A Nurse To Heal His Heart. Louisa George

stuffing in a wad of notes. He looked directly at her and his eyes darkened. ‘It’s real, Rose. That’s all.’

      Something bad must have happened to him, because surely everyone had a space in their hearts and lives for a little whimsy? Mystique. Fantasy. That was what movies and novels were about, right? Taking you away from the mundane. Escapism—everyone needed that. And to dream big.

      ‘Sometimes real can be fun too. I refuse to spend the rest of my life just working hard and surviving. Living…that’s where it’s at. Taking notice of things.’

      ‘Like doing yoga on a mountain…right?’ He smiled at the memory.

      ‘Absolutely. Why not? Why not throw caution to the wind? Do the unexpected.’

      He smiled when he thought of her up there, with her hair wild like Medusa and her skin being nipped by arctic wind? That was unexpected. She hadn’t even realised he’d seen her doing it, and she wasn’t sure she liked the way her body was reacting to that information, with heat and giddiness in her stomach.

      Joe’s head tilted a little to the side as he asked, ‘So what have you done that’s unexpected?’

      Weird thoughts and sensations when being in the same room as Thor Thompson—did they count? ‘I came here, for a start.’

      ‘Oh?’

      ‘I was expected to take a job in London, marry the ex and settle down.’ Thoughts of Toby had irritation skittering down her spine, pouring metaphoric cold water on the adrenalin rush.

      ‘And you didn’t do any of that because…?’

      Yes, why had she left everything she knew? Come here, of all places? Because the village name sounded nice? Because there was something about it that had piqued her interest…? She couldn’t explain it; it just felt…right. Fate, perhaps. The roll of a dice, maybe. Whatever that meant.

      Although, judging by the way her body was reacting to Thor, she was starting to wonder whether she’d made a mistake coming here at all. One of the promises she’d made as she’d lain in that hospital bed contemplating her death was that, if she was lucky enough to get a chance at a new life, she would live the kind of life befitting two people—a huge life filled with joy and fun and care for others. Training to be a nurse was the start. Oakdale was the next step. After this, who knew? There was a big world out there. Falling for some guy in a tiny village in her own country wasn’t on her plan. Falling for a guy at all wasn’t. The last thing she wanted was to find someone and then fall sick again.

      ‘I needed to get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. Plus, you do a good advert selling the place. You know, you should live a bit more dangerously Dr Joe…try some yoga at the top of your hill as the sun comes up. It’s good for your soul. So is laughing. You need to do it more. A lot more.’

      ‘Laugh?’ Immediately his smile dropped as if he couldn’t find a single thing to laugh about.

      Okay, she knew she’d overstepped. But she wanted to shake him up and make him take notice of the wonderful things he could be doing, feeling, seeing instead of being blinkered by whatever it was that haunted him and stopped him believing in fantasies and dreams.

      ‘Right. Note to self: smile more. Great.’ He blinked. Shook his head. Taken aback by her words, he started to walk towards the door.

      ‘Sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.’

      ‘Actually, you’re the first person to call me out on it. Things have been a bit rough these last few years and everyone’s tiptoeing around me. I’ve got used to getting my own way, I suppose, but when you’re deep in it you don’t have the time or energy to drag yourself out.’

      There was something about the way he was explaining it to her, so matter of fact and devoid of emotion, that made her want to wrap her arms around him and hold him tight. ‘Sounds like it’s been tough.’

      ‘And then some. Things got intense…’ He shook his head but smiled. ‘I’m out the other side now.’ He blew out a big breath, as if he’d been holding it for all those years he was talking about. And something shifted in his eyes. Like a cloud edging away from the sun and letting more light in. His shoulders dipped, relaxing as he reached past her to push the door open. ‘Too much information?’

      Not at all. Not enough. Nowhere near. So many questions zipped into her head, but asking would probably push him back behind that armoured wall he hid behind. ‘No. Honestly. We’ve all got backstory.’