Anne Fraser - Doctor on the Red Carpet

Catching her look, he grinned. ‘Protein. Good for repairing muscle, isn’t it?’

Elizabeth shrugged. ‘Doesn’t look as if you have much problem in that regard.’

When his grin widened, she realised that she had spoken without thinking. ‘I mean … you assured me there was no damage after your fall,’ she added hastily, annoyed to find she was flushing

‘Tell you what,’ he drawled, ‘why don’t we find a place to eat outside in the shade? It will be more comfortable, apart from anything else. The fans they use to try and keep the air circulating in here aren’t much good.’

She didn’t want to have anything more to do with Kendrick than she had to, but as she opened her mouth to refuse she saw that he had already turned away to go back outside. There was nothing she could do without seeming rude except follow.

He was right, there was more air outside. Moreover, a little breeze had come in from somewhere, cooling her overheated skin. Kendrick pulled out a folding chair for her, before easing his long, powerfully built frame into one beside her.

‘So, tell me, Lizzie, what brings you here?’ he asked, forking a piece of meat. ‘All the way from England? I would guess London if I had to narrow it down.’

She noticed he was no longer speaking like a cowboy from a movie. In fact, despite the American accent, she could have sworn he had spent some time in the UK.

‘You’re correct,’ she said. ‘London. But I spent some time in America before …’ She bit her lip. She didn’t want to go there. She didn’t want to talk about her life back then. She definitely didn’t want to think about Simon and she couldn’t bear to think about Charlie. ‘Before going back to the UK,’ she finished lamely.

Kendrick studied her thoughtfully for a moment.

‘What about you?’ she asked, before he could ask her anything else. ‘If I’m not mistaken, you’ve spent time in the UK too.’

‘And you’d be right. I went to boarding school in England. My parents travelled a lot and my mother is English. But we were talking about you.’ Kendrick neatly turned the conversation back.

‘Nothing much to tell.’ At least, nothing much she wanted to tell. ‘I went to medical school—St Bart’s?’ She raised her eyebrows in question. When he nodded, indicating he knew it, she continued. ‘I trained in emergency medicine and then worked with the London Air Ambulance service for a year. That’s about it.’

‘Married? Kids?’ His eyes dropped to the bare finger of her left hand. Elizabeth sucked in a breath.

‘I was married but it didn’t work out,’ she said evenly. This was exactly the kind of conversation she wanted to avoid.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be. It happens.’ She placed her plate to the side. ‘Isn’t it time for filming to start again?’

‘It’ll probably be closer to two-thirty before it gets under way. Our leading lady isn’t known for her timekeeping.’

When he smiled at her, his eyes creased, revealing faint laughter lines. She wondered if everything amused Kendrick.

‘In that case, I guess I’ll go along to the medical trailer. There might be someone who wants to see the doctor before filming starts.’

‘Do you know where it is? I could show you if you like.’

‘Philip took me there earlier. Anyway, don’t you have to be on set, getting blown up or something like that?’ she said, more sharply than she intended. The trouble was, and she didn’t know why, this man was getting under her skin, despite the fact she had just met him.

Kendrick looked baffled. He stood up, slapping the dust from his trousers.

‘Sorry, Lizzie. I hope I didn’t say anything to offend you.’

Elizabeth felt herself go cold with embarrassment. He was right. Despite his blatant interest and the way he looked at her, he’d been friendly and welcoming. He wasn’t to know that she was barely holding it together. That since Simon had left her, she’d erected a shield around herself. And then as Charlie had become sicker and sicker … A wall of pain slammed into her and she swallowed hard.

None of that excused her appalling manners. Kendrick wasn’t to blame for any of it.

‘I’m sorry, that was rude of me. I’m just a little …’ she struggled to find the right word ‘… out of sorts, that’s all.’

The ready grin flashed, but before he could say anything, a loud screeching noise made them both whirl round.

‘What in the name of …?’ Kendrick said.

Philip was using some sort of megaphone in an apparent attempt to summon the cast.

‘He needs to get that thing tuned.’

As they shared a smile, Elizabeth’s heart missed a beat. He had the devil in his bright blue eyes, she thought irrationally.

‘Have to go, I’m afraid,’ Kendrick said, sketching a salute. ‘We’re going to need you too. Philip has been putting off this scene until you got here.’

‘What kind of scene?’

‘I have to drive a car off a cliff.’ The matter-of-fact way he said it made it sound as if this was what most people did as a part of their daily routine.

‘Oh, really?’ she said with a lift of her eyebrow. He had to be winding her up again, but this time she wasn’t going to fall for it.

‘Don’t worry. I jump out of the car once it goes over the cliff. I’m not actually in it when it hits the ground. Or at least I hope I won’t be.’ He muttered the last few words.

‘Let me get this right,’ Elizabeth said. ‘You are in a car that goes over a cliff, but you jump out in mid-air? And how do you get back on the ground? Fly?’

‘It’s not as difficult as it sounds. They’ve removed the rear window. Once the car goes over, I climb out and sort of sky-dive to the ground. I’ll have a parachute.’

She still didn’t know whether to believe him. It sounded too fantastic.

But as the trucks, loaded up with cameras, cast and crew, including Elizabeth, rolled out into the desert coming to a stop at the top of a cliff, she realised that Kendrick hadn’t been teasing her.

Philip was hustling everyone to get into position. ‘We don’t have much time, folks,’ he said. ‘And I don’t want to do this more than once, so let’s get it right.’ He turned to Elizabeth. ‘You better check with Kendrick where he’d like you positioned, just in case he has a problem.’

Elizabeth nodded. This was why she was here and she needed to be prepared for anything. Heaving her medical kitbag over her shoulder, she searched around for Kendrick.

Given his height, it wasn’t difficult to spot him amongst the crowd of people. Although the set was buzzing with noise and activity, she could hear his distinctive voice coolly instructing his team above the clamour. As if he sensed her gaze, Kendrick looked over towards her. As their eyes locked, her pulse missed a beat. This was a man totally in control and completely in charge. What would it be like to have someone like him on your side? Someone to count on?

Almost immediately, Elizabeth shook the thought away. Where had that come from? She didn’t really know anything about Kendrick. There was no way she was ever going to go down that road again. He was just a man, a work colleague.

She threaded her way amongst the crowd until she was standing in front of him.

‘Where’s the best place for me to wait in case I’m needed?’ she asked.

He gave her a lopsided grin. ‘Lizzie, if this goes wrong, no doctor is going to patch me up.’ His voice grew serious. ‘Not that anything will go wrong. But with a stunt like this, other factors come into play, so we have to be prepared for anything. We’re cordoning off a safe area at the foot of the cliffs. Watch out for falling debris when the car falls to the ground—that’s the biggest risk to the crew.’