Page 6

‘You’re a nurse, right?’ he asked, not really waiting for a response. ‘You fixed at a hospital or an agency worker?’

‘Agency,’ she said, and then belatedly fumbled with her earphones. ‘Where I work, was that what you asked? I’m doing agency shifts until I can find something more permanent.’

She’d tried to sound blasé, but the truth was she didn’t have anything lined up – not even any agency shifts – and she probably wouldn’t for a couple more weeks. The agency hadn’t been too pleased by her ‘family emergency’, and they might not be as keen to take her back immediately, which would only drain her bank account further. This unexpected plane ticket had already swallowed a huge chunk of her savings.

‘You done any trauma or emergency room training?’ Caleb asked nonchalantly, as if checking a person’s professional experience was perfectly normal.

His legs shifted closer towards her, the scuffed knees of his jeans entering her space and making her shift back, half-afraid that if he touched her now, even accidentally, she would fall back into that obsessive crush from fourteen years ago and lose her sanity completely.

She nodded dumbly, a little nervous at his growing excitement. For some unknown reason she wanted to brag. ‘I worked in Accident and Emergency for nearly ten years, and I spent a couple of those with the air ambulance crew. Why?’

‘Impressive!’ he said with a laughing grin, and her stomach twisted, unsure of whether to feel proud or humiliated by his comment. Was he truly impressed, or did he think she was trying to get his attention? Making her life out to be as interesting as Hollywood because she’d spent a couple of years stepping on and off a helicopter. I mean, she thought it was cool, but would he?

She bit her bottom lip, and his gaze swept from her eyes to her mouth and back up again. The sensual encounter sent a shiver down her spine – perhaps he found her sexy now? She tried to shove the thought to the darkest cupboard of her mind.

‘I’m not a doctor or anything.’ She shrugged dismissively. She’d never even wanted to be a doctor. Why was she being so defensive?

‘Cool!’ He lifted his hips, and she almost swallowed her tongue at the sight of his flat stomach and tight crotch rearing up from his seat. Until, that is, she realised he was awkwardly trying to get something out of his pocket.

A moment later, a battered brown leather wallet was in his hands, and he offered her a business card from it. A fireball was printed on the front, with black lettering over the orange and red flames. How fitting.

‘Here, take this,’ he said, thrusting the card at her when she didn’t immediately take it. ‘If you fancy working in the Gold Coast and other locations around Queensland for a couple of months, then let me know. We could do with someone like you on set, and there’s a vacancy on the medic team. I’d feel safer knowing someone like you, with your training, was on set. You’d be a perfect addition to our team.’

Caleb stared at her so intently, she was having flashbacks of beer bottles again. Why did those words make her feel so special? And why did the idea of pleasing him send a flood of heat between her legs?

Thankfully, the baby started to cry and as Kev stood up to bounce it, Hannah also took the opportunity to go to the loo. ‘Ahh thanks, do you mind if I get up?’

Rising smoothly from his seat, Caleb let her out into the aisle. As she passed him, her foot caught on the strap of her essentials bag and she stumbled, reaching out blindly to grab something to steady her. She latched onto a fistful of Caleb’s shirt, and he turned towards her in surprise, stabilising her with a hand beneath her elbow as she donkey-kicked the strap off her foot.

She took a deep breath to steady her pounding heart. Caleb’s hand remained beneath her arm, his t-shirt still scrunched in her hand as if a small part of her never wanted to let go. Silky heat and a tingling sensation gathered between them like a rising storm, and she was no longer sure of anything but the pounding of her heart.

‘You okay?’ he asked softly, reaching with his other hand to curve around her waist, in what she supposed was an effort to rebalance her – although it felt obscenely intimate in such a small space. The tightness of her nipples chafed against the fabric of her bra and she struggled to focus.

‘Uh, thanks,’ she said; the shiver of electricity between them had her fighting to string a sentence together.

‘Sure thing,’ he replied and let go of her. He shifted out of her way, his hand flexing a little as he propped his arm against the back of their chairs. Had he felt it too?

She hurried to the toilet, not realising until she was in the cubicle that she still held his business card tightly in her fist. She smoothed it out to read the back.

Caleb Townsend.

Stunt Performer and double.

Specialisms: Motorcycles & car stunts, sword fighting, martial arts, tumbling and fire work.

Followed by his email and an international number.

The tiny bin of the toilet was overflowing, and she wondered if she should throw away the card and forget about it. She didn’t have her bag with her, and surely it would be better to get rid of it now than to keep hold of it when she had no intention of using it.

Yes, it was a job opportunity – a fortuitous one considering the fact she was currently unemployed. But it was with Caleb Townsend. The biggest and most disappointing crush of her life, and, to make matters worse, the arsehole didn’t even recognise her!

Could that be a good thing? whispered a voice inside her head that sounded suspiciously like Pencil. But the voice was right; she could be whoever she wished to be, and he’d be none the wiser. Wasn’t that the whole point of Australia? To reinvent herself and live the dream?

And how’s that going for you? No job, no friends or boyfriend, and a rubbish flat.

Hannah winced at the bitter truth. Sydney had been great at first when she’d been living with her auntie. But she’d always known that eventually, she’d have to transition from a holiday to real life. She’d just wanted that real life to be the best it could be, and currently, it wasn’t.

Jules had helped get her the flat. The demand for rental properties was crazy in Sydney, but Jules had a friend of a friend who was looking to sublet their spare room.