It was just too confusing.
She didn’t like the man. He drove her nuts. Always had done, always would do. And just because he knew how to kiss a woman into a coma, it didn’t change that fact.
* * *
The situation grew more tense every day.
It seemed that the more she tried to avoid him, the more their paths crossed. And wherever they were, Polly seemed to be filming.
They had a meeting with a group of local teenagers and talked about how they could improve the health provision in the area. It was a lively, stimulating evening and it served to confirm to Anna that Sam had been right to suggest the idea. A teenage health clinic would work really well as long as they listened carefully to what was needed. The teenagers themselves, led by Katy, brainstormed ideas and decided to design the posters themselves.
‘I just love it when someone else does all the work.’ Sam leaned back in his chair and smiled at them. ‘Just as long as people know that this is an open clinic. No appointments needed. Anyone under the age of eighteen can just turn up and hang out. You can see the doctor, talk to the nurse or just mingle. And every week one of us will give a short talk.’
‘Can we talk about confidentiality?’ One of the younger girls bit her lip and went pink. ‘I mean, what you have to tell our parents and what can just be between us?’
Sam nodded, his expression serious. ‘Of course. Good topic. Add that to the list, Katy.’
Katy scribbled away and by the end of the session they’d produced a long list of topics and general ideas for the clinic.
‘We’ll put a poster up in the surf shop, that’s where most of the teenagers hang out,’ Katy said, making a few deft strokes with her pen and lifting up her pad. ‘What do you think of something like this for the design?’
Anna blinked. ‘Katy, it’s brilliant.’
Katy flushed. ‘I’m doing art at college. I love drawing. I can make it better than this. I’ll do it on the computer at home.’
By the time they’d finished, they’d planned their clinic down to the last detail.
‘Go on.’ Sam turned to her as they locked up at the end of the evening. ‘Tell me I was right.’
‘It’s a good idea,’ Anna conceded, dropping the keys into her bag. ‘It remains to be seen if it will work.’
‘It will work. Katy was really joining in. Are you still seeing her?’
Anna nodded, pausing by her car. ‘She keeps a food diary and we talk about it and she’s cut down on her exercise. I think she’s acknowledging that she has a problem, which is good.’
‘Unusual for someone with an eating disorder,’ Sam observed, juggling his keys in the palm of his hand.
‘Fortunately, I think Katy has only just developed a problem,’ Anna said. ‘It was a boy that she went out with. Kept telling her she was fat.’
Sam rolled his eyes. ‘Teenage boys. Perhaps we ought to do something about body image in our clinic.’
‘Good idea.’
He grinned. ‘Careful, Riggs. We’re agreeing on rather a lot at the moment.’
‘Nonsense.’ Suddenly flustered, she tugged open her car door and tossed her bag on the seat. The way he was looking at her made her feel hot. Aware of herself. So full of frustrated desire that her whole body felt ready to explode.
She’d never felt like this before. Never wanted a man so badly.
Especially one that she didn’t even like. It just didn’t make sense.
It was that kiss, she decided crossly, sliding into her car and slamming her car door shut. If they hadn’t shared that stupid kiss then none of this would have happened. She could have carried on being irritated by him, finding him infuriating and aggravating. And she could have slept at night.
As it was, she hadn’t slept properly for ages and the tension between them was building to almost intolerable levels.
Every time they were in a room together the atmosphere sizzled and thrummed and Anna was reaching screaming pitch.
She’d tried to bury sexual frustration in work, concentrating on her patients, helping Glenda, catching up with all the things that she’d been too busy to do with David ill. But none of it worked.