Sarah Morgan Summer Collection

Swearing softly, he retreated back downstairs, pushed open the door that connected his house to the surgery and walked back to his consulting room without any hope of being able to concentrate.

Evanna held her head in her hands and tried not to scream.

How could she have been so stupid?

Wasn’t it perfectly obvious that he’d come home the minute she’d chosen to take a shower in his bathroom? Wasn’t life always like that?

Tortured by embarrassment, Evanna resisted the temptation to hide under Kirsty’s cot and never come out again.

The little girl was wide awake, lying on her back, hugging her blanket and sucking her thumb, oblivious to the turmoil that Evanna was suffering.

Why hadn’t she at least remembered to take a towel into the bathroom with her?

What had possessed her to walk out of the bathroom, naked?

And why hadn’t he just done the gentlemanly thing and looked away? Why hadn’t he given her one of his cheeky smiles and covered his eyes?

It didn’t even help to tell herself that he’d seen her in a swimming costume a million times because never, when he’d seen her on the beach, had he ever reacted with such stunned amazement.

Did she really look that awful?

Anyone would think he’d never seen a naked woman before, she thought crossly, lifting Kirsty from her cot and giving her a hug. Which was nonsense, because everyone knew that Logan Alastair MacNeil had had a fearsome reputation with women until he’d met and married Catherine. There were some on the island who’d thought he’d never settle down. So, for him to stand there with his mouth open as if he were shocked to see a naked woman was ridiculous, because she happened to know that he’d seen more than his fair share of naked women in his time.

‘Oh, Kirsty, I’ve never been so embarrassed,’ she whispered, delaying the moment until she had to leave the safety of the bedroom. But Kirsty was full of energy after her sleep and dying to play so she had no choice but to take her downstairs.

Determined to behave as though nothing had happened, Evanna lifted her chin and carried the toddler into the kitchen.

But there was no sign of Logan.

Unnaturally jumpy, Evanna looked around, called his name and then peeped out of the front door, but there was no sign of his car.

He’d gone.

Without even saying goodbye.

‘Nice to know that seeing me naked had such an amazing effect on him,’ Evanna grumbled as she pulled a fromage frais out of the fridge for Kirsty. ‘Did he grab me and kiss me senseless? No. Was he so overwhelmed by the sight of my wet, naked body that he couldn’t keep his hands off me? No. What does he do? He just stares, stammers like an idiot and then walks off without even bothering to say goodbye. I tell you, Kirsty MacNeil, you should have been born a man. It’s a lot easier than being a woman, believe me.’

CHAPTER SEVEN

‘SONIA’S blood pressure is still high. She’s made an appointment to go to the hospital on Monday for a check.’ Evanna put some forms on the desk in front of Logan, not meeting his eyes. But he was watching her.

She could feel him watching her.

‘Good. I don’t mind admitting that I’d be far happier if they kept her in.’

It was two days after what Evanna now called ‘the bathroom incident’, and every time they came into contact with each other, they skirted round the issue, each of them incredibly formal with the other, and Evanna was starting to despair that she’d ever be able to behave naturally again.

And he wasn’t behaving naturally either.

It would have helped if he’d laughed or made some sort of light-hearted comment, but he hadn’t referred to it. Not only that, but he hardly looked at her when she walked into the room.

It was enough to make a girl lose every scrap of confidence. ‘Janet wanted to know if you’d like some more coffee.’

‘Yes, please.’ His voice was terse. ‘I need the caffeine to keep me awake. I had a terrible night. Again.’

Evanna hesitated. Two days ago, before the bathroom incident, she would have been concerned enough about that statement to question him further, but now she didn’t dare because she was suddenly horribly aware of everything about him and the effect he had on her was incredibly frustrating.

She just didn’t know what to say or do. And clearly he felt the same way because he made no effort to detain her when she scurried towards the door.

‘I’ll ask Janet to bring you some coffee.’ She delivered the message to the kindly receptionist and retreated to the safety of her own room, finished her clinic and then restocked and tidied until she could be sure that Logan would have left on his house calls.

‘Logan’s looking terrible,’ Janet clucked as she locked the surgery door. ‘Four cups of coffee he’s asked for this morning. It’s a wonder his hands aren’t shaking too much to hold his stethoscope. And the same yesterday.’

‘Kirsty’s probably keeping him awake,’ Evanna mumbled, as she returned a set of notes she’d borrowed. ‘Disturbed nights.’

‘Well, you can tell from the shadows under his eyes that he’s having disturbed nights, but I don’t think Kirsty is the culprit.’ Janet checked the clinic list for the afternoon. ‘He told me only yesterday that she goes right through the night now, bless her.’

‘So what’s keeping him awake?’ Evanna delved into her bag for her keys and Janet gave a sigh.

‘I don’t know, but I was hoping you did. You’re the one he talks to, Evanna. Through all of last year when he was struggling to keep everything going, you were the only one he really talked to.’

Evanna stilled. It was true. Logan had found her easy to talk to. But since she’d stripped naked in his bathroom, he’d hardly spoken a word to her that didn’t revolve around patient care.

Which meant only one thing. Clearly he felt as awkward about the whole incident as she did, which was entirely ridiculous, she told herself as she waved goodbye to Janet and made for the door. They’d known each other all their lives. Surely they could get themselves past one embarrassing incident?

If he wasn’t going to tackle the subject then she would. She’d mention it and dismiss it as if the whole incident had been nothing more than a laugh.

Logan kept the top down on his sports car, hoping that the breeze might clear his head.

Four cups of coffee and a splash of cold water on the face had done little to revive him and he vowed to have an early night.

Then he remembered that an early night was going to make no difference whatsoever. It wasn’t going to bed that was a problem, it was sleeping when he got there. Eyes open or eyes shut, he saw Evanna. Naked. Her creamy, smooth skin still glistening and damp from the shower, her hair trailing down her back. It had been two days since he’d walked in on her but he couldn’t erase the image from his brain.

He felt himself grow hard and cursed repeatedly, jabbing the car into gear more viciously than was necessary.

He was afraid to stand up when she walked into a room in case she noticed the effect she had on him.

What was the matter with him?

Why was his reaction so extreme?

Was it just because he hadn’t had sex since Catherine’s death? And so what if it was? What could he do about it? He was hardly likely to go up to Evanna and suggest that they spent a steamy night between the sheets together, was he? What was he supposed to say? Oh, good morning, Nurse Duncan. Doug McDonald’s blood pressure has come right down on his new drug regime and, by the way, do you fancy stripping naked and sleeping with me because I can’t get your body out of my head?

Suffering from an intense bout of male frustration, Logan pulled the car to the side of the road and switched off the engine.

He sat for a long moment just staring out across the sparkling sea while he sifted through the options.

Forget the whole thing, that was the obvious option. But he’d just spent an extremely frustrating two days trying to do exactly that, and it hadn’t worked. So forgetting her wasn’t an option.