse she turned to him. ‘Thank you, Rhys.’

‘What for?’

‘Everything.’ She smiled. He was so straight up. ‘I can really trust you.’

His face hardened. The green sparkle faded behind the slate. ‘Sienna.’

Her smile faltered. She was used to him closing over when she attempted to inquire into his life, but just then she hadn’t asked anything and right now he had the most remote expression she’d ever seen on him. ‘What is it?’

‘There’s something I have to tell you.’

For a second all her vital organs stopped. Something was wrong. ‘Don’t tell me you have a girlfriend.’

‘No, I don’t have a girlfriend.’ He flashed a tight smile. ‘Want to offer yourself for the part?’

‘OK. But I’m only in town for another few days. And so are you.’ Don’t start messing with the arrangement, Rhys. Not when she was only just keeping it real for herself. His deathly serious look panicked her. She couldn’t cope with serious. She had to get on.

‘That’s just it. I’m uh…’

‘You’re not married.’ Sure she was right on that one. He wasn’t able to open up even a little way, he’d never open up to marriage.

‘No.’

‘OK, so you’re not married and you don’t already have a girlfriend. Are you in trouble with the law?’

‘No. I…’ He sighed. ‘Sienna, please, let me finish.’

She should. Hell, what was she doing? Here he was finally trying to say something important and she was stalling him. Because, she realised, she didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t want this illusion shattered. And he was about to smash it—she could see it in his eyes.

He opened his mouth, drew in a deep breath.

And then they heard it. The ear-piercing scream. Startled, they stared into each other’s eyes as if questioning whether the other had heard it. And then sound came again—shouts and cries. They both turned and ran. Around the hedge encircling the fountain, through the trees.

They came upon masses of people. A pile of them bunched near one of the swing sets. Wisps of conversation came to them—disjointed commands filtering through the crowd. ‘She’s bleeding…she could be concussed…someone phone an ambulance.’

‘Excuse me. Make way, please. I’m a doctor.’

Sienna stopped. The crowd parted. Rhys walked through.

The next few seconds were like a series of still shots in her mind. All she heard was his voice—‘I’m a doctor’—over and over. She pulled herself together, walked closer as the crowd dispersed, parents relieved to be able to deal with their own upset kids now there was someone taking charge.

She looked about twelve, had blood spilling from a gash on her head. Was flat on her back. One of her legs was bent at a hideous angle below her shin. Sienna shut her eyes a moment, knowing that she’d just caught a glimpse of snapped bone. She opened them again, focused on him.

Rhys was on his knees next to her, talking softly. ‘What’s your name, sweetie?’

She looked stricken. He pushed back her hair with the lightest brush of his fingers, compassion clear in his expression, gentle warmth in his smile.

‘Katie.’

‘Katie.’ The child and the white-faced woman on the other side of her, presumably her mother, spoke simultaneously. Sienna understood. When he looked at anyone that way they’d talk. They’d trust—just as she had.

‘Hi, Katie. My name is Dr Rhys Maitland, but you can call me Rhys, OK?’ He was feeling over her body with deft hands. Sienna saw the way he was concentrating on other things while he chatted to her, saw the keen look in his eye. She recognised that look. Assessing. Evaluating. Deciding on his approach. When he got within range of her leg the child cried.

‘OK, sugar. We’re going to get you all fixed up, OK?’

He kept talking to her low and quiet. The low, quiet tones he’d used with her, but they were still audible across the grounds.

‘My friends are going to come and pick us up in the ambulance. Have you ever been in an ambulance before?’

One of the remaining bystanders next to Sienna turned to her. ‘He’s a doctor?’

‘Apparently so.’ Sienna looked back at Rhys. His experience and skill were obvious to everyone.

‘Is he good?’

‘Rhys is good at everything he does.’ Especially lying.

It couldn’t have been much more than five minutes till the ambulance arrived, by which time Rhys clearly had everything under control. He even had the mother smiling, and the girl—weakly through her tears. Sienna clenched her teeth, holding back the grimace. The crew leapt out, bags in hand. One had a toy koala that she gave to the girl to cuddle. The kid buried her face in the soft fur.

The other officer grinned at Rhys. ‘Hey, hero. Can’t keep away from it, can you? Not even on your holidays.’

Aside from a slight wry twist to his lips you wouldn’t have thought Rhys had heard the comment. Instead he focused on introducing them to Katie, then talking through her condition.

Sienna watched as he rapped out information. Cool, calm, still polite but so in control. The ambulance officers quickly getting onto it.

Dr Rhys. Spouting medical jargon and utterly at home in a scene of chaos and carnage.

Clinical.

She’d known he’d held something back from her, but this brought home just how little she knew of him. Had anything in the last few days been real?

Yes. Her stupid heart cried bitterly. Those moments in his arms had been the most real thing she’d ever experienced.

But she pushed it away—sex. That was all it had been. Some stupid game. For whatever reason—and what the hell reason it could have been was utterly beyond her—he’d fabricated his entire life. And the thing was he’d done that right from the very beginning.

Why hadn’t he told her? He’d lied. And at no point had he withdrawn from that lie. The only thing that appeared to be true was that he was on holiday—but from his job in this city, as a damn doctor. Tears of shock and hurt, wounded pride and wounded heart sprang in her eyes. He must have thought she was such a fool. Why, why, why? When she’d been so honest with him?

Rhys worked alongside Melissa and Simon to make Katie comfortable. Grateful it was a team from his own hospital. He’d figured it would be. They were in his catchment area. Hadn’t allowed himself to even think of Sienna until now—needing to focus entirely on stabilising the situation. Needing to keep control of his own careering emotions. He always struggled when it was a younger patient. He always saw Theo’s eyes—the unmistakable plea for help, the light fading. This time he could help. This time it would be OK. But his heart still thundered and he kept the sweats at bay with a level of self-command that had taken some years to perfect.

He knew his control would be even more precarious if he stopped to think about what Sienna was making of it all. He’d been about to make a clean breast of it. Unable to hold back from her, wanting her to know the truth because he couldn’t stand it any more, he had needed to fix it. It had been such a stupid idea in the first place—making up a new name, a different job—and yet, he couldn’t wholly regret it.

But, damn, she’d just found out only half the truth in the most unfortunate way. He finally braved a glance her way. Saw her white face. Saw the furious hurt in her eyes.

He looked away again super quick. He wasn’t free from his duty yet and until he was he couldn’t work on Sienna.

He heard Melissa talking to the mother.

‘Don’t worry. She’s in great hands.’

Rhys flashed a silencing look but Melissa was in full reassurance mode, taking the woman’s arm and leading her to the open doors of the ambulance, her high tones carrying halfway across the park. ‘Your daughter was lucky to have the city’s best ER doctor on a walk in the park today. Dr Rhys is brilliant. She’s going to be just fine.’

‘OK, Melissa.’ Shut up. ‘Load up, we need to get to the hospital.’

‘We can handle it from here if you want, Rhys. You don’t need to come with us.’

‘Of course I do. I need to clean up and do the paperwork anyway.’

He’d never leave a patient. He looked around again before stepping into the back of the ambulance. Wanting to at least offer a smile, call that he’d see her back at the hostel. Knowing it wasn’t enough, but better than nothing. He scanned the crowd.

She was already gone.