New Boss New Year Bride (5 page)

‘Lis.’

His voice was rich and deep, just the way she liked. She could listen to him talk all day long in those sultry smooth tones. If she’d wanted to make him feel like a heel then she’d certainly succeeded. He pushed away from the bench and took a few steps towards her. ‘Thank you for telling me.’

Her words had been matter-of-fact, as though she’d gone over the story in her head time and time again, but he was sure that deep down inside there was a lot of emotion stirring and bubbling away. He felt for her so much because he couldn’t
imagine what it would be like to be all alone in the world. With the large family he’d been raised in it was also an impossibility, but still, his heart felt for the brave woman before him. She’d been all alone—but she’d done something about it. His admiration for her increased.

‘It’s fine.’ She watched as he walked slowly to stand beside her. Without a word, he reached out a hand and gently touched her face.

‘You’re really all alone?’ His words were a mere whisper.

‘Yeah.’ Her answer was barely audible.

‘There ya both are,’ Areva, the receptionist, chided. Joss instantly dropped his hand back to his side and turned, walking away from her. ‘What are you doing? Drinking the bores dry? Get back to work. There’s hardly any room for the patients to sit down, there are so many of them in the waiting room.’

‘Sorry,’ they mumbled contritely before Areva left.

Melissa wanted to stand, wanted to take her cup to the sink, to rinse it out and then do as the receptionist had suggested and get back to work. Yet at the moment she wasn’t at all sure even standing would be achievable, let alone doing anything else. The way Joss had looked at her, had touched her…Her heart was still pounding double-time. Masses of tingles had flooded through her body, creating more explosions than the fireworks had done the other night.

One look. One simple caress and her bones were a mass of jelly. At least the other night when he’d kissed her, when he’d tantalisingly brushed his mouth over hers, when his lips had met hers—hesitantly and politely at first, before realisation had dawned on both of them—at least then she’d had his arm around her for support. If she attempted to stand now she was certain she wouldn’t be able to accomplish it and would end up in a heap on the floor.

Why did he have to be so confusing? One second he was monosyllabic, not seeming interested in being anywhere near her, and then he was asking her personal questions and caressing her cheek. She hadn’t expected him to react the way he had when she’d told him her sad little story, and now she was more perplexed than before.

What on earth had he been thinking? Why had he touched her? He’d been doing really well, staying on the other side of the room, not engaging her in conversation. And then, for some ridiculous unknown reason, he’d gone and asked about her private life! What an idiot he was. What he should have done was excuse himself and take his drink back to his consulting room and get on with the work he loved so much. But, no. Instead he’d not only pried into her life but he had been so moved by what she’d said he’d been overwhelmed with compassion. He’d touched her. Touched that smooth, silky skin. And now he had that memory as well as the others to contend with. He shook his head, needing to get out of this room as soon as possible. Areva was right. They had work to do.

Dex strode into the kitchen, carrying his own cup to the sink, and it was as though he’d sliced through the intense atmosphere Melissa and Joss were trying to cope with. Interruptions were good. It was bad for herself and Joss to be alone like this. Part of her longed for it…to let go, to be free, to just throw caution to the wind and see where this attraction she felt for him might lead…But only part of her. The other part warned her against moving too fast, against believing she could have a fairytale ending to her lonely little life. She’d been there and she’d done that, and for that reason alone she had to remain indifferent to Joss. But how?

‘You two got in trouble,’ Dex said, with a grin on his face. ‘Areva told you off.’

‘You are such a larrikin, Dex. You sound like an eight-year-
old,’ Joss commented, but he was secretly relieved to have his friend there to break the tension. He’d touched Melissa! He’d been so enthralled by her, so focused on wanting to feel that soft smooth skin of hers, on looking into those wide brown eyes to offer her compassion and comfort. Yes—Dex being here, teasing them, was just the ticket.

‘Maybe I am eight years old. Maybe I was not only adopted, but born on the twenty-ninth of February, and no one’s told me that, either.’

Joss felt the way Melissa winced at her brother’s words and he bristled. ‘That’s enough. None of this adoption thing is Melissa’s fault, so don’t go taking it out on her.’

‘Joss.’ Melissa stood, pleased her legs were now able to support her. ‘It’s OK.’

‘No.’ Dex shook his head, his expression contrite. ‘Joss is right.’ He looked at her, and she saw in his expression that he was truly sorry for his words. ‘That was rude. I’m sorry, Melissa.’

‘It’s OK,’ she repeated, but this time smiled at her brother. ‘It’s all a bit much to get your head around at times.’

As she spoke, she picked up her cup to carry it to the sink. Joss took four huge steps away from it, almost ending up in the doorway, to give her more than enough space to rinse her cup. Distance. He needed a lot of distance from her.

‘Well, I’m up to date with
my
patients,’ Dex commented, his tone and words striving to find some normality in all of this. ‘It’s you two having your little
tête-à-tête
that’s putting you so far behind.’

‘You just want to finish early so you can get to the pub on time,’ Melissa teased. ‘Don’t tell me you want Bluey to give you another black eye?’

Both men chuckled at her words, and the air cleared to a happier atmosphere. Dex raised a hand to tenderly touch his eye and winced.

Melissa winced too. ‘Does it still hurt? It should have started to heal by now.’ Her voice was full of concern, but Dex’s expression changed instantly to one of cheeky humour.

‘I’m fine, but I really appreciate the concern.’

‘You’re most welcome. Any time you need genuine concern, come and see me.’

‘Will do.’ He paused and looked expectantly at Joss. ‘And if I need genuine favours I’ll go and see Joss.’

Joss looked at his friend. ‘No.’

Dex spread his arms wide. ‘You don’t even know what I’m going to ask!’

‘I really do, and the answer is no.’

‘But…’

‘No.’

‘Come on, mate. You know how I hate it.’

‘Hate what?’ Melissa felt as if she was at a ping-pong match, looking from one to the other.

‘No.’ Joss beckoned for Melissa to leave. ‘We have patients to see, so we’d best get back to work,’ Joss continued as he urged Melissa from the room. ‘Don’t want to keep them waiting any longer.’

‘What was all that about?’ Melissa asked as they walked towards their consulting rooms. He leaned a little closer, lest Dex should hear him, his breath fanning her neck and causing goosebumps to race down her spine. Did the man have any idea the effect he was having on her?

‘Dex hates house-calls.’

‘He does?’ Her eyes widened at this news, and in the next moment she flicked her gaze down to look at Joss’s mouth. Big mistake. She shouldn’t be looking at his mouth when they were this close to each other. Dangerous. Very dangerous.

‘Yes, and he’ll do anything to get out of going—so don’t let him talk you around. Stand firm. Be strong.’

‘You don’t think I can resist him, do you?’ The question was rhetorical, because she wasn’t quite sure she would have been able to resist Dex if he’d asked her to swap with him, even though she wouldn’t have had a clue what house-calls entailed out here in the Outback.

‘At this stage? No. You’re still in the excited stage at being so close to your brother.’

Melissa tried not to laugh at that, because she was in a bigger state of excitement simply because she was so close to
Joss
. The man obviously had no clue how his nearness was affecting her.

‘You need to trust me on this. I know him a lot better than you, and you do not want to swap house-call shifts with him—because it doesn’t end up being a swap; it ends up being you doing all of them.’

‘Why doesn’t Dex like house-calls? I thought he liked mixing with people.’

‘He does. He’s more than happy to see patients here, and he’ll chat with people in the pub, but going to their houses?’ Joss shook his head. ‘He’ll do it, but only under duress.’

‘So you put him under duress?’

‘I have to. It’s part of his job description. We take turns. It keeps it fair and stops us from burning out.’

‘Fair enough.’ Melissa decided it was best not to argue with the boss, although she was curious as to why her brother didn’t like that one aspect of the job.

‘In fact,’ Joss continued as an idea dawned on him, ‘it might be a good opportunity for you to go with him tomorrow. That way you’ll get to learn the ropes of what’s expected of us as far as Outback house-calls go. You’ll also get to spend some time alone with Dex.’

Melissa considered the idea for a moment, liking what Joss was suggesting. It would also give her some time away
from
him
, and hopefully she’d be able to get herself better under control. Some distance was definitely what she needed, and she nodded enthusiastically. ‘Sounds great. Oh, but what about my clinic?’

He waved her words away. ‘We can reschedule that. Patients have been waiting for quite some time to see you; waiting a few extra days won’t hurt. Besides, I can see anyone who’s urgent.’

Areva would not like him for suggesting such a plan, but if it meant he had the opportunity to put a bit of distance between himself and his new colleague then it would definitely be worth it. Melissa Clarkson was already taking up too much room in his private thoughts.

Thoughts of her had plagued him ever since he’d first laid eyes on her. Thoughts of her came into his mind, invading his otherwise organised mental patterns, at the most unusual times. Such as at three o’clock this morning. He’d been awoken by soft music and the sound of pacing. He’d listened, wondering if there was anything wrong. Was she sick? Did she require help? He’d sat up in bed, listening carefully to try and figure out what she was doing. He’d heard water go on and off in the bathroom. More pacing, more soft music, and then…soft sweet singing.

She was all right, and she had the singing voice of an angel.

He’d lain back in bed, hands behind his head, eyes closed, and just listened. Her voice had been smooth and lovely, and soon he’d found himself drifting off into a deep and relaxing slumber. He hadn’t slept like that in years.

Oh, yes. He’d been thinking about Melissa Clarkson far too much, and he wasn’t at all sure what to do about it. He had no idea what she’d just said, and couldn’t help it when his gaze flicked from her gorgeous brown eyes to her lips—
only for a second, yet it felt like for ever. Those luscious lips of hers were plump and looked delicious. The urge, the desire to lean forward and press his mouth to hers, was only intensifying with every extra moment he spent alone with her, breathing in her sweet scent.

Melissa’s mind had gone completely blank with that last stare from Joss. The air between them seemed to crackle with repressed tension—and she’d do well to keep it repressed. Her heart-rate increased, her lips parted, and she couldn’t have stopped looking at him if the world had come crumbling down around them.

A noise from the waiting room made them both jerk backwards.

‘House-calls with Dex tomorrow sounds great,’ Melissa reiterated, shifting towards her consulting room door.

‘Right. I’ll let him know and make arrangements for the rescheduling of your clinic.’

‘Great.’

‘Good.’

She couldn’t believe how uncomfortable she felt, how aware she was of him, how she’d wanted him to kiss her again, right there in the middle of the corridor with a waiting room full of patients just around the corner.

Melissa pointed to her consulting room door. ‘Best get back to it.’

‘Yes.’ Feeling ridiculous, and becoming cross with himself for yet again being unable to resist her allure, Joss turned on his heel and headed into his own consulting room, closing the door with a firm finality. ‘And that is that,’ he murmured.

Stalking to his desk, he sat down to go over the extra things he needed to tackle to get Melissa safely away with Dex tomorrow on the house-calls. First on the list was talking
Dex into it, and he was sure his friend wasn’t going to like the idea at all.

There was a knock at his door and in a moment Dex strolled in, sitting in the chair opposite his friend and putting his feet up on the desk.

‘Something I can help you with now that you’ve made yourself comfortable?’ Joss asked, glaring pointedly at Dex’s shoes.

Dex didn’t remove them. ‘I think you should do my house-calls this week.’

‘The direct approach? Interesting.’ Joss sat up straighter in his chair. ‘No, Dex.’

‘Aww, come on. What are friends for?’

‘No, Dex.’

‘It was initially your turn to do them anyway.’

‘That’s right, but I did yours three weeks running, which means it’s now your turn, Dex.’

‘But I promise to do your house-calls next week.’

‘No, you won’t.’

‘You’re right. I won’t. Oh, well, how about I fill in for your clinic next week on my day off? That way you’ll have time to show Melissa a bit more of Didja.’

‘Still no.’

‘In fact,’ he pressed on, as though he hadn’t heard his friend, ‘you doing my house-calls this week would be a great way for you to show Melissa what it’s all about.’

Joss nearly choked at the suggestion. Spending all that time alone, in such close quarters with Melissa? He hadn’t been able to control himself in a small kitchenette. He hadn’t been able to resist touching her. How was he supposed to cope in the smaller confines of the ute as they drove around the countryside? To Dex, however, he tried to remain completely unnerved. ‘Actually, I was wanting to talk to you about that.’