A Paramedic to Change Her Life, page 4
* * *
‘Nice...’
Jo tucked her hair behind her ears, the spark in her eyes telling Cade that she was trying to decide whether his hum of approval was a sarcastic reference to her finally showing up to where he was leaning against one of the pillars that framed the hospital’s main entrance. He held her gaze just a heartbeat longer. It wasn’t just to make sure she knew he understood perfectly well that not finishing on time was part and parcel of the jobs they both did. No... The urge to hold that gaze was also there because he wanted to test what he’d suspected a short time ago when they were being watched so intently by everyone in ED—that they could communicate rather well without saying a word.
‘Great outfit,’ he added, even though he knew she wasn’t at all put out now. ‘It’s good that you’re not wearing a skirt.’
He couldn’t help another glance at those long, slim legs of hers, encased in faded denim that was tucked into knee high boots. Very nice...
‘I don’t do skirts.’ Jo shrugged and then grinned at him. ‘I was such a disappointment to my mother. I refused to wear dresses or play with dolls. She said it was cosmic punishment for finally getting the girl she wanted after having four sons, only to have her turn out to be a tomboy.’ Her smile faded. ‘Why it is good?’
‘I’ve found what looks like the best place for us to have coffee,’ Cade told her. ‘And I thought you might be up for a ride there on my bike. I’ve got a spare helmet and jacket.’
‘As a specialist in prehospital emergency medicine, I’m sure you know as well as I do how dangerous motorbikes are.’
It was Cade’s turn to grin back at her. He was liking a lot more than her outfit. And he could read her real answer in her eyes as clear as day.
‘So...you’re up for it, then.’
A statement, rather than a question. And it felt as if it was an effort for Jo to break the eye contact with him.
‘Sure...why not? It’s been a busy shift and I could do with blowing a few cobwebs away.’
The Triumph Scrambler motorbike was Cade’s pride and joy, so it was gratifying to see the genuine appreciation on Jo’s face when she saw it.
‘Very cool.’ She nodded. ‘Cross country?’ Then her eyes widened. ‘Twelve hundred CC?’
‘I like a bit of grunt.’ Cade raised an eyebrow. ‘You know bikes?’
‘I’ve got four brothers. How could I not know bikes? I rode one myself until I got a bit older and wiser.’
Somehow that didn’t surprise Cade one bit. He could imagine this woman on the open road with the wind on her face, revelling in the freedom a bike could offer. He opened the shell case on the luggage rack and took out a leather jacket, old enough to be butter soft, holding it out for Jo to slide her arms into the sleeves. Weirdly, helping her to put an item of clothing on felt as intimate as it might be to help her take one off.
Oh, man...
He’d been looking forward to seeing Joanna Bishop again, but he certainly hadn’t expected that being this close to her would feel this good. Even better, he was about to surprise her and he had a feeling that she might really enjoy something a bit out of the ordinary.
* * *
It was quite a tight squeeze, sandwiched between Cade’s body on the front of the seat and the luggage box on the back rack, but Jo didn’t mind a bit.
After a moment of feeling awkward as she put her arms around Cade’s waist and felt the solid shape of his lower body against hers, she decided she might as well enjoy it. She was enjoying it so much she didn’t even notice the direction that Cade was taking. She would have expected him to head for one of the trendy cafés up in the hill suburbs that gave fabulous views over the largest city in New Zealand’s South Island, with its pretty harbour and the peninsula that sheltered it but, having started on the motorway that could have eventually taken them all the way to Invercargill at the bottom of the south island, Cade then turned towards the coast.
She was being abducted, Jo thought.
Whisked off to who knew where, with a man who was almost a complete stranger. For coffee...
Yeah, right... Jo actually laughed out loud as she felt the bike leaning sideways to accelerate around a bend.
‘All good?’ The wind whipped the words from Cade’s mouth as he turned his head. ‘We’re almost there.’
Really? They were well past any picturesque beachside cafés that Jo knew about. Sure enough, when Cade turned off the road, there was no hint that a good espresso machine might be nearby. Instead, they were in an almost deserted parking area surrounded by farmland.
‘Bit of a walk,’ Cade said. ‘But my research suggests that it’s worth it.’
‘Research?’ Jo decided to keep the borrowed jacket on as the brisk sea breeze had a bite to it.
‘I’m the new boy in town. I always start by looking for the more interesting corners to explore. You never know what treasures you’re going to find.’
‘So you make a habit of it?’ Jo watched as Cade took a small backpack from the luggage case and hooked a strap over his arm. ‘Being the new boy in town, I mean?’
He shrugged. ‘Guess so. I never stay in one place too long.’
‘Because you get bored?’
‘Because I don’t want to miss out on things that might be the best thing I’ve ever found. Like a place.’ It felt as if Cade was standing very still as he spoke. As if he wanted to hold her gaze like this for as long as possible. ‘Or a person...’
Oh, dear Lord. That look. The sound of his voice. The isolation of wherever it was they were, with clouds scudding over a vast sky above them and the smell of sea salt in the air was all adding up to something extraordinary.
Possibly the best thing ever?
‘Where are we?’
‘You don’t know?’
‘I grew up in the North Island. I’ve only been here for a couple of years.’
‘So you’re like me, a bit of a traveller?’ Cade didn’t wait for a response. ‘I knew we had a lot in common, Jo Bishop. This is something new for both of us then. I like that.’ He held out his hand. ‘Watch out for this gravel road, it looks steep enough to be slippery down there.’
It felt like the most natural thing in the world to be holding his hand as they walked towards the sea. This was definitely something new for both of them. And Jo was liking it too. A lot.
‘This is Tunnel Beach,’ Cade told her. ‘Apparently, back in the eighteen-seventies, some rich early settler dude decided he wanted a beach where his family could swim privately.’
‘I can’t see a beach. It looks as if we’re walking towards the edge of a cliff.’
‘That’s the thing. They had a tunnel hand-carved down through the cliff. Seventy-two steps and we’ll be there.’
‘And there’s a coffee shop?’
Cade laughed. ‘I said I’d found the best place for coffee, not the best shop.’
A decent walk and a careful scramble down damp stone steps and Jo had to agree that this was the best place for coffee she’d ever seen. They were on soft white sand, a crescent of turquoise sea with waves being ridden by surfers, the beach framed by dramatic cliffs and massive sandstone boulders that were natural works of art. There was even a waterfall.
When they’d explored from one end of the beach to the other, there was a sheltered spot in a sandstone cleft to sit in and watch the waves and it was a bonus that the narrowness of the gap meant their hips were touching when they both squeezed in. There was hot, strong coffee, just the way Jo liked it, from a Thermos that Cade had in the backpack and there were no awkward moments in a conversation that had started at the beginning of the walking track and was now flowing so freely it felt as if they’d known each other for ever.
‘Did you know that Dunedin is built around seven hills? So is Rome. And Barcelona.’
‘How on earth do you know that?’
‘I told you, I do my research when I go somewhere new. There’s lots of places that claim the seven hills thing. Edinburgh is another one, which is kind of appropriate because Dunedin is also considered the most Scottish city outside of Scotland.’
‘I did know that. There’s a statue of Robbie Burns in the centre of town in the Octagon. And I’ve heard people playing bagpipes there.’
Jo liked the way Cade had laughed when she told him how she’d competed so hard with her older brothers to get the attention of their father. How she’d had to do everything they did and try to do it better. How being told she couldn’t do something because she was ‘only’ a girl made her all the more determined.
‘I wouldn’t let anyone call me Joanna. I wanted a boy’s name because I wanted to be just like my brothers.’
‘They went into medicine?’
‘Two of them are surgeons, like Dad. One works in London and the other in New York. One’s a firefighter and the last one works for NASA. He’s a rocket scientist but don’t ask me what he actually does because I don’t understand any of it.’
‘Somehow, I doubt that.’ The look that Jo received was one of admiration. ‘Impressive family.’
‘Intimidating, I’ve been told. Maybe that’s why we all suck at relationships. I’ve got two brothers who are divorced, one’s been engaged twice but has never married and the last one seems determined to be a bachelor for the rest of his life.’
Cade’s nod was approving. ‘I can relate to that. Let me guess...is he the firefighter?’
‘Yep.’
‘And then there’s you.’ Cade’s eyebrow lifted. ‘Are you engaged, married or divorced?’
‘None of the above. My poor mother’s beginning to think she’s never going to get a grandchild.’ She shook her head. ‘I suspect she’s dreaming of a girl that actually wants to be girly.’
‘I like tomboys,’ Cade said. ‘And being single is a good thing.’
Jo ignored the odd tingle at Cade’s approval of tomboys. ‘Why is being single a good thing?’
‘Well, I doubt that we would be here, doing this, if either of us had family or relationship commitments out of our working hours.’
‘That’s true...’
Jo caught her bottom lip between her teeth. The burning question for her was why Cade was single? Putting aside his rugged, ultimately masculine physical attraction, she’d identified qualities in him during their first meeting that would make him irresistible to almost any woman whose path he’d crossed over the years. And he never stayed in one place for long? She wanted to know the reason for that as well. She’d suspected he might be a loner, but there was always a story behind a trait that no one was normally born with. But, despite the ease of the conversation between them, the questions seemed too personal to ask so she settled for something generic.
‘Have you got siblings? A bunch of sisters, maybe?’
‘No. No father either, but I have enough cousins and uncles to make up for that. I might be only part Pasifika but family’s still...well...everything.’
Jo had to stifle her curiosity. She knew how important family was to people with Pacific Island or Maori heritage so, if Cade had such a big extended family, why did he not live closer to them? What had happened to drive him away? And did he not want a family and children of his own? If he did, then—like her—he was leaving it a bit late. He had crinkles of lines around his eyes and the kind of ease of being in his own skin that Jo associated with men mature enough to be well into their forties.
But Cade had every right to choose what he shared in the way of personal information. She already knew from their conversation during their walk towards the beach that he’d trained as a paramedic in Auckland and had later gone on to work on oil rigs and in the mines in Australia. He’d been overseas working with Médecins sans Frontières for a few years before coming back to New Zealand to do postgraduate training and become a critical care paramedic. His working history only added to the impression that he was a maverick. That he had compelling reasons that made him walk away from commitment of any kind?
It only added to the aura of this man as far as Jo was concerned. Quite apart from the crazy idea that he could be the perfect choice for a sperm donor, he was also the most compellingly attractive man she’d ever met in her life. The point of contact where their hips touched was generating a heat she could feel throughout her entire body, so it was rather ironic that she suddenly shivered. Just a subtle quiver but Cade clearly felt it instantly.
‘Yeah...it’s getting colder.’ He was frowning as he scanned Jo’s face. He reached out to pull the overlarge borrowed jacket back from where it had slipped down her shoulder and, for a heartbeat, when his thumb brushed her chin, Jo could see a flash of something in his eyes.
As if he was thinking about kissing her...
Oh...help... Jo couldn’t look away. And this time the shiver that ran through her body had nothing to do with how cold it was getting as the sun went down.
It was Cade who broke that eye contact, turning to screw the cap back onto the Thermos and put it in the backpack. ‘Climbing back up those steps should warm us up.’
Jo handed him the plastic mug she’d been using. ‘Thank you. That was great coffee.’
‘I should have brought something to eat as well.’ Cade wriggled out of the space and then held out his hand to help Jo to her feet. ‘Let me make that up to you by taking you out to dinner.’
Jo got to her feet and let go of Cade’s hand before he could guess the effect his touch might be having. Brushing sand off her clothes and tucking herself further into the warmth of this well-worn, soft leather jacket gave her time to blink away the surprise of both the reaction her body was having to his touch and the unexpected invitation.
A second invitation.
A date on top of a date.
Was Cade feeling the same way she was? That there was a curiously urgent need to find out as much as she could about him? To share as much about herself as he could possibly be interested in? That they had wasted too much time already because they should have met each other a long time ago?
It was unlikely. But not impossible. The way he was looking at her right now suggested that, at the very least, the level of attraction between them was on a similar level.
‘Sounds like a plan,’ she found herself saying, as if it was no big deal to have a date on top of another date. ‘I should warn you, though, walking up hills makes me super hungry.’
‘No worries. We can have an eating competition if you like.’
Jo laughed. ‘You sound like one of my brothers. When he was about twelve years old.’
‘I remember being twelve years old. It would have been fun to have had a little sister like you.’ Jo could hear the grin in Cade’s voice even though she wasn’t looking at him. ‘What’s your favourite food?’
‘I tried a new Spanish restaurant the other night which was fabulous. But I like everything. French, Italian, Chinese. Or hamburgers...’ Jo was still deliberately keeping her gaze on where they were heading—towards the opening of the tunnel at the end of the beach—because she didn’t quite have the courage to catch Cade’s gaze again so soon. Because she knew that it wouldn’t be anything like the kind of look a big brother and little sister might exchange.
The idea of asking Cade if he might consider being part of her plan to have a baby was absolutely the last thing on Jo’s mind. She’d even forgotten all those burning questions about why he couldn’t settle long term anywhere or with anyone. She didn’t want to ask him anything right now, to be honest.
She just wanted him...
She needed to pull in a steadying breath. ‘I love a good hamburger.’
* * *
Hamburgers it was.
Gourmet burgers, mind you. Full of bacon and mushrooms and blue cheese and pulled beef. One of the best burgers Cade had ever tasted. Even better, the shop was so close to his apartment that it was a no-brainer to take them home rather than sit at outside tables on a chilly evening. They sat at the small table in his kitchen rather than anywhere more comfortable because the hamburgers were so juicy they dripped, which not only made them all the more delicious but gave Cade the pleasure of watching Jo have to lick her fingers or chase droplets with her tongue when they threatened to roll down her chin.
The kitchen was as sleek and modern as the rest of this apartment—the kind of living space Cade always rented because he didn’t want a property that required maintenance. Or one that he might get attached to. He’d only been living here for the last week or so but this messy meal in the small, well-appointed kitchen was making him feel as though he had really settled in.
As if this might turn out to be his favourite apartment ever.
Because it felt so incredibly vibrant right now. Because he had one of the most beautiful, intriguing women he’d ever met bumping her face with a hamburger as if it was the best meal she’d ever tasted and he was watching her like a hawk because he didn’t want to miss a single glimpse of her tongue chasing a drop of juice. Or licking her lips after a sip of the bottle of red wine that was rapidly diminishing thanks to Jo’s decision to get a taxi home.
Cade didn’t want her to go home, mind you.
Not any time soon.
Oddly, though, this was different to any time he’d brought a gorgeous woman home in more ways than one. Normally, he’d only have had one thing on his mind and they would have been in the bedroom some time ago but, dammit...he’d never met someone that he enjoyed talking to this much. Someone who seemed to be so at ease in his company that he felt as if he’d known her for ever. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Jo had grown up with four older brothers and was a self-declared tomboy because he did feel as comfortable as he would if he was having a night out and a few beers with one of his best mates.
