by Sarah Morgan
‘The two of us?’ Sam strolled towards her and hooked a finger into the bag. ‘Looks fantastic, Hilda. But who are you planning to feed?’
‘Well, you and Dr Riggs, of course. Stuck up there in that house on your own and both of you too busy to turn round, let alone cook.’ Hilda smacked the back of his hand sharply. ‘Don’t poke the food. It needs to go straight in the fridge in this heat otherwise you’ll be poisoned and blaming me. I’ve got my reputation to think of.’
Ignoring her stern expression, Sam peered into the bag and sniffed. ‘Smells fantastic. I think your reputation as the area’s best cook is still intact, Hilda.’
Glenda stood up, her eyes twinkling with amusement. ‘Why don’t I pop all that in the fridge in the kitchen and you can take it home when you go? Dr Riggs will be delighted. She hates cooking, as you know, Hilda.’
‘Of course I know,’ Hilda said comfortably. ‘It’s the reason she stops by almost every night and picks up something for her dinner. But I thought I’d save you the trouble tonight. And I thought I’d make something a bit special by way of a thank you. There’s a lovely seafood pie and fresh apple crumble with clotted cream.’
Anna grunted, torn between pleasure at the anticipation of one of Hilda’s dinners and irritation at the fact that everyone was discussing her lack of culinary skills so freely. ‘I don’t know why everyone is so obsessed with the fact that I don’t cook. Does a woman always have to cook?’
‘Not when they have a deli like mine in the village,’ Hilda said calmly, handing the last of the bags to Glenda to store in the fridge. ‘And my Geoff popped an excellent bottle of white in the bag, too. A sauvignon blanc, that’s his personal favourite. And I added a lovely scented candle. Have a good evening.’
With that she winked at them both and hurried back to her car.
‘Scented candle?’ Sam stared after her. ‘What the hell was that all about? Give me the wine and the food, definitely, but what’s with the scented candle?’
Anna scowled and raked her hair out of her eyes. ‘You heard. She knows I can’t cook and she thinks I’m starving you. Although why I’m supposed to be responsible for the contents of your stomach, goodness knows. And I haven’t got a clue about the scented candle. Perhaps it’s to keep wasps away.’
‘Nothing to do with wasps. She’s matchmaking,’ Glenda said calmly, fishing in the bag and removing the candle. ‘Oh, look—it’s one of those special ones set in driftwood. It’s so pretty. It’ll look lovely on that table on your deck. How romantic.’
She put it carefully back in the bag and Anna felt her colour rise. ‘Romantic? Matchmaking?’
Glenda smiled and stowed the bag carefully behind Reception. ‘Of course. The whole village is hoping that the two of you will fall in love and set up shop together. It would be a fairy-tale ending.’
There was a pulsing silence.
For a moment Anna stood still, totally speechless. Then her temper exploded. ‘Since when did fairy tales come with loud arguments and the threat of physical injury?’ She whirled round and glared at Sam. ‘Don’t just stand there laughing! Say something!’
Sam ran a hand over his face but his blue eyes gleamed with humour. ‘Looks like I don’t have to cook dinner tonight.’
Anna all but stamped her foot. ‘How can you be so calm? They think you’re going to stay, McKenna. Step into your father’s place.’ She bit her lip. ‘They’re trying to… They want us to…’ She couldn’t even bring herself to voice the idea, it was so ridiculous.
‘Get together,’ Sam finished for her helpfully, his gaze disconcertingly direct. ‘They just want a doctor they know. You can’t blame them for that. And matchmaking goes on all the time in villages.’
‘Between people who like each other, McKenna,’ Anna reminded him tartly. ‘We don’t like each other.’
He looked at her thoughtfully. ‘No, that’s right. We don’t, do we?’
Something in his tone made her remember the kiss and she blushed. ‘Well, finally we agree on something. I haven’t got time to stand around here all day, talking about village gossip. I’ve got work to do.’
‘Me, too.’
Glenda glanced between them and sighed. ‘Well, if the two of you are arguing too much to eat Hilda’s food, give me a call and I’ll come and eat it.’
‘You’re seriously going to sit down and eat dinner with the whole harbour watching?’
His eyes flickered along the bay. ‘You’re paranoid. I don’t see anyone showing any interest in us.’
She grunted and swept her hair back from her face. ‘That’s because you’re used to living in London and you automatically assume that no one is interested in you. Here, everyone is interested in you. You should remember that. Somewhere out there someone probably has a telescope fixed on this deck and they’re watching our every move. Light that candle and we may as well book the church.’
‘Your wrong, actually. In my job it’s like being in a goldfish bowl. But, frankly, I don’t care who’s watching. There’s no way I’m wasting this food.’ Sam put a loaded plate in the middle of the table. ‘You can go and eat baked beans in your bedroom if you prefer. I won’t tell anyone.’
Anna stared at the aubergine salad and felt her mouth water. ‘You’ll never eat all that by yourself.’
‘Never underestimate my appetites,’ he drawled, a wicked glint in his eyes as he surveyed her. ‘And I should probably point out that if you carry on being this jumpy around me, the village is going to be gossiping even more than it is at the moment.’
‘I’m not jumpy.’
One dark eyebrow lifted. ‘Riggs, you’re like a kangaroo. The moment I enter a room, you bounce out of it. This is as good a time as any to ask you why.’
She glared at him. ‘Don’t flatter yourself it has anything to do with you. I’m a busy woman. Lots to do.’
‘If you say so.’ With smooth, measured movements he finished laying the table. ‘I’m just warning you how it might look from the outside. And don’t be embarrassed. I’m avoiding you, too.’
‘You are?’
‘That’s right. It’s the only way I can concentrate and get any work done. Now, are you eating or not? The seafood pie is heating in the oven so we need to get started.’
Anna stared at him.
He was having trouble concentrating?
He was thinking about her? Suddenly she felt unsettled and she wasn’t used to feeling unsettled. She was used to knowing where her life was going. To being in control. Around Sam McKenna, she didn’t feel in control at all.
Her brain told her to leave but her taste buds had other ideas. ‘All right, we’ll share the meal. But we’ll live to regret it. I’m willing to bet that someone is watching.’
‘Let them watch.’ Sam sprawled in a chair and lifted his beer, his eyes resting on the surf.
‘You used to hate all that. The fact that everyone knew everything about you,’ she reminded him, picking at an olive. ‘It was one of the reasons you couldn’t wait to go to London. You wanted to be anonymous.’ She laughed as she realised what she’d said. ‘Not that you’re exactly anonymous, Dr Hotshot.’
His eyes swivelled to hers. ‘I’m just a normal, everyday kind of guy.’
‘I hate to disillusion you, but you’ve never been normal, McKenna.’ She took another olive, admired its shiny blackness before popping it into her mouth. ‘Arrogant, self-assured and wrong about virtually everything. Never normal. These olives are good. What exactly does Hilda do to them?’
‘No idea, but they’re always sold by lunch-time so it must be something special. How long has my dad been struggling?’
The swift change of subject threw her, just as he’d known it would. ‘Most of last winter,’ she admitted finally, dropping an olive stone onto her empty plate. ‘He had a chest infection in October that he just couldn’t throw off. After that he just seemed to slow down. I kept hoping he’d pick up but he never did.’
‘Damn.’ Sam stretched long legs
in front of him. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t notice. He just seemed the same to me.’
Anna stared across the beach. ‘That’s the strange thing about parents. You see them the way you think they are—the way they’ve always been—rather than the way they really are. I remember it took me ages to realise how ill Dad was. To me he was just Dad. And then I came home from university one holiday and for a moment I saw him as other people must see him. And I realised he’d aged. And lost weight. And grown old somewhere along the way. I just hadn’t noticed.’
She felt a wave of emotion swamp her and blinked several times to clear her vision. No matter how much time passed, she still missed her parents.
‘I remember that time. You walked around the whole holiday looking like a ghost.’ Sam watched her across the table. ‘That was a hard time for you, losing your dad and your mum so close together.’
‘Neither of them would have been any good without the other, so it was probably for the best,’ Anna said gruffly, turning her attention back to her plate, ‘and I got through. Your parents were brilliant.’
‘You’ve always been the daughter they never had.’
Their gazes locked and Anna’s eyes narrowed as a thought entered her head. ‘McKenna, you don’t think— I mean, they wouldn’t…’
He didn’t pretend to misunderstand her. ‘They’re as capable of matchmaking as everyone else in the village, so I suppose it’s possible.’
She put her fork down with a clatter. ‘But they know us so well. They know that we clash, that we drive each other nuts—that we just couldn’t—’
‘Couldn’t we?’ He reached for the pepper, a strange light in his eyes as he glanced towards her. ‘Just as well they didn’t see that kiss the other night.’
Her heart hammered her ribcage. ‘We agreed not to talk about that.’
‘Your rules, Riggs. I’m willing to talk about it any time you like. And go for a repeat performance.’
Her pulse jumped and she took some sensible breaths. ‘That would be ridiculous.’
‘Would it? Why?’
‘Because we are completely and totally wrong for each other,’ she snapped, ‘and that kiss was a mistake.’
‘You didn’t enjoy it?’
‘What do you want me to say?’ She glared at him. ‘That you’re good at kissing? Yes, you’re good at kissing. Yes, I enjoyed it. But it wasn’t real.’
‘Felt real enough to me.’
‘Look, McKenna…’ She took a deep breath and struggled with her patience and the rush of unfamiliar feelings inside her. ‘We’d managed to get through a whole evening without killing each other, I’d drunk champagne, which always goes to my head, the atmosphere was gooey, it was dark…’ She ladled on the excuses and he studied her carefully.
‘You want me to kiss you in daylight when you’re sober, just to test that theory?’
‘You’re being deliberately annoying.’ She stood up and picked up the empty plate. ‘I’ll get the seafood pie.’
Of course she didn’t want him to test the theory.
She didn’t want him to touch her again.
It was just too confusing.
She didn’t like the man. He drove her nuts. Always had done, always would do. And just because he knew how to kiss a woman into a coma, it didn’t change that fact.
The situation grew more tense every day.
It seemed that the more she tried to avoid him, the more their paths crossed. And wherever they were, Polly seemed to be filming.
They had a meeting with a group of local teenagers and talked about how they could improve the health provision in the area. It was a lively, stimulating evening and it served to confirm to Anna that Sam had been right to suggest the idea. A teenage health clinic would work really well as long as they listened carefully to what was needed. The teenagers themselves, led by Katy, brainstormed ideas and decided to design the posters themselves.
‘I just love it when someone else does all the work.’ Sam leaned back in his chair and smiled at them. ‘Just as long as people know that this is an open clinic. No appointments needed. Anyone under the age of eighteen can just turn up and hang out. You can see the doctor, talk to the nurse or just mingle. And every week one of us will give a short talk.’
‘Can we talk about confidentiality?’ One of the younger girls bit her lip and went pink. ‘I mean, what you have to tell our parents and what can just be between us?’
Sam nodded, his expression serious. ‘Of course. Good topic. Add that to the list, Katy.’
Katy scribbled away and by the end of the session they’d produced a long list of topics and general ideas for the clinic.
‘We’ll put a poster up in the surf shop, that’s where most of the teenagers hang out,’ Katy said, making a few deft strokes with her pen and lifting up her pad. ‘What do you think of something like this for the design?’
Anna blinked. ‘Katy, it’s brilliant.’
Katy flushed. ‘I’m doing art at college. I love drawing. I can make it better than this. I’ll do it on the computer at home.’
By the time they’d finished, they’d planned their clinic down to the last detail.
‘Go on.’ Sam turned to her as they locked up at the end of the evening. ‘Tell me I was right.’
‘It’s a good idea,’ Anna conceded, dropping the keys into her bag. ‘It remains to be seen if it will work.’
‘It will work. Katy was really joining in. Are you still seeing her?’
Anna nodded, pausing by her car. ‘She keeps a food diary and we talk about it and she’s cut down on her exercise. I think she’s acknowledging that she has a problem, which is good.’
‘Unusual for someone with an eating disorder,’ Sam observed, juggling his keys in the palm of his hand.
‘Fortunately, I think Katy has only just developed a problem,’ Anna said. ‘It was a boy that she went out with. Kept telling her she was fat.’
Sam rolled his eyes. ‘Teenage boys. Perhaps we ought to do something about body image in our clinic.’
‘Good idea.’
He grinned. ‘Careful, Riggs. We’re agreeing on rather a lot at the moment.’
‘Nonsense.’ Suddenly flustered, she tugged open her car door and tossed her bag on the seat. The way he was looking at her made her feel hot. Aware of herself. So full of frustrated desire that her whole body felt ready to explode.
She’d never felt like this before. Never wanted a man so badly.
Especially one that she didn’t even like. It just didn’t make sense.
It was that kiss, she decided crossly, sliding into her car and slamming her car door shut. If they hadn’t shared that stupid kiss then none of this would have happened. She could have carried on being irritated by him, finding him infuriating and aggravating. And she could have slept at night.
As it was, she hadn’t slept properly for ages and the tension between them was building to almost intolerable levels.
Every time they were in a room together the atmosphere sizzled and thrummed and Anna was reaching screaming pitch.
She’d tried to bury sexual frustration in work, concentrating on her patients, helping Glenda, catching up with all the things that she’d been too busy to do with David ill. But none of it worked.
They carried on for a few more days and in the end Sam took control, grabbing Anna by the arm and hauling her into the nearest consulting room.
He closed the door firmly and pushed her against it, one arm planted either side of her head. ‘OK, Riggs, we’ve tried it your way and it isn’t working.’
‘What do you mean, it isn’t working?’
‘You said that if we both ignored it and pretended that it never happened, it would go away.’ He stepped closer to her, pressing her against the door. ‘It hasn’t gone away, Riggs. It’s still there.’
She placed her hands on his chest and struggled to breathe.
‘I don’t know what you mean—’ She didn’t even finish the sentence before his mouth
came down on hers and he showed her exactly what he meant.
The explosion was instant.
Fierce hunger exploded inside her and Anna lifted herself on her toes and pressed herself closer, moaning as he explored her mouth with erotic expertise.
She’d never been kissed like this before.
She’d never felt like this before.
She felt the heat build in her body, felt the powerful throb of his arousal against her and the urgency of his mouth on hers.
Completely forgetting where they were, she gave herself up to sensation. Eyes closed, she breathed in the masculine scent of him, felt the strength and purpose of his hands as he touched her but most of all revelled in the skilled possession of his mouth as he kissed her.
It was only when she felt the cool air brush her exposed breasts that she realised that he’d undone her blouse.
Shocked by how fast things had moved, she placed her hands in the centre of his chest. ‘We’ve got to stop doing this.’ She groaned the words against his mouth and he lifted his head just enough to respond.
‘Or we could carry on.’
‘We can’t do that.’
‘Why not?’ His voice was husky and his eyes roved over her flushed face, revealing a considerable degree of masculine satisfaction.
‘Because sex would complicate things.’
‘We’re both single people.’ He bent his head and kissed her neck, his touch warm and seductive. ‘Who are we hurting?’
She couldn’t reason or concentrate when he was this close. She just knew it wasn’t what she had planned for herself.
She wasn’t ready for a relationship. At least, not yet. And when she was ready it wouldn’t be with a wickedly dangerous man like Sam McKenna. They clashed. They never agreed on anything. He irritated her beyond belief.
But he knew how to kiss and he had the most incredible hands…
She tried to talk sense into herself and failed, mostly because his mouth was still busy seducing hers. She moaned and kissed him back. Did it really matter if they weren’t exactly well matched? If they were totally unsuited in every way except physically? Why shouldn’t they just have some fun? As he had rightly pointed out, who would they be hurting?
