She often stayed late in the ICU units at the hospitals she worked in in London. It was comforting, holding a baby against her chest, rubbing its back gently to settle it, all the while knowing she could be surrounded by ten people at a moment’s notice.
It was easy being confident with tiny babies in a hospital. She didn’t imagine for a single second it was easy being home alone in charge of a tiny person. And as Autumn watched Giovanni she couldn’t pretend she didn’t admire him right now. Sofia was a lovely kid—bright, fun and well-mannered.
‘You okay?’ he asked softly.
She gave a little start, embarrassed to have been caught staring.
‘Just tired,’ she said, pushing her plate away. ‘The food here is delicious. I’ll need to remember how to get here.’
A small hand landed on her arm. ‘You can’t come here without me.’ Sofia’s wide eyes were serious. ‘I need to tell Mamma Pieroni what you want.’
Autumn put her hand over Sofia’s. ‘Well, I’ll tell you what—next time I want to come I’ll let your dad know and he can see if you’re free.’
For a second Sofia’s brow creased, as if she were an adult contemplating something, and then her face lit up in a smile again. ‘Okay, then.’
Giovanni had slid from his seat and moved away whilst she was talking to Sofia. He strolled back over. ‘Sofia, it’s time to go home. We need to drop Autumn back at her hotel. She’s had a long day and she is very tired.’
Autumn realised distractedly that Giovanni must have settled the bill. ‘Sorry,’ she said quickly as she fumbled for her bag. ‘Let me pay. I didn’t expect you to buy me dinner.’
His reply was as quick as lightning and in a joking tone. ‘But remember this wasn’t dinner. This was a test.’
She sighed as she wriggled out of the booth. ‘Then please tell me that I passed.’
As she slid into the car, she noticed what looked like a bus stop on the other side of the road. ‘Oh, can you tell me the best way to get to the hospital from my hotel? Should I use the bus, the tram, or the metro?’
‘None,’ he said as he clicked his seatbelt into place. ‘I’ll pick you up.’
‘You can’t do that,’ she said automatically. ‘I don’t want to put you to any trouble. Particularly when you have Sofia to think of.’
‘It’s no trouble.’ His voice was smooth.
Autumn shook her head again. ‘No, it would be a complete imposition. And I need to learn to find my way around the city by myself.’
The car eased into the traffic and Giovanni gave a nonchalant shake of his head. ‘Maybe in a few days. But I’ll pick you up for the next few mornings. Point out a few other places to you and give you some time to find your feet.’
He made himself sound like some kind of tour guide... It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the offer—of course she did. But Autumn had always been an independent woman. She might not contemplate driving a car in the complicated system around her, but she definitely wanted to be mobile on her own.
‘It’s a kind thought,’ she said firmly, ‘but I like to find my own way.’
There was a tiny crease in his brow. If she hadn’t been so tired, she might have been amused. She wasn’t sure if it was Italian chivalry or a colleague being protective, but relying on Giovanni to get her to and from work was a definite no-no.
They would be working closely enough already. It hadn’t even been a whole day and already she was trying to pretend she didn’t find this man attractive, compelling, intelligent and incredibly sexy. She’d definitely need some space to allow her senses a chance to recover.
Now, even though she could sense the tiniest hint of annoyance, he gave a nod of his head. ‘How about we just settle on me collecting you tomorrow morning and I’ll show you where the transport links are on the way to the hospital? There are a few places I’d warn you to avoid so you can stay safe.’
‘Tomorrow morning,’ Autumn repeated, with a reluctant nod of her head.
She was watching the fascinating attractions and the streets of Rome stream past, and knew that she would want a chance to explore this city herself.
She turned to him and kept her voice firm. ‘And then I’ll be able to suit myself.’
There was an edge to her voice. She was drawing a line in the sand. Sofia was singing quietly in the seat in the back and Autumn didn’t want to get into a fight with Giovanni.
There was a hint of a smile on his face. ‘No problem,’ he said, his accent thick.
He pulled his car up in front of her hotel and she let out a long, slow breath. She turned and smiled at Sofia. ‘It was a pleasure to meet you, Sofia, and I hope we can meet again soon.’
Sofia stared at her with wide brown eyes. There were a few seconds of silence before the little girl gave a nod of her head. ‘I think we’re going to be friends,’ she said solemnly.
Autumn smiled. ‘I think so too.’
The door next to her clicked. She hadn’t even realised Giovanni had slipped out of the car and opened her door for her. It seemed to be a habit of his.
She swung her legs out of the car, immediately swamped by the warm evening Rome air. As she stood up she stumbled a little, causing Giovanni to quickly slide an arm around her back.
‘Okay?’ he asked.
She turned her head—and froze. They were literally inches apart, and her body had decided to let her stop breathing. It was a close-up she hadn’t imagined having.
His dark eyes seemed to pull her in. The remains of his aftershave drifted around her. His jacket was in her hands, and she was conscious of his warm fingers at her waist, their heat drifting through to her skin.
It was like being stopped in time. The noise of the city was there, but it seemed they were stuck in an imaginary bubble around them. Her eyes took in every part of his face. His dark hair, the short stubble of his beard and moustache, the tiny lines around the corners of his eyes...
‘Did I pass the test?’ she asked, in a voice so low she could barely hear herself.
His face creased into a smile. ‘Always,’ was his reply.
There was an instant of stillness between them, and then he dropped his arm and walked away.
Now she breathed. Sucking in the exhaust fumes of the others’ cars around them. Numerous people were being dropped at the hotel. It wasn’t as big as some of the others, but was obviously popular.
The noise around her seemed to amplify and she gave herself a shake. What was that? What had just happened?
‘Seven o’clock tomorrow morning?’
Her head jerked up. Giovanni was at the other side of the car, ready to get back in.
She nodded her head. ‘Absolutely—thank you.’ She gave a wave to Sofia and headed to the hotel entrance.
A good night’s sleep. That was all she needed. She’d been living on adrenaline since last night’s telephone call. Today had been an overload. And she’d expected that...but not quite in the way it had occurred.
She walked through Reception and pressed the button for the lift. She would be fine. She would unpack the luggage she’d dropped earlier, shower, and drop straight into bed.
But even as she stepped into the lift her stomach gave a little twist. She already knew the face that would invade her dreams tonight...
CHAPTER FOUR
‘WHAT’S WRONG, PAPÀ?’
Giovanni was staring out of the window, his head somewhere in the clouds. Sofia’s voice jerked him back to attention and he finished buttoning the short-sleeved shirt he’d chosen to wear for work that morning.
‘Nothing, darling,’ he said quickly. ‘I’ll be ready in a moment.’
Sofia climbed up on to the chair next to him and gave him a hard stare. ‘You keep doing that,’ she said, a determined edge to her voice.
He tried not to smile. Sometimes Sofia acted like the adult in t
he household. Keeping Giovanni in line seemed to be her first priority.
He knelt down beside her. ‘I keep doing what?’
‘That thing.’ She folded her arms across her chest.
‘What thing?’
‘The staring thing. Not paying attention.’
‘To you?’ The thought struck a pang through his heart.
‘To everything.’ She shrugged her shoulders, emphasising her folded arms.
Giovanni ran his hand through her hair. ‘Sofia, you’ll always be the centre of my attention. Sometimes Papà has to think about other things—work. But you always come first.’
‘I know that,’ she said in a small voice.
Giovanni held out his hand. ‘Come on, then, let’s get going.’
Sofia’s hand slipped into his and he gave it a squeeze. He chatted easily until he dropped her off, then spent the rest of the way to the hospital swamped with guilt.
Called out by a five-year-old—and rightly so.
He’d been thinking about Autumn Fraser.
Ridiculous. One week. That was how long they’d been working together. His brain was constantly on overload, thinking about the intricate planning for the surgery. He couldn’t spare any space—none at all—so he couldn’t understand for a second why he continually found himself lost in thoughts about Autumn Fraser.
Of course, she was smart. Of course, she was unintentionally gorgeous. She definitely struggled with the language, but she was trying hard. He’d watched from the end of the corridor yesterday as she’d tried chatting to one of the domestic staff. Carla had been greatly amused with the new doctor trying out her Italian. But all of that was entirely superficial.
Giovanni knew that Autumn was here on a temporary basis. But from their first phone conversation he’d had a good feeling about her. This week she’d started to assess the staff around her as to their suitability for her team. She was pleasant to people, but had already revealed there were a few staff she was unsure of. He liked her honesty.
There had been no further breakfasts or dinners. She’d started taking the tram to work, and told him she was thoroughly enjoying the journey. But her office was right next to his. They spoke to each other every day. She’d started to accompany him on short visits to Matteo and Gabrielle.
‘Giovanni?’
And there she was. Dressed in a pair of red scrubs.
He closed his laptop and moved over to join her, picking up his surgical cap as he headed to join her.
‘Are you ready?’
He saw her hands were twisting together as they walked. He was dressed in his traditional navy scrubs and waved his hands down at his clothes. ‘Do I look ready?’
‘Oh, come on.’ She nudged him as they headed to the clinical lab room, deliberately knocking him off his stride.
This was to be their first practice surgery. Of course, he was nervous.
Autumn kept talking. ‘I’m worried about getting the positioning correct. I’m not sure I’ll be able to reach the part of the liver I need to.’
She pulled her own surgical hat from her pocket as they opened the door to the lab. It was cream and covered in small red hearts. She tied up her hair and tucked the brown strands under her cap.
They’d both agreed to take this seriously. No one else was here for this first practice session. Autumn had seemed anxious to get started and had been impatient for their model to be ready. He wasn’t quite sure if she was intimidated by this surgery—that would worry him—or just a control freak.
Giovanni mirrored her actions and tucked his hair under his own surgical cap. It had a little anchor at the front. It was like a ritual. He didn’t know a single surgeon who didn’t have their own cap.
Autumn stared at him for a few moments with those big green eyes. She gave a nod of her head. ‘You tell me about yours; I’ll tell you about mine.’
Her Scottish accent seemed a little thicker, making the words all run together. It took him a few seconds to work out what she’d said.
Then he laughed. ‘My dad was in the navy. When I told him about surgeons’ hats, he produced this one a few days later.’ He reached up and touched the cap again. ‘He bought me a whole supply. Told me it was in case he wasn’t around to see me wear them.’
Autumn tilted her head to one side. He could tell she understood without him having to say the words out loud. ‘How long since you lost him?’
He gave a brief nod. ‘Two years. He had cardiovascular disease. I’m just glad he got to meet Sofia. He was her biggest fan.’ His fingers brushed his cap again, and visions of Sofia giggling on his father’s lap played in his head.
He took a deep breath then, looked back at Autumn’s cap. ‘What about you with the love hearts?’
She shrugged. ‘I lost a bet.’
‘What?’
Autumn nodded. ‘I don’t need to tell you that surgery can be a pretty sexist area to work in. Most of the female surgeons I’ve worked under were power houses. One day me, and my fellow trainee surgeons, were talking about how most surgeons have a signature look, and contemplating what we’d choose if we made it through our programmes. One of the theatre assistants used to make caps for some of the staff. She had a ritual with trainees where she made what she thought suited them, laid out the caps and waited to see if they picked the right one.’
Giovanni was intrigued. He’d never heard anything like this before, but could imagine it taking place. ‘So...?’ he prompted.
‘So, we came in one morning and there was a whole host of caps.’ She counted off on her fingers. ‘There were a few dark colours—some with motifs, like yours, or different patterns. There was one with bright yellow sunflowers, a green hat with a mountain range on it, another made of material that looked like the sea, one with rainbows, one with flames, and one with hearts.’
He wrinkled his nose. ‘So how did you lose the bet?’
She waved her hand. ‘Oh, we had to put our hand in a bag and pull out a number. I was last.’
‘So you lost a lottery, not a bet?’
She smiled. ‘You’re being technical.’
Giovanni leaned against the surgical table he was next to. ‘What would you have picked if you’d been first?’
She wrinkled her nose. ‘I’m not sure. Probably leaves, because of my name.’
‘But you got stuck with the hearts?’
She laughed and tucked another piece of hair under her cap. ‘I did. And they’ve kind of stuck with me. Sometimes I imagine I want something crazy, like a unicorn or a space scene. But then I just revert back to my hearts.’
There was a gleam in Giovanni’s eyes. ‘Maybe you should switch to a liver.’
She gave him a gentle shove. ‘Oh, very funny.’ The last piece of hair disappeared and she stared at him. ‘You know what turned out kind of nice? Avril—that’s the theatre tech who made the caps—told me some time later that she’d meant the hearts for me anyhow.’
‘She had?’
Autumn paused for a second, as if she was contemplating how she’d reply. Finally, she gave a nod of her head. ‘Apparently I keep my heart close to my chest.’
Giovanni frowned and shook his head, not quite getting what she meant.
Autumn laughed. ‘Sorry. It’s a play on a figure of speech. You might have heard of keeping your cards close to your chest?’
‘Ah, yes.’
‘Well, she told me I keep my heart close to my chest. I’m careful. And she was right. I do. I am. I’ve always been like that. She read me better than I expected her to.’
Every part of him was curious. Did Autumn have a reason to be guarded with her heart? It suddenly struck him that she hadn’t even mentioned anyone back home. He’d made an assumption that she was single. But he didn’t actually know that. For some reason, he knew he absolutely had to find out.
He
chose his words carefully, but kept his tone light. ‘So, do you still keep your heart close to your chest, or have you already lost it to someone?’
She gave him a curious stare, and he cringed at how forward his question seemed. She wavered. She didn’t answer straight away. And all of a sudden the lurch of his stomach was so much more important than how cringeworthy his question had been.
She let out a long slow breath. ‘I just...’ she paused and chose her words carefully ‘...parted company with someone.’ Autumn gave a hollow laugh. ‘I didn’t even have time to move out properly. I paid a company to go and pack up my things and drop them at my flat.’
Now Giovanni leaned back further on the trolley and folded his arms across his chest. He laughed too. ‘Is it just me—or does that seem harsh?’
Her cheeks flooded with colour and she lifted her hands to them automatically. She let out a groan. ‘It does, doesn’t it?’ She kept her eyes closed for a second. ‘He’s a nice guy. I like him—I do. I just had a moment when I realised he wasn’t right for me.’ She wrapped her arms around herself, as if she was trying to give herself some comfort, then opened her eyes and shook her head. ‘No, that’s not it. We both had a moment when we realised we didn’t have that thing.’
Giovanni raised his eyebrows. ‘That thing...?’
He couldn’t believe how easily they were talking to each other. It seemed as though they’d tiptoed around each other for the last few days. Not awkward, exactly, just never really alone and talking. At least not like this.
She smiled and sighed. ‘Don’t start with me. You know that thing. The thing that quickens your heart and sets your skin on fire.’
She was staring straight at him. He unfolded his arms from across his chest and took a step towards her. The model they would be practising on was lying on a theatre trolley between them.
His voice dropped an octave lower. ‘When your mouth goes dry and your brain won’t focus?’
Recognition flashed across her eyes. He saw she was surprised. Her words had been easy, as if she’d been relaxed and with her guard down. But now she looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
Reawakened by the Italian Surgeon Page 5
