of nothing but having a rerun of last night. As he remembered her legs wrapped round his waist, his grin spread inwards and through him like a light.
Having opened his heart to her, he felt pretty damned good—like they’d made headway into something important. But he felt disoriented, too, on shaky ground. Like any minute now he’d get the need to run. Ear away.
Trouble was, she seemed a bit subdued. Had been very quiet over breakfast. Uttered hardly a word as he’d dropped her off on the way to his ward round. Had barely managed a kiss. She was probably tired, so he needed to pep her up. ‘Must be a sign.’
‘Of what?’ She looked up at him as she wrote patient details on a large whiteboard. Dark circles edged her eyes.
‘Good things. I don’t know. You didn’t sneak out. That has to be good, right?’ Watching her buckle slightly as she reached up, he leapt forward. ‘Hey, are you okay?’
‘Watch it, Prince Charming.’ She nodded and backed out of his arms. ‘It’s busy and I don’t want anyone to see us like this. I’m fine, it’s just women’s stuff, you know.’
Ah. He knew not to say a word. Just nodded. Took a step or two out of range. He hadn’t known her long enough or well enough to know how she coped with periods, whether she got PMS, whether she growled like a bad-tempered lioness once a month. Heck, he didn’t know her favourite colour, what she ate for breakfast. Sweet or savoury. Coffee or tea.
But he looked forward to learning more about her. What he did know was that he couldn’t keep away from her. That she was the first woman ever to hold his attention for more than a few days. Weeks.
And he sure as hell needed to rein his enthusiasm in. Tiny steps, like she said. ‘Okay, got you. Enough said. I’ve got stuff to do, anyway. I’ll pick you up in thirty minutes or so for the kayak trip. There’s a bunch of us going down to the bay in my car.’
‘I don’t think I’m up to it. I’m still feeling grotty.’
Having been in hibernation way too long, his possessive instinct pushed to centre stage, as it always did whenever Nurse Radley came onto his radar. ‘Do you think you should get it checked out?’
‘Being over-protective?’ She threw him a small smile. ‘I’m twenty-five. I’ve been dealing with this stuff a long time. I get heavy periods, that’s why I’m on the Pill—not so I can pick up strange men in bars and have random sex. Right? And now you know way too much about me. I just need a cup of tea, my bed and a hottie.’
‘At your service.’ He gave her a low bow, raised his head in time to see the frown. ‘Okay, I get it, not that kind of hottie.’
‘You are so up yourself. Now go away and let me work. And I’ll definitely give the kayaking a miss. Can you tell Rach?’
‘Tell me about what?’ Rachel wandered over, the expression on her face telling him that their attempts at keeping their liaisons secret were failing. She winked. ‘We have news?’
‘Gabby’s not feeling great so she’s going to cry off the trip this arvo.’
Rachel’s face fell. It was clearly not the kind of news she was anticipating. ‘Not you, too? We’re getting very short on numbers. If we’re not careful we’ll have to cancel altogether.’ Then she seemed to realise how callous that must have sounded. ‘Gosh. Sorry. I mean, if you’re not up to it then we can postpone until next month or something.’
He watched a flurry of emotions flutter over Gabby’s face. She looked first at Rachel then at Max, then back to Rachel. Absently rubbing her hand across her stomach, she shrugged. ‘Oh, okay, okay. I don’t want to let you all down. I’ll come. But be gentle with me, and bags I get that two-man canoe.’
Standing at the water’s edge at Okahu Bay, Gabby looked over at the majestic humped-top island. Rangitoto, an extinct volcano now covered in bush, appeared almost close enough to touch. But she knew it would take more than an hour to get over there by kayak. That was on a good day.
Today was not a good day. She felt strangely light-headed at the thought of expending energy on anything. Her legs didn’t feel strong enough to hold her up, never mind keep her stable on a long paddle across an ocean, and