The Family He Needs Read online

  ‘Zac!’ The word lodged in her throat as she glared at him in surprise. She stopped walking as he pulled the Jag up to the kerb alongside her. The top on the car was down so she bore the full brunt of just how handsome he was. The butterflies in her stomach took flight at the sight of him. He was dressed in navy trousers, a blue and white striped shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, and a colourful tie. He looked…wonderful.

  ‘Julia,’ he said with a nod, not a smile in sight. ‘Would you like a lift?’

  ‘Ah…no, thanks. I’m enjoying the walk.’ Good girl, she praised herself. She’d decided not to do anything out of the ordinary towards him and compromising her walk would have been doing just that.

  ‘Sure.’ His gaze travelled over her shorts and top, lingering on her legs. He’d loved her legs back when they’d been dating and it seemed he felt the same about that at least. ‘Well, in that case,’ he said as he brought his gaze back to meet hers, ‘I won’t intrude any longer.’ He flashed her a smile before revving the engine and driving off up the street.

  Julia was stunned at the speed of his exit. Obviously he didn’t find her too distracting!

  When she arrived at the hospital, Zac was standing at the front entrance, waiting for her, a forced smile on his handsome face, his blue gaze showing concern.

  He looked so cute that Julia had to laugh. His smile turned curious but at least it was natural.

  ‘What?’ he asked as she came to stand beside him.

  ‘You haven’t changed.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ he asked in a low whisper, a slight defensive edge to his tone.

  ‘It simply means, my dear Zachary, that there are some things about you that will always be the same.’

  ‘Like what?’ he asked as he gestured for them to start walking. ‘We’ll be late for ward round,’ he explained, and she nodded. ‘So, like what?’ he asked again when she didn’t answer.

  ‘Fishing?’ she teased. She felt happy and giddy, like a schoolgirl, teasing Zac again.

  ‘No. Trying to get a straight answer,’ he replied with a chuckle, and she was glad she’d been able to lift his dark mood. ‘In that way you haven’t changed. Always beating about the bush.’

  ‘Only with you,’ she confirmed. ‘It’s one of my greatest assets.’

  ‘One of them,’ he murmured softly as they went through the doors to the orthopaedic ward.

  ‘Like my legs?’ she asked pointedly, her tone matching his.

  Zac stopped walking and placed a hand on her arm to stop her as well. He looked down into her eyes and swallowed, his Adam’s apple working up and down. Julia swallowed, too.

  Their gazes held and for a moment she felt as though they were the only two people on earth. Her mother had been absolutely correct when she’d described it as a frightening natural chemistry. It also appeared that they were both struggling to control it!

  ‘Zac?’ a strange female voice called. The spell was broken and both looked away. ‘You were almost late, Zac,’ the other woman chastised lightly. She had short blonde hair and blue eyes—eyes that were boring into Julia with curiosity. ‘Aren’t you going to introduce us?’ she queried, and held out her hand to Julia.

  ‘Of course,’ he said, and cleared his throat. ‘Tess Marshall, this is Julia Bolton. Julia’s our new orthopaedic surgeon.’

  ‘I see.’ Tess raised her eyebrows, her smile plastered firmly in place. ‘Welcome, Julia. I’m the ward sister. We’re all rather informal about the hospital, aren’t we, Zac?’ She didn’t look at him as she spoke, obviously preferring to keep Julia firmly in her sights.

  ‘That’s right, and as it’s just after eight, we’d better start the ward round.’ He turned and walked down the corridor, leaving both women to follow.

  Julia left her bag at the nurses’ station when the round began. Gold Coast General was quite a bit smaller than her previous hospital, with this ward being the only orthopaedic ward for both children and adults alike. At her hospital in Perth, there had been four orthopaedic wards and that had just been for the adults. Paediatric orthopaedics was done at a different hospital.

  She smiled as they came to a young boy of about seven who was in for observation after falling out of a tree and fracturing his right radius, ulna and humerus. The radiographs of his skull had shown a hairline fracture to the frontal lobe, but from all reports he was doing just fine.

  He seemed a bit daunted by having so many people crowding around his bed—interns, medical students, nurses, registrars, as well as Zac and herself.

  ‘I think you can go home later today, Timmy.’ Zac smiled genuinely at the child.

  Timmy was playing with some toy cars, similar to the ones Edward played with. Julia had been astounded by her son and his love for cars. Not once had she encouraged him or put one in his hands, but he loved them. She only supposed it was genetic!

  ‘Wow, an F-40 Ferrari,’ she said excitedly. ‘That’s a really cool car,’ Julia added, and Timmy smiled. She walked up beside his bed and he held it out for her inspection. ‘May I have a look, please?’

  ‘My dad bought it for me,’ he said. ‘And this one, too. It’s a Mustang convertible.’

  ‘Dr Zac here drives a convertible,’ she told him. ‘A Jaguar XK8,’ she added.

  ‘Wow!’ Timmy’s eyes grew wide as he looked at Zac. ‘That’s wicked!’

  ‘Sure is,’ Zac agreed. ‘You keep getting better, Timmy,’ he said, making a quick note on the boy’s chart. ‘I’ll see you in my clinic in two weeks’ time, OK?’

  ‘Yep,’ Timmy replied, and waved secretly to Julia as they all moved off to see the next patient.

  When the round was done, Julia collected her bag from the nurses’ station and was about to walk out when she looked up to find Tess in front of her.

  ‘Oh, sorry.’ She smiled at the nurse. ‘I didn’t see you there.’

  ‘How do you know what type of car Zac drives?’ Tess asked, her tone accusing.

  ‘Well, I was walking to work this morning and he stopped and offered me a lift.’

  ‘But,’ Tess countered with a smug smile, ‘I saw him drive into the hospital grounds and he was alone.’

  ‘Yes, he was. I told him I was enjoying my morning walk and he…’ she shrugged ‘…drove off.’

  ‘Without you?’

  ‘Yes. Some people have no manners.’

  ‘Julia,’ Zac called, stopping Tess from saying anything more on the subject, ‘let’s go check on Mr Ishimaru or we’ll be late for clinic. I don’t want you getting lost on your first day.’ He smiled at Tess, but no differently than he did to the other members of the nursing staff.

  ‘She has a crush on you,’ Julia said as they walked away. She could feel Tess glaring after them.

  He groaned. ‘I know.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘Easy. I’ll put my arm around your shoulders, ease you back over my arm and plant a great big smoochy kiss on your lips. That should do the trick.’

  Julia was horrified and stopped walking. ‘You will not.’ Then she caught the teasing glint in his eye. She smiled and shook her head as they continued out of the ward. ‘As I said, Zac, some things never change!’

  Next they went to the critical care unit to check on Aki Ishimaru. ‘He was holding his own quite well yesterday,’ Zac said as they walked quietly into the ward. ‘I had to reinsert a drain yesterday morning but since then he’s had no complications.’ They read the nursing notes before one of the nurses accompanied them over to the patient.

  Aki lay there, still and expressionless. He was healing well from his surgery and Zac was satisfied. His asthma was under control and the nursing staff were happy with his progress.

  ‘See if it’s possible to have the Japanese translator here tomorrow morning for ward round,’ he asked. ‘If there’s any problem, let me know.’

  After writing up Aki’s notes, Zac and Julia headed for clinic.

  It didn’t take long for Julia to find her way a
bout the clinic so long as she followed her golden rule—when in doubt, ask a member of the nursing staff. They always knew what was going on or where things were kept.

  Zac had quickly introduced her to the staff as they’d walked through the crowded waiting room. She read up the previous entries in each patient’s notes before calling them into her room. The process, naturally, took a bit longer but as there were Zac, one orthopaedic registrar and herself doing the clinic, they managed to finish on time.

  ‘Ready for lunch?’

  Zac’s deep voice washed over her and she looked up to see him lounging in the doorway. Her gaze slowly travelled the length of him, starting with his shoes and ending with his face. His smile was sexy and his eyes were filled with repressed desire. She felt a warmth spread through her and her heart rate increase its rhythm.

  ‘Starving,’ she said, and couldn’t believe how husky her voice had sounded. The man was only asking her about lunch—or was he? She forced herself to concentrate on writing up the notes of her last patient while trying to control her rising libido.

  Zac waited patiently for her to finish and when she’d placed the case notes in the appropriate tray for filing, she stood and looked at him. The smile had gone from his face and the look in his eyes had only intensified.

  ‘So how was it?’ His voice was as smooth as silk. Julia’s gaze held his. Why did everything he say appear to be filled with innuendo?

  She knew he was talking about the clinic, at least on a conscious level, but she decided to tease him a little instead. She took her brush out of her bag and pulled her hair free from its band, brushing her curls, knowing how much Zac used to love her hair loose.

  Watching his reaction closely, she was pleased to see him tug at the knot of his tie and clear his throat. It appeared Dr Carmichael still liked her hair loose. Of course, back then it had been a lot longer, but now she actually preferred it at its current easier-to-manage shoulder length.

  Closing her eyes, Julia scooped the hair back into her usual ponytail and wound the band around. When she had finished, she glanced at him before replacing her brush and picking up her bag.

  She walked slowly towards him, knowing he wouldn’t move from the doorway he still blocked.

  ‘It was…good,’ she whispered, and stood before him. ‘How about you? Was it good for you, too?’

  A slow smile spread over Zac’s face and he cleared his throat. ‘Are you flirting with me, Dr Bolton?’ His tone was quiet.

  ‘And what if I am?’ she asked.

  Zac took a deep breath and stood. ‘I think it’s time I showed you your office.’ He turned on his heel and they walked out of clinic together. They headed down the corridor towards the administrative offices of the surgical departments.

  ‘You’re next to me,’ he said as they walked along.

  ‘Yes, I am. How astute of you, Zac!’

  His smile widened. ‘I’ve missed your sense of humour, Jules. I meant, in offices.’

  ‘Oh.’ She laughed. They came to a door and Zac swiped his hospital identification badge through it. He waited for the click, indicating that the door had been released, before pushing it open. ‘Ah, I see Jeffrey’s been here,’ she said, pointing to the security device.

  ‘Yes. How did you know?’ he asked as he held the door for her before they walked past several offices.

  ‘At Perth General, where we both worked, there was a huge break-in and hundreds of patient files were stolen. I’m sure it made the news. Anyway, as a result, Jeffrey, who was acting hospital director, made the decision to have any area where patient files were stored fitted with a security device similar to that one.’

  ‘I thought it might have been something like that,’ he said as he unlocked a door and pushed it open. ‘This is it.’

  Julia walked into the room and put her bag down on the desk. She opened the blinds, letting daylight flood into the room. There was already a pile of waiting files on her desk and she groaned when she saw them.

  ‘Your inheritance,’ Zac announced with a smile as he saw her grimace. He nudged the door closed with his foot and came to stand behind her. He ran his hands tenderly up her arms, his thumbs massaging her shoulders. Julia held her breath, her eyelids fluttering closed as his lips pressed lightly to her neck, the slight graze from his stubbled jaw continuing to fuel the fire that was burning within her. She groaned as the small butterfly kisses caused goose-bumps to spread throughout her body.

  ‘You smell so incredible, Julia. You’re driving me wild.’

  Julia clung to his words with hope. Did this mean that Zac wanted to date her? Even though she was a single mother?

  ‘No,’ he groaned, and let her go. For an instant she thought she’d asked the question out loud. ‘No,’ he repeated.

  Julia’s elation vanished and she turned to look at him. His hands were held up as he slowly backed towards the door—putting distance between them.

  Julia squared her shoulders and cleared her throat. ‘So what’s it to be, Zac? Friends or just professional colleagues?’

  His gaze met hers and she fought against the fire he could ignite within her at a mere look. ‘Friends, Julia. We’ve always been good…friends.’

  Julia could hear her heart beat pounding furiously in her ears. ‘Sure,’ she heard herself say. ‘Strictly platonic. No problem.’ She forced a smile and nodded again, cursing the tears that were stinging in her eyes.

  ‘Oh, Jules,’ he ground out as he covered the distance between them. His mouth met hers with a mutual need—a hunger so intense it momentarily robbed her of breath.

  Julia thrust her fingers into his hair, holding his head firmly in place. She’d dreamed of this ever since their last kiss early Sunday morning. She felt so right in his arms; their bodies melded together with perfect symmetry.

  His lips were hot and possessive over hers, his hands sliding firmly up and down her back while he held her close. This wasn’t a kiss of friendship, her sluggish brain realised. The attraction that flared between them was so natural, so…right. Were they wrong to try and deny it?

  He groaned and pulled away but Julia urged his head back down and kissed him again. Zac had the most masterful mouth she’d ever kissed. As their hunger gave way to passion, he teased and nipped at her lips, causing a flood of tingles to burst throughout her body.

  His hands moved slowly from her back around to her front. The sides of his thumbs lightly grazed her breasts, causing Julia to gasp with wonderment. His hands continued up her arms to disengage her fingers from his hair. All the while, their lips were still seeking and evoking a mutual response.

  He held her hands in his and pressed them to his chest. Julia was slightly conscious of feeling the rapid rate of his heartbeat. Slowly, reluctantly, Zac edged his mouth away from hers to gaze down into her eyes which she knew were as clouded with desire as his own.

  Both were breathing heavily, his grip on her hands firm and controlled. He raised her fingers to his lips and kissed each one tenderly. Julia’s eyes fluttered closed as a new round of sensations spread through her. The last finger he held longer than the others, his tongue circling it before he sucked it between his lips.

  Gathering her close, he kissed her forehead and rested her head against his chest. They stood there for a few minutes as their breathing gradually settled back to a normal rhythm. When Julia felt her legs would support her she pushed against his chest and he reluctantly let her go.

  ‘That felt like…’ She stopped and took a breath. ‘Like a goodbye kiss.’

  ‘It was.’ With that, he dropped his arms and crossed to the door. Without looking back, he opened the door, walked through and closed it behind him, leaving her feeling desolate and destroyed.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  AN HOUR later, Julia had read several of the case-notes in front of her, trying desperately to focus her mind on work, rather than Zac.

  The man was just as stubborn as he’d always been. ‘Friends,’ she mumbled, and leaned back in her chair.
The attraction between them had always been strong—so strong, in fact, that Julia had fled to the other side of the country when she and Zac had finally parted.

  Julia closed her eyes, remembering when she’d flown to Sydney to talk to him. They hadn’t seen each other for a whole week, and when she’d arrived he’d been in Theatre. Her nervousness had grown, knowing that there was a lot riding on what they had to discuss. By the time Zac had finished in Theatre, Julia had been a mass of nerves. Yet the instant they’d seen each other, Zac had quickly covered the distance between them and in one swift movement had gathered her into his arms and pressed his mouth hungrily to her own.

  ‘Zac,’ she’d sighed, winding her arms lovingly about his neck. She had been amazed that after all the time they’d spent together, the attraction had still been as new and exciting as in the beginning.

  ‘You’re a sight for sore eyes,’ he’d whispered when they’d finally broken apart. ‘I’m all done here. So where would you like to go tonight?’

  ‘Actually, Zac…we really need to sort things out.’

  ‘Now, Jules? I’ve just finished a long stint in Theatre and don’t know if I have the energy to go another round with you.’

  ‘Can we discuss this somewhere other than the corridor outside Theatres?’

  They went to the little cubicle that was classified as his office. ‘Ding, ding,’ he said, hitting an imaginary boxing bell. ‘Let round fifty-two begin.’

  ‘You’re exaggerating, again,’ she chided, unable to hide her smile. ‘I need to make a decision about where I’m going to be working in the future.’

  ‘So? Make the decision. You’re a big girl.’

  That made her angry. ‘Come off it, Zac. Do you really want me to accept the job in Perth? On the other side of the country?’

  ‘You have to do what’s right for you, Jules.’

  ‘So you don’t feel that you figure in the equation at all?’

  He took her hand in his. ‘Julia, you have a lot to give and I don’t want to stand in the way of you doing what you need to do. You’d end up resenting me one day and I never want that to happen.’