by Sarah Morgan
‘You don’t have family?’
‘No.’ She concentrated on her plate. ‘I only have one aunt and she lives in Scotland so I never get to see her. What about you? Will you be spending Christmas with your family?’
‘Yes. I have an interfering younger sister, an even more interfering father and at least eight first cousins.’
‘Lucky you.’ Her tone was wistful. ‘I imagine there’s nothing better than a noisy, chaotic Christmas when everyone is driving everyone else mad.’
‘You think that’s lucky?’
Liv reached for her water. ‘I suppose that the fact they interfere at least means they care. And it’s lovely to have someone who cares. The world can be a lonely, scary place.’
Did she find it scary? Was she lonely?
Sensing that to delve deeper into that comment might send her back into her shell, Stefano shifted the conversation. ‘My sister has twin boys the same age as Max.’
‘Really?’ Her face brightened. ‘That must be a handful. I can’t imagine two.’
‘She has a nanny. My sister works in the family business.’
Liv studied him across the table, her green eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight. ‘And you disapprove of that?’
‘The children need her. And she doesn’t need to work.’
‘I presume you mean financially. But maybe she needs to work for other reasons.’
‘Let me ask you a question.’ He wondered how he could ever have thought she wasn’t beautiful. Her face had a pure, innocent quality but her mouth had been designed for seduction. ‘If you had all the money you needed, would you still work?’
‘I have no idea. I’ve never thought about it and I wouldn’t allow myself to because it isn’t an option for me. Happiness is being realistic, Stefano.’
Noticing that she was trying not to yawn, he caught the eye of the waiter. ‘Time to get you home.’
‘Sorry. It was a bit of an early start this morning.’ Her attention was on a different part of the restaurant and when he followed her gaze he saw that a table of women were all watching him and laughing. They were obviously enjoying a girls’ night out and one of them lifted her glass and sent a flirtatious look in his direction.
Stefano didn’t react, but Liv’s friendly, open chatter suddenly ceased and she returned to looking awkward and uncomfortable, her eyes on the view instead of him.
Why was she so self-conscious?
She’d retreated back into her shell and he knew that her reaction had something to do with the noisy group of women who were partying at the nearby table.
He was unable to retrieve the situation because the waiter arrived with the bill and stood hovering while Stefano produced his credit card.
‘Tell me how much my half is,’ Liv said huskily. ‘I’ll pay you back tomorrow. I’m so sorry I don’t have enough money with me now.’
Amused, he glanced at her. ‘When I buy a woman dinner, I don’t expect her to pay.’
‘Maybe not, but that’s when you’re on a date and this wasn’t a date. This was just two colleagues sharing food. I’ll pay you back tomorrow.’
The money was obviously an enormous issue for her and he wondered how, if she was really so short of cash, she was ever going to get her car fixed. ‘I don’t want you to pay me back. I was hungry and there’s nothing more grim than eating alone. You did me a favour.’
‘Hardly. I talked far too much about really boring subjects.’ Clearly in a hurry to leave, she rose to her feet and didn’t speak again until they reached the car. ‘Thank you, Stefano.’
‘Give me directions to your flat.’ He steered the conversation away from money. ‘Have you worked in the emergency department for long?’
‘The last few years. Before that I was on Paediatrics and sometimes when they’re short staffed I still go and help there. What about you? Where did you work last?’
‘In a trauma unit up in Scotland and before that Milan.’
‘Milan.’ She repeated the word with the same emphasis he’d used. ‘That sounds exotic.’
Stefano laughed. ‘If you think that, you have clearly never been to Milan.’
‘I’ve never been anywhere. Take a left at the lights. And then it’s straight on all the way to my flat. Just keep going. So what’s Milan like?’
‘It’s a wonderful city, but I wouldn’t describe it as exotic.’
‘Why did you choose to come to frozen England?’
‘I needed a change.’ And this was certainly a change, he thought grimly, scanning the streets. As she directed him, the area he was driving through grew more and more rundown. There was litter on the streets, graffiti on the walls and gangs of teenagers wearing hoodies lurked on street corners.
‘You were escaping from your interfering family?’
‘Something like that.’ His family and a clingy ex-girlfriend.
A police car raced past them, light flashing, horn blaring, and Stefano felt the tension in his shoulders mount. He wouldn’t want any of his family living in a place like this.
‘We’re here,’ she said a few minutes later. ‘If you pull in just past that lamppost, that’s my flat. Thanks very much.’ As the car drew to a halt, she reached for her bag. ‘I really am grateful. The meal was delicious and you’ve been very kind. See you tomorrow.’
One glance at the area told him that she shouldn’t be coming back here late at night on her own. ‘Wait.’ His hand on her arm prevented her leaving the car. ‘I’ll see you to your door.’
‘There’s really no need. I know it looks grim but I’m used to it.’ Not looking at him, Liv produced her keys. ‘I’ll be fine.’
‘You’re very independent, aren’t you?’
‘I’ve had to be.’ She glanced at him then and their eyes met and held. Then she gave a tiny frown and tore her gaze away from his. ‘Goodnight, Mr Lucarelli. And thanks again.’
The chemistry was shimmering between them like an invisible force and yet her hand slid to the door.
‘Invite me in for coffee.’ His softly spoken command obviously surprised her and he watched with some satisfaction as the keys slipped from her fingers. It was nice to know she wasn’t indifferent to him. Uncomfortable, yes. Shy, maybe. But indifferent? Definitely not. ‘You’ve already told me that Max is at Anna’s tonight, so you have no bedtime story to read.’ He lounged in his seat, enjoying the effect he was having on her. She was delightfully transparent.
‘You don’t strike me as the sort of man who’d step out of his Ferrari to drink a cup of instant coffee in a damp flat that is probably smaller than your bathroom,’ she said lightly and he gave a slow smile.
‘I love instant coffee and I’m nervous in large spaces. I promise to give you a lesson on how to coach football.’
‘Now you’re being unfair.’ She laughed. ‘Mr Lucarelli—Stefano.’ She stumbled over his name and stooped to retrieve her keys, ‘That’s a really tempting offer and I really am grateful for the lift, but I’ve already taken up enough of your Friday evening. I’m sure you have plenty more exciting ways to spend your time than drinking coffee with me.’ And before he could answer, she slid out of his car and hurried across to her flat.
Stefano wondered why he was so desperate to follow her.
She had nothing, absolutely nothing, in common with the women he usually spent time with. Obviously her life revolved around her work and her son. It was almost as if she’d forgotten that she was a woman. Or maybe she just ignored that fact.
His eyes narrowed as he remembered the way she’d hung onto her coat in the restaurant. She was woman enough to care that she hadn’t dressed to go to a restaurant.
He watched as she hurried up the steps to the front door of her flat, his eyes narrowed and his body aching with awareness. She moved with the grace of a dancer and flakes of snow settled on her dark hair as she fumbled to get her key into the lock.
As the door opened she paused and Stefano waited for her to look back and smile at him.
/> She was going to look back. He felt it.
She stood for a moment on the threshold and then stepped inside her flat and firmly closed the door behind her.
And she didn’t look back.
* * *
Liv stood in the kitchen, willing herself not to run to the window and see if his car was still there.
Had she imagined it or had he really invited himself in for coffee?
And why had he done that?
Surely the time they’d spent together in the restaurant should have been enough to prove to him that she wasn’t exactly stimulating company. She’d talked about work and Max.
Thinking about how much she’d talked and how boring she’d been, she covered her face with her hands and gave a groan of embarrassment. Not only had she been boring, she’d been wearing her most ancient skirt and jumper. A man like Stefano Lucarelli must be used to being with women who were groomed to within an inch of their lives. And on top of that, she’d cleared her plate. She’d eaten absolutely everything and his comment about just eating the sauce had made it perfectly obvious that he was used to stick-thin women who went to restaurants to be seen, rather than to eat.
He’d offered her champagne!
Thank goodness she’d had the sense to refuse, otherwise the evening would have been even more embarrassing. As it was, he was probably regretting ever offering her a lift. Because of her stupid car, he’d been stuck with her all evening.
And he’d been incredibly kind about it. So kind that for a short time she’d completely forgotten to be shy and awkward and had really enjoyed herself.
After a while she’d even managed to forget how impossibly good-looking he was and how he absolutely shouldn’t be wasting an evening on her, and just concentrate on the conversation. And he’d been really, really good company. Although she knew it wasn’t fashionable to admit it, she loved the fact that he’d just taken charge.
He was so sure of himself and confident and wasn’t afraid to make decisions. Just having someone else make a decision for her had had the same effect as a month on a health farm.
It was just because she was a single mother, she thought wistfully. Every decision that needed to be made, she made it—by herself, with no help or input from anyone else and sometimes the unrelenting responsibility of her life was just exhausting. Yes, she was controlling, but only because she’d had to be. It was hardly surprising that when someone else did the thinking for five minutes, it had felt wonderful.
It had felt so incredibly indulgent to have a plate of food put in front of her that for a short time she’d relaxed and been herself with him. Only she’d talked far too much about her life—it was a wonder he hadn’t fallen asleep in his spaghetti.
It was just as well she’d happened to notice the table of women near to them. Made up and dressed up, they’d obviously spent half the day getting ready for their night out and they had gazed at Stefano as though they’d wanted him for their main course.
At that point she’d remembered just who she was with and she’d returned to earth quickly, reminding herself that it wasn’t a date.
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.’
