Casualty officer Keely Thompson is determined to prove to her boss Zach Jordan that she is no longer the scatty teenager who once embarrassingly declared her love to him. Dynamic A&E consultant Zach has also changed since then—he’s now a single father! When he needs temporary help with his little daughter Keely steps in, though living with him throws her emotions into further turmoil. Zach and his daughter Phoebe clearly need help, but even if Zach can see Keely as a desirable woman, he apparently doesn’t see her in the role of wife and mother…

‘Listen, Keely…’ He turned to face her. ‘About last night—’

‘We already discussed last night, Zach,’ she reminded him calmly, ‘and you made your position quite clear.’

A muscle worked in his jaw. ‘I was wrong to kiss you—’

‘Stop worrying,’ she said quietly, ‘it was just a kiss. Please, don’t think I’m reading anything into it. We were both worried about Phoebe and weird things happen to common sense in the middle of the night.’

‘Maybe, but that’s no excuse on my part. I should have shown some self-control.’

She was glad that he hadn’t. Which was ridiculous, of course, because that kiss had left her wanting something she knew she couldn’t have.

Emergency:

Mother Wanted

Sarah Morgan

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Table of Contents

Cover

Back Cover Copy

Title Page

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

About the Author

Copyright Page

PROLOGUE

‘SAY that name again?’

Zach Jordan paused with a coffee-mug halfway to his lips, his blue eyes suddenly watchful.

‘Which name?’ His colleague Sean Nicholson, the senior consultant in the accident and emergency department, glanced down at the list he’d been reading aloud. ‘Um…Keely Thompson?’

Keely…

Zach put his coffee-mug back on the table, untouched.

‘What’s the matter? Do you know her?’ Sean frowned and Zach’s eyes narrowed as he did the calculation in his head. Could it be her? Had that much time passed? Could she really be one of the new senior house officers?

‘I think I might do,’ he said finally. ‘You interviewed her—can you remember what she looked like?’

Sean nodded and tossed the file of papers he was holding onto the table. ‘I certainly can. Small and delicate, short blonde hair…a bit urchin like—massive blue eyes, the biggest smile I’ve ever seen…’ He broke off and gave an appreciative grin. ‘In fact, I have to admit that she was absolutely gorgeous, but don’t tell Ally I said that.’

Zach gave an absent smile, knowing that Sean adored his pretty wife and their three children. ‘Bouncy? Bubbly personality?’

‘That’s her.’ Sean picked up his coffee and took a sip. ‘She’s the daughter of the Professor Thompson from St Mark’s. I suppose we should count ourselves lucky she’s here. With that sort of pedigree I don’t expect she’ll be hanging around the Lake District for long. She’ll be aiming for a job in one of the hot seats of academic learning.’

Would she? Zach gave a slight frown. That didn’t seem like the Keely he’d known as a child. She’d been gentle and caring and totally lacking in ambition. In fact, there had been times when he’d wondered how on earth the Prof had managed to produce a child like Keely—she was so very different from the rest of them. But if she was following in the family footsteps and carving a high-profile career for herself then she’d obviously changed.

He sat back in his chair, wondering what she’d be like now. Last time he’d seen her she’d been a typical teenager, worrying about school and arguing with her mother. It was pretty hard to accept that she’d become a fully qualified doctor.

Sean was looking at him curiously. ‘So how do you know her?’

‘I trained with her older brother and sister.’ Zach leaned forward and retrieved his coffee. ‘They’re twins. And one of my first surgical jobs was with the Prof. I used to go and stay with them sometimes. They had this fabulous house in the Cotswolds. That was where I met Keely.’

‘She was the youngest?’

‘Yes.’ Zach gave a slow nod. ‘The baby of the family. I wonder what she’s doing up here in the Lake District?’ If she was so ambitious, why hadn’t she stayed in London? ‘Can I look at her CV?’

He held out a hand and Sean passed it over. ‘It’s pretty impressive. Top grades all the way through.’

Zach studied it carefully. ‘So did she say why she wanted to come here?’ The hospital had a good reputation but it was hardly the most high profile in the country. Why hadn’t she stayed in London?

Sean gave a shrug. ‘I didn’t really ask her that. Why shouldn’t she come here? It’s a great place. We love it. Why shouldn’t other people?’

‘It is a great place,’ Zach agreed, frowning thoughtfully. ‘But it’s hardly the best springboard for a fast-track medical career.’

‘You seem to know rather a lot about her.’ Sean gave him a keen look. ‘Did you have an affair with her?’

Zach choked on his coffee. ‘For goodness’ sake, Sean! She was sixteen years old and I was twenty-four! What sort of man do you think I am?’

Sean grinned. ‘A woman’s dream—if the gossip is to be believed. According to the nurses, you’re now top of the list of the most eligible bachelors in Cumbria.’

‘Oh, for Pete’s sake, Sean!’ Zach shot him an impatient look and put his mug down on the table with a thump. ‘Since when did you start listening to women’s gossip?’

‘Since I lived with three of them,’ Sean said ruefully. ‘I’m decidedly outnumbered in my home and work life so I’ve decided to give in gracefully and adopt some of their habits.’

‘Well, whatever gossip says, rest assured that I have more self-control and decency than to seduce sixteen-year-olds.’ Zach was careful not to reveal the slight uneasiness Sean’s words had prompted.

If it had been left to little Keely, they most certainly would have had an affair. She’d had a massive teenage crush on him.

A ghost of a smile hovered around his firm mouth as he remembered the night she’d proposed to him. Turning her down without hurting her fragile ego had been one of the hardest experiences of his adult life.

What would she be like now? And would she have recovered from her teenage crush on him? If she hadn’t then they were going to be in trouble.

Zach gave a short laugh, picked up the mug and finished his coffee. Of course she would have recovered. That was years ago, for goodness’ sake, and he hadn’t seen her since that night. He’d kept away—more for her sake than his. He’d decided that the sooner he removed himself from her life, the sooner she’d get over him and start fancying boys her own age. Which was probably what she’d been doing ever since.

‘So come on, Mr Eligible Bachelor, bring me up to date.’ Sean leaned back in his chair, a slow smile spreading across his face. ‘Who’s the lucky woman at the moment?’

‘I thought you were one of the few people I could trust not to interfere with my love life,’ Zach growled, irritation sizzling through his veins. This was one topic of conversation guaranteed to ruin his day. ‘I have enough of it from your wife and the nurses in this department, without getting it from you, too.’

Sean looked at him calmly. ‘Ally thinks it’s time you got married.’

Zach closed his eyes and counted to ten. He loved Sean’s wife dearly but he wished she’d stop trying to arrange his life. ‘For the record, I am perfectly satisfied with my love life.’

‘From what I’ve heard, you don’t have a love life,’ Sean said bluntly, ‘just a sex life.’

‘And since when was that any of your business?’ Zach’s blue eyes flashed a warning and Sean must have heard the threatening note in his voice because he gave a lopsided smile and lifted a hand.

‘All right, all right. Calm down. I’m just saying that sooner or later you’re going to have to take a risk and get back into a proper relationship.’

Sean was as direct as ever and Zach felt his hackles rise. Why did everyone feel they knew what was best for him?

‘I have no intention of doing anything of the sort. I like my life as it is.’

There was a slight pause. ‘It wasn’t your life I was thinking of,’ Sean said gruffly, not quite meeting his eyes. ‘It was Phoebe’s.’

Zach swore under his breath and stood up suddenly, the chair scraping on the floor as he pushed it away. ‘Phoebe is fine.’

‘Zach, she’s not even three years old,’ Sean said quietly. ‘She needs a mother.’

Zach closed his eyes and the breath hissed through his teeth. Damn. Why did it still hurt so much? Why? It had been more than a year now. Were his battered emotions ever going to recover?

Sean gave a sigh and rubbed his forehead with long fingers. ‘Look, tell me if I’m out of line, but—’

‘You’re out of line,’ Zach said coldly, dropping his empty mug into the washing-up bowl. ‘And, please, tell Ally I don’t need her advice on my love life. And I certainly don’t intend to get married again. There are some things you only do once in a lifetime.’

Sean studied his coffee. ‘You say that now because you don’t think you’ll ever meet anyone again, but you will. Perhaps sooner than you think.’

Zach rolled his eyes. ‘And I suppose this is the part where you tell me that you and Ally are having some people to dinner and I’m the available single man?’

Sean shook his head and grinned. ‘I know when I’m beaten. I’m just going to let nature take its course. Once you meet Keely I’m sure you’ll revise your opinion on romance.’

‘Keely?’ Zach blinked, thrown by the change of subject. ‘What on earth has she got to do with this? Keely’s a child, Sean.’

Why were they talking about Keely all of a sudden?

‘A child?’ Sean lifted an eyebrow and a ghost of a smile played around his mouth. ‘She might have been a child when you last saw her but, believe me, that was no child that I interviewed. Your “child” has grown into a woman. And a very beautiful woman.’

Zach scowled. ‘You shouldn’t be making sexist comments about the doctors who are coming to work for you.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of making a sexist comment when I’m working,’ Sean defended himself smoothly, ‘but you and I are off duty at the moment and as your friend I’m just telling you that your little Keely is a knockout. Sweet, sexy and honest as the day is long.’

‘Then I’m sure she’ll make some lucky man very happy,’ Zach said shortly, ‘but it isn’t going to be me.’

Firstly, whatever Sean said to the contrary, he couldn’t think of Keely as anything other than a child and, secondly, he knew he would never, ever find another woman he wanted to marry. How could he after Catherine?

CHAPTER ONE

WHAT had she done to deserve it?

Keely Thompson stared in disbelief at the man standing at the front of the lecture theatre.

She always helped old ladies across the road, she fed the birds in winter, she donated time and money to a charity for the homeless, she never told lies and she rang her mother regularly.

All in all she was a pretty responsible citizen and she definitely—most definitely—didn’t deserve to bump into Zach Jordan again. Which proved that people didn’t always get what they deserved, she thought gloomily, shrinking down in her seat and staring at her notepad. They got what they were given, and she’d been given Zach Jordan. Out of the blue, with no warning, and as her boss. Well, not exactly as her boss, but as a senior colleague, which was almost as bad.

When he’d walked through that door to deliver the lecture she’d felt as though she’d been hit by an express train. She’d been expecting one of the junior consultants from the accident and emergency department. She certainly hadn’t expected Zach.

But it was Zach. And as it looked as though she was going to be a senior house officer in the same department as him, she had to come to terms with the fact that he was going to be under her nose. On a daily basis.

She stifled a groan and leaned her forehead on her hand so that he wouldn’t be able to see her face.

So much for her escape plan. She’d chosen the Lake District because it was far away from home. And, most importantly, far away from people who knew her family. She’d needed space. Space and time. Time to think about what she really wanted to do with her life. She hadn’t known that Zach would be here.

Zach, who knew her family almost as well as she did, and on top of that had been present, if not responsible, for the single most humiliating moment of her life. She’d been sixteen and he’d been twenty-four…

What was she going to say to him? How on earth did you greet someone you used to have a massive teenage crush on and hadn’t seen for eight years?

She moved her head slightly and peeped cautiously at the tall, broad-shouldered man standing at the front of the lecture theatre, totally at ease in front of his audience, his presentation style confident and relaxed.

Satisfied that he wasn’t looking in her direction, Keely rested her chin in her palm and allowed herself the luxury of one long look at him. Over the years she’d decided that what she’d felt for Zachary Jordan had just been part of a teenage fantasy, but looking at him now all she could think was that she’d had impeccable taste when she was younger.

The man was lethally attractive. Smooth dark hair swept back from his forehead, sexy blue eyes, a permanently darkened jaw and a body that made women drool. Zach Jordan was a real man in every sense of the word and at sixteen his looks had left her breathless. No other member of the opposite sex had affected her in the same way. She’d spent every minute of every day dreaming about how it would feel to be kissed by him.

He was the stuff of fantasies…

Obviously she wasn’t the only one who thought so if the soft sigh from the female doctor sitting next to her was anything to go by.

‘Wow! I thought doctors only looked like that in American movies. Tell me I’m not going to be working with him every day. I’ll never be able to concentrate. I’m Fiona, by the way.’

Keely quickly introduced herself and picked up her pen. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate either.

She shrank further into her seat as she remembered the way she’d behaved towards him as a teenager. The things she’d said to him. Like the night she’d proposed—

She suppressed a whimper of horror as she recalled that night. How totally humiliating. How on earth was she going to convince him that she wasn’t a dippy teenager any more?

At least she looked different. Her blonde hair was shorter and somewhere along the road she’d grown a chest. And she was twenty-four now, for goodness’ sake. Hardly the child who’d thrown herself at him all those years before. Maybe he would have forgotten all about it.

Staring at Zach was making her insides feel strange so she stared down at her lined pad instead and decided that the thing to do was to concentrate on making notes. It was certainly a better alternative than looking at Zach’s broad shoulders—not that it was guaranteed to keep her mind on her work. There had been at least four occasions at school when she’d been given detention for scribbling ‘Keely loves Zach’ all over her notebook instead of paying attention.

Keely loves Zach…

Only she hadn’t loved Zach, she told herself firmly, tapping her pen on the page as if to emphasise the point to herself. Not really. She’d just been a vulnerable, impressionable teenager and he’d been drop-dead gorgeous and very kind to her. A recipe for emotional disaster when you were sixteen.

She gave herself a mental shake and a sharp talking-to. She didn’t have anything to worry about. She was a completely different person now. A grown woman and a fully qualified doctor about to take up her position as casualty officer in the accident and emergency department. She was long past the age of suffering from childish crushes. All she had to do was keep their relationship professional and prove to him that she was an excellent doctor.

With a determined expression on her delicate features she concentrated hard on that deep, sexy voice, making notes as he spoke about the medico-legal aspects of working in the A and E department, the importance of good note-taking and liaison with GPs.

He was a good speaker, using just enough humour to keep their attention and just enough drama to make his talk interesting. Everyone was paying attention. Especially the women.

‘He’s unbelievable. I don’t think I can work next to that man every day without throwing myself at him,’ Fiona said dreamily, and Keely gave a wry smile. If her brother and sister were to be believed, women had been making fools of themselves over Zach since the minute he’d arrived at medical school, and probably long before that.

And hadn’t she done exactly the same thing herself?

With a sigh her mouth softened into a smile and she remembered the first time her brother had brought Zach home to stay.

It had been love at first sight. On her part at least. Not on Zach’s, of course. By all accounts he’d been used to cool, sophisticated women, and she’d been a smiley, chatty schoolgirl. He wouldn’t have even thought of her in those terms. But still they’d been friends. And maybe they could be friends again—

She pulled herself together to find everyone in the lecture theatre staring at her expectantly.

‘Dr Thompson?’

Oh, help! He’d asked her a question and she’d missed it. She’d been so intent on planning how to make him see her as a mature, qualified doctor that she hadn’t been listening.

Her face heated and her palms were suddenly sweaty. So much for wanting him to take her seriously.

‘I asked you to tell us where you worked last, Dr Thompson.’ He repeated the question calmly and she swallowed.

‘Medical,’ she said breathlessly, glancing round with a self-conscious smile, relieved when he turned his attention to another of the new SHOs.

‘I bet he’s fantastic in bed,’ Fiona said in an undertone. ‘Look at those shoulders, those muscles, those legs—I feel faint just thinking about it.’

Keely felt faint, too, but for different reasons. This was never going to work. Zach was going to treat her the same way everyone else back in London had. As just another member of the Thompson clan, instead of as an individual. All the usual pressures would be there, the expectations—only with Zach it would be even worse because he was bound to remember her as a scatty teenager.

Was he going to think she wasn’t up to the job?

With a long sigh she stared hard at her pad. Unlike her companion, she didn’t want to look at Zach’s body. She already knew how good it looked and the only way she was going to be able to work with Zach was if she didn’t look at his body.

Suddenly she realised that everyone was standing up and shuffling papers. The lecture was over. It was time to start work. And Zach Jordan was walking towards her…

She stood up and clutched her notepad to her chest, aware that her new colleagues were melting discreetly into the background.

‘Hello, Keely.’ The tone of his deep voice told her immediately that he knew exactly who she was and she felt hideously self-conscious. What on earth should she say? Sorry I wasn’t listening when you asked me a question. Sorry I proposed to you last time I saw you.

‘Hello, Dr Jordan—I mean Mr Jordan.’ She’d suddenly remembered that he was a surgeon and corrected herself hastily.

A smile touched his mouth. ‘Just Zach will do fine,’ he murmured. ‘We’re very informal in A and E.’

‘Right—well, what a surprise to see you.’ She stroked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and smiled brightly, wondering what it was about those blue eyes that made her revert to a stammering teenager. ‘I had no idea that you’d be working here.’

‘And is that a problem?’ He gave a quizzical smile which made her knees feel weak and her heart misbehave.

‘Problem?’ Her voice squeaked slightly and she cleared her throat. ‘No—of course it’s not a problem. Why would it be a problem?’

She could think of a hundred reasons, starting with the physical effect he had on her. Just being in the same room as him brought her close to physiological meltdown.

‘So what are you doing here?’ He tilted his head speculatively. ‘You’re a long way from home, Keely Thompson.’

That had been the general idea when she’d chosen the Lake District.

‘After six years in London I needed a change,’ she said quickly, ‘and I love mountains.’

She flushed under his steady regard, remembering that he’d always been perceptive. Could he read her mind? Did he know the real reason she was here? Had he guessed that she’d needed some space to make her own decisions, away from the influence of her family?

‘Right.’ He continued to watch her thoughtfully. ‘And how are Prof and the twins?’

The inevitable question.

‘Oh, you know,’ Keely pinned a smile on her face, her response automatic. ‘Fine. They’re fine. Doing very well as usual.’

‘I lost touch with Stephen,’ Zach confessed, his blue eyes disconcertingly sharp as he looked at her. ‘Doubtless he’s made it to the top?’

Of course. Where else was there for her family?

‘Professor of Immunology,’ Keely muttered, still managing to maintain the smile. Just.

‘And Eleanor?’

‘Consultant Oncologist in London.’ The smile was slipping but he didn’t seem to notice.

‘And the Prof? Is he retired?’

‘Dad?’ Keely’s cheek muscles were aching and she gave up smiling. ‘Oh, come on, Zach! Dad will never retire. His whole life revolves round being a professor.’

‘I suppose it does.’ Zach’s voice was suddenly soft. ‘And what about you, Keely? What’s your chosen career path?’

Did she tell him the truth? That she didn’t know? That the whole question of her future was driving her mad—

No, of course she couldn’t tell him that! Zach was exactly like the other members of her family—clever, ambitious and totally driven. A born leader who had probably never known a moment of self doubt in his life. He was hardly likely to understand or sympathise with her plight, would he? She could hardly confess that she wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to do with her career—could hardly confide that she wasn’t totally enchanted at the prospect of a career as a hospital doctor.

‘Well, I’m doing six months of A and E before I commit myself,’ she said finally, trying to sound suitably enthusiastic, ‘but I’m thinking of doing cardiology. It’s always fascinated me and we haven’t got a cardiologist in the family.’

‘I see.’ He spoke quietly, his expression thoughtful, and for a moment she wondered whether he’d guessed that she wasn’t being entirely honest.

‘And do you think you’ll enjoy A and E?’

She swallowed. Did he think she wasn’t up to it? He’d already said he hadn’t got used to the fact that she’d grown up.

‘I know I’ll love it,’ she said firmly.

‘Right.’ Those blue eyes fixed on hers a moment longer. ‘Well, if you have any problems—any worries at all—I want you to come to me.’

Oh, bother, he definitely didn’t think she was up to it.

‘I’ll be just fine,’ she said, a determined expression on her face. ‘I’m really looking forward to A and E. It’s going to be brilliant. I know I’ll love it.’

He seemed amused by her enthusiastic outburst. ‘It’s nice to see you haven’t changed.’

Well! Talk about tactless! Keely gaped at him. Did the man have problems with his eyesight?

‘Of course I’ve changed!’ She hoped that none of her new colleagues were listening to this conversation. How embarrassing! Being told she hadn’t changed since she was sixteen was hardly flattering. ‘Last time you saw me I had a flat chest, long hair and spots.’

He threw his head back and laughed. ‘Actually, I wasn’t talking about your physical appearance, I was talking about your personality. You always were smiley and good-natured.’ His grin faded. ‘I just hope you don’t find A and E too stressful.’

‘Zach, stop treating me like a child!’ Keely was still put out by the fact that he didn’t think she’d changed. She liked to think of herself as a cool cat. He made her sound more like a fluffy kitten. ‘Of course I won’t find it too stressful. I’m a doctor now! I’m not some child that needs to be nurtured.’

‘I know that.’ His voice was a slow drawl and he smiled again, obviously amused by her defensiveness. ‘It’s just going to take me a bit of time to get used to the idea.’

Oh, great. Then this was going to be every bit as bad as she’d feared when she’d first seen him stride into the lecture theatre.

She clutched her notepad harder and changed the subject. ‘So, how long have you been working here?’

‘In this department? Two years. I’ve been a consultant for a year.’

He was young for the post but, then, that was no surprise. He was every bit as bright as her siblings. In fact, she remembered Stephen sulking because Zach had beaten him in several exams.

‘Well…’ She broke off and cleared her throat. ‘I don’t suppose we’ll see that much of each other, will we? I mean, there are four consultants in the department.’

‘True.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘But we each work with three SHOs and you’re on my team. We’ll see plenty of each other, Keely.’

Her heart tumbled in her chest. How was she going to work with him every day without making a fool of herself? Just five minutes in his company had been enough to show her that the man still had a powerful effect on her. And what did he think of her? He’d admitted that he needed time to get used to the idea she was grown up. Did he think of her as the schoolgirl who’d proposed to him all those years ago?

She chewed her lower lip and decided she had to get things into the open.

‘Listen, Zach…’ She coloured furiously and glanced around quickly to check that no one was listening. ‘About what happened when I was sixteen…’

His face was impassive but she thought she detected a brief twinkle in his eyes.

‘I don’t remember anything happening when you were sixteen.’

He was turning a blind eye to the fact that she’d made a total fool of herself over him.

‘You’re very kind, but I want to apologise. I’ve wanted to for a long time.’ She pressed on, determined to have her say. She couldn’t work with him otherwise.

‘There’s really nothing to apologise for,’ he said quietly, and she flushed.

‘How can you say that when I—when I—’ She broke off, totally swamped with embarrassment, and his face was unbelievably gentle.

‘Had a crush on me? There’s nothing to apologise for, Keely. These things happen.’

‘Are you sure?’ She looked up at him anxiously. ‘You’re not cross? You don’t think it’s going to be a problem between us?’

One dark eyebrow lifted. ‘Why should it be? Unless you’re planning to develop another wild crush on me.’

She was beginning to think it was entirely possible but she managed a laugh that she hoped sounded convincing.

‘Goodness, no! I think I’m a bit beyond childish crushes now, Zach.’

And even if she wasn’t, there was no way he was going to find out about it this time!

His eyes locked with hers. ‘Good. Well, in that case we’re not going to have a problem, and we won’t mention it again.’ He held out his hand. ‘Welcome to A and E, Dr Thompson.’

With that he turned on his heel and left the room, leaving her staring after him. If he’d been handsome at twenty-four—and he certainly had been—then at thirty-two he was devastating.

Not that she was going to think about him in those terms, she told herself hastily. She had made a complete fool of herself over Zach all those years ago and once in a lifetime was more than enough for anyone. This time she was keeping a strict control over her hormones.

She was not going to fall in love with Zach Jordan again…

* * *

Zach walked out of the lecture theatre and made his way back to the A and E department, his thoughts full of Keely.

He still couldn’t believe it was her.

Last time he’d seen her she’d been little more than a child—and a very engaging child at that. He’d never been able to understand how her family had managed to produce a child like Keely. She was so totally different from the rest of them. Eleanor and Stephen were both like their parents—academic, emotionally reserved and totally driven.

But Keely…Zach gave a slight smile as he thought of how she’d been—Keely was warm, affectionate and slightly scatty. Unfortunately those qualities hadn’t been valued enough by her family and he remembered several occasions when Eleanor and Stephen had given their little sister a hard time.

He frowned as he pushed open his office door and put the slides from his lecture back in the cupboard. But somewhere along the line she’d obviously changed if her career plans were anything to go by. Funny really. He wouldn’t have thought she was the sort to be happy in a high-powered hospital career. But he was obviously wrong.

He flicked on his computer, checked his messages and then glanced out of the window towards the mountains. This late in January the fells were always topped with snow and the views from the hospital were breathtaking. He loved it here, but would Keely?

Zach frowned slightly as he remembered her breathless enthusiasm for her new job, her transparent embarrassment at seeing him again and her sweet concern that he’d still see her as a child.

Was she right?

Was that how he saw her?

To be honest, he wasn’t really sure. Certainly it was hard to imagine her as a doctor and, frankly, he was distinctly uncomfortable about exposing her to some of the horrors that they saw in A and E. But was that because he saw her as a child? He didn’t think so. It was more to do with her personality. Keely had a vulnerability about her that brought out all his protective instincts.

He could see immediately why Sean had found her attractive. It wasn’t just that she was pretty, although she was. Very pretty. But her appeal went much deeper than just her looks. She had the widest, most compelling smile he’d ever seen, an infectious laugh and a warmth that wrapped itself around you like a blanket from the moment you met her.

And privately he thought she was going to find A and E work emotionally draining. Keely felt things too deeply to be able to successfully shrug off some of the incidents that burst through their doors on a daily basis. Which meant that he needed to keep a close eye on her. A very close eye on her indeed.

* * *

By the end of the week Keely was at screaming pitch.

He was driving her mad. Whereas her colleagues were left to their own devices until they shouted for help, every time she turned round Zach was breathing down her neck. It was doing absolutely nothing for her confidence.

She could do the job—she knew she could. But not if her every move was being watched.

She was going to have to say something. The trouble was, when? Working in A and E was fast-paced to say the least. So far they’d had very little time for cosy chats. Maybe today she’d pluck up courage…

Before she could work out how to tackle the subject without sounding defensive, the paramedics brought in an emergency and she and Adam, one of the other new casualty officers, were called to the resuscitation room.

Seconds later Zach slammed open the swing doors of Resus and joined them at the trolley.

‘OK, what have we got?’

‘Twenty-five-year-old male, overdose—we don’t know what he’s taken. He was brought in unconscious.’ Nicky Roberts, one of the A and E sisters, briefed him quickly as they all swung into action. ‘One of his friends found him. Said he’d been depressed lately but didn’t know if he’d been taking any drugs. The ambulance crew put in an airway.’

‘OK.’ Stethoscope looped round his neck, Zach started to examine the man, his movements swift and methodical. ‘No gag reflex. Someone bleep the anaesthetist and let’s give him some oxygen.’

Keely tried not to be impressed by the speed and confidence with which he worked as he took charge of the situation.

‘He’s got dilated pupils, a divergent squint and increased muscle tone and reflexes.’ His eyes flickered past Keely and rested on Adam. ‘Does that give you any clues as to what he might have taken?’

Keely ground her teeth. He was doing it again. Ignoring her and asking Adam the questions. Why hadn’t he asked her? Why wasn’t he treating her the same way he was treating the others?

Did he think she didn’t know the answer?

She gave Adam a moment to speak but when he hesitated, clearly unsure, she stepped forward, her small chin lifting slightly as she spoke.

‘Could it be tricyclics?’

Zach’s gaze swivelled to her and she saw the flicker of surprise in his blue eyes. ‘It could be.’ He looked at her for a long moment, obviously unsure whether to question her further.

Keely took the matter in her own hands. ‘Obviously you’ll want certain tests done,’ she said crisply. ‘In my opinion he needs a drug screen and a blood glucose, BMG, ABG and U and Es.’ She listed the necessary investigations and then held her breath, waiting for his response. Would he give her a row for interrupting when he’d asked Adam the question?

There was a long silence and then a ghost of a smile played around his firm mouth.

‘Then you’d better get a line in and send off those tests.’ He shifted his sharp gaze to one of the student nurses. ‘Pulse and BP?’

Keely felt a rush of relief and reached for an IV cannula.

‘Pulse is 110 and his blood pressure is 70 over 50,’ the student nurse said quickly, flushing slightly as that hard gaze shifted in her direction. ‘Wh-what are tricyclics, Mr Jordan?’

Zach jerked his head towards Keely. ‘Dr Thompson will tell you.’

Was he testing her? Keely taped the cannula in place. ‘It’s a type of antidepressant. Unfortunately it’s quite serious in overdose.’

‘He’s tachycardic and hypotensive,’ Zach muttered, his eyes moving back to Nicky. ‘And his skin is dry and hot. Check his temperature, please. I’m sure Keely’s right and it’s tricyclics. What do you think?’

Nicky shrugged and picked up a thermometer. ‘You’re the doctor, Zach.’

‘That’s never stopped you giving an opinion before.’ Zach’s tone was dry as he returned his attention to the patient. ‘OK, is that line in? Well done, Keely. Let’s give him a plasma expander—500 mils gelatin. Do we have a name for him yet? Address?’

‘The friend was giving his details to Reception. We’ll check,’ Nicky said quickly, despatching another nurse to talk to the receptionist.

Zach drew breath and wiped his forehead on his sleeve. ‘Someone contact the GP, please—find out what he’s taking, if anything.’ He glanced up as the anaesthetist strode into the room. ‘Hi, Doug.’

His colleague gave a brief smile of acknowledgement. ‘What’s the story?’

‘Overdose,’ Zach said briefly. ‘Don’t know what yet. We’re working on it, but we’re guessing tricyclics.’

The anaesthetist rolled his eyes and snapped open the laryngoscope. ‘Bloody antidepressants.’

‘Quite.’ Zach’s gaze returned to his patient. ‘He’s got no gag reflex. I want to wash him out. We need to intubate him with a cuffed tube.’

‘By “we” I assume you mean me,’ the anaesthetist said dryly, and Zach grinned.

‘I do indeed. I’m not rummaging around in someone’s vocal cords unless I have to.’

The anaesthetist frowned and reached for an endotracheal tube. ‘Isn’t it a bit late for gastric lavage? When did he take them?’

‘His friends saw him two hours ago and he was fine,’ Zach said calmly. ‘I want to try it and I want to give him some charcoal.’

‘You’re the boss.’ The anaesthetist shrugged and intubated the patient quickly, using a cuffed endotracheal tube designed to prevent liquid accidentally entering the lungs.

‘Great.’ Zach lifted his eyes to Nicky. ‘Let’s wash him out. Keep 20 mils of the aspirate for a drug screen. Then I want 50 grams of activated charcoal down the tube. And let’s do an ECG.’

His steady stream of instructions left Keely’s head reeling and she watched in awe as he and Nicky worked together, their smooth teamwork a result of years of experience. Nicky seemed to anticipate Zach’s every move without being asked and he was so calm and relaxed that Keely’s admiration quickly turned to gloom. Would she ever be as confident as that?

‘He’s in urinary retention,’ Nicky said quietly, and Zach nodded.

‘That’s common after a tricyclic overdose. Try suprapubic pressure. If that doesn’t work then let’s put in a catheter. How’s that ECG?’

He leaned over her shoulder, frowning as he saw the trace. ‘Well, that pretty much confirms Keely’s diagnosis.’

As if to prove the point the student nurse came back in at that point. ‘I’ve spoken to the GP. He was taking tricyclics. Amitriptyline.’

‘Well done, Keely.’

Zach’s quiet words of praise brought a faint colour to her cheeks and she suddenly felt deliciously warm inside. Maybe she would be as confident as him one day. He was the consultant after all.

Zach lifted the ECG trace and stared down at it. ‘All right, Keely, you’re the one who wants to be a cardiologist. Take a look at that and tell me what you see?’

He handed her the ECG trace and waited while she looked at it.

‘Prolonged PR interval and QRS widening.’

‘Right.’ Zach took the trace back. ‘Consistent with a tricyclic overdose. Let’s give him 8.4 per cent sodium bicarbonate.’

Nicky turned away to do as he’d instructed and Zach turned back to Adam. ‘He needs to be admitted to CCU for cardiac monitoring. Can you bleep the medical reg and I’ll have a word with him?’

Half an hour later the man was stabilised and had been admitted by the medical team.

‘Will he live?’ The student nurse stared at Zach, her eyes wide and slightly stunned.

‘Probably. And he’ll probably do it again,’ Zach said calmly, folding the ECG trace and putting it carefully in the notes.

‘You were amazing, Mr Jordan. You knew exactly what to do. You saved his life.’ She stared at him with a mixture of awe and reverence and Keely felt some empathy with the girl. Watching Zach in action was a humbling experience. Not only was he clearly a skilled doctor but his cool self-confidence had transmitted itself to the rest of the staff. There was no panic with Zach around.

The student nurse was still round eyed with admiration and Keely saw Zach frown slightly as he registered her longing gaze.

How would he react? Would he demolish the girl? No, that wasn’t his style. Look how kind he’d been to her for a start.

But she sensed that his style had changed over the years. The easy charm was still there on the surface but underneath she sensed a cynicism, a hard edge that hadn’t been part of the Zach that she’d known all those years ago. Was it just maturity? Or something else? Had something happened to change him?

‘Saving lives is what we do in A and E.’ His tone was matter-of-fact and a touch impatient as he addressed the student nurse. ‘It’s the job. Any of the doctors here would have done the same.’

Keely could tell by the look on the young nurse’s face that she didn’t believe him, that she’d suddenly turned Zach into some sort of god with supernatural powers.

Nicky had obviously noticed, too, because she dealt with the situation quickly.

‘You’re needed in the dressing clinic, Bella,’ the A and E sister said hastily, ushering the young student nurse out of the room before she could say anything else.

Zach made no reference to the incident, instead thanking them all for their help and issuing a few final instructions to Nicky before striding out of the room to talk to the patient’s friends who were waiting in the relatives’ room.

Keely exchanged looks with Nicky. ‘Does he have that effect on everyone?’

Nicky nodded as she started to clear up the debris in the room.

‘Everyone female. They soon get over it when they realise he isn’t interested.’

Keely threw some rubbish in the bin and tried to sound casual. ‘Isn’t he?’

‘Never.’ Nicky glanced up and shook her head slowly as she looked at her. ‘Oh, no. Not you, too.’

Keely stiffened. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I recognise that expression on your face. I’ve seen it too many times before not to. Don’t fall for him, Keely,’ Nicky warned, lowering her voice as she spoke. ‘It’s a quick route to a broken heart.’

Keely licked dry lips. ‘Do lots of women fall for him?’

‘What do you think?’ Nicky pulled a face and tilted her head to one side. ‘Zach Jordan is so good-looking he can’t walk down a street without women getting neck ache as they stare at him. He’s clever—very clever—and on top of that he’s got this air of calm confidence that women find irresistible. Pretty devastating combination of qualities. Of course lots of women fall for him.’

‘Is he married?’

Now, why on earth had she asked that question?

Nicky’s expression was suddenly remote and discouraging. ‘I can’t discuss Zach’s private life—it wouldn’t be right. But take it from me, he’s not available.’

Keely frowned slightly, wondering why Nicky hadn’t just answered her question.

‘Forget him, Keely. He’s a colleague and nothing more.’ Nicky opened a laryngoscope to check the bulb. ‘I know he’s good-looking but, like I said, falling for Zach is a quick route to a broken heart.’

Unfortunately her warning was about eight years too late, Keely thought gloomily as she ripped off her gloves and tossed them in the bin. She’d fallen heavily for Zach when she’d first met him and she had a nasty feeling that nothing much had changed. He still had the power to turn her insides to jelly.

CHAPTER TWO

‘FANCY a drink?’ Nicky opened her locker and pulled out her coat and bag. ‘There’s a lovely pub just across the road. Log fire, nice staff, dishy barman…’

Keely grinned. ‘In that case, definitely.’

It had been a long and stressful day so maybe a drink was just what she needed. A drink and the chance to stare at a dishy man who wasn’t Zach. With any luck she’d fall madly in love with the barman.

‘I’ll just give Fiona and Adam a shout,’ Nicky said, fastening her locker and putting on her coat. ‘They’re both off now, too.’

Keely took a deep breath. ‘And Zach?’

Nicky shook her head. ‘Not Zach. Zach never joins us and anyway…’ she frowned at Keely ‘…I’ve already warned you.’

‘I know.’ Keely wrapped a wool scarf around her neck and smiled brightly ‘Just being sociable, that’s all. He is one of the team.’

‘At work, yes,’ Nicky agreed, walking across the staffroom and tugging open the door, ‘but out of work—no. Zach keeps himself to himself.’

Did he? Why?

Keely followed her down the corridor, waited while she hassled the two SHOs into joining them and then walked out into the bitterly cold January night and across to the pub.

The pub was warm and cosy and a welcome alternative to her chilly flat.

‘I need to find somewhere decent to live.’ Keely sipped her orange juice and passed her crisps to Nicky. ‘Because I was living and working in London until last week, I didn’t have much time to hunt around so I took the first thing I saw. Believe me, it’s less than exciting and, frankly, the landlord gives me the creeps.’

‘My wife and I are renting a house in Ambleside until we decide where we’re going to settle,’ Adam told them, savouring his beer with obvious enjoyment. ‘What about you Fiona?’

‘Oh, I’ve got an aunt who lives about ten minutes from the hospital, so I’m staying with her for now. She’s great fun, actually.’ Fiona ripped open another packet of crisps. ‘Where do the rest of the staff live?’

Nicky settled back in her chair and stretched out her hands towards the log fire. ‘Well, the senior consultant, Sean, lives about fifteen minutes’ drive away in a converted barn with his wife and three utterly delectable children. Zoe, the staff nurse you probably met today, lives with her boyfriend in Ambleside and I live with my husband in a cottage about ten minutes away towards the Langdales.’

‘Nice. I want to live somewhere more rural. At the moment I’m stuck in a tiny flat in the middle of town.’ Keely pulled a face. ‘What I really wanted was to live in a rural retreat. You know, views of the fells, sheep at the bottom of my garden and an appalling trip to work every time it snows.’

Nicky laughed. ‘In other words, somewhere totally impractical.’

‘That’s me.’ Keely beamed at her. ‘I came up here to escape from the city. If I wanted the city I’d still be living in London.’

‘So why the Lakes?’

Keely shrugged and took a sip of her drink. ‘Because this unit has a good reputation and because I love walking.’

And because it was sufficiently far away from her totally oppressive family to give her some much needed breathing space.

‘I like walking.’ Nicky munched at the crisps. ‘So does Sean. He was in the army before he trained as a doctor so he’s a real expert at climbing and things. And Zach loves the outdoors too.’

That explained the athletic body…

‘Well, I’m going to go and see some rental properties as soon as I get a free moment,’ Keely muttered, pushing thoughts of Zach’s body away and glancing at her watch. ‘I suppose I’d better be going. I’ve got some serious studying to do.’

Fiona lifted an eyebrow. ‘Studying?’

‘Yes, studying.’ Keely gave a wry smile, deciding to confess. Even though they’d only worked together for a week, she already liked her new colleagues enormously. ‘The last time I saw Zach I was sixteen years old and he obviously still sees me that way. I need to impress him.’

‘Sixteen?’ Nicky put her drink on the table with a thump and stared at her in amazement. ‘How did you come to meet Zach at the tender age of sixteen?’

‘He trained with my brother,’ Keely said, carefully missing out that he’d also worked for her father. The less people knew about her family the better. ‘He used to come and stay sometimes.’

‘Wow.’ Fiona gave her a saucy wink. ‘I bet he played havoc with your hormones at sixteen.’

Keely managed a weak laugh. He was playing havoc with her hormones at twenty-four, too.

‘Anyway, I clearly have to work harder to impress him than everyone else.’

Nicky frowned. ‘I don’t think that’s true. You impressed him yesterday—you told him that the man had taken tricyclics.’

‘Yes—and I was the one who didn’t know the answer,’ Adam reminded them with a sheepish grin. ‘If anyone needs to go home to study it’s me.’

‘No.’ Keely stared into her now empty glass. ‘Zach doesn’t see you as a teenager.’

Nicky wiggled her toes in front of the fire. ‘If I were you I’d just be yourself. From what I’ve seen today you’re going to make a great casualty officer. You’re good humoured, you don’t panic in an emergency, you’re friendly to everyone and you’re nice with the patients. Zach will see that for himself soon enough.’

Would he?

Keely wasn’t so sure. After the way he’d reacted this week it was fairly obvious to her that Zach thought he needed to keep an eye on her.

She’d give it a few more days and then she’d have to have a word with him.

* * *

‘There’s been a pile-up on the motorway. Six cars. They’ve asked for a medical team. Zach, I’d like you to go.’ Sean Nicholson glanced at the other cas. officers. ‘And Keely.’

Keely felt a rush of excitement which died immediately when she heard Zach contradict him sharply.

‘Not Keely. I’ll take Adam.’

Adam?

Keely opened her mouth to protest and then shut it again, glancing instead towards Sean. Surely he’d object?

But he didn’t. He merely gave a brisk nod. ‘Fine. Nicky and I will get things ready here. Nicky, which of your nursing staff do you want to send?’

‘Liz,’ Nicky said promptly, and immediately everyone swung into action.

Seething with fury, Keely helped prepare Resus for a large influx of casualties and she liaised with Ambulance Control and the wards.

By the time the patients had been admitted and dealt with her shift was almost over, but she was determined to have a word with Zach. She thought she knew why he hadn’t sent her out with the medical team, but she wanted to hear it from his lips.

‘May I talk to you?’

He looked slightly surprised but he gave a nod and they walked towards his office.

‘Were there any fatalities?’ It was small talk but she didn’t want to tackle her problem in the corridor with the whole department listening.

‘Two. Trapped inside one of the vehicles. It was the usual story—everyone driving too close together, bunched up in the fog.’

He opened the door to his office and she followed him inside and closed the door firmly behind them.

His eyes drifted quizzically to her hands which were still holding the door handle. ‘So what’s the matter, Keely?’

She took a deep breath. ‘You’re the matter. Or rather, the way you treat me is the matter. Why are you doing it, Zach?’

He looked at her warily. ‘Why am I doing what?’

She gave him an impatient look. ‘You don’t ask me any questions, you don’t let me see any complicated patients, you hang over me like a nursemaid and now you just refused to let me go out as part of an emergency team even though Sean obviously thought I was capable of it.’ She ticked the reasons off one by one on her fingers. ‘I know you don’t trust me but I think you should at least give me a chance.’

There was a long silence and then he turned and walked over to his window, staring out into the darkness towards the fells. ‘I do trust you.’

‘No, you don’t!’ She walked over to him, determined to make him look at her. ‘You never let me work the way you let the other doctors work.’

‘That isn’t because I don’t trust you,’ he muttered, raking long fingers through his already ruffled hair.

Keely frowned, baffled by his response. ‘Why, then? If you trust me then why aren’t you just throwing me in the deep end along with everyone else? Why wouldn’t you let me go out as part of the emergency team? It’s obvious that you don’t trust my clinical judgement—’

‘That’s not true.’ He frowned sharply, as if the thought hadn’t occurred to him. ‘From what I’ve seen, your clinical judgement is spot on.’

‘So why…?’

He turned to look at her, his blue eyes suddenly hard. ‘Because sometimes these pile-ups are dangerous and the medical team ends up operating in lethal conditions. You could have been sitting in a squashed car giving pain relief to some poor chap who was going to be trapped for hours, you could have been dealing with someone who’d been thrown through the windscreen…’

She swallowed, taken aback by his grim expression and by the harsh tone of his voice. ‘But you sent Adam.’

He closed his eyes briefly and gave a sigh. ‘Yes. I sent Adam.’

‘Because he’s a man?’ Keely frowned. ‘Because you don’t think I can handle the stress? Why can Adam handle the stress better than me? I didn’t think you were a chauvinist, Zach.’

He muttered something under his breath. ‘I am not a chauvinist.’

‘Then why did you choose not to send a woman into that situation?’

‘I didn’t choose not to send a woman.’ His jaw was rigid with tension. ‘I chose not to send you.’

‘Me?’ Keely stared at him. ‘So you’re saying you would have sent another woman, but not me.’

He held her gaze. ‘Maybe.’

She felt bemused and frustrated. ‘Because you think I’m a child?’

‘No.’ He shook his head impatiently. ‘This is nothing to do with your age. More your personality.’

Keely’s heart was thudding and her lips felt stiff. ‘What’s wrong with my personality?’

‘Nothing’s wrong with it!’ He lifted a hand and rubbed his fingers along his forehead. ‘You’ve got a lovely personality.’

‘But?’

‘But nothing,’ he said quietly, sitting on the edge of his desk and watching her steadily. ‘I just know how sensitive you are.’

Keely gave an outraged gasp. ‘That is not fair! You don’t know me at all—you’re just remembering how I was as a teenager. I’m trying to learn and be part of a team, and you’re stopping me. Anyway, why should it bother you if I do get upset? It’s my problem, not yours.’

He held her gaze without flinching. ‘It bothers me because I feel responsible for you.’

‘Responsible for me?’ She gaped at him. ‘Why are you responsible for me?’

‘Because you’re miles away from your family—’

Her eyes widened. ‘I’m a grown woman, Zach! Believe it or not, I don’t need to keep running to Daddy!’

‘Keely, I just don’t want you hurt.’

She stared at him, touched and frustrated at the same time. ‘But you weren’t worried about Adam?’

‘Of course not!’ He gave a short laugh. ‘Adam can take care of himself.’

‘And so can I,’ Keely said softly. ‘So can I, Zach. Whatever you may think of me, whatever your memory tells you, I’m completely grown up now. I don’t need your protection, however well meaning.’

His expression was bleak. ‘We see some hideous things in Casualty.’

‘Then I’ll see them, too,’ Keely said firmly, pushing her blonde hair behind one ear. ‘Please, Zach, this is ridiculous. All week you’ve been hanging over my shoulder, asking everyone questions except me, treating me like the teenager I used to be. I am not a teenager any more. This isn’t even my first job. You’re driving me mad.’

Zach winced and had the grace to look guilty. ‘Have I been that bad?’

‘Worse!’ Keely scowled and then grinned, her natural good nature reasserting itself. ‘But I’ll forgive you if you stop policing my every movement.’

Zach walked towards her and stopped dead, his eyes scanning her face as if he was trying to see her for who she was and not for who he remembered her to be.

‘I just don’t want you hurt,’ he said gruffly. ‘I know Prof would want me to keep an eye on you.’

‘He certainly would,’ Keely agreed sweetly, ‘but you never did what Prof wanted when you worked for him, so don’t use that as an excuse. I distinctly remember him saying that you were the brightest, most frustrating doctor he’d ever worked with. You questioned everything and you took risks that made his hair stand on end. And those risks usually paid off.’

‘OK. I take your point.’ He spoke slowly, a wry smile playing around his firm mouth. ‘You have a right to spread your wings, too. I’ll stop treating you as a child. On one condition.’

‘Which is?’

His voice was soft. ‘If you have a tough day, you come and talk to me. As a friend. We all need someone to turn to in this department. I want to be sure that you won’t bottle anything up just to because you’re trying to prove yourself.’

‘I never bottle anything up—you of all people should know that.’ She coloured slightly but decided that she might as well clear the air once and for all. ‘If I was any good at hiding my emotions, Zach, I wouldn’t have yelled at you just now and I wouldn’t have proposed to you all those years ago.’

The corners of his mouth twitched and his blue eyes gleamed. ‘I thought we weren’t going to mention that again.’

She gave a groan. ‘I know. You’ve been so discreet and I can hardly bear to think about it, it’s so embarrassing. But I still feel that I haven’t really apologised properly.’

‘I’ve already told you you don’t need to apologise.’

‘Zach, I proposed to you!’

His blue eyes twinkled. ‘It was a leap year, sweetheart. You were allowed to propose to me. I was very flattered.’

Sweetheart. The way he said it made her insides melt even though she knew it hadn’t been meant in that way.

Keely pulled herself together and cleared her throat. ‘Anyway, I apologise for behaving like such an idiot and embarrassing you.’

‘You didn’t embarrass me.’ His gaze was steady on hers and for a moment she stared at him, her pulse picking up as she looked at the broad shoulders and the dark hair. He was seriously gorgeous…

She suppressed a whimper. Why did he have such a powerful effect on her. Why? She wasn’t a teenager any more, but when she was with him she certainly felt like one.

No!

She wasn’t making that mistake again.

She was not going to fall for Zach a second time.

‘So that’s agreed, then.’ She made an effort to ignore the effect he had on her. ‘You’ll treat me like an adult and forget the fact that I once had pigtails and proposed to you.’

‘It’s a deal,’ he said softly. ‘Oh, and by the way—you look considerably better without the pigtails.’

For a moment their eyes held and she immediately forgot all her resolutions and allowed herself the luxury of one brief fantasy. Zach looking deep into her eyes and telling her that he loved her…

Oh, help! She was going mad.

‘Right, then.’ She backed away, forcing herself to break the spell. ‘I’d better get back to work.’

As she closed his office door behind her she gave a low groan.

Working with the man was going to be a nightmare! She may have grown up but the reaction of her hormones was exactly the same as it had been when she was sixteen. The truth was that she couldn’t be in the same room as Zachary Jordan without wanting him. Which meant that she had a very big problem.

* * *

She couldn’t see a fracture.

Keely stared hard at the X-ray, half expecting something to suddenly appear, but it looked clear. Which didn’t fit with what she’d discovered on examination. All her instincts told her that the wrist was broken.

So why was the X-ray clear?

Bother.

She was going to have to ask Zach’s advice.

Which was a nuisance because she’d been successfully avoiding him all week. Although he was the senior doctor on her shift, she’d managed to deal with almost everything without his help.

She found him in Resus, talking to Nicky.

‘Problems?’ He lifted a dark eyebrow and she felt her heart stumble. Why did he have to be so good-looking? It was very distracting. If she was going to last six months in A and E she was going to have to develop survival strategies. Like looking over his shoulder when she talked to him rather than at his face.

‘I need your advice.’ She raked slim fingers through her jagged blonde hair and gave him a brief smile. ‘I’ve got this lady in cubicle one I’m not sure about. She fell on her wrist and all the signs are that she’s fractured her scaphoid, but I can’t see anything on the X-ray.’

‘Scaphoid fractures are notoriously easy to miss on X-ray so you’re right to ask for help,’ he said quietly. ‘What did you find on examination?’

‘Swelling, pain on wrist movements, tenderness on direct pressure two centimetres distal to Lister’s tubercle of the radius and on proximal pressure on the extended thumb or index finger.’ Keely listed everything briskly and he nodded.

‘What X-rays did you request?’

‘A?, lateral and scaphoid views—was that wrong?’ She felt a stab of anxiety. ‘Did I miss something?’

‘No, you did well.’ There was a glimmer of surprise and admiration in his eyes. ‘Better than most. Come on, I’ll check the X-rays for you.’

Keely followed him down the corridor, struggling to keep up with his long stride.

He squinted at each of the X-rays in turn. ‘Well, you’re right. They’re all negative. Let’s examine her.’

He introduced himself to the patient, examined her thoroughly and then nodded at Keely.

‘It’s a scaphoid fracture. I agree with you. Well done for trusting your instincts.’

As usual his quiet words of praise made her feel as though she could have walked on water.

‘But why are the X-rays clear?’

Whenever she was in doubt about a patient she took every opportunity to pick his brains and was rapidly finding out that Zach Jordan was a first-class teacher.

‘The fracture isn’t always visible,’ he told her. ‘Put her in a scaphoid plaster and refer her to the next fracture clinic. They’ll X-ray again and it might be visible by then.’

She remembered her father saying that Zach Jordan was one of the most talented doctors he’d ever worked with and now she was seeing it at first hand. He was fast and confident, never doubting himself and always ready to do his best for each patient. She just wished she didn’t find him so disturbing.

* * *

‘He’s married.’

Fiona, the doctor who’d sat next to her in the lecture theatre on that first morning, flopped into a chair in the staffroom, a gloomy expression on her face. ‘Why are the good ones always married?’

‘Who’s married?’ Keely stirred her coffee, her mind still on a nasty road traffic accident that had come in earlier.

‘Zach Jordan.’

‘Zach?’ Her hand suddenly shook and hot coffee sloshed over the side of the mug. ‘Oh, no!’

She stood up and fetched a cloth only to find Fiona watching her with a knowing expression.

‘You, too…’

Keely walked back to the table. ‘What do you mean—“you, too”?’

‘You’re obviously just as smitten as the rest of us.’

‘Fiona, I just spilled my coffee,’ Keely said calmly, carefully mopping up the mess she’d made. ‘Why does that make me smitten?’

Fiona gave a wry smile. ‘Because he has that effect on women. My entire body shakes when he comes into a room. Believe me, I can’t hold anything hot within a hundred yards of the man.’

Keely laughed. ‘Fiona, you’re awful.’

‘Well, all I can say is that she must be an amazing woman.’

Keely rinsed out the cloth and put it back by the sink. ‘Who must be?’

‘His wife.’ Fiona curled her legs underneath her and settled herself more comfortably in the chair. ‘Imagine marrying a man like that. Not only does he have the most luscious body I’ve ever seen but he’s strong and cool-headed and a brilliant doctor. And so-o sexy. What a man!’

Keely frowned. Was Zach really married? And why should it bother her if he was?

A man like Zach was bound to be involved with someone. And it was really none of her business. It wasn’t as if she had feelings for him. Not really. She was just struggling with the remnants of a powerful teenage crush.

‘He called her sweetheart,’ Fiona said dreamily. ‘I heard him on the phone. And then he said he loved her. Can you imagine? Isn’t that romantic? He didn’t care who was listening, he loves her so much he just wanted to tell her. If you ask me, she’s a very lucky woman.’

A lucky woman indeed. Whoever she was.

Keely had heard enough. She emptied the remains of her coffee down the sink, made a limp excuse to Fiona and left the room.

Why did hearing about Zach’s love life bother her so much?

She frowned again. Her reaction didn’t make sense. So she’d once had a crush on him. So what? That wasn’t enough to make her feel as though she’d just had major surgery to her insides. Her emotions were just confused, that was all.

She walked back to the main area of Casualty and picked up a set of notes. Work, that was the answer. Bury herself in work and forget about Zach. He wasn’t hers and he never had been. And she didn’t want him to be, she told herself firmly. OK, so she found him attractive. But so would any woman with a pulse. It didn’t mean anything.

* * *

‘So, have you found somewhere to live yet?’ Nicky flicked the switch on the kettle and turned to glance at Keely. ‘You’ve been here three weeks and you’re still living in that awful flat.’

‘Awful?’ Zach walked into the room in time to hear the last remark. ‘What’s awful about Keely’s flat?’

‘It’s fine,’ Keely lied, ‘just not in the nicest position. I wanted to live in the middle of the country with a view of the fells.’

‘Your flat is not fine,’ Nicky said firmly, ignoring the looks that Keely was giving her. ‘There’s damp on the living-room walls and your landlord is decidedly creepy. And he’s bothering you, you know he is.’

Keely glared at Nicky but it was too late. Zach was suddenly still, his eyes watchful.

‘In what way is he bothering you, Keely?’ His soft tone didn’t deceive anyone and there was a sudden silence in the common room.

‘He isn’t,’ Keely said hastily. ‘Not really. Nicky’s exaggerating.’

‘That’s not true.’ Nicky spoke up again and Keely closed her eyes.

She was going to kill Nicky when she got her alone!

‘He keeps knocking on her door at all sorts of weird hours,’ Nicky told them, oblivious to the furious glances that Keely was sending in her direction. ‘I’m really worried about her. She needs to move out of that place.’

Zach’s expression was grim. ‘Keely? Is it true?’

Keely suppressed a groan. Oh, no. Now he’d get all protective again, and he’d just started to treat her like an adult.

‘I think he’s just a bit lonely,’ she said lamely, and his mouth tightened.

‘I’ll get you a room in the medical block until you can find somewhere else.’

Without waiting for her reply he paced over to the phone and spoke to the accommodation officer. Judging from Zach’s tone, they were less than helpful and when he finally replaced the receiver his expression was black.

‘They haven’t got anything at the moment—apparently they had a burst pipe last week and it’s taking for ever to fix. We’ll have to think of something else.’

‘It’s all right,’ Keely said mildly. ‘I’ve got two flats to look at on Friday when I’m not working. Thanks for trying but I’m taking care of it.’

He hesitated, his dark jaw tense. ‘I’m not happy with you staying there—’

‘It’s fine, Zach,’ Keely repeated firmly, conscious that Nicky and two of the other doctors were watching them curiously. And no wonder. Why was he making such a fuss?

‘Well, if those flats don’t come to anything, let me know. If you’re stuck you can sleep in the doctors’ room.’

They had a room where doctors could sleep if they were on duty at night, but it was rarely used.

‘Thanks.’

Zach turned and walked out, and Nicky let out a long breath.

‘Well, who’s protective, then?’

Keely rolled her eyes. ‘To Zach, I’m still sixteen and I probably always will be.’

With that she stood up and left them to speculate.

She was checking an X-ray later in the day when she heard Nicky shout from the corridor.

‘Keely, I need a doctor—now!’

Keely was there in an instant, her heart pounding as she saw the toddler in the arms of a paramedic.

‘She’s fitting,’ Nicky said quickly. ‘It may be a febrile convulsion. Get her into Resus and I’ll bleep Paeds.’ A febrile convulsion was a fit brought on by a high temperature and was quite common in very young children.

‘Are the parents here?’ Keely took charge of the toddler’s airway and gave her some oxygen.

‘Not yet.’ Nicky turned to one of the student nurses, her expression grim. ‘Call Zach. Call Zach now!’

Keely glanced up in surprise. Why was Nicky in such a panic? It wasn’t like her at all and everything was under control.

‘It’s OK,’ she said calmly. ‘I can handle this without Zach.’

‘I know you can handle it,’ came the reply. ‘I don’t need Zach for his medical skills.’

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