something I need to speak to Dr Morgan about. In private.’
‘He’s after you, you know that,’ he said as soon as Jack was out of hearing.
Elizabeth shook her hand free and glared at him. ‘I’m perfectly able to look after myself, you know,’ she said coldly. ‘And as for Jack being after me …’ her voice was thick with sarcasm ‘… I can assure you I’m not interested. In him, or any other man for that matter.’
Ouch. There was no mistaking how she meant that comment. It was time to change tack.
‘Look, I was just being a little over-protective. Can’t help myself.’
‘Not when a little lady might need to be rescued,’ Elizabeth bit back.
Wow! She was prickly. This wasn’t exactly going to plan. He changed tack again.
‘Actually, I wanted to ask you about my arm.’ Women couldn’t resist a man in pain and as the doctor she had no choice but to take him seriously. ‘When I did my latest stunt, I think I wrenched it again.’
Elizabeth’s frown was replaced by a look of concern. Kendrick decided not to let the fact it was professional concern bother him. At least she was no longer glaring at him.
‘Why don’t you come into the medical trailer and let me have a look?’ she suggested.
Kendrick raised a triumphant eyebrow at Jack, who was watching them closely, and fell into step next to Elizabeth. ‘I’m pretty sure it’s just a sprained muscle. Nothing a bit of massage won’t help.’ He shot her a look. ‘I don’t suppose you’re into massage, are you, by any chance?’
Oops, perhaps he’d overdone it. The glare was back.
‘I’m a doctor, not a masseuse!’
She stopped in her tracks and placed her hands on her hips. Kendrick was distracted for a long moment. Her hips curved in just the right places and a man could probably just about circle that waist with the palms of his hands. As for those legs. His eyes travelled down the length of her body and he swallowed a groan as a vivid image of those long legs wrapped around him jumped into his mind.
‘When you’re quite finished …’ a cool voice said, and he dragged his eyes back to her face, only to find himself focusing on a mouth that just cried out to be kissed.
He shook his head. Now was not the place and certainly not the time. Dr Elizabeth Morgan needed a good bit more thawing before he would even risk a quick taste of those lips.
Inside her trailer, Elizabeth instructed Kendrick to sit on her sofa.
Trying to remember that Kendrick’s torso was simply a mass of muscle and fibre, she ran her hands over his powerful shoulders. Then she noticed something odd. A star-shaped hole with lines radiating out from the centre just below his left clavicle. Although she had never seen a bullet wound before, there was no mistaking what this was. She touched the scar with her finger.
‘Is this what I think it is?’ she said softly.
Kendrick nodded. ‘Got it in Iraq. Damn bullet chipped a bit of bone. That’s what makes my shoulder stiff sometimes.’
Not just been in the army, then, but on active service.
So he hadn’t been all together untruthful when he’d crashed from the horse a few days earlier. A wound like that was bound to cause problems. Especially since he insisted on battering it every day of the week.
‘How does a helicopter pilot get a bullet wound?’
His expression darkened and for the first time Elizabeth wondered whether Kendrick was as easygoing as he liked to pretend he was.
‘That’s a long story. Can we save it for another day?’
This time Elizabeth was sure she saw a shadow cross his face. Did Kendrick have something in his past he didn’t want to talk about? Maybe they weren’t so different after all?
‘Sure,’ she said. He was entitled to his privacy as much as she was entitled to hers. Nevertheless, she found herself wanting to know more. Why had he gone from being an officer in the army, someone no doubt with a bright future ahead of him, to a stuntman? And why was she interested? It wasn’t as if she was planning to get involved with him. All she wanted to do was to be left alone with her pain. If he had secrets of his own, it was none of her business and never would be.
Turning her attention back to what she was supposed to be doing—giving the man in front of her the best medical attention she could—she carefully felt along his shoulder, probing gently and asking him to lift and lower his arm. There was a little stiffness there, but nothing too worrying. She would like to have a look at his X-rays and medical records, though. Until she saw them she wouldn’t be happy that he was working as a stuntman. Repeated banging of a damaged limb couldn’t do it any good. She had an idea that Kendrick would somehow have managed to forget to tell the film producers about his medical history.
‘Does Philip know about your shoulder?’ she asked.
‘No. And you’re not going to tell him,’ Kendrick said firmly.
‘He should know. It’s not a good idea to carry on working as a stuntman until I see your X-rays. You could damage your shoulder permanently.’
Kendrick’s hand shot out and gripped her wrist so hard it was almost painful.
‘He’s not to know,’ he said through clenched teeth. ‘You’re my doctor and bound by patient confidentiality, isn’t that right?’
Surprised by the vehemence in his tone, Elizabeth removed her hand from his grasp. ‘Of course I can’t say anything, but I’d feel happier if I could get a look at your medical notes.’
Kendrick eased himself off the couch and picking up his shirt, shrugged into it.
‘I have no idea where my records are. Even if I did, there’s nothing in them that would give you any reason to worry. Stuntmen work with injuries all the time. If we stopped every time we hurt ourselves, we’d never work. Broken bones and other injuries are part of the job.’
‘But not bullet wounds surely?’ Elizabeth said sharply.
‘No. They don’t usually use live ammunition on film sets.’ He shook his head in mock dismay. ‘That would lead to too many dead actors.’
Elizabeth flushed. For some reason he was always wrong footing her.
‘So, what about Jack’s party? Are you going to come? Because if you are, we could travel down together.’ The teasing look was back in his eyes. ‘You don’t want to stay here on your own surely? That’s no fun.’
Fun? She wondered if she even remembered what that was.
‘I’m more than happy to stay here by myself. I happen to like my own company.’ She made herself smile. ‘Honestly.’
Kendrick eyed her thoughtfully. ‘I wonder,’ he said slowly. ‘At least think about it.’
Then picking up his hat and whistling under his breath he left her feeling as if she’d just done a couple of rounds in a boxing ring.
Kendrick strode back to his trailer.
Trust Lizzie to have picked up on the bullet wound. Despite her anxiety over almost not picking up Sunny’s malaria instantly, he doubted she missed much.
He’d liked the feel of her cool fingers on his skin. The way a lock of hair had fallen across her face as she’d bent over. She intrigued him more and more. What was behind that guarded exterior?
Not that he wanted to know, he told himself. His interest in Lizzie Morgan was purely physical. The same as his interest in any woman since Amy.
He winced. Amy. His first love and his last. He would never feel that way again. He wouldn’t let himself. Loving someone meant responsibility. Or should do. Their happiness, their life in