He’d been with her because he was polite, not because he’d been attracted to her. For a moment in the car the atmosphere had been stretched and tight and she’d thought—she’d really thought that it was caused by mutual attraction and then she’d realised that the tension had simply been caused by him trying to find a tactful way of extracting her from his car.

Why would a man like him be interested in someone as ordinary as her? He just had well-developed social skills, that was all.

He’d only invited her to dinner because he’d been hungry and he’d been forced to give her a lift. It must have been a horribly awkward situation for him.

No wonder he’d suddenly asked for the bill, instead of lingering over dessert and coffee.

He’d obviously been desperate to escape as fast as possible.

And for her own sanity, she needed to remember that.

CHAPTER FIVE

‘LIV, you’re needed in Resus. We’ve just admitted a woman with chest pains. She had a Caesarean section seven days ago.’ Anna removed the keys to the drug cupboard from her pocket. ‘By the way, why was your car iced over in the car park this morning?’

‘It didn’t start last night. Did you say she has just had a baby?’

‘That’s right. Second baby, six-hour discharge, no problems. How did you get home if your car died?’

‘I grabbed a lift.’ Without elaborating, Liv hurried into Resus just as the paramedics left the room, pushing the empty stretcher.

‘We’re going to give you some oxygen to help you breathe, Michelle,’ Stefano was saying and he glanced up as Liv joined him by the side of the trolley. For a brief moment his dark eyes lingered on hers and that one look was sufficient to trigger memories of the explicit dreams that had disturbed her sleep the night before.

Remembering just what he’d been doing to her in those dreams, colour flooded into her cheeks and he noted her response with a slight narrowing of his sexy eyes before shifting his gaze back to the radiographer who was hovering. ‘We’ll do a chest X-ray, although I’m not sure it’s going to tell us much.’

‘I can’t breathe—I’m so worried…’ The woman’s lips were blue and Liv took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to ignore the increase in her own heart rate.

It had just been a dream, for goodness’ sake. A dream he knew nothing about. Unless he could read minds, he was never going to find out that she’d been having totally inappropriate fantasies about him.

Angry with herself, Liv checked the monitor. ‘Pulse is a hundred and fifteen.’

It was totally ridiculous to feel like this. He’d given her a lift home, that was all. Trying to forget about the previous evening, she concentrated her attention on the patient. ‘How are those pains, Michelle?’

Michelle closed her eyes. ‘Worse when I breathe.’

Liv’s immediate thought was that the woman had suffered a pulmonary embolus, a clot in her lung. She looked at Stefano and he gave a brief nod of agreement, clearly reading her mind.

At least in the emergency department they were completely in tune.

‘You’re in hospital now, so try to leave the worrying to us, Michelle.’ Liv glanced over her shoulder to one of the other nurses. ‘Alice? Can you call the obstetric unit and see if they can track down her notes, please?’

‘I’ve left my husband with the kids.’ Gasping for breath, the woman was clearly frantic with worry. ‘The baby’s only a week old and I’m breastfeeding. He’s never going to cope.’

‘Is he coming to the hospital?’ Liv watched as Stefano prepared to take blood from the radial artery, his fingers swift and confident.

Michelle coughed feebly. ‘He’s supposed to be following in the car.’

‘I’m just going to take some blood from your wrist, Michelle,’ Stefano murmured. ‘This might hurt a bit.’

‘I’m worried that the baby is going to be starving.’ Tears welled up in Michelle’s eyes. ‘She has no idea how to take a bottle. Ow.’ She screwed up her face. ‘You’re right, that does hurt.’

‘Mi dispiace. I’m sorry. I know it’s uncomfortable.’ Stefano straightened. ‘I want her catheterised so that we can monitor her fluid output. Let’s give her some high-flow oxygen and we need to get a line in. Phil, I want FBC, ESR and U&Es. She has pleuritic chest pain and a pleural rub.’ He delivered a string of commands, his instructions succinct and fluent and Liv stood back for a moment so that the radiographer could do her job.

‘We’re just going to run a few tests on you, Michelle, and then I promise I’ll go and talk to your husband. If necessary I can fetch someone from the obstetric unit to help with the baby.’

Michelle pressed a hand to her chest, her breath coming in shallow pants. ‘I’ve never felt anything like this before. It feels as though I’m being stabbed.’

‘The chest X-ray looks completely normal,’ Phil muttered and Stefano’s dark eyes flickered to the screen. For a brief moment all his attention was focused on the image and everyone in the room looked at him expectantly.

Liv glanced at the monitor again. ‘Sats are dropping,’ she murmured and reached for the ECG machine.

‘The clinical signs are all consistent with a diagnosis of PE,’ Stefano reached out a hand to take a set of results that one of the nurses was flourishing in his direction. He scanned them quickly and then put them on top of the notes. ‘She’s seven days post-Caesarean section, which is a major risk factor. Let’s give her a dose of tinzaparin.’

Liv checked Michelle’s blood pressure again. ‘Her pulse is a hundred and ten and she’s hypotensive.’ She turned back to the patient. ‘Michelle, I just want to do a trace of your heart so I’m going to undo your shirt and attach some wires to your chest.’

‘Has my husband arrived?’ Michelle’s breathing was shallow and rapid. ‘Could you find out? It’s really worrying me.’

‘Rachel?’ Liv spoke over her shoulder. ‘Can you go to the desk and ask them to tell us as soon as Michelle’s family arrive? Put them in the relatives’ room and make sure they have everything they need. I’ll be with them as soon as I can.’

Michelle gave a strangled laugh. ‘I can’t be in hospital. I have a new baby and it’s Christmas in a couple of weeks.’

‘Don’t worry about that, now,’ Liv soothed, her eyes on the ECG. ‘Stefano?’

‘Sì, I am looking.’ His eyes narrowed, he studied the trace. ‘Get ICU on the phone for me. And I want 10 milligrams of alteplase as a starting dose. Let’s arrange for a CT scan.’

It was another hour before Michelle was finally transferred to ICU and only then did Liv and Stefano go and talk to her husband.

They found him pacing the relatives’ room, holding a bawling baby against his shoulder while a toddler clung to his leg.

‘How is she? The other nurse said she was being transferred.’ White-faced with anxiety, he stepped towards Stefano and the baby’s screams intensified, as if the infant sensed that something important was happening. The father rubbed her back helplessly. ‘Sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to do with her. I think she’s hungry and I can’t get her to take the bottle. Michelle expressed some milk last night and left it in the fridge, so it isn’t that it tastes different but I think she just isn’t used to the teat, or something.’

‘Why don’t I have a try?’ Liv held out her arms. ‘Then you can have a proper conversation with Mr Lucarelli. I’m sure there are lots of things you want to ask him.’

‘Would you mind?’ Gently and slightly clumsily he lifted the baby from his shoulder and handed her to Liv. ‘You forget how tiny they are when they’re first born. It’s terrifying.’

Liv expertly snuggled the baby against her and reached for the bottle, leaving Stefano to update Nick on his wife’s condition.

She sat down in the chair, settled the baby in the crook of her arm and drew the teat across her lips. ‘You poor little thing,’ she murmured softly. ‘Are you starving?’

The baby was red-faced from crying and gave a little hiccough. Then she played with the teat for a moment before turning her head away in disgust.

‘I know it feels a bit weird, but it tastes just the same. Trust me.’ Liv squeezed a tiny bit of the milk onto the baby’s lips and watched as her mouth moved hungrily. ‘See? It tastes nice. We just need to teach you to suck.’ She skilfully manoeuvred the teat into the baby’s mouth and the infant lay still for a moment, and then gave a gulp and swallowed. Liv smiled. ‘Good girl.’

‘Oh thank goodness,’ Nick muttered, watching from across the room. ‘She’s been crying for hours. I was at my wits’ end. You are utterly, utterly amazing.’

Liv glanced up and met Stefano’s eyes and there was something in his watchful gaze that made her shift awkwardly in her seat.

What was he thinking?

Probably that she was good with babies but hopeless at scintillating dinner conversation.

Still mortified that she’d gone on and on the night before, she dipped her head and concentrated on the baby. ‘She’s fine. She just needed a bit of help to suck from a teat. It’s a different technique.’

Nick gave a helpless shrug. ‘I don’t suppose you fancy moving in with me for a week or so?’

Liv gently withdrew the bottle from the baby’s mouth and lifted the baby against her shoulder. ‘What about Grandma? Can she help?’

‘She’s great with this one…’ Nick scooped the toddler onto his lap ‘…but the baby needs Michelle.’

Stefano rose to his feet. ‘Let’s see how she goes this morning. Once her condition is stabilised we may be able to transfer her to a ward and she can have the baby with her. We’ll do everything we can to help, I assure you.’

‘You’ve been very kind.’

The door opened and Anna put her head round the door. ‘Liv? Can Rachel take over in there so that you can help me out here? Everyone is obviously bored with Christmas shopping so they’ve decided to spend the afternoon with us instead.’

‘No problem.’ Liv carefully handed the baby back to Nick and smiled at him. ‘You can stay here for now. Once we have some news from ICU, you can go and see Michelle.’

She left the room and hurried after Anna but Stefano’s fingers curled around her wrist and stopped her.

‘Liv, wait.’

The touch of his hand turned her limbs to jelly and she took several deep breaths before turning to face him. This time she was not going to embarrass herself. ‘Thank you for last night,’ she said brightly, staring at a point in the middle of his chest. ‘Best spaghetti I’ve ever eaten. Oh—here’s the money I owe you.’ She dug twenty pounds out of her pocket, trying not to think what that bowl of spaghetti had done to her budget.

‘I don’t want your money, Liv.’ His voice was a deep, lazy drawl and the breath stuck in her throat because he was so cool and in control and she felt so, so awkward.

‘Please take it. Honestly. There’s no reason why you should pay for me.’ She risked a glance at him and then wished she hadn’t because he was the sort of man you just couldn’t look away from. He was impossibly, indecently handsome and his gaze held hers for a moment and then flickered to her mouth.

Liv stopped breathing and a slow, dangerous warmth spread through her body. For a wickedly delicious moment she thought he might actually be wondering what it would be like to kiss her.

And then she returned to reality.

Boring.

His eyes narrowed. ‘What would be boring?’

Horrified, Liv stared at him. Had she really spoken her thoughts aloud? ‘Nothing. Take the money.’ She pushed it into his hand and started to back away. ‘I really have to go. Anna needs me, and—’

‘Liv, stop it.’ His eyes were amused. ‘Why are you so jumpy? Last night over dinner you managed to relax and be yourself. For the first time I actually had a glimpse of the real you.’

Liv almost groaned. ‘Yes, I know,’ she muttered, ‘and I’m really, really sorry about that. I suppose it’s because I don’t often find myself in adult company, apart from with the patients and they don’t count. I was a little carried away talking about my life. No wonder you only ordered one course.’

Surprise flickered in his eyes and he watched her for a moment, his expression thoughtful. ‘I ordered one course because most of the women I take out to dinner don’t eat anything,’ he said softly and she gave a resigned smile.

If she’d needed a reminder that she bore no resemblance to the type of woman he usually dated, she had it now. ‘Well, you only have to look at me to know that I’m not in that category—but then you weren’t really taking me out to dinner, were you? It was more a question of me gatecrashing and—’ she broke off and studied his face. ‘Why are you smiling?’

‘Because you fascinate me. In Resus you are always cool and in control. You are fast, bright and confident. And then we leave Resus and you are a nervous wreck. Why is that, I wonder?’

The way he was looking at her made her feel hot and shivery at the same time.

‘I…really ought to go, because…’ horribly out of her depth, she waved a hand vaguely. ‘I…just really ought to go.’ Why was he talking to her, anyway? Why was he bothering?

‘Give me your car keys.’

‘My—’ She frowned. ‘Why?’

‘Because someone from my garage is coming to pick up your car in ten minutes.’

Liv stared at him in astonishment. ‘Your garage? But they fix Ferraris.’

‘They’re skilled mechanics.’ Stefano inclined his head as the neurology consultant wandered past and muttered a greeting. ‘They can fix anything with an engine.’

‘I’m not sure that mine even falls into that category,’ Liv joked weakly, incredibly touched that he’d offered. Why? Why had he offered? ‘I couldn’t possibly say yes. Even if they could fix it, they’d charge a fortune. Garages take one look at me and rip me off.’

‘All the more reason to let me sort this one out. Garages don’t rip me off.’ His tone was pleasant but there was a hard glint in his eyes that made her smile.

‘I imagine they wouldn’t dare.’ Panic fluttered inside her when she thought about all the demands on her meagre salary. ‘I suppose I could use the Christmas-tree money.’ She murmured those words to herself and Stefano raised an eyebrow in question.

‘The Christmas-tree money?’

Trying to work out how to find a Christmas tree that didn’t cost anything, Liv felt her head start to throb. ‘Look, I hadn’t expected my car to die three weeks before Christmas, which obviously wasn’t very sensible planning on my part, but there you are. I basically can’t afford to get it fixed yet.’ What was the point in pretending? It was obvious from the state of her car that she wasn’t rolling in money. ‘But thanks for offering.’

‘How much is your budget?’

‘A hundred pounds.’ Saying it aloud, it sounded so ridiculous that Liv started to laugh. ‘You see? It’s hopeless. I doubt they’d even tow it away for that.’

‘It might not be anything too serious. Let’s wait and see what they say. My mechanic is cheap and reliable.’ His eyes lingered on her face and she felt her insides heat.

‘I don’t know what to say.’

‘You say yes.’

Faced with the tempting vision of a problem solved, Liv felt herself waver. ‘If it’s more than a hundred pounds—’

‘Then I’ll tell them not to do the work. Now give me the keys.’ He held out his hand. ‘Keys, Liv.’

She handed them over. ‘I don’t know why you’re helping me.’

‘I know you don’t.’ With that enigmatic comment, he strolled away from her, her car keys in his hand, leaving her staring after him in bemusement.

‘I don’t care how much it costs.’ Stefano trawled through his emails as he made the call. ‘I just want it fixed. Fast. And I want the bill to say £102.’ He listened for a moment as the mechanic outlined the dire state of Liv’s car. ‘Yes, I know all that. I have eyes… I don’t care about that, either… A new engine—yes, whatever, and there’s one other thing.’ He frowned as he scanned the email from the chief executive demanding his presence at a meeting on cost-cutting. ‘I want you to deliver a hire car here this afternoon. A new, safe hatchback, nothing too flashy.’ Having sorted out that problem, he terminated the call and turned to the pile of letters on his desk, but he was called to see a patient and then another and it was several hours before he was finally able to return to the mounting paperwork.

He was just trying to work up some enthusiasm for an extremely dry memo from the Department of Health when there was a tap on the door.

Liv stood there, a set of keys in her hand. ‘The garage delivered me a car,’ she gasped. ‘Did you arrange it?’

Stefano relaxed back in his chair, watching her. ‘They always give a complimentary car. Perhaps I forgot to mention that.’

‘When they’re servicing your Ferrari, maybe, but not when they’re given an ancient rust bucket to resuscitate.’

‘It’s Christmas. I told them that you have a child and that you work at the hospital. People are extra-kind to nurses and rightly so. Just accept it, Liv.’ His order was met by silence and she simply stared at him. Then she gave a little sob and suddenly burst into tears.

Appalled, Stefano rose to his feet. ‘Accidenti, who has upset you? Tell me and I will sort it out right now!’

‘No one. Nothing. I’m sorry.’ She rubbed the palm of her hand across one cheek and then the other, wiping away the tears, visibly struggling to pull herself together. ‘It’s just that I’m not used to—I usually have to sort out everything myself. I’m not used to people being kind and—I can’t believe you persuaded them to lend me a car.’ Her voice cracked. ‘Thank you. Thank you so much.’

Frozen to the spot, Stefano watched her, uncertain how to respond. Usually female tears left him cold, but he’d never encountered the genuine article before. Neither had he ever been so profusely thanked for so small a gesture. He’d once given Francine a diamond necklace, but even that extravagant gift had merited little more than a loud squeal and a comment that matching earrings would have been nice.

‘You’re welcome,’ he said softly and Liv gave him an embarrassed smile and pulled a tissue out of her pocket.

‘I seem to make a habit of making a fool of myself in front of you.’ She blew her nose hard. ‘You’re probably thinking I’m a complete psycho.’

He thought she was delightfully natural, refreshingly honest and achingly sexy. ‘I think you’re tired, and that is hardly surprising given how hard you work.’

‘I like my work.’

And in her time off, she read to her child. Books on cars and football.

He’d never met anyone as selfless as her. Sensing that she was struggling for control, Stefano shifted the subject away from the personal. ‘I just spoke to ICU. Michelle is stable.’

Liv’s face brightened. ‘That’s good news. How’s the baby?’

‘Taking the bottle quite happily since the lesson you gave her.’

Liv laughed and he couldn’t help comparing her confidence at work with her lack of confidence in her social life.

‘Have dinner with me tonight.’ He’d spoken those words on umpteen occasions in the past, but never before had he braced himself for rejection. Up until this point in his life it had been a foregone conclusion that the woman in question would just say yes.

As he’d anticipated, Liv instantly shook her head. ‘I couldn’t possibly. Why? Why would you want to?’

He was asking himself the same question. He’d never before dated a colleague or a single mother.

Neither had he found himself thinking about sex at inconvenient moments during his working day. ‘I owe you dessert.’

Liv backed towards the door. ‘You don’t owe me anything.’

Unaccustomed to having to persuade a woman to join him for dinner, Stefano watched her for a moment, trying to read her mind. ‘Is it a babysitting issue?’

‘Yes.’ She said the word quickly and then breathed out and shook her head. ‘No, actually that’s not true. It isn’t just about the babysitting. It’s about me. And you. I mean, you found out everything there is to know about me last night. You’ve already listened to my entire life history and I’m sure it bored you to death. I don’t have anything else to say. I work, I spend time with my child. That’s it. I’m just not interesting. You already know all there is to know.’

He was stunned by the completely false impression she had of herself.

Why did she think she was boring?

Contemplating the soft curve of her mouth and the shyness in her expression, Stefano strolled across his office towards her. He watched as her eyes widened slightly.

‘Mr Lucarelli—Stefano…’

Without speaking, Stefano took her face in his hands, stared down into her startled green eyes for a few endless seconds and then brought his mouth down on hers. For a moment she didn’t move a muscle, and then she made a soft sound and her lips parted under his.

He kissed her slowly and confidently, taking his time, holding her head exactly as he wanted it as he skilfully seduced her mouth. Only when her fingers curled into the front of his shirt and he felt her relax against him did he slide an arm around her waist and pull her into his body.

Boring?

She was exquisite.

Her hips were curved, her breasts full and the sudden explosion of raw lust that devoured him was so powerful that it took all his willpower to stop himself from slamming the door shut and just taking her on his desk.

Unsettled by the fierce intensity of his own response, Stefano dragged his mouth from hers and eased her away from him.

Liv swayed for a moment and then opened her eyes and looked at him. Her expression was so bemused that he suddenly wondered exactly how long it had been since anyone had kissed her properly.

‘There’s plenty that I don’t know about you, Liv,’ he said softly, dragging his thumb over the swollen softness of her mouth. ‘But I intend to find out.’

CHAPTER SIX

‘MUMMY, why are you staring out of the window and smiling?’

Liv turned at the sound of Max’s voice. ‘Oh…’ she cleared her throat and picked up her coffee-mug. It was Saturday morning and she’d been up since dawn. ‘I was just…thinking.’ About being kissed. It wasn’t the first time she’d been kissed, but it seemed that way. Unless her memory was defective, it had never felt like that.

Stefano Lucarelli kissed as well as he did everything else.

Max shook the contents of the cereal packet into his bowl and looked at her sympathetically. ‘Are you worrying that Father Christmas might not come? I know how he gets round the whole world in one night.’

‘You do?’ Why had he kissed her? She didn’t understand it, but it was impossible to erase the memory from her brain or her body. And he’d said that he wanted to know more about her. What had he meant by that?

‘Mum? Are you listening?’

‘I’m listening.’

‘It’s because he travels through different time zones,’ Max said seriously. ‘You know, he starts in Australia, then he moves on to…’ swinging his legs, he carried on detailing Father Christmas’s route while Liv tried desperately to stop thinking about Stefano.

With a huge effort, she brought herself back to reality. ‘OK. I’ll stop worrying about Father Christmas’s workload. So—plan for the day. Football in the park and then we’ll buy the Christmas tree. How does that sound?’

‘Brilliant.’ Max crunched his way through the cereal and drank his milk. ‘Pizza for tea?’

Liv laughed. Why was she feeling so happy? It was completely ridiculous, but she just couldn’t help it. Determined to pull herself together, she rose to her feet. ‘I’ll make the dough now. You can help. Wash your hands.’

‘Hayley’s mum won’t let her make pizza dough because she says it makes a mess.’ Max reached for the weighing scales and lifted the flour out of the cupboard. ‘I told her that you love mess.’

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