Surgeon Boss, Bachelor Dad

by Lucy Clark

  She’d read through many résumés about six months ago, given her recommendations based on the technical qualifications of each candidate and then the matter had been removed from her hands. Either way, she was glad help had finally arrived and she was looking forward to meeting the new doctor in question…if she ever managed to get to the hospital, that was.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Loughlin eyed the woman before him critically, noticing the way her eyes snapped open with a hint of fright. ‘Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.’

  ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘You look stressed.’

  ‘Well, wouldn’t you be if your car had broken down and you were now late for appointments?’

  ‘I guess…And I promise that I’m working as fast as I possibly can.’

  Megan regretted snapping. It was nice that he’d stopped. Nice that he could help her and even though she didn’t know him enough to know if she could trust him, it was no reason for rudeness.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she ventured, but he merely waved her words away with a slightly grubby hand. ‘I do appreciate your help.’

  ‘I ken that.’ He began tinkering again, this time using a spanner to loosen or tighten—she had no idea which—different parts of her engine. ‘Are you always this prickly?’

  ‘Prickly?’ There was a hint of warning in her tone and Loughlin shook his head.

  ‘Sorry. Must have used the wrong word. Er…I meant…highly strung. Or…er…not relaxed.’ He frowned for a moment, noting her expression hadn’t changed. ‘Am I just digging myself in deeper?’

  ‘Och. Aye.’ Her words were said with a hint of annoyance, but she was more annoyed at the way she was responding to this man than what he was saying.

  Loughlin couldn’t help but really laugh this time. The look on her face said that he had insulted her and to hear her reply as such was more than amusing. ‘Are you teasing me?’

  ‘Och, nay.’

  ‘Just as well because we Scotsmen don’t take kindly to being teased.’ His words were said with a good-natured smile.

  ‘And we Aussies don’t take kindly to being insulted.’

  ‘I am sorry,’ he said again, his smile settling onto his face. It really did make him look more handsome than she’d previously given him credit for. Such light in his eyes, a brightness to his face.

  Megan steeled herself, realising that his type were the ones to charm women the world over. Well, he could just forget about charming her with his rich, sexy laugh because she’d become immune to those sorts of charms. No longer was she a blind fool, following and doing what charming men dictated.

  ‘I was only trying to say that you remind me of one of those wee animals you have in your country. The ones with the quills.’ He snapped his fingers as though he was trying to remember what they were called.

  ‘Echidnas?’

  ‘Aye. That’s the one. They’re absolutely gorgeous and cute and yet they’ve built this little wall around them to protect themselves from predators.’

  ‘Well, if I remind you of one, then perhaps it’s because I think you’re a predator.’

  He paused at that, as though that thought hadn’t even occurred to him. ‘True. I guess out here on a secluded road, me coming along to try and help you out could be misconstrued into something dark and sinister from a B movie.’

  ‘See?’

  ‘But that’s not the case. I assure you, I am an upstanding citizen and a functioning member of society.’

  ‘I only have your word for it,’ Megan countered.

  ‘True, but this could also be equally as sinistorial from your end.’

  ‘Sinistorial? Is that a Scottish word?’ She was teasing him again…and enjoying it. What on earth had got into her?

  ‘Shush. In this scenario, you might have tampered with your car, pretending to be a damsel in distress, and then when I—the knight in shining armour—stop to lend a helping hand, you skelp me over the head with a brick and knock me out.’

  ‘Hmm.’ Megan looked at the ground around them, noticing only twigs and dead leaves. ‘No bricks.’

  ‘I ken that. I was just giving an example.’ He was silent again, concentrating on what he was doing. ‘You know, I saw one of those wee echidnas yesterday.’ His eyes were alive with excitement. ‘My place is not far from here, just up there.’ He pointed in the same direction as Megan’s house was. The area was surrounded by Australian scrub bushland which backed onto a nature reserve. There were houses scattered here and there, a total of about seven—at least, that was the number of letter-boxes that were all lined up next to each other at the beginning of the access road.

  ‘Really?’ Megan had been in this part of New South Wales for just under twelve months and she was yet to see any native Australian animals. ‘Where?’

  ‘In my back yard! Can you believe that? Of course, my back yard is absolutely enormous.’ He rolled his r’s as he spoke and Megan found she was liking more and more the way her rescuer sounded. His accent had a soothing affect on her breathing, calming the stress and tension she usually felt…especially when she was around strangers. He wasn’t hard to look at either.

  ‘I was out for a walk,’ he continued, ‘and heard something rustling in the dried leaves. Next thing I knew, the echidna just waddled out as plain as anything. Smaller than a hedgehog. Its nose is longer, though.’

  ‘And its quills are spikier.’

  ‘Don’t you worry, lassie. I ken when to keep my distance.’

  Was he talking about her or the mammal?

  ‘In fact, I just stood there in awe and watched it waddle on by, intent on doing what it needed to do.’ His grin was wide, his eyes were bright and once again Megan felt her insides churn a little in appreciation. He was becoming more alluring with each passing second.

  He angled his head to one side. ‘Is that what you’re like? Just waddling on? Getting on with your life and not worrying about anyone else—unless you think they mean you harm and then no doubt you’d curl up into your wee protective ball, oozing spikes.’

  Megan couldn’t help but smile sadly at the picture he painted but she covered it up with her usual briskness. ‘First of all, I’d like to point out that I don’t waddle but…for the rest of it…’ She shrugged. ‘Perhaps. We all have built-in defence mechanisms, protective instincts.’

  ‘Aye.’ Loughlin thought on her words, knowing what she said was true. He’d had to build his own walls around him, to protect himself and those who he held most precious. He was about to ask her another question when her phone rang. She took it from her waistband, her tone efficient when she answered.

  ‘Yes?’ She listened intently. ‘Yes, I know. I’m sorry. I had meant to call. I’ve had car trouble. Sorry. Can we reschedule?’ Megan paused, listening. She turned her back and walked a few steps away for a bit of privacy, even though she knew the man could hear every word she said.

  ‘Really? He hasn’t turned up either? That’s strange. Never mind.’ She paused again. ‘No. No. It’s fine. Someone’s stopped to help out and everything should be back under control very soon.’ She listened. ‘OK. I’ll be there when I’m there.’ Shaking her head, she rang off.

  ‘The world waiting for you?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes.’ She paced up and down, her agitation increasing with each step.

  ‘You hate being held up.’ It was a statement, not a question.

  ‘Yes. I have people depending on me, needing my time and attention, and instead I’m stuck by the side of the road with a car that won’t work.’ As she spoke, she felt the tightness in her chest return.

  ‘All right. Well, before you get too scunnered…’ he clipped a tube back into place as he spoke ‘…give it a try now.’

  Megan did as he suggested, putting her hand through the open car window and turning the key. The car, with the bonnet still up, jumped forward. ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ she called, unable to believe how stupid she’d been as she quickly opened the door, climbed in and took the car out of gear. ‘S
orry,’ she called again.

  ‘That’s all right. I’ll take it personally.’

  Megan smiled at his words, again liking the way his lilting tones washed over her. Or perhaps she liked the way he was teasing her. She hadn’t been teased in…well, she couldn’t actually remember the last time someone had joked with her.

  ‘Give it another go,’ he called. She did and this time when she turned the key, the engine spluttered to life. Relief flooded through her and gratitude welled up in her chest.

  ‘Thank you!’

  ‘Don’t turn it off,’ he said before closing the bonnet. ‘And try not to stop too long at any red lights.’

  ‘No. Don’t want to jinx it.’ She pulled her seat belt on and then put her hand out the window as he came to the side of the car. ‘Thank you. Thank you. You’re a genius.’

  He held up his slightly greasy hands. ‘I think it’s best if we don’t shake on it. I’ll accept your thanks, though, and state that it was my pleasure. It’s been ages since I’ve had the opportunity to tinker around with an engine. Especially on one of these cars. They’re not really as bad as you think.’

  ‘I appreciate everything you’ve done. Honestly.’

  ‘I believe you.’

  And he seemed more than happy to leave it at that but for some reason Megan felt as though she should offer him money or something. Something to repay him for being such a nice, decent man. His actions might even go a long way to helping her to believe chivalry wasn’t really dead. ‘I’d like to repay you in some way,’ she found herself saying. Why was she prolonging things? She had meetings to get to and a day to catch up with.

  ‘Not necessary.’

  ‘But if you hadn’t come along—’

  ‘You’d have called a taxi and probably not been as late as you are now.’

  ‘I also would have had to arrange to have the car towed and everything else that goes along with it. So, in essence, I guess you could say you’ve saved me a lot of money.’

  He thought for a moment. ‘In that case, I’m free for dinner tonight. You can spend your hard-saved money on me by buying me a meal.’

  ‘Oh.’ Dinner? That was the last thing she’d been expecting him to say. ‘Uh…all right, then. Dinner.’ One meal. It couldn’t hurt. He’d been so nice, so decent. ‘Where?’

  He named a popular restaurant in town and Megan nodded. ‘Seven-thirty. I’ll see you then,’ she called as she put the car into gear. It slid into first more smoothly than it ever had before. The man was a miracle-worker—at least, when it came to cars.

  He smiled and waved as she drove off and she couldn’t help but watch him in her rear-view mirror until he was out of sight. What a nice man. What a hero. She’d heard stories of people who were classified as heroes, people who had pulled young children from burning buildings, who’d saved people from drowning.

  In fact, most rescue workers were bona fide heroes but as far as she was concerned it was the people who went out of their way to help others in a moment of need. That was the definition of a hero for her, and until today she’d never actually experienced being aided by a hero.

  Well, she’d have her opportunity to thank him again. At seven-thirty. This evening. For dinner. As the realisation that she would be dining with a stranger began to sink in, Megan bit her bottom lip. She was having dinner with a man—a handsome one at that—and she knew nothing about him.

  What had she done? Why had she been so stupid? It was so out of character for her. She didn’t have dinner with random strangers. In fact, she didn’t socialise at all! Regret swamped her, along with a huge serving of vulnerability. She’d agreed to have dinner with a complete stranger. The chest pains returned, along with her mounting anxiety.

  She would cancel. That’s what she’d do. She’d say that she had made a mistake, that she was grateful but having dinner with him was simply out of the question. Megan slowed the car as she came to a red light and it was then she realised she could do nothing about her intended meeting for that evening as she had no idea what the man’s name was! How could she have been so stupid? How could she not have asked his name? How could she make an excuse to cancel when she had no clue how to get in contact with him?

  There was nothing else she could do. Her eyes widened with trepidation as the truth swamped her. She’d have to go.

  CHAPTER TWO

  LOUGHLIN pulled his car into a service station and headed to the toilets so he could wash his hands and make himself more presentable. He’d been due to have his initial meet-and-greet of the hospital and clinical staff at nine-thirty that morning. It was now nearly ten o’clock.

  After he’d watched his career woman drive successfully away, he’d called the hospital to let them know he’d be running late and had been told not to stress or worry due to the fact that the hospital director was also running late.

  He finished scrubbing his hands clean and ran them through his mop of hair, the wetness from his fingers spiking the ends up a little. It was a messy style but a fashionable one which also meant he didn’t need to bother about a regular haircut. He recalled the crew-cut he’d been required to sport when he’d been at grammar school, and on graduation day he’d vowed never to wear his hair that short ever again. And he hadn’t.

  Besides, Heather had told him that wearing his hair like this made him a cool, hip father and he’d been secretly delighted at his twelve-year-old daughter’s words. The thought of Heather made Loughlin’s smile fade for a moment. He wished she was here with him. He missed her terribly but, he rationalised, she’d be here in a couple of weeks and it was up to him to get things organised before then. He tucked his shirt in and then realised his buttons were in the wrong holes. Quickly rectifying the situation, he headed back to his car where he pulled on the tie sitting on the passenger seat.

  He was doing all of this for Heather. They would be able to have a fresh start here in Australia.

  ‘Two weeks,’ he told himself as he checked the Windsor knot of his tie in the rear-view mirror. ‘That’s not long. Heather will be here with you, where she belongs.’

  First, though, he had to get through the first day on the job and as far as first days went, it wasn’t shaping up to be the best he’d ever had. Well, at least he’d have company for dinner that evening. Eating alone only made him miss his daughter, his crazy sisters, his whole extended family even more.

  He was looking forward to this evening, to seeing his career woman again, to making a friend. He was new to this country and although he considered himself quite a personable guy, he wasn’t looking for anything permanent. He’d done permanent in the past and it hadn’t worked. Fatherhood was his first priority and everything else came second. Friendships were what he needed and it was definitely easier to get to know people in smaller communities than large cities.

  He smiled to himself as he continued on his way to the hospital. His damsel in distress had been chosen as his first friend in Kiama. Lucky her!

  ‘Still no sign of him?’ Megan asked Nicole, the clinical nurse consultant. She shrugged into her white coat and picked up her stethoscope, ignoring the mound of paperwork on her desk that was awaiting her attention. The time scheduled for her morning meetings was well and truly over and she had a quick ward round to do—thankfully, she only had seven patients to see—and then it was time to get an already delayed clinic under way.

  ‘He did call. Said he was running late.’

  ‘Well, at least he called.’ Megan frowned.

  ‘Which is more than you did,’ Nicole pointed out with a good-natured, teasing grin. They’d been working together throughout the year and in a way had become friendly, but Megan had also shied away from socialising with the people she worked with.

  It was the way she now lived her life—not socialising with her colleagues—and that had only intensified after what Calvin had done to her. She stopped her thoughts. Calvin and the memories associated with him weren’t a part of her life in Kiama. She’d come here to get away from
the gossips, the pitying looks, the awkward silences whenever she’d walked into a room. She needed a fresh start and that was exactly what she was in the process of trying to achieve.

  ‘I had car trouble.’ Megan’s frown instantly lifted as a vision of her knight in shining armour came to mind. ‘Thankfully, someone stopped to help me.’ As she spoke, she realised she was smiling and was glad Nicole had turned away for a moment. Megan tried to clear her thoughts. She had work to do and didn’t need to be thinking about the likes of her soothing Scottish stranger.

  ‘You should get rid of that car,’ Nicole continued.

  ‘Hmm.’ Megan knew the nurse spoke the truth but she had to confess that on the drive to the hospital the car had been purring like a kitten. Surely there wasn’t any reason to get rid of the car now that it was working well. Perhaps she should ask the man’s opinion when they had dinner that evening?

  That thought brought a fluttering of excited anticipation as well as anxiety. She was going to have dinner with a stranger tonight. Only the fact she was going to be in a restaurant where she knew the owners was what kept her from thinking of standing him up. Besides, it would be bad manners after everything he had done for her, and while she didn’t like to socialise, she also wasn’t impolite.

  ‘Megan? Megan?’ Nicole called her back to earth.

  ‘Huh?’ Megan blinked and cleared her thoughts. ‘Ward round. Right.’

  ‘Are you all right?’ Nicole sounded a little concerned.

  ‘Yes. Why?’

  The nurse shrugged. ‘I don’t know. You just seem a little preoccupied and, well…more relaxed somehow. I don’t know. There’s just something different about you this morning.’