‘I can’t believe I listened to you. I trusted you—’

Caspar took one step towards her, closing the small gap that separated them. In an instant his head dipped down and he pressed his lips to hers. The rest of her sentence disappeared into his kiss.

Caspar St Claire was kissing her!

Involuntarily Annie closed her eyes as his mouth covered hers. His lips were warm and soft but his kiss was far from gentle. It was demanding and insistent and powerful and it made her insides tremble. It was firm enough to take her breath away and make her swallow her words. His five o’clock shadow was rough against her cheek, but even that sensation was pleasant. She should protest, she should resist, but he wasn’t giving her a chance and she didn’t really want him to stop. For a moment she even thought about kissing him back …

Dear Reader

I’d like to introduce you to Caspar St Claire, Paediatrician and the star of a reality medical television series. This story began with the idea of Caspar, with his curly, dark hair and mesmerising green eyes he took up residence in my head and refused to leave until I gave him a voice.

Things fell into place from there as he created his story. Despite his celebrity status he was first and foremost a doctor with a very gentle nature so I decided he would suit paediatrics. He also struck me very much as a white knight and therefore he needed a woman. Annie Simpson is that woman.

Their story is ultimately quite different to what I had initially imagined, my characters do seem to like taking over, but in this case I was happy to let them take the lead as they seemed to know what they were doing .

I hope you enjoy a glimpse of country South Australia as Caspar and Annie find their Happily Ever After.

Love, Emily

About the Author

EMILY FORBES began her writing life as a partnership between two sisters who are both passionate bibliophiles. As a team, ‘Emily’ had ten books published, and one of her proudest moments was when her tenth book was nominated for the 2010 Australian Romantic Book of the Year Award.

While Emily’s love of writing remains as strong as ever, the demands of life with young families have recently made it difficult to work on stories together. But rather than give up her dream Emily now writes solo. The challenges may be different, but the reward of having a book published is still as sweet as ever.

Whether as a team or as an individual, Emily hopes to keep bringing stories to her readers. Her inspiration comes from everywhere, and stories she hears while travelling, at mothers’ lunches, in the media and in her other career as a physiotherapist all get embellished with a large dose of imagination until they develop a life of their own.

If you would like to get in touch with Emily you can e-mail her at emilyforbes@internode.on.net

Recent titles by the same author:

BREAKING THE PLAYBOY’S RULES

SYDNEY HARBOUR HOSPITAL: BELLA’S WISHLIST*

GEORGIE’S BIG GREEK WEDDING?

BREAKING HER NO-DATES RULE

NAVY OFFICER TO FAMILY MAN

DR DROP-DEAD-GORGEOUS

THE PLAYBOY FIREFIGHTER’S PROPOSAL

*Sydney Harbour Hospital

These books are also available in eBook format from www.millsandboon.co.uk

Daring to Date Dr Celebrity
Emily Forbes

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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For my gorgeous Goddaughter, Kate, I am enjoying watching you grow into a beautiful woman. Your constant smile brings happiness to everyone around you and that is a gift I hope you never lose.

With love and best wishes for a happy life,

Your Godmother.

CHAPTER ONE

‘ARE YOU TELLING us or asking us?’ Annie demanded.

The rest of the staff who were assembled around the boardroom table seemed to be sitting in quiet acceptance but Annie Simpson wasn’t having a bar of that. She stared at Patrick Hammond. Was he serious? Was the hospital director really telling her, telling them all, that Blue Lake Hospital was going to be the setting for a reality television show? That there were plans to film a hospital drama featuring real patients and real doctors, their patients and their doctors, in their hospital, and he expected the staff to get on board?

‘I’m telling you what’s happening and asking if you’re prepared to be part of it.’ For a large man Patrick was very softly spoken and today was no exception. If Annie’s question had irritated him he showed no signs of annoyance.

Annie knew Patrick didn’t run his hospital like a dictatorship—most decisions were discussed with senior staff to some degree. Most medical decisions, she qualified. The day-to-day running of the hospital was not something Patrick would normally converse with them about. Annie wondered exactly where a reality television show fitted into the scheme of things.

‘Do we have a choice?’ she asked.

Patrick rubbed one hand over his closely cropped hair. ‘Of course you do. But I would like you to consider what this means for the hospital—money going into the coffers, good publicity, free publicity. With so many country hospitals struggling to stay open, having this sort of media buzz can only be a good thing.’

‘Are you sure?’ Annie argued. ‘What if something goes wrong? What if there’s a disaster and the hospital gets sued? That won’t garner good publicity. And it’s not likely the government would close this hospital. We may be rural but we’re not a small six-bed outfit. We are a specialist facility in the state’s second-biggest town. There would be an outcry if they even mentioned shutting us down.’

‘We may be a large hospital but we’re still government funded and that means we have the same funding issues as everyone else,’ Patrick countered. ‘Do you have any idea how many people watched the last series of RPE?’

Annie had thought his question was rhetorical but when Patrick paused, obviously waiting for her answer, she shook her head. She didn’t have a clue.

‘Two million. Every night.’

That was a huge audience for Australian television. Annie had known RPE, the series filmed at the Royal Prince Edward Hospital in Melbourne, was popular, but she hadn’t realised how popular.

‘And Caspar St Claire is one of the stars,’ Patrick continued. ‘This spin-off series is a big deal. He’s a local boy made good. There will be big interest in what he does, not just locally but around the country. And the television network is compensating us nicely for the opportunity to film here.’

‘So it’s all about the money?’

Patrick shook his head. ‘Don’t be too quick to criticise, there’s a long list of things the hospital needs and the money from the network will go a long way towards providing those things, including refitting a birthing unit for your department. And you do realise Caspar is a paediatrician?’ he queried. ‘As an obstetrician, I thought you’d be pleased to know that I’ve found someone to cover Paediatrics while Phil is on long service leave.’

Annie wasn’t ready to let Patrick have the last word. She’d been the subject of media interest before and it hadn’t been a positive experience. She’d moved to this quiet, regional centre to rebuild her life and she wasn’t happy to find that she might be cast back into the public eye whether she liked it or not. Not happy at all. ‘I would be pleased if I thought you’d found a replacement who has come to work but it seems to me you’ve just found one who is coming accompanied by his own circus. I’m not interested in being a part of that.’

‘I have never worked with a circus. Children, yes, animals, no, and definitely not circuses.’

Annie jumped as a deep masculine voice spoke up behind her and ran like molten lava down her spine. From the seat beside her she heard Tori Williams, one of the anaesthetists, catch her breath and then sigh, and Annie didn’t need to turn her head to know that Caspar St Claire was standing behind her and had obviously heard her every word. She could feel his scrutiny just as she could feel the eyes of everyone else in the room. They were watching her, waiting with interest to see what she was going to do.

She had no idea what Caspar St Claire was thinking and she didn’t want to turn round to read the expression on his face, but he had addressed her and she couldn’t sit there pretending to be deaf. She turned in her seat to find the devil himself watching her. A rather handsome devil, she had to admit, but that didn’t change the fact that she didn’t want him here.

Of course, she recognised him immediately. No introduction was necessary, at least from her side. Patrick was right, RPE was a huge ratings winner and, even if Annie hadn’t actually been glued to her television like everyone else for the last season, she’d certainly caught a few episodes and knew who Caspar St Claire was. But why did he have to turn up here?

‘Let me assure you,’ he said in his ridiculously rich, made-for-radio voice, ‘that my patients always come first and the crew are exceptionally good at being as unobtrusive as possible.’

She wanted to laugh at him. If he thought she believed that for one second he was in for a surprise, but the force of his gaze made the laughter catch in her throat. His green eyes held hers, challenging her to argue with him, but she was temporarily struck dumb. She wished the floor would open up beneath her feet, but of course she wouldn’t have the good fortune for that to happen.

Every medical television show had a resident heartthrob doctor and even though RPE was a reality show they’d still managed to find some attractive stars, and Dr St Claire was the pick of the bunch. But she hadn’t expected him to be even better looking in real life. His dark hair was probably an inch longer than it needed to be but that extra inch gave enough length to let his hair curl, lending him a youthful look. A just-tumbled-out-of-bed look.

As she pictured him tangled up in his sheets, running his fingers through his hair to try to tame it ready for the day, she could feel the heat of his gaze burn into her as he continued to watch her, waiting for her reply. She felt her cheeks begin to flush as her temperature rose but she couldn’t think of anything to say.

‘Do you have any other objections, Dr Simpson?’

He knew who she was? That shocked her out of her imaginings and back into the real world. Back to reality.

She frowned. How the hell did he know her name?

But she’d have to worry about that later. The rest of the staff was sitting mutely around the table, all watching the interaction, one-sided though it was at present, and there were more important things to worry about than how he knew her name. Far more important things.

‘I’m sure I have a lot more objections, Dr St Claire, and without more information, a lot more information,’ she stressed, ‘I won’t make a decision about my involvement. When do you begin filming?’

‘Tomorrow.’

Annie’s eyebrows shot skywards. She needed more time. She wasn’t ready for her department to be invaded by cameras. She wasn’t ready for that exposure. Not again. Not by a long way.

The easiest thing would be to say no immediately. To tell him she didn’t want to be part of this. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about anything further. She wouldn’t need to wait for more information. There was no way she was going to agree to a media circus in her delivery suites and she should tell him that right now.

She opened her mouth but before she could speak Caspar interrupted.

‘Don’t say no just yet.’

Annie stared at him. Was she that easy to read? Although she supposed it was a reasonable guess, given her reaction so far. She was tempted to deny her intentions, though, just to prove him wrong. But what if that was his game? She wasn’t ready for this. She didn’t want to play games, she didn’t want to play at all.

‘Let me introduce the show’s producer, Gail Cameron. She will run through the details, answer any questions and take care of the legalities. You don’t have to make a decision today,’ he said as he continued to hold her in his sights, ‘but filming starts tomorrow and it would be great if some of you are on board by then.’

He broke eye contact with her as he looked around the table at the other staff members and Annie felt some of the heat leaving her body as he looked away, almost as though a cloud had passed across the sun, casting a shadow over her.

‘We’re not here to sensationalise things,’ he continued. ‘We’re here to tell stories, to raise awareness and, as I’m sure Patrick has told you, Blue Lake Hospital, and therefore your departments, will benefit financially.’

Annie decided she didn’t want anyone accusing her of being difficult or obstructive and she was well aware the hospital could always use extra funds. She’d pretend to give the situation due consideration.

And then she’d say no.

Patrick stood up and moved chairs around, making room for Caspar and Gail to sit at the table. Annie couldn’t help but notice that Caspar waited for Gail to sit first and his manners earned him a brownie point, but he still had a long way to go in her opinion.

Annie studied him as he stood beside the table, waiting for Gail to get settled.

He was wearing a single-breasted suit, pale grey in colour, with a plain white shirt and a striped tie. His shoulders were broad and square and filled the suit jacket out very nicely. His shirt was crisply ironed but the suit was a little crumpled. Perhaps, despite being Australia’s latest celebrity pin-up, appearances weren’t at the top of his list of priorities. Annie decided she could like that about the man, even if she didn’t have to like him being here.

He undid the buttons on his jacket and held his tie against his stomach, keeping it out of the way, as he sat in his own chair. His stomach was flat and lean and Caspar was slimmer in real life than he’d appeared on television, but then she remembered that the camera supposedly added pounds. Did, in fact, add pounds. She knew that from her own limited experience.

Gail was speaking, saying something about the types of medical cases they were interested in, and Annie knew she should be listening but her attention kept wandering. Caspar was rolling a pen through his fingers and the movement caught her eye. His fingers were long and slender and his hands were large. Annie could imagine him cradling the newborn babies in his care, holding them nestled safely in the palms of his hands.

Now that he was sitting down, diagonally opposite her, Annie had less of him to peruse. His head was turned to his left, slightly away from her, leaving her looking at his profile. Leaving her free to study him. There were flecks of grey at his temples, a touch of salt and pepper in his black curls, and his olive skin was darkened by the shadow of designer stubble on his jaw. His nose was perfectly straight but maybe a touch longer than it needed to be, which was a good thing, Annie thought, as it stopped him from being too good looking.

Was there such a thing as too good looking? She’d never wondered about that before.

His green eyes were scanning the room, working his way around the table in a clockwise direction as he studied each person present in the meeting, and Annie wondered what he was thinking.

He was looking at Colin, one of the orthopaedic surgeons, and Annie knew it was only a matter of time before his gaze landed on her. She felt her heart rate increase with that thought. For some reason this made her nervous. Her palms felt sweaty and she wiped them on her trousers.

Caspar was watching Tori now but Tori seemed oblivious to his inspection. She had her head down and was furiously taking notes. That was good. She and Tori had formed a close friendship in the six months since she herself had moved to Mount Gambier and she could use Tori’s notes to catch up later on everything she hadn’t heard Gail say.

And then it was her turn. She’d meant to look away before his gaze reached her but she hadn’t and now he was looking straight at her, his green eyes locked with hers. Annie could feel herself begin to blush again under his scrutiny. The heat started over her sternum and she knew it was only a matter of time before it spread to her face, but she was unable to break the connection.

Until Tori nudged her with her elbow.

‘Ow,’ Annie complained. But it was enough to get her to glance to her right.

‘Are you paying attention?’ Tori asked. ‘You need to listen to this.’

‘I’ll read your notes later,’ Annie told her, but as she turned her head away from Tori she deliberately sought out Gail’s face as she pretended to listen and tried to keep Caspar St Claire out of her line of sight. She’d expected his attention to have moved on to the next person at the table but from the corner of her eye she could see that he was still watching her and she couldn’t help but move her head, ever so slightly, to look back at him.

He appeared to be concentrating and she wondered again what he was thinking. What he thought about her. His expression seemed to be challenging her but she wasn’t sure what his challenge was. Did he want her to question him or back down? If he wanted her to give in on the very first day he was going to be sorely disappointed. She had no intention of giving in, not today and not tomorrow.

She met his gaze as she thought about all the ways she could say no but then his intense expression gave way to a smile and his seriousness dissolved into something else altogether. Something slightly carnal and iniquitous, and Annie forgot all about reality television, all about the cameras invading the hospital, all about saying no as his smile raced through her.

It lit a fire in her belly that poured through her, warming everything from her face to her toes and everything in between, until she felt as though her insides might melt together in a big pool of lust. She’d thought his serious, brooding expression had been handsome but his smile transformed his face completely and now his expression was cheeky and playful and made her think of sex. Something she hadn’t thought about for a long time.

Sex wasn’t something that had ever been high on her list of priorities. She enjoyed it but she didn’t really see what all the fuss was about. She was quite happy being celibate. But Caspar St Claire made her think of sex. And not the type of sex she was used to. He made her think of hot, sweaty, take-no-prisoners sex. Tangled bedsheets and late-afternoon sex. The weight of a hard, firm, male body. He made her think of multiple orgasms and sex that was so all-consuming she’d be too exhausted to be able to move afterwards. The kind of sex she’d read about in novels and seen in movies but had never experienced.

The temperature in the room felt as though it had increased by several degrees and Annie could feel her nipples harden as her imagination worked overtime. That was enough to make her break eye contact. She looked away hurriedly, almost guiltily, afraid he would be able to see her shameless thoughts.

Her ill-fated marriage had been based on lots of things but desire hadn’t been one of them. She’d been a young, inexperienced bride and her marriage had been more about companionship and less about physical attraction or raging hormones. At the time she’d thought she was making a sensible choice. She had seen her parents’ relationship self-combust repeatedly and theirs had definitely been a physical thing. As a teenager she’d decided she wouldn’t make the same mistake. The trouble was she just made a different one.

But she’d never felt such a strong, unexpected stirring of desire before and to have it triggered by a complete stranger disturbed her. She didn’t want to be affected by him. She didn’t want to be affected by anybody. As far as she was concerned, that was asking for trouble.

She was going to put Caspar St Claire and everything he was associated with into a mental box marked ‘Do not open’. She didn’t need to worry about him or his business. It was going to be nothing to do with her.

CHAPTER TWO

CASPAR LOOKED AROUND the table, watching the people, reading their faces, trying to guess their thoughts. Some of them were harder than others. He’d done his research so he knew who they were. He’d found it paid to be prepared—life was challenging enough often enough that he didn’t want to deal with unnecessary surprises.

Most looked receptive to Gail’s spiel; she made the show sound exciting and new, something people would want to be a part of. Most people. The reality was that it was the editing that would make the show exciting. It was in post-production that the tears and the drama, the heartache, the relief and joy would be enhanced. That was when the emotions would be increased and amplified. For the hospital staff it would really be business as usual. But with cameras.

Gail would make a good salesperson, Caspar thought as his gaze travelled around the group. He didn’t have a clear view of the hospital director, Patrick, as Gail was blocking his line of sight, but that didn’t matter. He knew he was on board. Ravi Patel, general surgeon, was sitting beside Patrick. He was watching Gail intently and nodding his head in all the right places. Caspar would bet his precious sports car that Ravi would sign the paperwork before the day was finished.

The RMOs from the emergency department were next. They were shooting glances at Colin Young, one of the hospital’s two orthopaedic surgeons. They would take their cues from him and the fact that he was in this meeting led Caspar to believe that he was agreeable to the project. The director of nursing was to Caspar’s right. He already knew that Maxine, and therefore her nursing staff, was ready to go. Which left only two—Dr Tori Williams, anaesthetist, and Dr Annie Simpson, obstetrician.

They were seated diagonally opposite him around the oval table. Dr Williams was hunched over the table, furiously taking notes, but he couldn’t see her face and he didn’t know whether her note-taking was a positive sign or not. He watched her scribbling for a few more moments but his mind had already moved on to the next person at the table.

Dr Annie Simpson. Patrick Hammond had sent him a short biography of each of the department heads and he recalled what little he’d read about Dr Simpson. Obstetrician, aged twenty-nine, single, trained in Adelaide and started work at Blue Lake Hospital six months ago.

Obviously intelligent and attractive, his mind added a few more adjectives for good measure and he decided he’d have to find out whether ‘single’ meant unmarried or not in a relationship at all.

If he was honest he’d admit he’d been looking forward to meeting her since he’d seen the photo Patrick had included. He’d specifically asked for photos so he’d be able to identify everyone but he had to admit that Annie’s photo hadn’t done her justice.

It was a good photo, she was an attractive woman, but it hadn’t done justice to the glossy shine of her brown hair or the creaminess of her skin. It hadn’t highlighted her sharply defined cheekbones that gave structure to her elfin face neither had it captured her scent.

Standing behind her as he’d entered the room, he’d caught a soft scent of jasmine, which could have come from any one of the women in the space but somehow he’d known it belonged to Annie. The fire in her dark brown eyes had been another surprise. Her eyes had burned with barely contained disapproval, which she hadn’t attempted to hide.

He’d expected a lot of things but her passionate objection was something he hadn’t anticipated. But he wasn’t one to back down from a challenge and he suspected that was just as well.

He’d found it interesting that when Dr Simpson had voiced her concerns no one else had spoken up. Did that mean that she was the only one with concerns or just that she was the only one forthright enough to voice them?

He could see her now in the corner of his eye. A petite woman, she was sitting with perfect posture, her spine stiff and straight, self-control evident. Whatever she might be lacking in size she’d certainly made up for in spirit, but he wondered if she would have been so forthright if she’d known he and Gail could hear every word.

He turned his head to look at her properly. Her shiny curtain of hair fell smoothly down each side of her face, framing it perfectly. Dark chocolate-brown eyes, the colour of which contrasted sharply with her creamy complexion, looked back at him and as he watched he could see two crimson patches of heat appearing over her chiselled cheekbones.

The only other contrasting colour on her face was the soft, plump swell of her pink lips. She held his gaze and he could see the challenge in her brown eyes demanding he convince her of the merits of this project.

Yep, he reckoned, she would have told him straight to his face if she’d known he was standing behind her within earshot. He got the impression she wasn’t one to hold back.

Well, challenge accepted, he thought. He needed her on side and he wouldn’t rest until she came on board.

Along with the television project he had his own reasons for coming to Mount Gambier. He’d suggested Blue Lake Hospital as a potential location because it suited him and he wasn’t about to sit here and see the project fall apart now. It needed to go ahead and in order to work it really needed the support of the existing hospital staff. And not just one or two of them, he needed them all.

The television network hadn’t brought anyone other than him across from the previous series. The budget, with the hospital board’s permission, was being used to bolster the hospital coffers, and there wasn’t any money to pay extra doctors. The project needed to use the doctors and nurses that were to hand.

He would do whatever it took to convince Dr Simpson of that. He just needed to find out what she wanted. And work out how to give it to her.

He smiled at her, giving her the smile he’d always used on his older sisters when he’d wanted to get his own way, but this time there was no answering smile. No response at all from Dr Simpson, unless he counted the turning of her head to look away. Not the outcome he’d wanted, he had to admit, but there was still time. This had to work.

Annie couldn’t get out of the meeting room fast enough once Gail wrapped up the session. She had no desire to hang around under Caspar’s inspection. No desire to be coerced into signing consent forms. And she wasn’t prepared for further discussions about why she was so against the idea of appearing on television. Her reasons were none of his business. All he needed to know was that she wasn’t interested. In any of it.

She dragged Tori to the staff cafeteria, desperate for a coffee fix after the stress and strain of the meeting. She couldn’t think straight while he was watching her with his heavy-eyed green gaze. Her mental picture of him tangled in his sheets was proving hard to shift and even though she knew it was entirely a product of her imagination she was mortified that her mind had taken her there, and she knew she had to put some distance between them if she was going to be able to keep those lustful thoughts out of her head.

She needed some distance if she was going to be able to focus on her job. But if she’d thought she was going to escape discussing the hottest topic in the hospital, she was mistaken.

The cafeteria was buzzing with the news and even Tori, despite bringing Annie to task for staring at Caspar earlier when she should have been listening to Gail, couldn’t resist bringing him into their conversation now. ‘What have you got against him?’ she wanted to know.

‘It’s not him per se,’ Annie tried to explain. ‘I just don’t want cameras following my every move. I’m here to do a job. I owe it to my patients to give them my best. I don’t want people in my way. And that includes him.’

The idea of cameras watching her terrified her. Twice in her life she had been the subject of media attention and neither time had the experience been pleasant, but the thought of working in close proximity to Caspar St Claire, of having him watch her with his bedroom eyes, was even more terrifying. She didn’t know if she’d be able to concentrate under his gaze and that made her feel vulnerable. And feeling vulnerable was not something she enjoyed.

‘Well, I think he’s here to stay,’ Tori told her. ‘At least for the next eight weeks. And you’ll probably be working quite closely with him. He’ll be responsible for the care of all those little newborns you deliver. I don’t see how you can avoid him. Or why you’d want to.’

Annie sighed. Tori was right. She was going to have to come up with a solution. She was going to have to work out how to cope with the situation, as unpleasant as it seemed. ‘I suppose I can’t avoid him,’ she agreed, ‘but I should be able to avoid being on camera. They’ll soon get sick of taking footage of the back of my head and then hopefully they can leave me alone to get on with my job.’

Tori was laughing. ‘You’re amazing. You’d have to be the only female in the entire hospital who would complain about having to spend time with Dr Tall, Dark and Handsome. Enjoy it. You’ll be the envy of all the women in town.’

Annie couldn’t imagine being able to enjoy one single minute of it and she’d happily swap places with Tori. With anyone, for that matter. ‘I’m sure you’ll get your turn, he’s bound to need your services while he’s here,’ she replied. ‘You can make sure you have yourself on the roster when they’re filming. You can show your face on camera and then they won’t need me.’

‘I’ll be in Theatre with a mask over my face,’ Tori grumbled, as she picked up her coffee and moved away from the counter. ‘Hey, maybe you could just start wearing a mask for your consults—that would solve your problem.’

Annie didn’t bother to respond to that comment. She just glared at Tori as she stirred milk into her coffee but Tori wasn’t finished.

‘Caspar St Claire.’ She sighed. ‘He even sounds like a movie star.’

Annie snorted. ‘He probably changed his name for television. I mean, really, who has a name like that?’

‘You don’t like my name, Dr Simpson?’

Damn it. Annie closed her eyes and groaned silently. He’d sneaked up on her and caught her out again. She was going to have to be more careful. She opened her eyes to find Tori trying to stifle a smile. Great. She turned round and came face to face with Dr Tall, Dark and Handsome.

He wasn’t trying to stifle a smile. In fact, he was smirking. At her expense. How she’d love to wipe that look off his face but the only way she could think of doing that was by telling him she didn’t like his name. And that wasn’t true. It was a name that rolled smoothly off the tongue, a name that wouldn’t be easily forgotten. Smooth and unforgettable. Much like the man himself, she guessed. Real or not, his name suited him.

‘You have a very nice name,’ she admitted grudgingly, ‘but it’s unusual enough to make me wonder if you made it up.’ She had to tilt her head back to look up into his face. He was several inches taller than her, an inch or two over six feet, she guessed, and from her viewpoint the strong angles of his jaw, darkened by the shadow of his beard, were even more obvious.

‘I admit it’s unusual but I assure you it’s the name my parents gave me. I can’t practise medicine under any other,’ he replied.

Annie shrugged. He’d made a fair point.

‘I seem to be needing to assure you of a lot of things, Dr Simpson.’ He was standing close enough that Annie could see where his day’s growth of beard was beginning to darken his jaw and she could feel his breath on her face as he spoke. She looked down, away from his inquisitive green eyes, but she was still aware of the little puffs of soft, warm air that smelt of peppermint and brushed her cheekbones when he spoke to her.

‘Is there anything else that’s bothering you?’ he asked. ‘I’d really like you to be on board with this project. As the hospital’s obstetrician and paediatrician our paths will cross often, and if we can find a way to work together I think it will be to everyone’s advantage. Should we clear the air some more while we have time?’

She looked up again, dragging her eyes away from the broad expanse of his chest to meet his eyes. At this distance she could see they were flecked with brown. Annoyed with herself for noticing, she retorted, ‘You may have the time, Dr St Claire, but I’m very busy so if you’ll excuse me I have patients to see.’

She knew she sounded snippy but he was standing too close. She was too aware of him. Of his green eyes, of his broad shoulders, of his breath on her skin, and his proximity was playing havoc with her senses, making it impossible for her to think. She couldn’t cope with him in her personal space. She hadn’t worked out how she was going to deal with him yet. Not in her hospital or in her life. She needed distance. It was the only thing that was going to work for her. She needed to leave. Now.

She picked up her coffee, gripping the cardboard cup so tightly it was in danger of being crushed, and stalked off, glaring at Tori to make sure her friend followed her. She didn’t want to leave her consorting with the enemy.

‘That was rude,’ Tori admonished as she hurried to keep pace with Annie. ‘You’ll need to play nicely. He could arrange to make you look bad on camera.’

‘He wouldn’t!’ Annie’s stride faltered. She hadn’t stopped to consider the consequences of her behaviour.

‘No, probably not,’ Tori admitted. ‘If you’d been listening to Gail you would have heard that their intention isn’t to paint any of us in a bad light but to give people an insight into what goes on inside a hospital. But I’m sure they’re not averse to showing any sparks that might be flying between patients and their families or families and staff or even just between the staff. And where those sparks come from is probably irrelevant—antagonistic or friendly, they all make for good television. But don’t forget, Gail’s first priority will be to Caspar. She has no loyalty to you so my advice is to play nicely.’

Annie cursed her bad luck. Why had the television network decided to film here? All she wanted was to be left in peace, to be left alone to do her work. Working under the scrutiny of cameras wasn’t part of her agenda. She didn’t want to be in the spotlight and she had no intention of being a celebrity doctor.

If she didn’t give permission to include her in the series then Caspar St Claire wouldn’t have the opportunity to make her look bad. But she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to play nicely just in case. But it would be even better if she could avoid him altogether.

That plan worked for the rest of the afternoon. Almost.

Annie was heading home, exiting through the main lobby, when the front page of the local paper caught her eye. Caspar was smiling up at her from the centre of the page, looking just as handsome in black and white as he did in the flesh. Curiosity got the better of her and she stopped and picked up the paper, noticing that it was a couple of days old already.

She flicked it open and as she unfolded it Caspar’s photographed companion came into view. A tall, attractive blonde woman, Annie recognised her as the host of a popular light entertainment show. Her curiosity piqued further, she began to read the article. Naturally it started by espousing Caspar’s talents as the local boy who was returning to his home town as a celebrity doctor and went on to talk about the success of the television series. Annie opened the paper, turning to page four to continue reading, interested to see what the journalist had to say about the woman on Caspar’s arm.

‘Anything interesting in there?’

Annie jumped as Caspar’s warm-treacle tones broke her concentration, interrupting her before she got to the gossip. She looked up, taking in his narrow hips, grey suit and broad shoulders almost as a reflex before her eyes came to rest on his face. One corner of his mouth lifted in the beginning of a smile and she could see the humour in his eyes as he waited for her to deny that she’d been reading about him. But there was no use pretending she hadn’t been hunting for information.

‘You interrupted me before I got to the good bit,’ she replied.

The smile that had been threatening to begin now broke across his face as he laughed. ‘If there’s anything you need to know, why don’t you ask me? I’ll trade you a question for a question.’

She tried to ignore the way his smile made his eyes sparkle, triggering the tremble in her stomach. ‘Mount Gambier is a long way from the bright lights of Melbourne. How did the network convince you to come here?’ she asked.

Annie herself had moved to Mount Gambier happily, hoping the regional location and the job opportunity would give her a chance to rebuild her life, but in her mind the country town seemed a strange choice not only for the television series but also for Caspar St Claire. Regardless of the fact he’d been raised here, she knew he hadn’t lived in the Mount for a long time and she wondered what had made him agree to return. With his confident manner and his high profile he seemed far more suited to a big city hospital and to the perks his celebrity status would bring him in a city like Melbourne.

‘I wanted to come.’

‘Why?’ she asked.

‘That’s two questions,’ he said, as he shook his head at her. ‘I believe it’s my turn now. What are you doing after work?’

His question surprised her. She opened her mouth to say ‘Nothing’ but quickly realised that, depending on his motives, she might be opening herself up for an unwanted invitation. She closed her mouth, biting back her reply as she tried to think of a different answer.

‘Going to the gym,’ she told him. That was sort of true. It was what she should be doing, although it wasn’t what she felt like and she knew she’d probably skip it altogether, but he didn’t need to know that. Just like he didn’t need to know her stomach was fluttering with nerves. She told herself it was because she found his presence irritating but she knew she was also bothered because she found him attractive and there was no way she wanted him to know that either.

She wished she could ignore his good looks but she suspected she was going to find that difficult. She’d just have to ignore him instead, she thought as she made a show of checking her watch.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow, then,’ he replied, leaving her wondering why he’d asked in the first place, but his answer served to remind her that it was going to be impossible to ignore him completely. Whether she liked it or not, they would be working together.

Annie hung back as Caspar headed for the exit. She stuck with her pretence of being busy as she didn’t want to walk out with him. From the hospital foyer she watched as he climbed into his car. He drove a silver Audi TT, which was definitely a car for a big-city doctor, and she wondered how much the television network was paying him, before reminding herself that he, and therefore his circumstances, was none of her business.

Annie briefly considered skipping her after-work gym class but she knew Tori would expect a decent reason before she’d allow her to opt out. They’d made a commitment to exercise together, hoping that would make them take it more seriously, and ‘Can’t be bothered’ wasn’t going to get her off the hook. She changed into her gym gear at the hospital so she could avoid going home first. She knew that if she went home the temptation to pour a glass of wine and sit on the couch and think about how her day had gone pear-shaped would be too much. In retrospect she decided that going to the gym might help keep her mind off her day.

‘So, did you decide to sign the network’s consent form?’ Tori asked when they met before their gym class.

‘Not yet. Have you?’

Tori nodded. ‘I’m really excited about the project. Not to mention working with Caspar. Phil is a terrific paediatrician but he’s old enough to be my father. I think we’ve got a pretty good deal having Caspar take over while Phil is on leave. I can’t think of many better ways to spend my theatre time than watching Caspar St Claire.’

Tori had a point but Annie didn’t agree wholeheartedly. ‘I would have preferred him to be here minus the cameras, though,’ she replied. She had been on television before and both occasions had been unpleasant, to say the least. Traumatic would be a better way to describe it. She didn’t relish the idea of being exposed to the cameras.

And she knew that was how she was feeling—exposed and vulnerable. Annie had found Tori’s support and friendship invaluable since she’d moved to the Mount but Tori still only knew half the story as far as Annie’s history went. She thought about telling Tori the whole truth but now wasn’t the time or the place.

‘Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way,’ Tori said. ‘The cameras are part of the package. Look at it this way—you want your contract renewed, don’t you? I think taking part in this series would be a very good way of getting support for an extension of your contract.’

The instructor called them all to order and the class began putting an end to their conversation. Annie wasn’t fit enough to talk and exercise at the same time but she was co-ordinated enough to be able to exercise and think about Tori’s comment.

Her contract with the hospital was for twelve months. She needed it to be extended. She needed the job and needed the money. As much as she hated the idea of being on television, she knew Tori was right. She didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t afford to be choosy or create waves. She would have to sign the agreement and she would have to work with Caspar St Claire.

Avoiding Caspar for one afternoon had been a good start but she couldn’t avoid him for ever and, in case she’d forgotten the fact, she had an early reminder when she arrived at the hospital the following morning. Parked almost outside the front doors was a large van emblazoned with the television network logo.

Filming was due to start today and it appeared they were ready and raring to go. Just thinking about it made her insides tremble. She actually felt nauseous at the thought of the camera crew dogging her steps.

Annie sighed as she made her way into the hospital and upstairs to the maternity ward. She had little doubt her path would cross with Caspar’s at some point today.

She still hadn’t signed the agreement, but she planned to do it later that day. She was hoping to delay it just a little longer to buy herself one more day, one more day when she would be safe from observation.

She kept her head down as she hurried past the nursery, too afraid to look through the large glass door in case she saw him—she was keen to avoid an inevitable meeting for as long as possible. She stopped briefly at the nurses’ station to check for any updates before rushing to begin her rounds, rushing to hide behind the sanctuary of ward room curtains and doors.

Once she was among her patients she slowed her pace, ambling through her rounds. She wasn’t consulting until the afternoon so she took her time, hoping that Caspar would be long gone from the floor before she emerged again. When she eventually finished she returned to the nurses’ station to sign case notes but she made sure she kept her back to the wall, not wanting to give Caspar another opportunity to sneak up on her and overhear any conversations. She had no idea where he was but she wasn’t taking any chances.

However, within a few minutes she realised he must be on the floor. Nurses started appearing from all corners of the wing, from patients’ bedsides, the tearoom and even the pan room, as if there had been a silent announcement about events unfolding. And the only thing Annie could think of that would have the nurses all heading into the corridors would be if word had got around that Caspar St Claire was coming their way.

She glanced up from the notes and wasn’t surprised to see him walking towards the desk with nurses trailing in his wake, almost falling over themselves as they rushed to offer their help. One of the nurses, whose name Annie thought was Tiffany, almost knocked down another in her desperate hurry to get to Caspar first.

The scene was rather amusing and Annie found she was smiling to herself and feeling positive for the first time since Caspar had arrived at Blue Lake Hospital. But that didn’t mean she wanted to deal with him this morning. She thought about pretending she hadn’t seen him and making her escape, running away and hiding again. But it was too late. He was heading her way. And smiling. At her.

Did he think her smile was for him? She supposed he would. He had no reason to think she was smiling to herself about the unfolding tableau.

She had to admit he had a really lovely smile. A crease appeared on either side of his mouth, running down to his jaw. They framed his lips and accentuated his square jaw, and the brooding expression in his eyes was replaced with laughter. It was all too easy to keep smiling back at him in return but she needed to remember that she wasn’t one of the young, impressionable nurses and she had to remember that he wasn’t Dr Tall, Dark and Handsome to her. He was Dr Disturbing-her-peaceful-life.

Annie wiped the smile from her face as he drew nearer but she hadn’t completely forgotten Tori’s warning to play nicely.

‘Good morning,’ she greeted him. ‘Are you finding your way around all right?’

‘Yes. Everyone’s being very helpful,’ he replied, but he looked at her for a moment longer than he needed to and Annie could almost hear the unspoken words. Except for you.

Well, that was too bad for him. She imagined he was used to getting his own way but that didn’t mean he deserved to. And if Tiffany and the other nurses on this ward were the yardsticks then she didn’t doubt the females on staff were being extremely helpful.

‘Where is the crew?’ she asked, choosing to ignore his unspoken implication.

‘They’re busy doing their own checks. They need to do some run-throughs before we start—lighting, sound, that sort of thing.’

She’d expected to see him with an entourage. ‘How many of them are there?’

‘Only a few,’ he answered. ‘Liam, the cameraman, Keegan for sound and lighting, and you met Gail, the producer.’

‘No make-up?’

‘No make-up.’

That would explain why he looked so good in the flesh. Dr Tall, Dark and Handsome wasn’t made up for the cameras. The thought didn’t make her feel any better. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about men who were so good looking.

She’d thought his nose was slightly too long but standing directly in front of him now even that looked perfect and she knew she’d just been searching for flaws. It was hard to fault him physically.

‘Apparently our production budget is very modest, which is why the network can afford to be generous towards the hospital. We don’t have a lot of expenses.’

‘What about your fee? They must pay you?’ She remembered his sleek silver sports car and the words were out of her mouth before she realised how rude she sounded. ‘Sorry, ignore that, it’s none of my business.’ She was desperate to change the subject and she looked around quickly, searching for another topic of conversation.

The nurses, having all come out of the woodwork, were now milling around, pretending to look busy, but Annie could see they were all there to check Caspar out. She remembered how he’d known everyone in the meeting yesterday and wondered if his extensive knowledge included the nurses.

‘Do I need to introduce you or have you memorised everyone’s names?’ she asked as she gestured towards the nurses.

‘I didn’t have time to learn everybody’s name, just the most important ones,’ he replied as he zeroed in on her with his green eyes. He was watching her intently and she felt as though he was putting her under the microscope.

‘So what was that little party trick all about?’ Annie was vaguely aware of the ward phone ringing as she tried to concentrate under the force of Caspar’s gaze.

‘Which one?’

‘That stunt yesterday, knowing who we were?’

‘It wasn’t a stunt. I figured I was going to be at a disadvantage. You know each other already but I’m going to be working with you all and the quicker I get everyone straight in my head the faster I’ll settle in. I like to be prepared.’

‘Dr Simpson?’ Ellen, one of the more experienced midwives, interrupted them. She had answered the phone and she covered the mouthpiece with her hand as she spoke to Annie. ‘I have one of your patients on the phone, Kylie Jones. She says her waters have broken. Do you need me to pull up her file?’

Annie shook her head. ‘No, that’s all right.’ She knew Kylie. ‘Is her husband home?’

‘I’ll check,’ Ellen replied, but within a few seconds she was shaking her head. ‘He’s not due back until next week.’

Annie knew that Paul Jones worked in mining, which meant he worked away for two weeks before coming home for two. ‘Tell her we’ll send an ambulance for her. She needs to be in here. If she’s up to it she can contact Paul while she’s waiting so he can organise to get home as soon as possible.’

Annie turned to Caspar. She couldn’t believe she was about to ask this of him.

‘Kylie is thirty-three weeks pregnant with twins. I’m going to need your help.’

‘Of course.’ He grinned at her and the sparkle returned to his eyes. Annie felt that funny warmth rush through her, as though his smile was the match and her belly was full of dry tinder. ‘I thought you’d never ask,’ he said as he pulled his phone from his pocket.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Calling the camera crew.’

‘What? No!’ she protested.

‘What do you mean, “no”? This is what we’re here for.’

Annie disagreed. ‘Why do you want to film Kylie? What’s the point? You have no back story, no history with her.’ And I don’t want a camera crew in my delivery suite.

But Caspar wasn’t going to back down easily.

‘We can do all that afterwards,’ he said, unperturbed. ‘We can follow her story and follow the babies’ progress.’

Somehow she’d known he wouldn’t give in. ‘These babies are premature,’ she argued. ‘They have to survive first.’

As she debated the situation she realised that from the television perspective it probably didn’t matter if the babies survived or not. Either way it would be high drama. But to his credit Caspar didn’t point that depressing fact out to her. In fact, he seemed to try to make an effort to reassure her.

‘I am a paediatrician, this is what I do. You have to trust me, I am very good at my job and just like you I swore an oath to do no harm.’ His brooding expression was back, his green eyes darker now, his jaw set. ‘This is a perfect story for the show—a premature delivery of twins with the father not able to make it for the birth. It’s in my best interests to make sure it has a happy ending and then we’ll be able to film an emotional reunion scene as well.’

‘You’re forgetting something,’ Annie argued. ‘I’ll be in the delivery suite and I haven’t given my permission to be filmed.’

Caspar shrugged. ‘We’ll keep you out of the shot. It’s Kylie and the babies we want. We can use voiceovers, music, whatever we need to eliminate anything you say as well if you prefer. The wonders of modern technology.’

‘Are you telling me you’ll film without my permission?’

‘Are you always this argumentative?’ he asked as a broad grin broke across his face and his eyes sparkled again.

Was he smiling at her? Did he find her amusing? Did he think she didn’t mean business?

She didn’t know where to look as she tried to ignore the funny tumbling sensation in her stomach. All she knew was that he was responsible for the feeling and that frightened her. She didn’t want to be attracted to him. She couldn’t imagine dealing with that on top of working with him. The stress made her belligerent. ‘Only when I think people are wrong,’ she snapped.

‘But I’m not wrong. We can edit you out but you can’t stop us from filming. I have the hospital’s permission and all I need is Kylie’s. If you like, I promise to show you the edited version before it goes to air.’

By God, the man was irritating. ‘I have no idea whether I can trust you to keep your promises, though, do I?’ Annie had learned through bitter experience that some people lied, cheated, made promises they had no intention of keeping and let others down on a regular basis. And to trust someone she barely knew didn’t sit comfortably with her.

‘This discussion could well be moot anyway,’ Caspar said. ‘It all depends on Kylie now.’

He pressed a button on his phone and made the call while Annie stood by, fuming silently. If he thought he could win every time by being stubborn she had news for him, but she knew that his chances of getting his own way were better than hers. Kylie’s babies would need Caspar St Claire. Annie couldn’t do this without him.

She could hope that Kylie would choose not to invite the cameras into the delivery suite but if that didn’t happen Annie knew she’d have to relent. She hated feeling powerless. She had sworn an oath to herself to take charge of her life, not to let other people dictate things to her, but ever since Caspar had walked into the hospital she could feel control being wrested from her.

She’d thought she would be able to avoid him and his cameras but she realised now that it wasn’t going to be her decision and, what was even worse, she realised that there would be times when she’d need him and she’d have to acquiesce.

‘Now, why don’t we agree to put our differences aside and you can tell me about Kylie,’ Caspar said as he ended his phone call. ‘Regardless of whether or not we film this delivery, I will be taking care of the babies, so is there anything I need to know? Has she had any medical complications? Have there been any issues with the pregnancy?’

Before Annie could answer any of his questions they were interrupted by Ellen. ‘The ambulance is nearly here.’

‘I want to meet the paramedics,’ Annie told him as she resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have to work with him. ‘If you come with me I’ll fill you in on the way, but her pregnancy has been pretty straightforward. She’s young, twenty-three, first pregnancy, fraternal twins. I’m not expecting any problems aside from the usual premmie issues.’

They arrived at the ambulance bay as the paramedics were opening the ambulance doors. Caspar was on the phone again and Annie could hear him instructing the crew to meet them in Emergency. She hoped Caspar was able to focus on more than one thing at a time. He needed to. Time would tell.

‘You know this patient?’ the paramedic checked as Annie introduced herself, and when she nodded, he continued. ‘Her waters have broken for at least one twin. Her blood pressure is elevated, one-sixty-five over ninety-five, and foetal heart rates are both around one-forty.’

‘Any contractions?’

‘A couple of mild ones. Several minutes apart.’

Annie spoke to one of the nurses who had followed them out to the ambulance. ‘Can you page Dr Williams and get her down here?’ she asked. Kylie’s blood pressure was much higher than she’d like and an epidural might help, but she’d let Tori decide.

The paramedics retrieved the stretcher with her patient and Annie bent over her, talking quietly. ‘Kylie, welcome. I wasn’t expecting you quite so soon. We’re going to take you into the emergency department and see what your babies are up to.’ Annie needed to determine how far along Kylie was. She didn’t need her wanting to push as they were on their way to Maternity.

She was aware of Caspar hovering at her right shoulder. She had to introduce him to Kylie as, like it or not, he was going to be part of this. But he wasn’t waiting for her. He stepped around her and spoke to Kylie.

‘Hello, Kylie, I’m—’

‘Caspar St Claire,’ Kylie gasped. ‘I’ve seen you on telly. What are you doing here?’

Of course, Annie thought, Caspar’s fame would have preceded him. Annie wasn’t quite sure how Kylie had found the energy to gush over Caspar. Surely if she was in labour she should have more pressing things to think about.

‘We’re filming the next series of RPE here at Blue Lake Hospital. Would you like to be a part of it?’ Caspar asked as Kylie was wheeled through the hospital doors.

‘You’ll deliver my babies? On telly?’

Annie felt her temper rising but Caspar shook his head and quickly put Kylie straight.

‘No, Dr Simpson will deliver your babies but I’ll be right here, ready to look after them as soon as they are born. We’ll get it all on camera and you’ll have a perfect recording of the whole experience to show your husband when he gets back to town.’

And with those words Annie knew Caspar would win the argument. Kylie was already looking at him as if he could give her the moon—knowing that her husband was going to miss the birth of their babies had to be bothering her. If Caspar could solve that problem by taping the birth, not only for national television but for Kylie’s husband, then there was no way Kylie would kick him out of the delivery suite.

‘I’ll feel better if you are here, Dr St Claire.’ Kylie turned her head to look at Annie. ‘Can you imagine, Dr Simpson? My family on national telly.’

And just like that Annie found herself overruled. She knew she had to be a gracious loser and she didn’t have time to argue anyway. Her patient was her first priority, her only priority, and she had more pressing concerns—Kylie’s blood pressure for one—than whether or not her patient wanted her fifteen minutes of fame.

Annie forced herself to smile as she said, ‘Okay, then, let’s get you inside.’

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