Redeeming Her Brooding Surgeon. Sue MacKay

them. Lightly dropping his arm over her shoulders, Chase tucked her close. ‘That’s lousy.’ A damned sight worse. His parents had stood by him through the days and years following the avalanche and still did. There’d been times they’d been so near he’d not been able to breathe, but he wouldn’t have swapped that for what Kristina had missed out on. Yes, he was incredibly lucky to have such a loving, caring family.

      ‘Yeah, it was.’

      He daren’t delve deeper, afraid she might sprint away, regret telling him in the first place. He didn’t want her leaving his side, not until the tension in her stance softened and a smile returned to her eyes.

      The silence returned, comfortable in an intimate way. Another first for him. The more he learned about this strong woman the more he wanted to know. Things like why she’d joined the army in the first place. Had she needed to belong to something, somewhere, to replace the lack of having a loving family around her? ‘Were you ever deployed overseas?’ He hadn’t been going to ask any more questions so his words surprised him.

      ‘I served in Brunei, where there are jungle warfare courses going on all the time.’

      ‘I can’t imagine being a soldier, charging around learning to kill people.’ He shuddered. ‘Not when my whole focus is on saving them.’ Hell, she had him talking, wanting to tell her what made him tick. This was his time out, yet Kristina had sauntered into his space and he started gabbing on like he’d been on a desert island for months.

      ‘It’s not quite like that. I was a medic first and foremost. But sometimes I found myself questioning why I was there.’

      ‘I’d be hopeless. Can’t take orders from anyone.’ Not since the day his skiing coach had dropped the ball when he’d been needed most. Coach Wheeler had phoned parents, tried to keep him from returning into the wrecked chalet, but he hadn’t rushed in to help pull Nick free.

      She turned under his arm and smiled up at him. ‘Now, there’s a surprise.’

      He laughed, a belly-deep reaction that spread throughout his psyche. ‘I know. Pig-headed is another term for the way I get things done.’ Studying the sea, he asked, ‘Do you miss the military life?’

      ‘Not at all.’ Her smile switched off. ‘It wasn’t what I wanted after all.’ A little shiver and, ‘See you in the morning.’ Then she was gone, striding across the deck in that sharp, exact way of hers, heading for the hub of what went on day after day. Her leg left pulled a fraction higher on the upward movement. He’d noticed weeks ago how some days were worse than others, and how she sometimes winced or rubbed her lower back when she thought no one was looking. She wasn’t one to complain or talk about her aches and pains.

      She was back, a light smile on her face that heartened him. ‘By the way, you’d make a lousy commanding officer.’ Straightening, she mimicked him. ‘Kristina, your attention—now.’ This time she did leave him, flipping her hand over her shoulder on the way.

      She left him chuckling yet bereft of company when he’d never before wanted anyone sharing this precious hour away from the cries and arguments and chatter that filled the ship twenty-four seven. Sometimes his head would be splitting apart with everyone’s pain, his own grief and guilt working its way into the centre of it all, reminding him why he was there, and stressing that he’d never be able to escape to a normal life back in England close to his family. He had to continue moving, keep finding more people to save. Working for MFA did that by bringing him and those people together. Day after day, week after week. There was no end to it. And not likely to be for the rest of his life. Which suited him perfectly.

      Except Kristina didn’t recognise his barriers, or ignored them, relentlessly chipping away, making him feel a little happier with life. Hell, he’d put his arm around her to give her warmth and support. Something more than her beauty, her confidence, her quietness, her heat-provoking body got to him—come on, it was a combination of all those.

      Yeah, but there was an indefinable something else he couldn’t put his finger on. When she’d told him about her name he’d known instantly she didn’t talk about that to anyone, yet she’d told him. Not to shut him up, or at least not to let him think it was on a whim, but because she’d wanted him to understand there were heartfelt reasons behind her need to be called Kristina. She’d even told him those. Information he didn’t want because it made him care. From now on he was done talking to her about anything deep. He had to be or he was doomed.

      Chase tried to connect the dots between the doctor and her role as a soldier. Though the circumstances were poles apart, the requirements for patience and tolerance would be the same, yet he couldn’t quite imagine Kristina issuing orders. Around here other medics did her bidding without question, her manner friendly and relaxed while underscored with determination, but a military officer would have to be sharp and firm. Bet she filled out the uniform perfectly.

      Hell, he was in need of some diversion. Last time he’d got like this a nurse had spent a night with him on their three-day leave from the ship. Eight months ago, at the end of last summer. That was the last time he’d had sex? So it wasn’t sleep he needed, was it?