His expression was deadpan. “Okay. I have apologised, but I can go to the naughty corner if you really want me to.”
She shifted uncomfortably, trying not to imagine Tom pinning her to the wall of the stationery cupboard, lifting up her skirt, his hands tugging down her knickers, his mouth settling over her nipples.
“That won’t be necessary,” she said, sounding prim as triple X-rated fantasies rampaged through her mind.
He was a doctor. She might have known he had an understanding of when people weren’t telling him the truth. His face softened. “I should explain. What I meant to say is, it’s not that I have an allergy to the locals. It’s just that I’m only here for a few months. I’m working a short-term contract at the health centre; then I’m going back to Papua. This situation is merely temporary.”
“Oh.”
Temporary. Tom had just stood her under the power jet and turned the setting to “icy blast”. She might have known that meeting him was too good to be true.
“That will be a loss to your patients.”
He set his empty glass down on the table. “I’m sure they can’t wait to see the back of me. I don’t think I’m what they were expecting.”
The silence was thick, filled only by the sharp scent of Tom’s aftershave and her heart, beating slow and hard. “You made a nice speech,” she said, trying to shift the conversation to more neutral territory. “It was very…sincere.”
“Thank you.”
“Short too.”
“Now you’re teasing me, Ms. Grayson.” His eyes sparkled sexily, making the blood beat in her head.
She gulped down another mouthful of fizz, hoping it would stop her feeling all shivery inside. “I’m not teasing you,” she said as bubbles burst on her tongue. “It really was very good. I mean it was witty and funny, but you managed to avoid any jokes about ex-lovers or tales about the groom dropping his trousers on a boozy night out.”
“You know,” said Tom, “I don’t actually recall Matt losing his trousers. Then again, there was plenty of stuff I left out. Theft of traffic signs comes to mind, and there was an incident with a sheep… I didn’t think it would go down well with his new in-laws.”
“You’re the soul of discretion, then?”
“It is rather useful if you’re a doctor. You have to keep a lot of secrets, Keira, be they great big ones or little tiny ones.”
She felt her cheeks warming again as he gave her that look that felt like an MRI of her innermost thoughts.
“So you’ve been working in the rainforest. Carrie said it was in Papua New Guinea, at the station where Matt used to be a doctor?”
“That’s right.”
He beckoned to the waiter again and selected an orange juice from the tray. Keira shook her head. No way did she need any more stimulants.
“How come you got to do that?” she asked. “Was it an exchange visit?”
“Absolutely. It was with a medical charity. They send health professionals to places where they’re most needed.”
“Papua sounds incredible. All those mountains, the jungle, the tribal culture.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “Most people in the UK have never heard of it.”
She laughed at his assumption. “There’s no need to sound quite so surprised. I am a teacher. We’ve been studying Melanesia with the children.”
Then he paused and looked hard at her. “Really? And what have you discovered?”
“Well—”
His dark eyes sparkled in the half-light. “I can see I’m going to have to be firm with you, Ms. Grayson, or I’ll never get anything out of you. Come on!”
“But…”
“No buts. You’re coming with me.”