‘Then why did you?’
‘Other responsibilities in England.’ He turned to look across the room, effectively shutting down the brief conversation.
She studied that strong jawline, the sharp, see-everything eyes that were the colour of burnished steel; the wide chest.
He turned back. ‘Now you’re staring.’
‘I am.’ And liking what she saw. Her phone vibrated. Mum. She picked it up and tapped the text icon. ‘Sorry, need to get this.’
Morning, sweetheart. You left early. Hope you got some sleep and didn’t spend all night worrying about Noah. Holly’s devouring Rice Crispies, with more on the floor than in her mouth.
Smiling internally at the mess she could envisage, Stacey sent a smiley face and set her phone down to eat some toast. Sensing Noah was watching her again, she looked up. Sure enough, his gaze was fixed on her. Her grin slipped. ‘Yes?’
‘Can I have your phone number?’
Reality check. It was great he wanted to get in touch with her. She couldn’t wait to spend time with him away from here. Telling him about Holly wasn’t the issue. She’d decided tonight was the night for that, but—and it was a big one—she just wasn’t ready to lose Noah before she’d really found him, as in knowing him better and letting the passion she felt for him have its head. She was smitten with him, and that was hard to let go of so soon. He’d woken her up, and she’d never gone back to sleep, always hoping he’d return one day. Now he had, and there was a lot on the line.
‘Anastasia?’ He tapped her hand, lingering over the last touch. ‘You don’t want to give me your number?’
Shaking her head, she said, ‘Of course I do.’ She rattled it off and he put it into his contact list, trying to ignore how his finger felt on her skin—hot and tempting.
‘I’m messaging you so you’ve got mine.’
Ping.
Glad to catch up with you.
Deep breath.
Same.
It was true. No matter what lay ahead. Unable to stop herself, she leant forward and touched his fingers, squeezed them lightly.
Noah glanced at his phone, smiled, and stood up, saying, ‘See you tonight.’ He strode away, totally relaxed. A surgeon with a busy day ahead. A man who touched her like no other and had her smiling even when she was freaking out about Holly. He’d got under her skin and woken her up to new possibilities of love.
It had happened so fast it made it hard to believe it was real, and for the intervening years she’d tried to make herself believe she’d overreacted to an off-the-scale night. But from the moment they’d bumped into each other yesterday there was no denying she felt warm and excited about the possibilities. She wanted to be with Noah, to really get to know him, while feeling she already did. Was this love?
Liz waved from beside the counter and held up a mug. ‘Want another?’ she mouthed.
Stacey nodded, before surreptitiously running a finger beneath her eyes to remove unexpected moisture before Liz came across and noticed. Love and Noah in the same sentence tickled her insides and had her heart beating wildly. Caution was needed here. Lots of it.
‘I see you were enjoying Noah Kennedy’s company.’ Liz sat down in the seat he’d vacated.
Enjoying? Absolutely. ‘It’s always good to get to know our specialists a little, don’t you think?’ Put it back on Liz and hopefully she’d drop the subject.
‘You’re not fooling me, Stacey. I saw you go all bug-eyed when he was on the ward yesterday.’
‘Must’ve had something in my eye.’ She grinned. What the heck. ‘Only reacting as I’ve been told all the females have since he started.’ At least that showed she hadn’t got it wrong when it came to Noah’s sexy looks.
‘Why does he call you Anastasia?’
She’d prepared for this during the night. ‘It’s my full name, and when we met once years ago, I was sometimes using it.’ Once, and only with Noah, but that was for her to know. ‘Stacey’s a whole lot easier to spell,’ she said with a laugh. ‘Or so I’ve been told.’
Liz chuckled. ‘Fair enough. So you’ve met him before and yet you didn’t appear to recognise his name. Interesting.’
‘It was a brief encounter. You know how those go. Hi, I’m Anastasia. You’re...?’
‘Where’d you meet?’
‘At a dance. He’d come with a friend and didn’t know anyone else. We ended up dancing together most of the night.’
‘You didn’t hang on to him?’
Time to stop this. ‘Nope. I had other things going on at the time.’ Now drop it. ‘Let’s go see what we’ve got this morning.’ She stood up.
‘Sit down. There’s twenty-five minutes before we’re due on the ward.’
Sinking down, Stacey gulped coffee and pretended nothing was out of the ordinary with this conversation until it was time to leave.
* * *
An hour after signing on, a patient was brought up from Theatre who’d been taken out by a car on a crossing.
‘Miles Canton, thirty-one years of age, fractured femur and hip, four fractured ribs, pneumothorax to left lung and perforated large colon.’ The orthopaedic surgeon, Ian Blackwell, had accompanied his patient to the ward. ‘He’s a competitive cyclist so his fitness will help recovery.’
Stacey nodded, then her breath got stuck in her throat as Noah came up behind Ian. ‘Problem in Theatre?’ she gasped, unable to stop the thrill cascading through her.
Noah shook his head. ‘We’re waiting for Theatre to be cleaned up and readied so figured I’d fill you in on the details I had to do with in Miles’s case. I’ve put a tube into the chest cavity. The lung is starting to move. The colon injury was straightforward but nil by mouth until otherwise advised.’
‘Of course.’ Stacey nodded. ‘Liz, I want you with Mr Canton. One on one for today and we’ll assess the situation before handover.’ Two different and complex sets of surgery on top of each other would have knocked the man around, despite his physical condition. ‘There’re only two other patients in room three at the moment so put him there so he can sleep.’ Fingers crossed.
‘Thanks, Stacey. That’ll be best.’ Noah gave her an appreciative smile.
A smile that sent her heart rate into overdrive. She had it bad. She was only doing her job and yet felt as though he’d complimented her. ‘Right, Liz, you’re good to go with Mr Canton?’
‘On my way.’
Inadvertently she glanced at Noah and saw him watching her with a hint of laughter in his eyes. What was that about? ‘Noah?’
‘I’d like to see Gloria while I’ve got a spare moment.’ He hustled her along the ward without another word. Thankfully he had enough nous not to take her elbow, and yet she felt as though he’d been about to. That really would have sent everyone’s eyebrows halfway up their foreheads. ‘How is she this morning?’
‘Her wound is healing well, the pain’s dropping, though she understands some of the reason is the continuous dosage of morphine. She’s chomping at the bit to go home.’
‘I’ll change the pain relief medication. From what I heard from Joel yesterday, I’m happy to discharge her.’ Noah breezed into the room and all conversation amongst the patients stopped as the women looked at him. ‘Morning, Gloria. I hear you’re packed and waiting for my signature.’ He strode up to her bed.
Stacey resisted winking at the other women and flicked the curtains around them. It was so tempting to be unprofessional because she totally understood their drooling expressions. But she was head nurse and did not want to risk a black mark against her name.
Gloria smiled and looked to Stacey for support. ‘Why hang around here when I’ve got my family waiting for me at home?’
‘Is this family going to look after you? Cook your dinner? Make your bed, and generally run around for you?’ Noah asked.
‘My husband will.’
‘Or else?’
‘Exactly. He knows when he’s onto a winner.’
‘I know the consequences if I don’t obey she who should be listened to.’ The curtain flicked open briefly as Gloria’s husband, dressed in a business suit, joined them. ‘Morning, Mr Kennedy. Darling.’ He dropped a kiss on Gloria’s cheek.
‘I’m glad you’re here, Darryl,’ Noah said. ‘I’m sending Gloria home, but we need to discuss future treatment.’
‘There’s always a reality check.’ Darryl pulled a chair up to the side of the bed and took his wife’s hand in his.