Emergency Doctor and Cinderella. Melanie Milburne

and no,’ he said. ‘I’ve worked in several A&E departments now, and I’ve seen a lot of avoidable problems occur because communication with the medical staff in A&E stopped the moment the patient was rolled out the door of the department—problems that would have been avoided with a structured follow-through plan involving the staff who did the primary assessment.’

      Erin suddenly noticed the takeaway bag he was carrying. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I was holding you up from your dinner.’

      ‘You’re not holding me up,’ he said. ‘I was just on my way home. Did you drive or walk?’

      ‘I walked,’ she said. ‘Parking is always a pain down here at this time of night.’

      ‘Like most cities,’ he agreed. ‘I’ll walk back with you. Have you had dinner? I’ve got enough to share if you’d like to join me.’

      Erin felt her cheeks flush. ‘Oh no…I wouldn’t want to intrude.’

      ‘You’re not intruding. Besides, I can tell you how the ward-round went while we eat.’

      Erin wanted to refuse but the thought of the rest of the evening alone was suddenly not as welcome as it had been earlier. She told herself she should at least be polite to Eamon after he had come to her rescue so gallantly. Surely she owed him an hour or two of her time? ‘Thanks, that would be nice,’ she said, glancing at him shyly.

      Following the short walk back, Eamon activated the security pass to the apartment block and waited for her to precede him. The elevator ride was swift but to Erin it felt as if it was taking for ever. She didn’t know what to say; she didn’t even know where to stand. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, half-leaning, half-standing against the bare wall of the elevator. She felt awkward, gauche and out of place, certain he was wondering what was wrong with her. He was probably used to the most sophisticated of women, wining and dining them in world-class restaurants. No doubt he bedded them as well, taking pleasure where he found it, almost certainly giving it back one-hundredfold. She kept her arms folded across her chest but even so she could still feel where his arm had been about her waist.

      She began to imagine what it would feel like to have his touch on other parts of her body—her mouth, for instance. His mouth was a sensual one, the lower lip fuller than the top one, making her lips start to tingle in anticipation of feeling its firmness against hers. Would he kiss softly or firmly? Would he cup her face or hold her by the shoulders? Would he…?

      The doors of the elevator opening catapulted her out of her wayward thoughts. With her colour still high, she moved past Eamon as he held the doors open with the strong band of his arm, her heart doing little skips in her chest as she breathed in his scent once more. She felt ashamed of her reaction, and hoped to God he wasn’t picking up on it. How foolish of her to be so taken in by good looks and easy charm. He was her boss, for goodness’ sake! What sort of a fool would she be to compromise her professionalism by becoming involved with a colleague? In any case, given her background, how soon would he stay interested in her? She could hardly take him home to meet her mother and her latest junkie boyfriend. Men like Eamon Chapman dated women from the right side of the tracks, not trailer-park misfits.

      ‘I’m sorry the place is still a bit of a mess,’ Eamon said as he opened his apartment door. ‘I should be an expert at unpacking by now; I’ve done it enough times.’

      Not as many times as me, Erin thought as she followed him inside. ‘Can I do anything to help?’ she asked.

      ‘No, just take a seat and I’ll get some plates,’ he said. ‘Would you like a glass of wine? I’ve got red and white, or beer if you’d prefer.’

      ‘I’m not much of a drinker, so don’t open anything specially.’

      ‘One glass of wine won’t hurt you,’ he said, taking a bottle of chilled white wine from the fridge. ‘It’ll help you relax.’

      Erin pulled at her bottom lip with her teeth. ‘Is it that obvious?’

      He gave her a reassuring smile. ‘Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. That drunken jerk would have frightened most people. He was probably pretty harmless, but these days you never can tell.’

      Erin hadn’t given the inebriated young man another thought. It was the stone-cold sober, gorgeous one standing in front of her right now that was her real concern. ‘I guess I should think about taking some self-defence classes,’ she said, taking the glass of wine he handed her.

      ‘Not a bad idea,’ he said. ‘You’re so tiny it wouldn’t take much to knock you off your feet.’

      Erin felt a shivery feeling move down her spine. How could one casual, throwaway comment make her feel so utterly feminine? She buried her nose in her glass, keeping her gaze averted from his while her heart did funny little somersaults behind her ribcage.