Italian Doctor, Sleigh-Bell Bride

‘But at least go on a date. I’m worried about you. I mean…’ Anna looked despairing. ‘Aren’t you lonely? When did you last have sex?’

‘For crying out loud, Anna!’ Mortified, Liv glanced over her shoulder to check that they were still the only two people in the tiny room.

‘The fact that the mere word is enough to embarrass you tells me it’s been far too long. You’ve been divorced for four years. It’s time to get out there again,’ Anna said firmly. ‘If you’re scared of a relationship then just have a one-night stand.’

‘No way!’ The thought horrified Liv. ‘I hate the idea of waking up next to a man I don’t know and don’t care about. That just leads to misery.’

‘There are two solutions to that. You can either kick him out of bed before he falls asleep or you could find a man you do know and do care about.’

‘That just leads to misery, too. And anyway, I don’t have the courage to take my clothes off in front of anyone.’ Liv shuddered at the thought. ‘And anyway, it isn’t just about me. I have a little boy of seven. I don’t want to trail a series of different men through his life. That’s not how I want him to grow up.’

‘You should be showing him that relationships are part of life, Liv. Yes, sometimes they go wrong. But sometimes they work. What message are you giving him? That love isn’t worth taking a risk for?’

Engulfed by a tide of guilt and anxiety, Liv stared at her. ‘You think I’m putting Max off relationships?’

‘No, but I think you’re so afraid of being hurt you just won’t even give it a try, which is ridiculous because you’re incredibly pretty and you have huge—’

‘Anna!’

‘Sorry. I just don’t think you have any idea how gorgeous you are. Do you know what the men call you behind your back? Luscious Liv.’

‘That’s because they only ever see me with my clothes on. If they saw me naked, they’d be calling me Lumpy Liv.’

‘You’re ridiculous, do you know that? You have a fabulous figure.’ Anna leaned forward and gave her a swift hug, her voice husky. ‘I don’t mean to nag or upset you but you’re my best friend and I want you to meet someone nice. You deserve to meet someone nice. I wish I could buy you a night of hot sex for Christmas.’

‘I don’t want pity sex. I’d rather have bubble bath! It would be less embarrassing.’ But Liv hugged her back, allowing herself an indulgent moment of female solidarity.

‘Am I interrupting something?’ A deep male voice came from behind them and Anna gave a strangled gasp and jumped back, her face scarlet.

‘Mr Lucarelli! I mean—Stefano—’ She cleared her throat, acting more like a student nurse than a senior sister with years of experience. ‘We were just—we were…’ Too embarrassed to speak coherently, she waved a hand helplessly and Liv sighed and took over.

‘We were hugging,’ she said calmly, desperately hoping that he hadn’t overheard the conversation. ‘Did you need something?’

Dark, challenging eyes settled on her face and Liv wished she hadn’t drawn attention to herself.

Forcing herself to meet his gaze calmly, she tried not to notice his glossy black hair, his superb bone structure or the sensual curve of his mouth. He was indecently, impossibly handsome and Liv wondered idly how many female hearts he’d broken since he’d reached adolescence. They could probably be laid end to end across Europe. From the width of his shoulders to the blue-shadowed jaw, he epitomised all that it meant to be masculine.

He stood at least six feet two and the blue scrub suit encased a body that was hard and powerful. ‘I came to tell you that we have transferred the patient to ICU,’ he said in a cool tone. ‘And I wanted to talk to you about Rachel.’

Anna immediately snapped back into her role as Sister. ‘Is there a problem?’

‘Sì, there is a problem,’ he said impatiently, his eyes still on Liv. ‘I don’t want her working with me in Resus again.’

Anna frowned. ‘She’s a very good nurse and—’

‘She can work with the others, but not me. She’s nervous of me…’ angling his arrogant dark head, he transferred the full force of his gaze to Anna ‘…and her nerves make her dangerous. Her hands were shaking, she dropped sterile instruments and every time I spoke to her, she jumped.’

Anna sighed. ‘She’s very young. You probably scared her.’

Bold brows came together in a frown. ‘I didn’t once raise my voice.’

‘You don’t need to. You’re—’ Anna broke off, clearly searching for a way to say what she wanted to say in the most tactful way. ‘You’re the senior consultant and obviously some of the more junior staff might find you…intimidating.’

‘Then find me someone who isn’t intimidated.’ His voice was hard and tightly controlled. ‘When I’m in Resus I don’t want to have to be thinking about anyone other than the patient. I want the equipment in my hand, not on the floor and I expect the team around me to be completely focused and to anticipate everything.’

Anna’s mouth tightened. ‘So basically you want the people you work with to be able to read your mind.’

A sardonic smile touched his firm, male mouth. ‘Precisely. That skill is essential to the smooth running of any emergency department. And now that we’ve cleared that up I’ll leave you to your…’ his gaze swept them both ‘…hug.’

Anna watched as he strolled back down the corridor towards his office. ‘Great. Now he thinks we’re lesbians.’

Liv let out a breath. ‘Please tell me he wasn’t standing there when you were talking about the size of my boobs and when I last had sex. Do you think he heard you saying that you wanted to buy me a night of hot sex for Christmas?’

‘I’m not sure. Possibly.’ Anna covered her mouth with her hand to smother the laughter and Liv gave a groan.

‘OK, that’s it. I resign. But only after I’ve killed you. I won’t be able to look him in the face again.’

‘I can’t stop looking him in the face. I’m probably worse than Rachel. And you can’t resign. You need the money. But remind me not to hug you in public again.’ Anna frowned. ‘Now he’ll think I’m unavailable.’

‘You are unavailable! You’re happily married.’

‘I know, but don’t you just look at the man and think “sex”?’

‘I look at him and think “trouble”.’ Liv pinned the keys into her pocket, trying to erase a disturbing image of shimmering dark eyes and bold male arrogance.

‘I wouldn’t mind getting into trouble with him. He certainly isn’t afraid to speak his mind.’

‘He has high standards,’ Liv said firmly, ‘and that’s a good thing. He just won’t accept anything less than the best and I like that. If I were to crash my car, he’s the one I’d want treating me.’

‘Now that is a terrifying thought.’ Anna’s expression was comical. ‘Imagine, all your colleagues would see your underwear. Just for the record, if I’m ever brought in here and you have to cut my clothes from my body, I want you to make sure I’m wearing silk designer knickers and not chain-store cotton.’

‘I think if you’d reached the point of needing to have your clothes cut off, the label on your knickers is going to be the least of your problems. Do you want me to check before or after I save your life?’

‘You can joke, but I just know that Stefano Lucarelli dates women who wear matching silk underwear.’

‘That doesn’t mean he expects the same high standards from his patients,’ Liv said dryly. ‘Now, are you going to talk to Rachel or am I? His comment is justified, by the way. She’s dreamy and needs to sharpen up.’

‘Poor Rachel. He obviously chewed her up and spat her out. I’d better go and give her some sympathy.’

‘She doesn’t need sympathy, she needs a wake-up call,’ Liv said briskly. ‘She developed a crush on our Italian consultant from the moment he drove his Ferrari into the car park. If she stopped staring at him and concentrated on her work, she wouldn’t drop things.’

‘He is a little scary.’

‘He is clever and efficient.’

‘I’m glad you think so. Given that you respect him so much and you’re indifferent to his charms, you can work with him in Resus so that solves one problem. Now, what was our other problem? Oh yes, what to do with your tickets to the Snowflake Ball.’

‘I’m selling them. I have no man, no dress, no babysitter and no inclination to go to the ball. Nor do I have stepsisters, ugly or otherwise.’