‘Doing your shopping?’ he asked, in an attempt to ease the tense atmosphere.
‘Yes,’ she said with a little lift of her chin. ‘You?’
He indicated the basket in his hand and gave her a rueful smile in spite of the hostile glare she was sending his way. ‘Yes. I always seem to be missing the most important ingredient when I start to cook.’
She made to move past. ‘I’d better not keep you, then.’
‘It’s all right,’ he said, touching her on the arm. He saw her flinch and dropped his hand from the satin softness of her bare skin, his fingers still tingling from the contact. Her brown eyes were still fixed on his, unblinking.
‘Do you live around here?’ he asked into the tight silence.
‘Yes.’
‘Where exactly?’
‘Beachside Apartments, on the promenade,’ she answered.
No doubt Daddy’s bought his little girl a penthouse, Ben thought cynically. The real estate on that Bondi Beach block was phenomenally expensive. He’d bought three streets back and was still wondering how he was going to pay it off before he retired.
‘Look, Georgina—’ he began.
‘Georgiana,’ she said with cutting emphasis.
‘Oh, well, then,’ he said, deliberately dragging out the syllables, ‘Geor-gi-a-na.’
She lifted her chin even higher, her toffee-brown eyes sending off sparks. ?
?But I prefer Georgie.’
‘Georgie.’ He tasted her name on his lips, wondering how his would sound on hers. He put out his free hand, his eyes still holding hers. ‘I’m Ben, by the way.’
She ignored his hand. ‘Excuse me,’ she said. ‘I have someone waiting for me.’
Ben let his hand fall back to his side as she strode over to the checkouts, her back rigid with haughtiness. She didn’t even look his way when she’d paid for her items. She simply gave the checkout attendant an on-off smile, picked up her bag and left.
Ben rolled his lips together, a tiny kernel of anger hardening inside him at her stuck-up rudeness as he snatched up three chocolate bars and moved towards the checkouts.
‘So how’s your new registrar working out?’ Madeleine Brothers, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, asked in the doctors’ room the next morning. ‘I heard she ran you down yesterday.’
Ben stopped stirring his coffee to look at her. ‘Amazing how much the story gets changed during transmission,’ he remarked wryly. ‘She didn’t run me down—she opened her car door on me.’
‘Are you all right?’
‘Of course I’m all right.’
‘If you want to swap her to our unit, that could be organised,’ Madeleine offered.
Ben frowned as he examined the contents of his cup. ‘No, that won’t be necessary, I’m sure we’ll get along fine after she’s settled in a little.’
‘I heard she’s very beautiful,’ Madeleine commented in a laid-back, mildly interested tone.
His head came up at that. ‘I hadn’t noticed.’
One of Madeleine’s brows rose. ‘Even the comatose patients have noticed it, Ben,’ she responded dryly. ‘But you know my rules on fraternising with junior staff.’
Ben sat up straighter in his chair, his frown taking on a brooding edge. ‘Come on, Madeleine, there’s no law against it. This isn’t senior high school. We’re all mature adults.’
She folded her arms and gave him a contemplative look. ‘So you have noticed her, huh?’