The Love Islands Collection. Jane Porter

don’t like the look of him.’ His mouth curled upwards for a second. There was a definite glint in his eye. ‘In more ways than one.’ He looked serious again. ‘I think there could be something else going on with Darius Cornell.’

      She took a deep breath. She was having a professional conversation with Nathan Banks. It was just so weird. She’d been so wrapped up in Darius’s history of non-Hodgkin’s and keeping it confidential she hadn’t really thought about anything else. Sometimes you needed someone else to help you look at the big picture.

      She bit the inside of her lip and gave a little sigh of recognition. ‘This way we get to keep a direct eye on him every day?’

      Nathan smiled. ‘You got it.’

      So this was what working with Nathan Banks could be like. She’d waited over eight years to find out. She’d never really expected it to happen. Even though they’d attended the same university, they’d never actually worked on a ward together. Once they’d qualified, choosing different specialities meant that it was unlikely to ever happen. This had been totally unexpected.

      She watched as he flicked through a few files. His hair was so short she had an urge to run her palm over his head and feel the little bristle beneath her skin. He must have got used to wearing it in the buzz-cut style while he was working away.

      The first thing she’d noticed was the little lines around his eyes. He’d aged. But, like most men, he’d done it in a good way. He’d lost the fresh face of youth and replaced it with something much more lived in and a whole lot more worldly-wise.

      Nathan had always managed to take her breath away. Before, it had been with his good nature, laughter and sex appeal. Now, it was something entirely different. The man in front of her made her suck her breath between her teeth and just hold it there. He had so much presence. His bulkier frame filled the room. But it was whatever was hidden behind his eyes that made her unable to release the breath screaming in her lungs.

      It could be a whole variety of things. The loss of his parents. His time over the world for Doctors Without Borders. Did Nathan have a medical history she didn’t know about? Why had he changed his career pathway? It could even be the fact that his brother had now settled down with a family before him. But she doubted that very much.

      She wanted to peel back the layers. She wanted a diary of the missing years. But she wanted it all about Nathan, without revealing anything of herself.

      Pathetic, really.

      But she just wasn’t ready to go there.

      His head lifted and their gazes meshed. ‘Is there anyone else you’re worried about?’ he asked.

      Her brain scrambled. You. Me. She bit back the obvious replies.

      ‘Ron,’ she said quickly. ‘I don’t know if he just has a sweating disorder but I’d like to check him over.’

      Nathan nodded. ‘Me too. We’ll get him in soon.’

      He stood up and walked over to the door. ‘I’m going to go for a run along the beach before we need to supervise the diving challenge.’

      Rachel bit her lip. An empty beach and the open ocean sounded like a great idea. Somewhere to clear her head. Somewhere to get her thoughts together. But if Nathan was going to be there it was too crowded already.

      She stood up. ‘I’m going to go and talk to the production crew about the diving challenge. I’ll talk to you later.’

      As she stepped outside the medical centre she took a few gulps of air. This island seemed to be getting smaller by the second …