The Doctor's One Night to Remember

‘You expect me to transfer,’ she breathed quietly.

‘You were never meant to be on this ship in the first place,’ bit out Nikhil. ‘You were supposed to be on the Jewel of Hestia. That night would never have happened if I’d known you would end up here.’

Isla didn’t know what made her stand up taller and pull her shoulders back. Some belated sense of self-preservation, perhaps.

‘It wouldn’t have happened if I had known we would end up being on the same ship,’ she declared. ‘But here I am. And I’m not going anywhere.’

‘I came here to offer a solution, not to argue.’

He actually looked as though he believed it, and Isla almost laughed. Instead, she fought to bite back her frustration.

‘Then don’t say stupid things.’

He cast her a disapproving look, and she hated the way it made her feel inferior. Wanting.

‘I would rather do this with civility, Isla.’

A lesser person might have trembled at the lethal quality to his tone, despite the silkiness, or the actual words used. But Isla refused to be that lesser person. Not any more.

‘Or what?’ she asked, cocking her head to one side. ‘Are you going to threaten me?’

‘No threat.’ How did he manage to smile in such a way that she could practically feel his teeth, sharp against her skin? ‘Just forewarning you.’

‘Forewarning me?’

‘If you don’t put in for a transfer, then I shall have to request one for you. As your senior officer.’

‘On what grounds?’ Isla demanded incredulously. ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’

He couldn’t do that, surely? He wouldn’t.

‘I wouldn’t suggest that you had.’

‘But the very fact that you ask for me to be transferred will raise suspicion.’ Isla threw her hands into the air, her composure beginning to fray.

‘Which is why I suggest that you put in for the transfer. Tell them you want to go back to a smaller ship. Tell them you aren’t ready for a ship like the Cassiopiea.’

‘You wouldn’t dare,’ she replied, fury slamming through her. ‘That will sit on my record. It would affect my chances of promotion in the future.’

‘I’ll write you a glowing reference.’

‘Dr Turner would write me a glowing reference. He is, after all, my direct boss. But it’s irrelevant, because I’m not doing it.’ She folded her arms over her chest.

Fury was beginning to override everything else right now, and for that she was grateful.

‘There’s nothing you can say, Nikhil. Sleeping with the First Officer might be frowned upon, but it happened off-ship, before we even knew that we would be colleagues.’

‘What happened this afternoon wasn’t off-ship.’

‘No, but it was also after you came to my cabin,’ Isla bit out. ‘And if you insist on trying to get me transferred and interfering in my career then I’ll have no choice than to tell people.’

‘You’re threatening me?’ He glared at her in disbelief, something black and deadly crossing his features. Enough to make her skin prickle with awareness. ‘To tell people I... What? Coerced you?’

‘Of course not.’ Isla was horrified. ‘But the fact is, it wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t come to my cabin. So, I’m not torpedoing my career just because this...attraction between us is so strong that you gave into temptation once and let your ridiculous high standards for yourself slip.’

‘Twice.’

‘What?’