CAROL MARINELLI - Hot Single Docs - Waiting For You - St Piran's - Prince on the Children's Ward

‘You can’t do much with your leg like that.’ Josh’s gaze flickered to Tasha. ‘Except mess with my sister.’

‘Let’s not go there again.’ Alessandro leaned back against the sofa. His shirt flopped open, revealing smooth bronzed skin and well-defined muscle. Feeling suddenly dizzy, Tasha was about to tell him to button it up when she realised that he couldn’t because she’d ripped the buttons.

Concern for her brother mingled with the realisation that the chemistry between her and Alessandro was as powerful as ever.

So much for the childish crush theory. So much for proving to him that she was indifferent.

Satisfied that they weren’t going to kill each other, Tasha used the excuse of breakfast to escape to the kitchen.

Behind the safety of the closed door, she took refuge in mindless cooking to keep her mind off Alessandro. She didn’t want to think about Alessandro. She wanted to know what was wrong with Josh.

People said women were complicated, but at least women usually talked about their problems. Frustrated and grumpy, she chopped fruit into a bowl and then remembered she was feeding men and fried a stack of bacon.

Walking back into the living room with a heaped tray, she found the two men deep in conversation about sport. The earlier argument might never have happened.

They were lifelong friends, of course, and the bond showed as they talked easily, barely acknowledging Tasha as she deposited the tray on the table.

‘Hello? Earth to Neanderthals,’ she said cheerfully. ‘I’ve cooked it, but I draw the line at actually forking the food into your mouths. That bit you can manage yourselves if you really concentrate.’

‘Thanks, Tasha.’ Josh sat forward and helped himself to bacon. ‘I can’t be long. They’re holding a prince-and-princess party on the children’s ward this afternoon and I promised to dress up as a prince. Which means I have a pile of work to get finished this morning.’

Tasha felt her insides tighten at the mention of the children’s ward. She missed it dreadfully.

Being with Alessandro had distracted her slightly from her life, but now reality was back with full force. What if she couldn’t find another job? What if she’d messed everything up for good?

Oblivious to her anxieties, Alessandro was laughing at Josh. ‘You trained for all those years to pretend to be a prince?’

‘It isn’t funny. I should have said no.’

‘So why didn’t you?’

He hesitated. ‘Because a friend asked me. There are some kids who have been on the unit for ages—they’re bored and need some distraction.’ Josh bit into his sandwich. ‘Someone came up with the idea of having a prince-and-princess tea party so that they can dress up. Tiaras—that sort of thing. Because I’m not officially working today, I’m supposed to arrive halfway through dressed as Prince Charming.’

Tasha slid her hands round her mug of tea. ‘You’re kidding.’

‘I did Father Christmas last year.’ Josh wiped his fingers on a napkin. ‘What’s the difference?’

‘Is that a serious question?’ Alessandro was still laughing. ‘One is fat and wears a red coat. The other is suave and capable of slaying dragons.’

Tasha sat with the mug halfway to her mouth, watching the way Alessandro’s eyes shone and his cheeks creased when he laughed.

He was the sexiest man she’d ever met.

It was just as well Josh couldn’t read her mind.

‘No dragons at our tea party. This bacon is good, Tasha. I can’t remember when you last cooked for me. Usually you glare at me and tell me it’s not women’s work. Are you all right?’ Josh frowned at his sister. ‘Why are you staring at Alessandro?’

‘I’m keeping an eye on his colour,’ she said smoothly. ‘If he does too much, he gets tired.’

‘He didn’t look that tired when I arrived.’ His tone dry, Josh helped himself to more bacon. ‘He looked as though he had all his faculties. He won’t need you for much longer.’

Tasha wondered if her brother was having another dig. ‘I’ll stay until he’s able to cope without help.’

‘Have you applied for any jobs?’

Tasha leaned forward and stacked the plates. ‘Not yet.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I don’t know what I’d say in the interview about why I left my last job. I’m worried everyone is going to think I’m a troublemaker.’ Tasha rescued the ketchup before it could tumble onto the floor. ‘I miss medicine. I miss the kids. I miss being part of a unit. I miss—all of it. I’m a doctor. I want patients.’ Aware that Alessandro was no longer smiling, she suddenly wished she hadn’t said anything. ‘Sorry, it’s just that I had this great career plan and then—poof—I managed to blow the whole thing. Well done, Tasha.’ She knew that her light tone hadn’t fooled them. ‘Anyway, I don’t know why we’re talking about me. I already have a job for the time being. Preventing Alessandro from trying to run before he can walk.’

‘I can tell you’re a paediatric doctor. You’re treating me like a kid.’

He wasn’t a kid at all. He was a grown man and she was horribly aware of every bronzed, handsome inch of him. She’d thought her anger would keep her safe, but her anger had vanished. She’d thought her feelings were all from the past. But the explosion of passion that had erupted between them had nothing to do with the past and everything to do with the present.

Fear flashed through her. If she let him, he’d hurt her again. Just as he had the first time. And she wasn’t going to let a man do that to her...

The sooner she found herself a paediatric job, the better.

‘You shouldn’t feel insecure. You’re a good doctor, Tasha.’ Josh stole the last piece of bacon. ‘Remember that little girl you saw on the unit that day you came to my office to tell me you’d resigned? Turned out you were right. It wasn’t hay fever. She had a congenital heart defect.’

Alessandro looked bemused. ‘I didn’t think Tasha worked on your unit.’

‘She doesn’t. But she walked past this girl and saw something that none of my doctors had seen.’ Josh gave a smile. ‘She’s very intuitive, my baby sister.’

Snapping out of her dream, Tasha stared at him. ‘The girl had a congenital heart defect? You’re sure?’

‘She’s already seen the cardiologist. You probably saved her life.’

‘Oh.’ She felt an ache of sympathy for the child and the mother. ‘I wish it had just been hay fever. Poor little thing.’ Suddenly she missed her job even more. She wanted to be the one looking after the child, supporting her and helping her through a difficult time. She could make a difference, she knew she could.

‘This prince-and-princess party...’ Alessandro eased his leg into a more comfortable position. ‘That must be something I can help with.’

Josh glanced at him with a frown. ‘You?’

‘You should be saving lives, not dressing up as a prince. I don’t have your medical skills, but I can do the prince bit.’ His tone was loaded with irony. ‘I’ve never dressed up in a cloak or worn a crown, but if it would help the kids I can do it. Provided someone keeps the paparazzi at a distance. I’m doing it for the children, not the press.’

‘Why keep them at a distance?’ Tasha jumped to her feet. ‘It’s a brilliant idea. Your mother wants some good publicity—what better than the prince visiting the children’s ward? You can autograph stuff for them. They can have pictures taken with you. They’d love that. I’ll come with you.’ Better to be on the children’s ward as a visitor than not be there at all, she reasoned.

‘How far from the car to the ward? I can’t walk that far on this damn leg of mine.’

Tasha opened her mouth to suggest a wheelchair but took one look at the set of his jaw and closed her mouth again. Alessandro would drag himself across the ground by his fingernails before he’d agree to use a wheelchair.