TEMPTED BY HER BOSS (9 page)

Donovan sat back in his chair. ‘You are joking, right? I’m going to a press conference, and I’ve got to tell the world we have an outbreak of Marburg virus but we haven’t even managed to collect samples yet?’

John lifted his hands. ‘Doing the best I can, Donovan. These things take time—whether we like it or not. And Marburg virus is tricky. Most people have never heard of it. It’s not like smallpox, with a six-hundred-page plan ready to download from our website
if
there was ever an outbreak anywhere. Our trouble is we didn’t really plan for this.’

John was right. Donovan knew he was right. But it didn’t make things any easier.

He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. ‘Okay, guys, keep me posted on any changes and I’ll let you know how things go once I’ve been thrown to the lions. Here are the details of our accommodation. No doubt it will be a luxury five-star, all-inclusive resort.’

There was a collective groan around the table. The DPA didn’t like to waste money on staff accommodation. They were lucky they hadn’t been expected to pitch tents.

He lifted up his coffee mug, ‘To teamwork.’

‘To teamwork.’ The mugs clinked together. ‘Here’s hoping the rest of the staff arrive soon.’

CHAPTER FIVE

G
RACE
CHECKED
THE
list again. The words were beginning to swim in front of her eyes. She still had two children to check over then another review of the three she was worried about.

She felt a warm hand at the base of her spine. Not low enough to be cheeky but something familiar. Donovan’s head rested on her shoulder for a second. ‘Are we still awake?’ he groaned.

‘Barely.’ She turned round to face him, dislodging his chin from its resting place. If she wasn’t getting to sleep, neither was he. She was still worried about these kids.

‘Spoilsport.’ He arched his back and it gave a loud crack.

‘Yeurgh.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘You should see a doctor about that.’

He wagged his finger at her. ‘Don’t even go there.’ He rested his elbows on the nurses’ station. ‘I’m sorry I’ve been so long. The good news is I’ve found another four nurses, the equipment and supplies have been sorted and it’s only two hours until the other team arrives. The bad news is I’ve got the press conference in twenty minutes.’

She let out a long slow breath. It was difficult to be patient when all she wanted to do was grab the nearest bed and lie down. But that was the thing—there
were
no empty beds now. All sixty beds were filled. All with patients with suspected Marburg virus.

There were a few cases she suspected were false alarms, but nonetheless all samples were currently lined up and waiting for David to test them in the lab.

She pushed her clipboard towards him. ‘Well, my bad news is we’re full. No beds. The last two were filled as soon as the previous patients were transferred to another local hospital.’

‘The hospital director managed to get all the other patients transferred?’

She nodded. ‘He’s been great—even though he looks as if he’s about to have a heart attack.’ She lifted her hands and let out a sigh. ‘We are now officially the Marburg hospital.’

He bent over the list. ‘You’ve got through all these patients?’ His voice rose and she felt a little tingle across her skin. Was that a note of admiration in his voice?

She tried not to smile. ‘Yes, by the time I get to them John has done the patient history and background. I’ve been taking care of all the clinical components.’

‘Show me the children you’re worried about.’

She nodded and grabbed the sets of notes she’d put aside. The admiration for her hard work would only take her so far. She started down the corridor. ‘I’ve done some moving around. The three patients I’m concerned about are all in single rooms down here. All children.’ She lowered her voice. ‘All on the kindergarten trip.’

She heard him suck in a breath. She knew exactly where his mind was going. They really needed access to those caves. They needed to identify where the virus had originated and get plans in place to help stop the spread.

She stopped at the entrance to one of the rooms. Donovan was concentrating so hard that he wasn’t paying attention and walked straight into the back of her.

Her body shot forward, her hands still clutching the clipboard, with no time to try and break her fall as her feet started to disconnect from the floor. The green rubber flooring loomed beneath her eyes.

A warm arm grabbed around her waist with such intensity that her breath was taken clean away from her. She was yanked back hard, straight into the chest of Donovan Reid.

‘Grace, I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.’

She couldn’t speak for a few seconds. All the air had shot out of her lungs. When she finally managed to suck in a breath and relax back against him, all she could do was laugh.

It was a nervous laugh. An I’m-feeling-something-I-shouldn’t kind of laugh.

Like the heat of someone else’s warm skin seeping straight through her thin scrubs. The feel of the rise and fall of his chest muscles against her shoulder blades. She should have kept her dress and her heels on. The thicker material and little more height wouldn’t have left her quite so exposed. She could feel the outline of other parts of his body too.

His hand was still locked around her waist, holding her close to him. It didn’t matter that he’d already seen every part of her. It didn’t matter she’d been naked in a shower with him. This was up close and personal. This felt even more intimate than that.

This was the kind of position you assumed with a lover when you were looking out at a setting sun and glorious landscape. This was how you stood before he murmured in your ear and started to nuzzle around your neck. This wasn’t a position for a public setting.

She jumped forward, pushing her hair out of her eyes. The shorter style was beginning to annoy her. It was at that in-between stage. Not quite long enough to stay in a ponytail band and not quite short enough to go without.

Donovan was looking at her with a strange expression on his face. His brow was furrowed but his blue eyes were fixed completely on her. Was he about to say something?

Then she got it. He felt it too.

It wasn’t just her. She wasn’t going crazy.

All those mad midnight dreams about Donovan Reid in a semi-naked state weren’t as wasted as she’d thought. In her head he’d always been miles out of her league. The man hadn’t even noticed her, let alone spoken to her. But things were definitely changing. He looked just as confused as she felt.

She broke the gaze, staring at the clipboard. Patients. Let’s talk about patients.

‘Okay, Donovan, there’s three kids I’m worried about—and you already reviewed them earlier. All aged five, all on the kindergarten trip. David has just confirmed that all three have Marburg virus. Jacob and Sophia are both showing signs of jaundice. Both are now having bloody diarrhoea. Breathing is becoming laboured and I’d really recommend that we transfer both these kids to the ICU in Panama City. Ryan is also deteriorating rapidly. Pulse is rising, blood pressure dropping and oxygenation rate is decreasing. Although all of these kids have had anti-emetics, they’ve had limited effect. All three kids are still vomiting and severely dehydrated.’

She took a deep breath. The words had just rattled out. She hadn’t been able to stop them. She had real concerns about these three kids. Donovan was watching her carefully. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she couldn’t cope. Because she could.

But every instinct in her body told her that these kids needed specialist treatment. She knew the death rate for Marburg could be as high as ninety per cent, but those rates were based on Marburg in countries that weren’t as developed as the US. With all the facilities available, these kids had to have a better chance than that.

He reached out his hand and took the charts from her hands. ‘Let’s not waste time. Go, and try and arrange to get these kids airlifted out of here. You’ll have a fight on your hands—first, with ICU at Panama City to accept three kids with an infectious disease and, second, with the air crew.’ His hand rested on her back. ‘It won’t be the first fight you’ll have like this, Grace, but I have confidence you’ll make the case.’

His eyebrows were raised. It was almost like drawing a line in the sand. Setting her a challenge. Her stomach flipped over.

His eyes were serious, but the corners of his mouth were edging upwards. He was trying not to smile. And she was trying not to react to the feel of his hand on her back.

His fingers were inches from her scar and the heat emanating from his hand through her thin scrub top was making her skin tingle and the scar area itch.

The wound never bothered her, never caused her any problems—except, of course, at airports. While it had been healing the itch had driven her mad. Probably because that tiny part of her shoulder blade seemed like the most inaccessible part of her body. No matter how she twisted and turned, her hands just couldn’t reach the spot. She’d ended up rubbing her shoulder blade up and down a wall instead.

The fingers moved, shifting their position on her back. ‘Grace, are you okay?’

Heat rushed into her cheeks, Donovan had given her some clear instructions. She didn’t have time to dither. She had to get on and do the job, prove herself as a responsible member of the team.

His fingers were still in contact with her body so she took a step forward to get out of reach.

‘No problem, I’ll get on the phone straight away.’ She started to walk down the corridor. She’d no idea where she was going. There was a perfectly good desk, chair and phone at the nurses’ station where they’d been standing but she needed some space. She needed some distance.

She could almost feel his eyes burning a hole into her back. As she rounded the corner she glanced back just in time to see him pull his eyes away and look down at the files in his hands.

She swallowed. She hadn’t missed anything with these kids. She knew she hadn’t. But she was worried. Their condition was deteriorating and they needed more support. So why was her stomach doing flip-flops?

She was nervous. She couldn’t help it. She wanted Donovan to think she was a capable member of the team. It seemed so important that he respect her work abilities above anything else.

She had to prove to him she was a worthy member of his team. She wanted his respect. There had been a moment in the isolation room, when she’d told him what she remembered about Marburg virus, that he’d looked at her—
really
looked at her for a few seconds. It had almost been as if he was seeing her for the first time.

And there had been something. Whether it had been admiration, respect or just downright curiosity, she’d liked it.

She wanted it to happen again.

Even now, from the second she’d set foot in the airport, she had sensed something else. She wasn’t as street smart as some. Her wound was proof positive of that.

But she didn’t use the art of flirtation as a means to anything else. She wasn’t skilled at those techniques and sometimes she wondered if she even read things the way she should.

In any other world, if she were any other person, she could swear that Donovan Reid had been flirting with her sometimes. Had been looking at her in a way that hadn’t been entirely professional. And she liked it. She liked it a lot.

Up until yesterday she hadn’t featured on this guy’s radar at all. She may have admired him from afar. He may have said a few things that had hinted he had noticed her. But that had probably been just to soothe her ego, keep her sweet while she was on his team.

She wasn’t a blonde supermodel. Not like the last girl he’d dated. Or anything like any of the others he’d been rumoured to wine and dine. She was just Grace Barclay, doctor at the DPA.

But when he’d held her gaze a few times and looked at her, it had felt like so much more. It had made her skin tingle and the blood race through her veins. He’d looked at her in the shower when they’d both been naked. He’d looked at her at the airport when she’d had her mini-makeover. The first time she’d barely been able to meet his gaze. The second time she’d felt more confident, more ready to deal with it.

Donovan Reid interested in her? She couldn’t wipe the smile from her face or the tingles that were sweeping over her skin.

She picked up the phone. Now it was time to be charm personified. Now it was time to develop some of her persuasive skills to get these kids somewhere appropriate.

And maybe she could use those persuasive skills later...

* * *

The room was stifling and it was packed. It was Florida in the middle of summer and the air-conditioning wasn’t working. Sweat was starting to run down his back, he only hoped his shirt wasn’t sticking to his back.

Worse still, there were no windows. No outside view to escape from. Two doors, both surrounded by people and both closed. It made his skin prickle. Maybe he wasn’t sweating because of the temperature, maybe he was sweating because he couldn’t see the outside. His mind was retreating into the six-year-old-boy space again and he pressed his lips tightly together, willing it back to the present.

He wasn’t a six-year-old boy. He was an adult. And all his rational sensibilities were telling him he was fine. The room wasn’t entirely comfortable but there was a clear exit,
two
clear exits. Well, not entirely clear. But visible.

That should be enough. That should be enough to allow him to continue through this. The last thing he wanted to do in the middle of a packed room full of reporters was have a panic attack.

He’d always managed to stave them off. He’d always managed to talk himself out of them, even when all the symptoms and sensations had been there, he’d recognised them and tried to rationalise things in his brain.

A team leader with panic attacks in enclosed spaces would be no use in the DPA. You never knew what situation or set of environmental circumstances you could end up in. Doctors in the DPA had to be able to deal with everything. Team leaders? They had to deal with the impossible.

He couldn’t let his childhood traumas interfere with his present-day life. He had no time for this. It didn’t make sense. Not even to him. Sure, six hours trapped in an elevator was terrifying for a child. But it didn’t really feature as traumatic. In his experience he’d met lots of people who’d had a million experiences more terrifying than his. It almost had him feeling embarrassed that his body reacted this way—in a way he couldn’t control.

He took a few long deep breaths, letting the air hiss out slowly through his lips. He’d read his DPA-agreed statement around thirty minutes ago. It had been hastily written on an unused chart then faxed to the department. He’d thought he could be in and out of here in ten minutes. But he should have known better. The reporters had other ideas. They were out for blood. And by the look of it—his.

The questions were coming thick and fast. ‘Have you identified the source?’

‘Marburg virus has been known in the past to come from the African fruit bat. While we’ve identified bats before in Key West, that type of bat has never been found here. We have, however, identified Jamaican fruit bats in the area. Further investigations are taking place.’

‘But weren’t all the kids that were affected on a kindergarten trip to the national park? Should the park be closed?’