Mistletoe Brides

‘I will be there, but I don’t know when or for how long.’ Or how much of his well-meaning, interfering family he’d be able to stand.

‘All the cousins will be there—’ it was Isabella’s turn to tease ‘—including the lovely Donatella. She’s still single, Stefano.’

‘Fortunately for both of us, my taste in women doesn’t run to children,’ Stefano said wryly and Isabella giggled.

‘She’s twenty-one, Stefano, hardly a child. And she’s been trying to remind you of that fact for a few years now. Surely you haven’t forgotten last Christmas? The push-up bra and the low-cut top? I thought Papa was going to have a stroke. Anyway, she wants to sit by you for Christmas Eve dinner.’

‘Donatella finds me so intimidating that she can barely speak in my company,’ Stefano reminded her in an acid tone. ‘If you throw her in my way at Christmas it would be cruel to both of us. Isabella, drop this subject.’

‘She’d be a traditional Italian wife, Stefano.’ Isabella was clearly enjoying herself. ‘She would stay at home and cook you pasta.’

‘Unfortunately for Donatella one of my requirements in a life partner is that they’re able to sustain an intelligent conversation for at least eight seconds. Sadly, she can’t. Or at least, she can’t when she’s with me.’

Isabella snorted with laughter. ‘You’re so harsh. Frankly I can’t see why she’s so crazy about you. I mean, I know you’re filthy rich and good-looking but you’re unbearable to people who aren’t as bright as you are and when you’re really bored, which usually takes far less than eight seconds by the way, you can be horribly cutting.’

Taken aback by that blunt assessment of his attributes, Stefano was about to answer when his sister made an impatient sound.

‘Anyway, it’s nonsense to say you need a woman with a brain. According to that actress of yours, you don’t waste any time talking to women.’

Stefano glanced at his watch. ‘I’m a busy man, Isabella. Was there something else you wanted to say?’

‘She gave such an embarrassing interview to all the papers. What did you ever see in her? No—don’t answer that, it’s obvious. Why are men so shallow?’

Stefano gave a deadly smile. ‘Because women wear pushup bras and we are easily distracted,’ he purred. ‘I’m so pleased you called me. Your conversation is always so…intellectual.’

‘Don’t try and intimidate me.’ But Isabella was laughing. ‘I rang you for a chat because I love you, even though you sometimes forget that you have a family and you’re basically horrible. I’ll see you at Christmas, Stefano. I’m sure Donatella is already choosing her dress.’

Stefano closed his eyes briefly. ‘Maledizione—’

‘Don’t swear in front of your sister!’

There was a sharp rap on the door and Stefano looked up with a frown, irritated by the interruption. Greg Hampton, one of the casualty officers, stood in the doorway and Stefano’s mouth tightened. Unlike Phil who had managed to impress him, this particular junior doctor’s attitude was far too casual for his liking. ‘I’ve got to go. Ciao.’ He terminated the call and dropped his phone into his pocket. ‘Sì? There is a problem?’

‘Can you check an X-ray for me before you get dragged into Resus? Everyone else is still tied up with the RTA that came in an hour ago.’

Stefano slung his coat over the back of the chair, ignored the mound of paperwork on his desk and strode towards the door. ‘Who is the patient?’

‘That’s the bad news.’ Greg pulled a face. ‘A screaming, uncooperative kid with a bruised finger. I sent her for an X-ray.’

Stefano dealt him a measuring glance, less than impressed by the younger doctor’s dismissive tone.

They arrived at the main area and Stefano automatically glanced at the computer screen on the wall. It listed every patient in the department and enabled the staff to track their progress. That one glance was enough to tell him that he was in for a busy morning despite the fact it was barely light.

His mind still half on the conversation with his sister, his gaze shifted to the smaller computer next to the screen that was displaying an X-ray of a finger. He hit a button, zoomed in closer and stared at the image. Why did his family see the need to interfere with his life? If it wasn’t his love life, it was his profession. ‘No fracture. How was the finger on examination?’

Greg shrugged. ‘I haven’t examined her yet.’

‘You sent her for X-ray without examination?’ Stefano transferred his gaze from the X-ray to the doctor and Greg frowned slightly.

‘The child was really difficult. Didn’t seem to want to be distracted by anything. Trust me—no one could have done anything with this kid, and as for the mother…’ with an exaggerated shudder, he picked up the notes ‘…she was your average nightmare. Reminded me why I didn’t do paediatrics. Caring for kids is all about the mothers, isn’t it? What’s the point of seven years’ training if I have to waste my skills on a load of hysterical women?’

‘What skills?’ Stefano spoke softly and Greg’s smile lost a fraction of its arrogance.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You told me that you don’t want to waste your skills,’ Stefano said silkily, ‘but I am still waiting to see a demonstration of these skills in which you have so much pride and which you seem so reluctant to waste in my department, Dr Hampton. They weren’t in evidence when you needed to examine the child.’

Greg cleared his throat. ‘I didn’t manage to examine the child.’

‘Precisely.’ Stefano watched with cold detachment as the less experienced doctor flushed to the roots of his hair, suddenly a great deal less sure of himself.

‘The kid was freaking out.’

‘Then it is your job to “un”-freak them,’ Stefano advised helpfully. ‘After all, what is the point of seven years of training if you cannot get close enough to your patient to carry out an examination?’

‘I ordered an X-ray,’ Greg said stiffly, and Stefano raised an eyebrow.

‘So you sent her to X-Ray with no examination and you were planning to discharge her without examination? You have good medical defence insurance, I hope? A skilled lawyer? Because if that is the way you practise medicine, you will need both.’

Greg’s face was scarlet. ‘I assumed that the X-ray would tell me what I needed to know.’

‘An X-ray is simply one part of the overall picture. Never again even consider discharging a patient without carrying out the appropriate examination. You are a doctor, not a car mechanic. The decisions you make affect people’s lives.’ Stefano let the doctor squirm for a few more moments and then he flicked off the X-ray.

‘Mr Lucarelli—’

‘One more thing.’ Stefano’s icy tone cut through the doctor’s feeble attempt to redeem himself. ‘In this department, if a mother tells you that she has a bad feeling about her child, you will listen to what she has to say with both ears open and your mouth closed. Understood?’

Greg stared at him. ‘Yes.’

‘Good.’ Stefano watched him with cool appraisal. ‘Most mothers are uncannily accurate when it comes to assessing the health of their children. Remember that. They sense things that we doctors, even with years of training, can take longer to detect. Now, given that you have been unable to examine the patient, show me where she is and I will do it for you.’

Stiff and defensive, the casualty officer led the way down the corridor and into one of the small cubicles.

Prepared to deal with a very distressed child, Stefano stopped dead in the doorway, astonished to see the little girl laughing and smiling.

Liv was kneeling on the floor, chatting away happily and the child sat listening, clearly absorbed by the conversation. Her eyes were fixed on the nurse in fascination and Stefano found himself reacting in much the same way.

From his vantage point in the doorway, his gaze was drawn to the curve of her soft mouth and suddenly he found himself comparing the sweetness of her smile to Francine’s sexy scarlet pout.

Surprised by the direction of his thoughts, Stefano wondered why he was comparing two women who were so blatantly unalike.

Francine was an actress and a model—her looks were part of her job. Whereas Liv—well, she was entirely different. She wasn’t beautiful in the conventional sense. Her mouth was too wide and she had a pronounced dimple in her left cheek when she smiled, but there was something about her face that made it difficult to look away. Her eyes were bright and intelligent, and she radiated warmth and good humour as she talked to the child.

Stefano’s gaze swept her body in an instinctive male appraisal.

Her uniform wasn’t tight, but there was no missing her enticing curves and he felt the immediate and powerful response of his body. As irritated by his reaction as he was surprised, he turned his attention back to the child, assuming that it was just that ridiculous conversation with his sister that was suddenly turning his thoughts to sex in the middle of his working day.

‘So you sit next to Annabel.’ Liv spoke in a calm, gentle voice that removed all the stress from the room and smoothed Stefano’s frayed nerves like the stroke of a velvet glove. ‘And who is your teacher?’

‘Miss Grant.’ The little girl smiled at her. ‘She has her hair in a ponytail, like you.’

‘Well, that’s the best way to wear it for work, especially if it’s curly because it can get in your eyes. So how did you fall on your finger?’

Aware that Greg Hampton was about to speak, Stefano silenced him with a lift of his hand and a searing glance, intensely irritated that the man would even consider intervening when the nurse clearly had full control of the situation.

Fortunately the child hadn’t even noticed their presence. ‘I did it yesterday. We were practising the nativity play,’ she was saying, ‘and I tripped over a sheep. I mean, not a real sheep, actually it was Gareth, dressed as a sheep. But I fell on my finger, I mean like all my weight was on my finger.’

Stefano watched as Liv listened attentively to the child’s story and then carefully examined the child’s finger.

Her hair was the rich brown of a conker and it gleamed and shone under the harsh emergency room lights. Although it had been pulled back into a ponytail, several curls had escaped and now drifted around her face. Having not looked twice at a woman for months, Stefano found himself staring. She wasn’t wearing a trace of make-up and yet her lashes were thick and dark and her cheeks had a healthy glow. But what really drew his attention was her absolute focus on the little girl.

She wasn’t thinking about herself or her appearance. She hadn’t even noticed that he was standing in the doorway.

Suddenly his mind drifted back to the conversation he’d overheard the day before.

Why did Anna want to buy her hot sex for Christmas?

Stefano dismissed the question instantly as one of those things that women laugh about and men are better off not knowing.

But his eyes trailed back to her mouth and lower.

She didn’t look like a woman who needed someone else to find her hot sex.

Why had Anna been hugging her? Had something happened? Was there something wrong in her life?

‘Ouch. That’s the bit that really hurts.’ The little girl winced as Liv gently manipulated her fingers.

‘It’s bound to hurt because it’s really bruised, can you see? It’s just a bit black there—over the joint. I think you’re incredibly brave.’

The little girl looked doubtful. ‘I was crying.’

‘I’m not surprised.’ Liv’s tone suggested that anything less would have been unthinkable. ‘If it were my finger, I would have cried, too. I think you’ve been amazing. But what we need to do now is fix it so that it doesn’t hurt so much. What were you in the nativity play?’

‘A star. Is it broken?’

‘Well, I’m going to take a look at your X-ray and then have a chat with the doctor.’

‘Not the same doctor as before?’ The child shrank slightly. ‘He was really angry with me—’ Suddenly noticing Greg in the doorway, she snatched her hand back. ‘He’s not going to touch me.’

The atmosphere altered in the blink of an eye.

Deciding that swift intervention was called for if he wasn’t to lose all chances of examining the child himself, Stefano cast a meaningful glance towards his less experienced colleague and strolled into the room.

‘Ciao, cucciola mia.’ He addressed the little girl directly but her eyes were fixed on Greg in horror.

‘I don’t want him to be my doctor.’

‘He isn’t your doctor.’

‘So why is he here?’

‘Because he works with me.’ Well aware that his height and physique could make him intimidating, Stefano dropped into a crouch so that he was at the same level as the child. ‘So you fell off a stage, is that right?’

‘Yes.’ Finally the little girl looked at him and her expression was curious. ‘Why do you speak with a funny accent?’

Stefano smiled. ‘Because I’m from Italy.’

‘Like pizza? I love pizza.’

‘Just like pizza. So tell me…’ Stefano gently took her hand in his and examined her fingers ‘…what is your favourite pizza?’

‘Margarita, but not too cheesy and no lumps of tomatoes.’

‘Obviously you are a woman who knows what she wants.’ Amused, Stefano turned the child’s hand over. ‘Show me how you fell on your hand.’

‘I fell all on one finger, like this…’ The little girl pretended to stab the ground and Stefano pulled a face.

‘Well, that is why your finger is hurting. You are supposed to walk on your feet, not your finger.’ Gently he manipulated the finger. ‘Does this hurt? This? Can you squeeze—make a fist?’

As he examined the dark bruising over the back of the finger, he was acutely conscious of Liv next to him. He allowed himself one sideways glance, but she wasn’t even looking at him. All her attention was still focused on her little patient.

‘I thought it was probably a volar plate injury,’ she murmured and Stefano silently compared her calm efficiency with Greg’s ineffectual arrogance.

‘I agree.’ Impressed, he gave her a rare smile but she didn’t even seem to notice.

She didn’t blush, stare or send him a subtly flirtatious look. In fact she didn’t look at him at all. Instead, she rose to her feet, her eyes still on the little girl. ‘You’ll have to be careful with that finger for a few weeks, Bella.’

Stefano was so accustomed to being cautious in his interaction with women that for a moment he was taken aback by her apparent indifference to him.

For a brief moment in Resus yesterday he’d felt a powerful explosion of chemistry and he was sure that she’d felt it too. But clearly it had been his imagination.

He almost laughed at himself. Had he really grown so arrogant that he expected every woman to look at him?

Unfortunately the child’s mother was looking at him with what she obviously believed to be feminine allure.

‘You’re the consultant?’ She scanned Stefano’s face and her eyes widened slightly. ‘What’s a volar plate? I’ve never heard of it.’

Stefano ignored the look in her eyes and kept his response cool and professional. ‘Your finger joints are like a hinge, yes? They must bend and straighten. The bones are connected together by tough bands of tissue called ligaments. In this joint—we call it the PIP—the strongest ligament is the volar plate.’

The mother studied his face a little more intently than was necessary. ‘So she’s pulled a ligament? Like a sprain, you mean?’

Instinctively adjusting his body language to create distance, Stefano stepped back. ‘This particular ligament connects the proximal phalanx to the middle phalanx on the palm side of the joint.’

‘These two joints,’ Liv said quickly, demonstrating on her own hand and Stefano gave a faint smile because he realised that he’d made his explanation far too complicated, which was unlike him.

But he’d been extricating himself from the flirtatious glances of the mother.

Forcing his mind back onto his work, he tried again. ‘The ligament tightens as the joint is straightened and keeps the joint from hyper-extending—bending too far back, in other words. But if you do overextend this joint, the volar plate can be damaged.’

The little girl’s face drooped with disappointment. ‘So does that mean I can’t be a star in the nativity?’

Unusually for him, Stefano found himself at a loss. ‘What exactly does a star do?’

‘I dance a bit and then I stand still while the shepherds walk towards me.’

‘That will be fine,’ Stefano assured her. ‘Just be careful not to fall over any more sheep.’

‘Is it broken?’

‘Not exactly broken, just damaged. And we’re going to have to give it some help to make it better.’

‘Will I have a plaster that everyone in my class can sign?’

‘No. We’re going to give it a buddy to hold onto. This finger next to it—it will support your bad finger until it is healed. Your good finger will help your injured finger. Like a friend.’ Stefano glanced at Liv. ‘Can you arrange that for me?’

‘Of course. And I expect you want her to go back to the hand clinic in ten days, to check that Bella has full movement in that finger.’ She scribbled on a form and signed it. ‘Now, if you just wait there, I’ll strap that finger for you.’

‘I know who you are.’ The little girl’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re Max’s mum, aren’t you? You’re called Liv.’

In the process of writing the notes, Stefano’s hand stilled. She had a child?

He didn’t know which surprised him most, the fact that she was some child’s mother when she really didn’t look old enough, or his own thunderous disappointment that she belonged to another man.

If she was married, why had Anna been offering to buy her hot sex for Christmas?

Seriously concerned by the alarming direction of his own thoughts, he scrawled in the notes and strode to the door. ‘If you need anything else, call me,’ he said in a cool tone but Liv didn’t appear any more disconcerted by the chill than she’d been impressed by the smile. Instead she simply concentrated on applying Elastoplast strapping to the child’s finger.

As they walked out of the door, Greg cleared his throat. ‘Is everything all right, Mr Lucarelli?’

‘That nurse is obviously very experienced,’ Stefano said smoothly. ‘My advice is to watch and learn. Next time you run into trouble with a child, ask for her help.’

Why did he care whether she was married?

What difference did it make to him?

He glanced over his shoulder just as Liv lifted her left hand to remove a piece of strapping. And Stefano noticed one more thing about her.

Her finger was bare. She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.

CHAPTER THREE

HER heart thudding frantically in her chest, Liv finished strapping Bella’s finger and gave the mother a set of instructions.

It had proved really, really hard to work shoulder to shoulder with Stefano Lucarelli without once looking at him, but somehow she’d managed it.

Not that her display of willpower had done anything to reduce the effect he had on her. Whenever he was in the room, her body felt oddly lethargic, her skin tingled and there was a tiny thrill in her stomach that took her breath away.

Chemistry.

No, not chemistry. That implied something shared and there was no way he would feel the same way about her. Which meant that what she was feeling was…lust. Good old-fashioned lust.

Well, whatever it was called it was extremely irritating and inconvenient, she thought to herself crossly, as she directed mother and child back towards the exit. It had been the same the previous day in Resus. One glance was all it had taken. The look itself had probably lasted for less than a second, but the aftershocks had been with her all day and the depth of her reaction shocked her because she’d had no idea she was even capable of experiencing that sudden fiery burn of sexual awareness.

It was all Anna’s fault. If they hadn’t had that ridiculous conversation about sex, Liv wouldn’t have noticed Stefano Lucarelli.

Or maybe she would.

With an exasperated sigh, Liv dried her hands and forced herself to think about Jack, something she usually avoided at all costs. But desperate times called for desperate measures. If she thought about Jack, she’d remember why she was single.

Having thoroughly depressed herself, she was just about to call her next patient when Anna slid into the room, her eyes gleaming wickedly.

‘You’ll never guess what.’

Liv slipped her scissors back into her pocket. ‘No, I probably wouldn’t but I’m glad you’re here, because I need to ask a favour.’

‘Anything.’ Anna waved her hand airily. ‘Since our irascible consultant has taken a shine to you, you’re my best asset. But if it’s a pay rise, forget it.’

‘Can I work a split shift on Friday? Max has been picked for the football team.’

‘Really?’ Anna’s face brightened. ‘That’s fantastic. Yes, work a split. I’ll juggle the rota if I have to. Why don’t you let me pick him up from school afterwards and he can do a sleepover with Sam.’

‘I can’t ask you to do that—’

‘You’d be doing me a favour. If the boys are playing, I can write my Christmas cards. They’ve been glaring at me from inside their packaging for the past two weeks.’

Liv smiled. ‘All right. Thanks so much.’ It would save her having to beg yet another favour, this time from the childminder.

‘It’s the least I can do for Super-Nurse. Our cool, hard-to-please consultant is sending shivers of terror throughout the department but apparently you make the grade.’ Anna’s smile was wicked. ‘He strode up to me this morning and said in his most commanding voice, “When I am in Resus, I want Leev with me.” The way he says your name is incredibly sexy.’

Liv tried to ignore the bump of her heart. ‘You need to work on your Italian accent. That was a terrible imitation.’

‘What exactly did you do to him in Resus to make him love you so much? I really want to know. I’m trying not to be offended by the fact he clearly thinks the rest of us are rubbish.’

‘We just worked well together.’

Anna gave a slow smile. ‘Obviously you make a lovely couple. Have you invited him to the Snowflake Ball yet?’

‘No, I haven’t invited him to the Snowflake Ball, because I’m not going.’

‘You should invite him. At least then you’ll have something to tell your grandchildren.’ Anna glanced over her shoulder to check they were alone and then whipped a piece of paper out of her pocket. ‘One of the nurses in fracture clinic looked Sexy Stefano up on the internet and came across an interview with his ex—some gorgeous blonde Italian actress.’ She unfolded the paper. ‘Listen to this—“One of the drawbacks of Italian men is that they’re extremely macho and dominating.”’ Anna glanced up. ‘Is that a drawback? I’d give anything for David to ignore the fact that I’m loading the dishwasher and just throw me down onto the sofa for a bit of wild sex.’

‘Anna, for goodness’ sake—’

‘You haven’t heard anything yet.’ Anna cleared her throat. ‘“Stefano was so hot tempered and passionate that our entire relationship sometimes felt like one long blazing series of rows and reconciliation.”’

Unsettled by the conversation, Liv concentrated on putting the dressings away. ‘That doesn’t sound very relaxing. I’m not surprised they broke up.’

‘Hold on, I’m just coming to the best bit—“Maybe it’s because he’s a doctor, but he knew exactly what to do to my body. He was so skilled in bed and so demanding that for six months I was too tired to get up in the morning. My career almost fell apart. Two words come to mind when I think of Stefano and they are sex and stamina.” All right, now I’m jealous.’ Anna scrunched the paper up and threw it in the bin in disgust. ‘I can’t remember the last time I was kept awake by a man’s ravenous libido.’