The Nurse's Christmas Wish Read online

  He dragged his eyes away. ‘Why on earth would you think that?’

  ‘Because I rang the doorbell and no one answered.’

  He lifted an eyebrow. ‘And that meant I was lying unconscious? You didn’t think I might be out buying a loaf of bread?’

  ‘I have a vivid imagination,’ she confided happily, her wide smile lighting up her whole face. Her eyes were the colour of rich coffee and a few freckles dusted her nose. ‘There didn’t appear to be a shop open in the village, so you couldn’t have been buying bread.’

  ‘So you thought you’d break in?’ He stared at her with incredulity. ‘Is that a frequent habit of yours?’

  ‘Only when essential. It’s part of my naturally interfering personality.’ She brushed herself down and shook the snow out of her hair. ‘I’m so relieved you’re all right. So, if you weren’t lying unconscious, why didn’t you answer the door?’

  His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. ‘Because I was in the shower.’

  ‘At lunchtime?’

  Mac sighed, wondering why he was explaining himself to this woman. ‘I was up all night in the unit. Motorbike accident. The roads are lethal at the moment. When I came in I spent ten minutes arguing with my brother and then got stuck into some paperwork before deciding to take a shower. Are there any more details of my life that you feel you need to know?’

  She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully. ‘Probably, but they can wait until later. The most pressing thing is to dry myself off and get settled in. Where do I put my things?’

  Deciding that he must be more tired than he’d thought, Mac stared at her blankly. ‘Put your things? What do you mean, put your things?’

  She waved a hand towards the window. ‘I left my bags in the car but the boot leaks terribly so I really ought to bring them in before they get damp. It’s snowing again. But, of course, you know that because it’s all over me.’ As if to prove her point, she shook herself like a kitten and more snow drifted onto the floor. ‘Let’s look on the bright side. At least I didn’t fall head first down your toilet. That would have been an unhappy experience.’

  Mac studied her in silence, an uneasy suspicion forming in his mind. ‘You haven’t told me what exactly you’re doing here...’

  ‘No, I haven’t, have I?’ She smiled warmly and held out a hand. ‘Your brother said I could come. I needed somewhere to stay and he told me you needed help. So here I am. Apparently I’m your Christmas present. Pleased to meet you, Dr Sullivan.’

  * * *

  Her new boss had a fantastic body and at the moment virtually every delicious inch of him was on display.

  Louisa stood in the corner of the small room, trying not to focus on that broad chest or the well-defined muscles of his abdomen. If she’d needed the perfect illustration of the male anatomy then it was standing in front of her. His body was hard and tough with no soft edges. The body of a man used to strenuous physical activity.

  And as for the rest of him…

  With a huge effort of will she stared into his cold, handsome face and forced herself to breathe normally.

  Josh had told her that the house was huge. He’d told her that the Cornish seaside fishing village was so small that you couldn’t sneeze without the entire population asking you about your cold the next morning.

  What he’d failed to mention was the fact that his brother was drop-dead gorgeous.

  And angry.

  His eyes glittered dangerously and there was no trace of amusement in his hard features.

  ‘Is this some sort of joke?’ His voice was suddenly icy cold and he was looking at her with all the enthusiasm of a pathologist looking at a deadly virus. ‘How can you be my Christmas present?’

  She tilted her head to one side. ‘Because your brother arranged it. I’m Louisa.’

  He closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath. It sounded suspiciously like, ‘I’m going to kill him.’

  Louisa stood for a moment, waiting patiently, and finally he opened his eyes and his gaze fixed on hers.

  ‘All right, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to rescue your things from your car before they’re soaked, we’re going to get you dried off and then we’re going to sit down and talk about this. Because whatever you and my little brother have cooked up between you, it isn’t going to work for me. Once you’ve had a hot drink and dried off, I’m sending you on your way.’

  Louisa looked at him. ‘Josh didn’t tell you I was coming?’

  He ran a hand through his hair in a gesture of pure exasperation. ‘No. Well, yes, sort of. He told me he’d arranged my Christmas present. He just omitted to tell me what it was.’

  Louisa covered her mouth with her hand and gurgled with laughter. ‘That’s so like Josh. He probably thought that if he told you in advance, you’d refuse to let me through the door.’

  His black eyes were flint hard and as cold as the Arctic. ‘He would have been right.’

  Oops.

  She smiled placidly, refusing to let him intimidate her. ‘So it’s just as well I came through the window, then.’ She’d never met a man with more defences but she wasn’t put off by his lack of warmth. Josh had warned her that his older brother would try and keep her at a distance and she had no intention of being sent away until she’d helped. And she knew she could. ‘OK.’ She glanced down at herself with a rueful smile. ‘I’m dripping all over your floor. If you don’t want me to catch a cold, you’d better show me where I can get dried off and changed.’

  He studied her for a moment and then let out a sigh of undisguised exasperation. ‘Upstairs, first on the right. There’s a guest bedroom and bathroom. Use it and then you can be on your way. In the meantime, I’ll get your things. Keys?’

  He held out a hand and she looked at him blankly. ‘Oh...’ She smiled in sudden comprehension. ‘I never lock my car. It’s such a wreck no one in their right mind would ever want to steal it.’

  She followed him into the hallway and stopped dead in the large hallway, her eyes fixed on the sweeping staircase. ‘A fairy-tale staircase. I’ve never actually seen one in real life, only in films. That’s amazing,’ she said huskily, her gaze wistful as she gazed upwards. ‘Just like the one in Gone with the Wind. You could sweep a woman off her feet and carry her up those stairs—’

  ‘Or she could walk,’ he said tightly, piercing her dream with a sardonic lift of a dark eyebrow. ‘I thought you were catching cold?’

  Obviously not a romantic.

  ‘I am.’ She walked slowly up the stairs, trailing her hand lovingly up the oak banister. ‘The wood is beautiful.’

  ‘I restored it,’ Mac said irritably, and she peeped at him quizzically.

  ‘You know, you should probably get some sleep.’

  ‘Why would I want to do that?’

  ‘Because you look tired. You’re also very, very crabby and that’s always a sign of tiredness.’

  His dark eyes burned into hers. ‘It’s also a sign that my brother has introduced a strange woman to my house when I don’t need one.’

  ‘Men are always hopeless at knowing what they need,’ Louisa said sagely, ‘but fortunately for them, women are here to help them work it out. Do you think you could rescue my bag from the boot before everything is soaked through?’

  He was staring at her with an expression of stunned disbelief on his handsome face. ‘Your bag...’ His tone was almost faint. ‘I’ll get it.’ He seemed to shake himself. ‘And once you’ve dried off, you’re leaving. I’m not blaming you and it isn’t personal. I’m fully aware that none of this is your fault and I intend to take it up with my brother. Bedroom is second on the right.’

  Ignoring the frost in his tone and the ice in his eyes, Louisa followed his instructions and pushed open the door. The place had been decorated like a traditional beach house. Floor-to-ceiling windows, scrubbed floorboards and a huge bed covered in white bedding and creamy throws. There were touches of blue, interesting pieces of driftwood and piles of shells st
acked in pretty bowls. Even in the depths of winter the room seemed to feel summery and light. And she loved it. She gazed out of the window as Mac strode in with her bags.

  ‘You were right. They’re soaking wet. Put them near the radiator and they should dry off.’ He dumped them on the floor and frowned at her. ‘Is something wrong?’

  Her eyes were still on the sea. ‘Oh, no, nothing’s wrong—’ She broke off and cleared her throat. ‘Everything is right. I just love it here.’

  Her dream.

  A house by the sea. A village where everyone knew each other. Surely in a place like this a person could belong.

  ‘Well, don’t get too settled. You won’t be staying.’ His frown deepened and there was a moment’s silence, as if he regretted his rudeness. ‘Most people hate the beach in the winter,’ he said gruffly. ‘They find it wild and lonely.’

  Louisa thought of her early childhood spent in a cramped high-rise flat in the middle of a soulless city until Social Services had taken her away. ‘I suppose loneliness means different things to different people.’ She pulled herself together and turned to face him, a bright smile on her face. ‘I’ll take a shower and change, if that’s all right with you, and then we can meet downstairs so that you can tell me again that this is all a mistake and I can’t possibly stay.’

  He paused for a moment, his dark eyes wary, and then he gave a reluctant laugh. ‘Why do I have a feeling you’re going to be difficult to shift?’

  Without waiting for an answer, he left the room and Louisa stared after him thoughtfully. ‘Oh, I’m not going to be difficult to shift, Dr Mac Sullivan,’ she muttered thoughtfully. ‘I’m going to be impossible.’

  He needed her.

  She’d always been good at reading people. It was her special gift. And all her senses warned her that Mac Sullivan was a troubled man. She could feel the tension in him. Feel the way that he pushed people away. Shut himself off.

  Josh was right about one thing, she mused as she unzipped her bag and pulled out a warm jumper. His brother was going to do everything in his power to get her to leave.

  She cuddled the jumper and for a moment her eyes swung back to the sea. The winter wind whipped the waves into a foaming mass and the sky was grey and laden with the threat of more snow.

  It was cruel and cold and unwelcoming.

  So why did she feel she was finally home?

  CHAPTER TWO

  DOWNSTAIRS, Mac put the kettle on the Aga and called his brother. ‘I owe you a black eye. Your Christmas present just arrived.’

  His brother chuckled. ‘Isn’t she gorgeous? I’ve excelled myself, haven’t I?’

  Mac felt the irritation rise. ‘When I need a pimp,’ he said tightly, ‘I’ll ask for one.’

  ‘Hey!’ Josh’s voice was suddenly sharp. ‘Don’t speak that way about Louisa. Believe it or not, this time I’m not fixing you up. This isn’t about sex.’

  Mac rolled his eyes as he waited for the water to heat. ‘With you, everything is about sex and you’ve been trying to fix me up since the day Melissa died. And frankly I just don’t need it. I don’t need another woman in my life.’

  He was no good at relationships.

  He was better off on his own.

  An image of Louisa with snow scattered through clouds of curling dark hair filled his brain and he pushed it away. It was all part of his brother’s plan and he wasn’t falling for it. He was perfectly satisfied with his life.

  ‘This isn’t just about you.’ Josh sighed. ‘Mac, we’re drowning under work. We don’t have time to turn around. We need someone to help in the house and we need another nurse in the department. Louisa fits both slots. She’ll make all our lives easier. If you frighten her off, I swear I’ll kill you with my bare hands.’

  ‘She’s the nurse you were talking about?’ Momentarily preoccupied, Mac suddenly felt steam sear his wrist and stepped back with a soft curse. Functioning on automatic, he lifted the kettle off the heat and ran his arm under the cold tap, his mouth set in a grim line. ‘I appreciate the sentiment, Josh, really I do.’ He increased the flow and frowned at the red streak appearing on his wrist. ‘But I don’t need my brother arranging my love life.’

  ‘No, what you need is to stop shutting people out,’ Josh said shortly, ‘and that’s why I’ve bought you Louisa.’

  ‘You’ve bought me Louisa?’

  ‘I’m paying her salary for a month. After that it’s up to you. But Louisa is the nicest person I know. A real giver. And on top of that she’s a brilliant A and E nurse. She’s going to be the answer to our prayers, bro, so stop complaining. It’s just for Christmas.’

  ‘If she’s so wonderful, why aren’t you sleeping with her?’

  ‘Truthfully?’ Josh laughed. ‘Because she wouldn’t have me. She’s too wise. But she’s one of my favourite people. Let her stick around and you’ll see why.’

  Mac turned off the cold tap. ‘I have no intention of letting her stick around. If she wants to work in A and E, that’s great, heaven knows, we need the staff, but she’s not living here with us.’

  He needed his space. He couldn’t think of anything worse than being closeted with someone over the Christmas period. When he wasn’t working he just wanted to be left on his own.

  He wanted peace and quiet and his own company.

  He didn’t want tinsel and forced jollity.

  ‘Fine.’ Josh’s tone was cool. ‘Then she’ll be homeless but I dare say she can sleep in a hedge. It won’t be the first time. I’ve got to go. Patients calling.’

  Mac replaced the receiver and cursed under his breath. He was well aware that Josh was the reason he’d got his life back together after Melissa had died.

  But, dammit, that didn’t give him the right to interfere with every aspect of his life. He was doing OK, wasn’t he? He didn’t need any help. And he certainly didn’t need to be given a woman as a Christmas present. Even if she was stunning, had impossibly long legs and smelt as good as a summer’s day.

  He closed his eyes briefly and then opened them to find her standing in the doorway, watching him, those coffee-brown eyes fixed on his face in silent question.

  The shower had turned her cheeks pink and her dark hair hung down over her shoulders in a damp, curling mass.

  She was astonishingly pretty and against his will his eyes slid to her soft mouth, noting that her lower lip was slightly fuller than her upper lip. In fact, he noticed a lot of things he would rather not have noticed.

  Mac ran a hand over the back of his neck and gritted his teeth. ‘I’ve been up half the night and I’m knackered. I don’t need this right now...’

  Her gaze slid over the kitchen, resting on the piles of unwashed plates, the mountains of cold, half-eaten food and the empty bottles. ‘Looks to me as though this is exactly what you need,’ she said softly, a sympathetic look in her eyes as she looked back at him. ‘You know, when life gets tough, there’s nothing wrong with asking for help. People should help each other. Particularly at Christmas.’

  He closed his eyes. ‘I don’t need help.’

  She waved a hand and glanced around her pointedly. ‘Well, you need something, Dr Sullivan. Starting with a dressing for that burn. Do you have a first-aid kit?’

  He looked down at the vicious red mark on his arm. ‘It’s nothing.’

  ‘It’s blistered.’ She walked across to him and took his arm, moving it slightly so that she could take a better look. ‘And if you don’t dress it, the chances are it will get infected and then it will certainly be something. First-aid kit?’

  He inhaled sharply and jerked his head. ‘In that cupboard.’

  Maybe if he let her dress his wound, she’d be satisfied and leave.

  His eyes tracked her as she walked across the room, noting the swing of her hips and the grace of her movements. Then she reached up into the cupboard and he caught a glimpse of a perfect, rounded bottom hugged by snug jeans. Something long dormant sprang to life inside him.

  ‘OK.’ She
delved in the cupboard and withdrew the right box. ‘Let’s hope there’s something decent in here. Most of the doctors I know aren’t great at putting together first-aid kits.’

  She flipped it open, pulled out a few items and then walked towards him. ‘Sit down.’

  He tensed. ‘I feel fine. I don’t need to sit down.’

  She put the first-aid kit on the table. ‘But you’re at least six-two and I’m just normal-sized,’ she said patiently. ‘If you stand up, it makes it harder for me. Sit.’

  He sat, telling himself that he could at least assess her dressing technique.

  She worked quickly, her fingers deft and gentle as she dealt with the burn and, for some inexplicable reason, her obvious skill irritated him.

  He’d wanted her to be clumsy and inept so that he had an excuse to yell at her. But her touch was skilled and smooth, her movements economical and practised.

  Cursing his brother, he sucked in a breath and pulled himself together. ‘Look, I’m going to be blunt and if that offends you then I apologise.’ He wondered which bit of her smelt so good. Was it her hair or her perfume? ‘The department needs a nurse to cover the Christmas period but that’s all we need. I don’t know what my brother has said to you but I don’t need anything more personal.’

  Soft brown eyes lifted to his. ‘Is that what you think this is? A set-up?’ Her eyes danced with laughter as she covered the dressing with a bandage and secured it firmly. ‘You think I have to pay for sex, Dr Sullivan? Do I look that desperate?’

  Momentarily captivated by the thickness of her dark lashes, Mac felt a kick of pure lust in his groin. This girl undoubtedly had men dropping to their knees. He might have done so himself at one time had he not decided that it was all too complicated. Women wanted something that he wasn’t capable of giving.

  ‘I’m just saying I don’t need a blind date,’ he said tightly, and she laughed.