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Liv made the decision for him, slamming the door against the hall wall as she raced through it. For a moment, Callum watched her, part of him desperate to chase after her and pull her back into his arms.

‘Daddy, please?’

Callum closed the door sadly. ‘I’m coming, Sarah.’

Chapter Three

Liv hesitated at the surgery door the next morning, trying to avoid going in and starting her day for as long as possible. She couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid as to kiss Callum. And wow, that man could kiss. Even after a restless night, she still tingled whenever she thought of his lips on hers.

And that was the problem. She didn’t want to think about him like that. She wasn’t ready to let anyone get that close to her.

Yes, he was kind, and seemed loyal and committed to his daughter and his family and their business, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t hurt her. And Liv didn’t want to open herself up to risk that much hurt again. And there was Sarah to consider as well. There was something about the little girl that turned Liv to mush. Maybe it was just that she could emphasise with Sarah — she knew how it felt to be missing a parent — but she thought it was a lot more than that.

Having Sarah come to her for comfort — being needed by her, even just for a few hours — had forced Liv to face up to the worries she’d been avoiding ever since the attack. The internal scarring and partial hysterectomy meant she was never likely to have a baby. The tossing and turning had gone on into the early hours when she’d finally given in and wandered out to the garden. There she’d sat on her stone garden seat and watched the sun come up while pondering what to do about Callum, and how she could still be around him.

When she eventually forced herself to leave the cool, steady calm of the cottage she felt scruffy and unprepared for the day, and in desperate need of a few more hours of sleep. She tried to focus on the peace and the calm of the day, and enjoying her walk to the surgery, but by the time she arrived she felt as stressed and rumpled as if she’d fought her way through the worst London rush hour.

She smoothed down her jacket and strode through reception and down the corridor to her office door, which she darted through, grateful to have avoided bumping into Callum. She almost slammed the door shut in her eagerness to be alone for a few minutes longer, then cursed herself for her stupidity. The kiss had just been a brief moment of silliness caused by tiredness and . . . other things. Callum had been beating himself up for failing to achieve the superhuman task of being everywhere all at once. And Liv had been feeling raw and emotional after spending time with Sarah and being forced to contemplate possibilities she had been avoiding.

It had just been two people, feeling a bit emotional, seeking to comfort each other. It had only been a kiss.

And, at some level, she might even believe that.

Refusing to think about it any further, she settled behind her desk, opened her first case file of the day and focussed on that instead. She still surprised herself by genuinely enjoying the work. She’d always worked in hospitals, and had worried that without the high energy, drama and pressure to make life and death decisions within a few heartbeats, she’d find something missing and end up feeling underwhelmed. But Callum had been right when he said it was hard not to get involved in the lives of patients and follow up with them. She was rapidly coming to feel like she’d been adopted by the community. And it had been so long since she’d really felt like she belonged anywhere.

* * *

Liv peered at the clock in the corner of her screen a few hours later. Just over ten minutes late finishing morning surgery. Not too bad at all. She grimaced as the back of her hand itched inside of her cast, but resisted the urge to do what she’d always advised patients against and itch with a pen. If nothing else, it would be embarrassing explaining to Callum why it was there if she got it stuck.

She paused and peered in the mirror above the sink, reapplying her lipstick, and trying to convince herself that it had nothing to do with the fact that she was about to be in close proximity to Callum.

She shook her head at her own foolishness, and walked down the corridor to Callum’s door, but before she got there, her nerve gave out and she span on her heel and raced back to her own room. After a couple of seconds of mentally berating herself, she tried again — but only made it halfway before turning around again. She barely made it back down the short corridor between their offices before changing her mind and heading back. She was being ridiculous. It was just a kiss which meant nothing, and they were both professionals. It wasn’t an issue.

‘Are you all right, Liv?’ Millie’s voice called out from her own office. ‘Are you looking for something?’

A spine, maybe? Liv forced herself to smile at Millie through the open door. ‘I’m fine, thanks. Just seeing if Callum was free to cut this thing off.’ She held her arm up. ‘He offered to do it here and save me a trip to the hospital, but I didn’t want to interrupt if he’s consulting.’

Millie nodded in understanding. ‘I bet you’ll be glad to get back to normal. And be able to scratch again.’

‘Absolutely.’ Liv walked the few steps to Callum’s door, forcing herself to act more calmly, and hoping that her racing heart would listen and calm itself as well.

* * *

In his office, Callum plugged the plaster saw in and checked that it was revving up and working. He wandered around the room, straightening files and tidying his desk before cursing his own foolishness. Liv, no — Dr Emery, he corrected himself — was coming in for her cast to be removed. A medical procedure. Not a social visit. But he still glanced at the clock on his desk.

When the soft knock sounded, he took a moment to sit behind his desk and look busy. ‘Come in.’

Even though his eyes were glued to a file he wasn’t reading, he knew it was Liv before she spoke. There was something about her presence that made his skin tingle in the nicest way. He hit a couple of pointless keys on his keyboard, before looking up and flashing her a smile.

‘Hey, come to get that thing off?’

‘If you’ve got time. I could still go to the hospital.’

‘Even if I didn’t have time, I’d make it for you.’ Callum inwardly winced at his own words. ‘I mean . . . you helped out with Sarah. In comparison this isn’t even a favour, merely a professional courtesy.’ He gestured to the seat to the right of his.

‘Well, it’s one I appreciate.’ Liv smiled and smoothed her skirt as she sat, sending Callum’s mind into overdrive as he tried, unsuccessfully, not to remember her comment about stockings the first day they’d met. He absolutely was not going to wonder about whether she was wearing stockings today.

He forced his mind back to the job. ‘So, how long have you been wearing the cast?’