The Greek Children's Doctor(54)

Of course she didn't love him.

How could she possibly love him?

It was just that they'd shared something that she'd never shared with  anyone before. Had she imagined the incredible connection between them?  Unlike her, Andreas was obviously an experienced male-had he ever felt  that with anyone else?

'Don't try and hide from me.' His voice was husky and deep and sent  shivers through her body. He pulled her closer and she felt the brush of  his chest hair against her sensitised nipples. 'You're shivering. Are  you cold?'

Of course she was shivering. She'd just had an explosive experience that had shocked her body.

And she certainly wasn't cold.

She felt hotter than she'd ever felt in her life.



He rolled her under him again and pinned her to the ground under his  powerful body. She felt incredibly vulnerable, aware of every single  part of him.

Andreas gave a groan and lowered his head but before he could kiss her they heard voices approaching and Libby froze in horror.

Suddenly the dream shattered and she was horribly aware of where she was.

Lying in the grass by a lake in a public place, about to be discovered.

What was she doing?

Andreas reacted with his customary cool, rolling away from her and  sliding her dress back up her arms before attempting to button his  shirt.

'Half my buttons are missing,' he murmured, reaching out a lean hand and  catching her chin. His eyes danced with humour. 'Do you know anything  about that?'

Libby pulled away from him, her face flaming as she recalled how totally  uninhibited she'd been. She stooped to retrieve her shoes, wondering  what had happened to her.

How could she have done such a thing?

She, who prided herself on her self-control.

But then her self-control had never really been tested before, she  reminded herself, her eyes sliding to Andreas and resting on his broad  shoulders as he shrugged on his jacket, effectively disguising the fact  that half the buttons were missing on his shirt.

He shot her a wicked, sexy smile that made her pulse rate bolt.

'Ready to go back to the party?'

Libby lifted a hand to her tangled blonde hair, still totally confused  by her feelings. She absolutely didn't love him. 'I can't,' she  whispered, painfully self-conscious. 'I look-'

'You look stunning,' he said quietly, stepping towards her and cupping her face in his hands.

He kissed her softly and then threaded his fingers through hers and led  her back across the grass, past groups of people who were all enjoying  the cool night air after the stifling heat of the ballroom.

Libby kept her face down as they walked and when they reached the  terrace just outside the ballroom Andreas stopped and lifted her chin so  that she was forced to look at him.

'Your guilt is written all over your face,' he murmured, his tone amused  as he stroked her hair away from her flushed face. 'If it really  troubles you that much, go to the ladies and redo your make-up.'

Totally shaken by what had happened and glad of an excuse to have five  minutes to herself to gather her thoughts, Libby nodded and pulled away  from him, hurrying inside to the ladies.

She locked herself in a cubicle and leaned against the door, her eyes tightly closed.

She didn't love him. She couldn't possibly love him.

It was just sex.

But she didn't do just sex.

She wasn't sure which was worse-the fact that she'd done something so  reckless in the first place or the fact that she desperately wanted to  do it again.

Oh, help!

What had she been thinking? And she knew the answer to that, of course.  She hadn't been thinking at all. All right, so Andreas was the sexiest  man she'd ever laid eyes on but at the same time this was her, and she  just didn't behave like that. She'd never been interested in sex outside  the confines of a serious relationship.

But, then, she'd never experienced good sex before tonight, she  acknowledged wryly, opening her eyes and taking a deep breath. Suddenly  she was aware of what she'd been missing all her life.

So what happened now?

She wasn't stupid enough to believe that Andreas wanted anything other  than a short-term relationship. She was just an interesting diversion to  him.

But that just wasn't going to work for her.

She liked him. A lot.

And, given a chance, she knew that it could be more than a lot.

Shaken by the intensity of what had happened between them, she knew that  it wasn't an experience that she could risk repeating. Sooner or later  she'd end up being seriously hurt. She knew that she couldn't enjoy that  sort of physical closeness with a man without it developing into an  emotional closeness, and that was something that Andreas wouldn't want.                        
       
            



      



Neither did she, Libby reminded herself firmly. She didn't want it either.

Which meant that she had to move on and pretend that it had never  happened. Yes, that was it. She just needed to pretend that it had never  happened. Isn't that what people did after one-night stands? They just  went their separate ways and never referred to 'it' again.

She groaned. Unfortunately, 'it' was something that she was never going  to forget. And working with Andreas every day just made things doubly  difficult.

She ran a hand over her face, wondering whatever could have possessed her to do something quite so stupid.

But she knew what had happened.

She'd been overwhelmed by the chemistry between them, seduced by his  warmth and his breathtaking sex appeal. He had an amazing way of making  her feel as though she were the only woman in the world.

As if he really cared.

In fact, she'd been so overwhelmed it would have been all too easy to convince herself that he really felt something for her.

Which was utterly ridiculous.

She sucked in a breath and gave herself a sharp talking-to.

She was becoming delusional. Seduced by the romance of the evening. She  needed to go home to the familiarity of her flat before she did  something stupid.

Having made the decision, she slid out of the ladies' toilets with the  minimum of fuss and made her way up the stairs, walking purposefully in  the hope that no one would stop her.

They didn't and within minutes she was at the front of the hotel and hailing a taxi.

She stepped into the cab with a feeling of relief, pushing away the  feeling of guilt that Andreas would still be waiting for her on the  terrace.

He'd probably be a bit annoyed with her at first, but he wouldn't mind that much. To him it had just been a one-night stand.

He was surrounded by women who were desperate to get their claws into him, so losing her wasn't going to matter to him, was it?

She wasn't coming back.

Andreas breathed out heavily as he acknowledged that Libby had fled.

The irony of the situation wasn't lost on him.

For all of his adult life women had pursued him relentlessly, all of them hoping to be the one to finally make him settle down.

But he'd never been even remotely tempted.

Until now.

He still couldn't quite believe what had happened down by the lake.  There was something about Libby that seemed to make him lose control in  public places.

He'd only known her for a month but he knew without a shadow of a doubt  that Libby was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

The trouble was, the woman he'd finally fallen in love with had just vanished into the sunset.



Chapter 7



Libby arrived on the ward the following morning, relieved that she was  working. At least she didn't have time to brood. And as it was a Sunday  it was extremely unlikely that she'd see Andreas, which gave her another  day before she had to face him.

She'd bumped into Alex at breakfast, looking decidedly the worse for  wear, and he'd given her a curious look but hadn't questioned her about  her mysterious disappearance the night before.

Libby gave a wry smile. Knowing her brother, he'd probably disappeared himself and hadn't even noticed her absence.

She tied her hair up, checked that her sleepless night didn't show on her face and walked onto the ward.

Poppy, the little girl with cystic fibrosis who was back on the ward yet  again, greeted her cheerfully from the side ward. 'How was your party?'

Libby lifted her eyebrows. 'And how do you know about the party, young lady?'

Poppy grinned. 'I heard everyone talking about it yesterday and they  said that you were going with Dr Christakos. I think you're so lucky.  He's so cool.'



Remembering the fiery heat of their encounter by the lake, Libby sucked in a breath.

Not cool.

'The party was fine, thank you, Poppy,' she said, taking the little  girl's temperature and nodding with satisfaction as she read the result.  'And if you carry on improving like this, you'll be back home and going  to your own parties soon enough.'

Poppy's face brightened. 'Am I better?'

'Definitely better. The physiotherapist will be up soon to sort out those lungs of yours.'

Poppy groaned. 'I hate physio.'

Libby sighed and gave her a hug. 'I know you do, sweetheart, but it helps, you know it does. Where's your dad this morning?'

'Gone for breakfast in the canteen. He was starving.'

Libby pulled a face. 'Well, the food there is enough to cure anyone of  hunger so he'll be back soon. Why don't you use the playroom when the  physio has been?'