made a fair point.
‘I seem to be needing to assure you of a lot of things, Dr Simpson.’ He was standing close enough that Annie could see where his day’s growth of beard was beginning to darken his jaw and she could feel his breath on her face as he spoke. She looked down, away from his inquisitive green eyes, but she was still aware of the little puffs of soft, warm air that smelt of peppermint and brushed her cheekbones when he spoke to her.
‘Is there anything else that’s bothering you?’ he asked. ‘I’d really like you to be on board with this project. As the hospital’s obstetrician and paediatrician our paths will cross often, and if we can find a way to work together I think it will be to everyone’s advantage. Should we clear the air some more while we have time?’
She looked up again, dragging her eyes away from the broad expanse of his chest to meet his eyes. At this distance she could see they were flecked with brown. Annoyed with herself for noticing, she retorted, ‘You may have the time, Dr St Claire, but I’m very busy so if you’ll excuse me I have patients to see.’
She knew she sounded snippy but he was standing too close. She was too aware of him. Of his green eyes, of his broad shoulders, of his breath on her skin, and his proximity was playing havoc with her senses, making it impossible for her to think. She couldn’t cope with him in her personal space. She hadn’t worked out how she was going to deal with him yet. Not in her hospital or in her life. She needed distance. It was the only thing that was going to work for her. She needed to leave. Now.
She picked up her coffee, gripping the cardboard cup so tightly it was in danger of being crushed, and stalked off, glaring at Tori to make sure her friend followed her. She didn’t want to leave her consorting with the enemy.
‘That was rude,’ Tori admonished as she hurried to keep pace with Annie. ‘You’ll need to play nicely. He could arrange to make you look bad on camera.’
‘He wouldn’t!’ Annie’s stride faltered. She hadn’t stopped to consider the consequences of her behaviour.
‘No, probably not,’ Tori admitted. ‘If you’d been listening to Gail you would have heard that their intention isn’t to paint any of us in a bad light but to give people an insight into what goes on inside a hospital. But I’m sure they’re not averse to showing any sparks that might be flying between patients and their families or families and staff or even just between the staff. And where those sparks come from is probably irrelevant—antagonistic or friendly, they all make for good television. But don’t forget, Gail’s first priority will be to Caspar. She has no loyalty to you so my advice is to play nicely.’
Annie cursed her bad luck. Why had the television network decided to film here? All she wanted was to be left in peace, to be left alone to do her work. Working under the scrutiny of cameras wasn’t part of her agenda. She didn’t want to be in the spotlight and she had no intention of being a celebrity doctor.
If she didn’t give permission to include her in the series then Caspar St Claire wouldn’t have the opportunity to make her look bad. But she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to play nicely just in case. But it would be even better if she could avoid him altogether.
That plan worked for the rest of the afternoon. Almost.
Annie was heading home, exiting through the main lobby, when the front page of the local paper caught her eye. Caspar was smiling up at her from the centre of the page, looking just as handsome in black and white as he did in the flesh. Curiosity got the better of her and she stopped and picked up the paper, noticing that it was a couple of days old already.
She flicked it open and as she unfolded it Caspar’s photographed companion came into view. A tall, attractive blonde woman, Annie recognised her as the host of a popular light entertainment show. Her curiosity piqued further, she began to read the article. Naturally it started by espousing Caspar’s talents as the local boy who was returning to his home town as a celebrity doctor and went on to talk about the success of the television series. Annie opened the paper, turning to page four to continue reading, interested to see what the journalist had to say about the woman on Caspar’s arm.
‘Anything interesting in there?’
Annie jumped as Caspar’s warm-treacle tones broke her concentration, interrupting her before she got to the gossip. She looked up, taking in his narrow hips, grey suit and broad shoulders almost as a reflex before her eyes came to rest on his face. One corner of his mouth lifted in the beginning of a smile and she could see the humour in his eyes as he waited for her to deny that she’d been reading about him. But there was no use pretending she hadn’t been hunting for information.
‘You interrupted me before I got to the good bit,’ she replied.
The smile that had been threatening to begin now broke across his face as he laughed. ‘If there’s anything you need to know, why don’t you ask me? I’ll trade you a question for a question.’
She tried to ignore the way his smile made his eyes sparkle, triggering the tremble in her stomach. ‘Mount Gambier is a long way from the bright lights of Melbourne. How did the network convince you to come here?’ she asked.
Annie herself had moved to Mount Gambier happily, hoping the regional location and the job opportunity would give her a chance to rebuild her life, but in her mind the country town seemed a strange choice not only for the television series but also for Caspar St Claire. Regardless of the fact he’d been raised here, she knew he hadn’t lived in the Mount for a long time and she wondered what had made him agree to return. With his confident manner and his high profile he seemed far more suited to a big city hospital and to the perks his celebrity status would bring him in a city like Melbourne.
‘I wanted to come.’
‘Why?’ she asked.
‘That’s two questions,’ he said, as he shook his head at her. ‘I believe it’s my turn now. What are you doing after work?’
His question surprised her. She opened her mouth to say ‘Nothing’ but quickly realised that, depending on his motives, she might be opening herself up for an unwanted invitation. She closed her mouth, biting back her reply as she tried to think of a different answer.
‘Going to the gym,’ she told him. That was sort of true. It was what she should be doing, although it wasn’t what she felt like and she knew she’d probably skip it altogether, but he didn’t need to know that. Just like he didn’t need to know her stomach was fluttering with nerves. She told herself it was because she found his presence irritating but she knew she was also bothered because she found him attractive and there was no way she wanted him to know that either.
She wished she could ignore his good looks but she suspected she was going to find that difficult. She’d just have to ignore him instead, she thought as she made a show of checking her watch.
‘I’ll see you tomorrow, then,’ he replied, leaving her wondering why he’d asked in the first place, but his answer served to remind her that it was going to be impossible to ignore him completely. Whether she liked it or not, they would be working together.
Annie hung back as Caspar headed for the exit. She stuck with her pretence of being busy as she didn’t want to walk out with him. From the hospital foyer she watched as he climbed into his car. He drove a silver Audi TT, which was definitely a car for a big-city doctor, and she wondered how much the television network was paying him, before reminding herself that he, and therefore his circumstances, was none of her business.
Annie briefly considered skipping her after-work gym class but she knew Tori would expect a decent reason before she’d allow her to opt out. They’d made a commitment to exercise together, hoping that would make them take it more seriously, and ‘Can’t be bothered’ wasn’t going to get her off the hook. She changed into her gym gear at the hospital so she could avoid going home first. She knew that if she went home the temptation to pour a glass of wine and sit on the couch and think about how her day had gone pear-shaped would be too much. In retrospect she decided that going to the gym might help keep her mind off her day.
‘So,