Re-awakening His Shy Nurse by Annie Claydon

Author:Annie Claydon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

SHE’D BEEN BLOOMING in his arms, like some exotic flower. Heavy lids over her bright, liquid eyes. Clinging to him as her body started to shudder, trusting him to take her softly into the arms of sweet oblivion. He couldn’t help it. It had just slipped out.

‘Ow! Katya?’ The overhead lights flipped on and for a moment Luke was blind as well as lame.

She took a rasping lungful of air. Then another. She was backing away from him, a look of horror on her face.

‘Katya, what’s the matter?’ The sudden plunge from all-consuming pleasure to sheer panic hit him like a fall from thirty feet, and Luke’s head spun. What had he done?

He knew exactly what he’d done. That morning he’d acted like a jealous lover, and he’d tried to justify that by transforming aching want into deed. He’d said the same things that he’d said to Tanya, in the unconscious hope that Katya’s response might be something different. He’d damned himself with his own words.

‘Sorry. Sorry. I’m so sorry.’ Luke wondered whether he should fetch a paper bag as she looked as if she was about to have a panic attack. ‘Your ankle.’

‘It’s okay, Katya. It’s all right.’ Once again the instinct to hold her grappled with the knowledge that if he tried she’d probably make a bolt for the bathroom and lock herself in. ‘You don’t need to be sorry for anything.’

She was twisting her fingers together, as if trying to snap them off. The kick she’d given him was clearly now hurting her more than it did him. ‘Are you sure your ankle’s okay?’

The thought occurred to Luke that if he’d been rolling on the floor in agony she’d probably be at his side. Perhaps the pain of a knee to the groin would have been worth it. Maybe not. Even if it was a little more in keeping with what he deserved.

‘It’s fine.’ He tentatively put his weight on the ankle. ‘See, I think I’ll walk again. Might even be able to play the piano.’

The joke fell on deaf ears. ‘Luke, I’m so sorry.’

‘Hey. It’s okay. I said that anything was okay.’ Granted, he hadn’t exactly had this in mind. Perhaps he should be a little more precise next time. Although there obviously wasn’t going to be a next time. He wouldn’t say those words again, not to anyone.

She was looking at him, her face twisted with some emotion that Luke couldn’t divine, her chest rising and falling quickly. There was no right thing to do next. ‘I don’t suppose you’d like a cup of tea?’

‘What?’ She looked at him as if he was stark, staring mad. If anyone ever needed proof that her judgement was sound, there it was, written all over her face.

‘Peace offering. If I go to the kitchen and make a cup of tea, it gives us both a chance to take a breath. I give you the tea, which is nurturing, and you take it, which shows that you’re considering not killing me.

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