Brought Together by a Pup, page 4
But a fling with a handsome man who accepted her as she was? What do you think, Jess? Dee? She could hear them shouting, Yes! It couldn’t hurt, surely? Not if she was aware of the restrictions on her heart. Which she most definitely was.
‘Here.’ Carter held out the second bottle. ‘Get some of that into you.’
‘Thanks.’ Carefully avoiding contact with those fingers holding the bottle, she sank onto the wooden seat attached to the table and took a sip of the cold liquid. ‘Just what the doctor ordered. Or should I say vet?’
‘Since you’re definitely human, doctor works.’
For the first time since she’d met him, she grinned. She was that relaxed. He’d noticed she was human. As in a female, with curves and boobs? Not only the fake leg? Please have noticed more than that. Damn, she shouldn’t have worn this sleeveless blouse. The scars on the back of her arm were obvious to a blind man, and Carter wasn’t blind. Yeah, and he was a man. A hot male responsible for the exciting spears of heat stabbing at her inside and out. Did he do short flings by any chance? Why not? Yeah, but with her?
Suddenly she saw the face of the last guy she’d been intimate with, his horror when she took the prosthesis off. As if she was meant to have sex with a chunk of titanium knocking into him? No way in hell did she want to see that look on Carter’s face. She might be getting ahead of herself, but no one else was going to protect her heart. Her grin slipped. She might as well scare him off now. ‘So you noticed I don’t have four legs?’
‘Kind of.’
Great. Now what? Could hardly say she only had one. He knew. ‘Or a tail.’
A deep, sexy chuckle reached her. ‘Didn’t say that.’
Corny. But warming. Okay, she was going to get this out in the open so she could move past it. ‘Four years ago I was run over by a truck when it jackknifed into the group of cyclists I was on a training ride with.’ Funny how she hated people bringing up the subject and yet when Carter hadn’t, she rushed in to tell him. What was this about? Apart from making sure he knew about her problems sooner rather than later? There was the empty seat at the wedding to fill, and he would be a perfect fit. But was it all right to ask one of her temporary bosses to accompany her?
‘From what I’ve seen you’ve done well with your recovery. Nothing seems to slow you down. Did you sustain any other serious injuries?’
‘A broken arm and some scarring.’ She had survived. Others hadn’t.
‘Bet you don’t sleep as easily as you once used to.’ He was watching her as he sipped his beer, nothing but care in his expression. He wasn’t overdoing the concern, nor was there a lot of over-eager interest for the details.
‘There is that. All part of the horror that happened and never quite goes away.’ Her heart softened for the first time in a long time. She could really get to like this man. If she was staying around, which she didn’t intend to. She was nowhere near ready. Might never be. ‘So, are you a local?’
‘Born and bred on a farm near Tamborine. I live on the coast just beyond of South Port now. My brothers both went into farming, adding to Dad’s property over the years. I chose to be a vet instead. I prefer making animals well, not raising them to be sent to the meat works.’ He looked a bit stunned, as though he didn’t usually talk about himself.
Something they had in common. ‘I get that.’
‘Can’t be why you’re a vet nurse though.’
Her turn to laugh. ‘True. I’m not sure why I chose this career, really. The end of my last year at school was approaching when the science teacher had a talk with me, and said she thought I’d make a good nurse, but the time required for study didn’t fit in with my cycling regime so I sort of drifted into vet nursing instead.’ She’d been a road-cycling racer and making a name for herself until the crash.
‘Any regrets?’
‘None whatsoever. It suits me perfectly.’ The teacher had read her well though. She would’ve enjoying human nursing. ‘I get a lot of satisfaction from helping animals when they’re having a terrible time with injuries or illness.’
‘How do you manage to stand all day? Isn’t there a lot of pressure on your knee?’ He wasn’t backward in asking, but it was really a technical question, so she accepted it.
Carter had a way of wording his curiosity that didn’t make her want to tell him to mind his own business. Or she was more ready to listen to him than usual because he had tweaked her interest. ‘It often hurts like stink, but I manage.’ It was never going to be an excuse for not doing a good job. She had always maintained good relationships with her employers as she never knew when she might be back wanting another job with them.
‘Sounds like you get around a lot.’ Now there was a question in his eyes.
One she wasn’t answering. What she said was, ‘I love travelling, seeing the sights, meeting different people, and working in those places means trying to become a part of the culture for as long as I’m there.’
‘The Gold Coast culture.’ He laughed. ‘Now that’s a new one. We’re all Aussies. What culture is there here?’
She laughed too. ‘Surfing, prawns, lots of sunshine, crazy theme parks.’
‘Sydney doesn’t have those?’
‘Sure it does, but the city’s huge and it takes for ever to get anywhere.’ Especially when she didn’t ride a bike any more. Cycling had been her passion, and while it was possible to ride with her prosthesis, she would never again be a competitive cyclist, something she couldn’t face.
She reached down to rub Axel between his ears. He was curled up at her feet, looking the most relaxed she’d seen him. Come to think of it, she felt more relaxed around Carter than she had with any man in a long time other than at work. Dared she invite him to the wedding? When he was one of her bosses? He could also be in a relationship, though that looked less likely now he’d offered to share a beer rather than racing home to be with someone.
Time to get out of here. Except it would be rude to leave before she finished her drink. Or walk away when Carter was nothing but friendly. Add in sexy, and kind, and non-confrontational. She might as well enjoy the moment before going home to whip up something to eat.
Ask him about the wedding, will you? Just put it out there.
What did she have to lose? It wasn’t as though she was committing to anything more than a few hours in his company. Also, if he said no, then it wouldn’t be a big deal either.
Commitment. It wasn’t her thing. Unless it was to a job, and then only for a short time. She took a big gulp of beer. She had enjoyed the places where she’d been working, and the people she’d met. But at times she felt as though she were on a treadmill going faster and faster and struggling to keep up.
‘Should I be getting on my way and letting you get home to someone?’ she asked Carter in a rush. Blimey, her heart was beating something awful. Was his answer so important? When she was usually strong and took knocks on the chin easier than she did swallowing painkillers for her knee?
His eyes widened. ‘Is that your way of asking if I’m single?’ He was direct.
She appreciated that. ‘Yes. The thing is, I’m in need of a partner for my friend’s wedding and as I don’t know many guys I’m a little desperate. I understand we’re going to be working together so I should probably shut up about now.’ What was going on? She might be tired to the bone after all that swimming, but it wasn’t an excuse for acting so out of character. Next he’d be ringing Joe to say they had to tear up the contract with the nurse.
‘That’s the last—’
The sound of screeching brakes drowned him out. Quickly followed by screams.
‘What the?’ Carter was on his feet, striding to the back gate. Pulling it open, he stared down the lane. ‘Willow, we’re needed. There’s a guy on the ground beside a car.’
Leaping to her feet, she cursed the stab of pain in her knee and raced across to join Carter as he headed onto the lane, closing the gate to keep Axel safe. ‘Looks like the car hit him,’ she said. Two people were already at his side, bending down, looking as though they were about to roll him over.
‘Don’t move him,’ she called. ‘He might have a spinal injury.’
Both stepped back in a hurry. ‘Sorry, just thought we had to see if he’s breathing,’ one said.
‘Anyone a medic?’ Carter asked.
No one put their hand up.
‘Can someone call it in?’ Carter crouched down beside the guy. ‘I’m trained in basic first aid.’
‘Me too,’ Willow told him.
‘I never saw him coming. He shot right out in front of me on his skateboard.’ A woman stood by the car that had knocked the guy down, her hands gripped in front of her. ‘I didn’t have time to stop.’
Willow awkwardly joined Carter, her muscles stiff from her strenuous workout in the water. Something sharp stabbed her good knee. ‘Ow. Be careful. There’re pieces of metal on the road.’ What from was anyone’s guess.
‘Could be off the skateboard,’ a woman standing next to her said and held up a bent wheel frame. ‘Seems to be missing nuts and bolts.’
‘That’d do it.’ Willow turned her concentration to the man lying between her and Carter. ‘Hello? Can you hear me?’
‘What happened?’ he croaked, opening and closing his eyes rapidly.
‘You were hit by a car. Don’t move. We’ll check you over,’ she told him. One leg was twisted under his backside at an odd angle. A large gash tore through his cheek. There’d be more to come, Willow was sure. Hopefully help would get here fast.
Carter was checking the leg that looked broken. ‘I’m not moving this. The paramedics can sort it.’
Willow reached for the man’s wrist, felt for his pulse. ‘Erratic.’
‘Slightly raised, nothing to worry about now,’ she noted after sixty seconds, glad she’d kept up regular first-aid training. She’d started when she began competitive road cycling as there were often accidents and someone needing help.
‘That’s probably shock induced,’ Carter assured her. ‘Can’t be too different from our patients.’
‘Stay still,’ she reiterated as the man tried to sit up. Was spinal damage likely?
‘What happened?’ he demanded again through a bubble of blood, seeming oblivious to his surroundings.
‘Ambulance is on its way,’ someone called.
Carter glanced at her briefly. ‘Hold his shoulders down so he can’t try lifting himself up. He shouldn’t be moving his head either.’
‘He’s very agitated.’
‘I think that’s due to shock too. I can’t smell alcohol.’ Carter held the guy’s chin and opened his mouth, peered in. ‘Wish I had a glove in my back pocket. There are broken teeth with fragments in his mouth. Don’t want him swallowing those.’ He scooped a finger around the man’s mouth, flicked a tooth fragment out.
Willow kept a tight hold on the man’s shoulders as he tried to roll away from Carter.
A tooth was flicked out. ‘There, think I’ve got everything.’ Carter pulled back.
‘Here.’ A woman handed him a packet of antiseptic wipes.
‘Thanks.’
‘What about the left arm?’ Willow said. ‘It’s at an odd angle. Think we should move it?’
‘Best leave it to the paramedics. They’ll have the gear on hand in case movement causes serious bleeding from a wound we haven’t seen.’
‘Let me go,’ the guy cried. ‘You’re hurting me.’
‘Steady, mate,’ Carter told him. ‘You need to stay still to prevent hurting yourself any more. Willow’s trying to help you. She knows what she’s doing. Trust her, okay?’
Blimey. Where’d that come from? Concentrating on examining the lacerations before her, she tried to ignore the glow of warmth Carter’s words brought. This wasn’t quite the same as when she’d saved Axel.
Axel. She glanced across to the gate leading into the vet clinic’s yard, hoping the pup was all right being left alone so abruptly. At least he couldn’t go anywhere. The fence was high and she had closed the gate.
‘Seems you took the brunt of the impact on your left side,’ Carter told the man.
‘He hit the front of the car,’ the woman who’d been driving said in a quavering voice somewhere behind Willow. ‘He came out of nowhere right into my path.’
Sirens were coming closer. Willow felt some of the tension slip away. This guy would have the help he needed in a few minutes. As for the driver who’d struck him, she had no answers. The truck driver that had crashed into the group of cyclists she had been with had said much the same thing, only to be proven to have been speeding with alcohol in his system. He was boarding with the government at the moment.
‘What’s your name, mate?’ Carter was busy trying to distract the guy now groaning deeply. He didn’t get an answer. Hopefully that didn’t mean he was losing consciousness. ‘Mate? What’s your name?’
‘What’ve we got?’ A paramedic knelt down beside Willow.
‘Seems this man was skateboarding when he crossed the road directly into the path of an oncoming car. All the impact appears to be on the left side. He’s in shock, has been aware we’re here, but now seems to have lost concentration. We haven’t been able to get any information from him.’
Carter rattled off the scant injury details they had, and told the paramedic, ‘I removed tooth fragments from his mouth. He’s also bitten his tongue.’
‘You know what you’re doing,’ the paramedic said. ‘Nurse or doctor?’
‘Vet. And vet nurse.’ He nodded at Willow.
The paramedic grinned. ‘Guess the guy got lucky.’
Willow drew a breath and stood up, rubbing her thigh where it ached.
Carter was watching her.
Her hand stilled. Then started moving up and down again. To hell with it. Having a prosthesis came with aches on bad days. ‘Good luck,’ she said to the guy on the ground, doubting he heard her. She just had to put it out there. Who knew what lay ahead for him?
As they stepped through the gate into the clinic’s yard, Carter looked at her with something like admiration. ‘You’re good. Calm and confident.’
‘I try to be.’ She studied him. He really was something else. Absolutely drop-dead gorgeous in ways that were becoming more obvious the longer she was around him. ‘You knew what you were doing too.’
‘Guess the boundaries between human and animal injuries aren’t too far apart in some instances.’ A knee-knocking smile was expanding as he watched her. ‘We make a good team, don’t we?’
‘Not bad at all.’ Her breathing was a little hitched, as if her lungs weren’t sure if they should be inhaling or exhaling.
‘Sit down at the table and I’ll get some antiseptic to clean that cut on your leg.’
‘What?’ Glancing down, she shook her head at the sight of blood oozing down her shin. ‘I forgot all about that.’ It wasn’t a big deal, more a small scratch. ‘I’ll be fine.’
‘You’re around a dog. Best cover the cut with a plaster.’
‘Fair enough.’ Sinking onto a seat by the table, she rubbed her other thigh until Axel approached and placed his head by her hand. ‘You want a pat?’
His head pressed harder against her.
‘That’s a yes, then.’
‘Right.’ Carter appeared before her and knelt down. ‘Stretch your leg out for me.’ He wore vinyl gloves.
‘I can do it.’
Stern eyes met her gaze. ‘I’m sure you can.’
Okay, she couldn’t argue with that look. When this man meant business it seemed there was no holding back. Pushing her leg forward, she went back to patting Axel. His hard head was warm to her touch. Even warmer were the strong strokes of cotton on her knee and down her shin. Firm, methodical, and making her blink as though from a deep sleep.
‘That’s quite a deep cut,’ her vet said.
‘I landed heavily.’ Clumsy really, but she’d been focused on the man lying on the road. ‘You’re not about to sew me back together, are you?’ The sooner he stopped wiping those cotton wipes over her skin, the sooner she would breathe properly again. A bit of stitching might calm her suddenly racing heart. It was all a bit OTT considering she didn’t get wound up over men. Except Carter seemed to be doing things to her she hadn’t experienced in a long time.
Ignore him.
Was it as easy as that? When she ached to reach out and touch him?
‘I’ll put a butterfly plaster on to keep the edges together. It’s nothing serious.’ His voice was low and controlled, as though he was having trouble focusing too.
Holding out her hand, she said, ‘Let me do that.’
He shook his head abruptly. ‘Stop moving your leg.’ He was patting her skin dry with a tissue, his focus entirely on the small abrasion causing all the trouble.
Best she did as she was told and get this over sooner. Because, odd as it sounded, having Carter touching her leg was a turn-on.
Moments later Carter stood up. ‘There you go.’
‘Thanks. Now I’ve been treated by a vet.’ A wide smile suddenly broke across her mouth. ‘There’s a first.’
He was watching her as he pulled the gloves off. ‘Hope I was as gentle as a doctor.’
‘Far more.’ Her experience of doctors didn’t include making her heat up on the inside and want to touch them. She stood up abruptly. Axel jumped back. Carter didn’t move. ‘You’re good. I’m impressed.’
Not saying I’d like more of your touch on my skin—without the gloves.
‘You’re easily impressed.’ His lips were soft and enthralling.
‘Wrong. I’m fussy.’ Taking a step closer, she enjoyed the sight before her. He fascinated her with his intense good looks and how quickly he awakened her dormant desires.
