The Surgeon's Marriage Demand. Maggie Kingsley

OK, so he’s seriously attractive, and the thought of jumping into bed with him is making you hyperventilate, but just because he’s smiling at you it doesn’t mean he wants you, and if he did, what then? You’re not into casual sex, remember.

      No, but I’d be prepared to make an exception for this man, her body sighed as Seth’s shirt got tighter and she felt a warm heat spreading through her stomach which had nothing to do with the coffee.

      Yeah, right, her brain jeered. Big talk from a woman who was a virgin when she got married. Your life hasn’t exactly been a walk on the wild side, has it, so what could you offer a man like Seth that he hasn’t had probably hundreds of times before, and considerably better?

      ‘Something wrong?’

      Seth’s eyes were on her, puzzled, curious, and she managed a smile. ‘Just thinking.’

      ‘Dangerous occupation, thinking,’ Jerry observed. ‘A person can get into all sorts of trouble doing that.’

      Tell me about it, Olivia thought ruefully. She uncurled her legs and stood up. ‘I have to go. I’ve a meeting with Admin in fifteen minutes.’

      ‘Is it about the whiteboard?’ Seth said hopefully, and she shook her head.

      ‘I told you before, that it wasn’t my decision—or even theirs—to take it down. It’s a county-wide ruling.’

      ‘It’s still a stupid one,’ he muttered, and she nodded.

      ‘I agree, but there’s nothing I can do about it.’ She carried her coffee-cup across to the sink, then cleared her throat awkwardly. ‘I thought I might ask if we could have the waiting room redecorated.’

      She waited for the eruption to come, but it didn’t. Seth simply shook his head and said, ‘If you can screw any money out of Admin, I’d vote for spending it on some new medical equipment.’

      ‘I don’t think it’s a question of either-or,’ she protested, and a wry smile curved his lips.

      ‘Then you don’t know Admin. A and E ranks somewhere around the level of Chiropody when it comes to funding.’

      Why hadn’t he told her that before? She wouldn’t have chewed his head off if he’d only told her that before. Slowly she rinsed her cup, then came to a decision. ‘Make me a list of everything you think the department needs.’

      Seth put down his coffee-cup with a clatter. ‘Are you kidding?’

      She smiled. ‘There’s two things I never joke about. Departmental funding and religion.’ She checked her watch. ‘My meeting’s at two o’clock and I need to collect some papers from my office. You’ve ten minutes to draft a list. If you haven’t finished by the time I get back…’

      ‘I’ll be finished,’ he replied, tearing a sheet of paper from his notebook, and she laughed and shook her head as she went out the door.

      Jerry didn’t laugh. He sat back in his seat and stared at Seth thoughtfully. ‘Told you she was nice, didn’t I?’

      ‘Hmm?’

      ‘Olivia. I said she was nice.’

      ‘So you did,’ Seth murmured, his pen flashing across the sheet of paper.

      ‘And I think she likes you.’

      Seth glanced up. ‘Forget it, Jerry.’

      The specialist registrar looked innocent. ‘Forget what?’

      ‘The matchmaking.’

      ‘I’m not—’

      ‘Yes, you are,’ Seth said firmly, ‘and there’s no way on God’s earth that I’m ever going to ask Olivia Mackenzie out. Number one, she’s my boss and I’ve no intention of dating my boss. Number two, she’s already in a relationship and I don’t poach other men’s women.’

      ‘Yes, but—Oh, blast,’ Jerry groaned as his pager went off. ‘Why do I never get to finish either an argument or a coffee?’

      ‘Think of the good it’s doing your heart and your arteries.’ Seth grinned, but his smile disappeared when the specialist registrar had gone.

      Jerry meant well—he knew he did—but there was a third and even more important reason why he would never ask Olivia out. It was obvious that she was a settling-down sort of a woman, and he didn’t want to settle down—not now, not ever.

      OK, she was attractive, with the kind of thick curly brown hair that made a man’s fingers itch to release it from the confines of the scrunchie she always wore, and she had a pair of soft luminous brown eyes which occasionally made him forget what he’d been about to say, but settling down was for the brain dead. Settling down meant the end of freedom, the end of excitement, the end of everything.

      ‘Have you finished your list?’

      He glanced over his shoulder. Olivia was standing in the doorway of the staffroom, her hair gleaming like a halo in the late September sunlight, and for a weird second he felt an inexplicable tightening in his throat.

      ‘Seth, I said, have you—?’

      ‘I…I’ve come up with eight suggestions,’ he interrupted, pulling himself together quickly.

      ‘Only eight?’

      Oh, damn, now she was smiling at him. Smiling that smile he hadn’t seen since the day he’d first met her, and for a moment he wondered if it would be such a mistake to ask her out. She was single, he was single. OK, she had a George, but…

      She’s home-made bread, and you’re Japanese sushi. She’s self-catering holidays with the kids in Cornwall, and you’re sky-diving in Brazil. She may have great legs and a sensational smile, but those are lousy reasons for getting involved with a settling-down sort of woman. Especially when that settling-down sort of woman is also your boss.

      ‘I was only joking, Seth.’

      Concern had replaced the amusement on her face, and he forced a smile. ‘I was just wondering what else I could add,’ he lied, and saw her smile return.

      ‘Don’t push your luck.’ She scanned the sheet of paper and let out a low whistle. ‘Seth, these are all very expensive pieces of equipment.’