the islanders know they benefit and if they can possibly afford it then they’ll give. The generosity has been amazing.’
‘And you intend to stay here?’
‘Yes.’
Unconsciously, Jessie’s chin tilted as she turned to face him, as though she was defending her position. Niall smiled.
‘I’m not about to evict you, Dr Harvey,’ he said mildly. ‘I’m just trying to figure out why a young and attractive veterinary surgeon would want to bury herself in a place like this.’
‘This place is paradise,’ Jess said simply. ‘You don’t bury yourself in paradise.’
‘But your friends…your colleagues…’ He frowned. ‘You must be one of the most isolated vets in Australia. What does that do to your love life, Dr Harvey? Local farmers? I haven’t seen any worthy suitors banging on the door.’
‘I don’t have a love life,’ Jess said flatly and then flushed. There’d been no need to say that. She should have shut up.
‘Why ever not?’
Jess shrugged. ‘That’s none of your business, Dr Mountmarche.’ She looked down at the sleeping Paige. ‘I… Your daughter and I have eaten. Would you like me to make you an omelette?’
‘I certainly would.’ There was no hesitation and Niall met Jessie’s startled look and smiled. ‘Cook tells me hospital tea is at five-thirty so I’ve missed it by an hour and a half. I told Hugo to expect us if he saw us-and he eats early, too. So it’s your omelette or fend for myself-and I make mean toast but not a lot else.’
‘Fine.’ Jess managed to smile back. ‘Take a seat.’
She moved round the kitchen swiftly, trying not to be flustered by his presence. Heavens, she’d fed enough people in her time. She shouldn’t be shaken by one dark-eyed, solitary male.
If he wasn’t solitary she wouldn’t be shaken.
He didn’t speak, seemingly content to sit and watch, and Jess gained the impression of weariness only just contained.
For the first time she felt a stab of guilt at persuading him to take this job.
‘I’ve organised the island board to place advertisements in every major Australian medical publication for a new locum,’ she told him as the omelette sizzled on the stove. She sprinkled its surface with fresh herbs and flipped it over. ‘With luck, we’ll find someone fast and you can go back to being a viniculturist-or whatever you call yourself.’
‘Wine-grower will do-and I’d appreciate that,’ he said slowly, his eyes not leaving her.
‘When Paige settles, will you go back to London?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘You mean you do want to farm permanently?’ Jess asked, startled. ‘Instead of practise medicine?’
‘As I said-I’m not sure.’ Jess ladled the omelette onto a warmed plate and placed it in front of him and Niall looked down in appreciation. ‘That’s some omelette, Dr Harvey. They never taught you that in vet school.’
‘I enjoy cooking. Will you drive back to the farm tonight?’
‘I don’t think so.’ Niall looked across at his sleeping daughter. ‘If my promised apartment is prepared then I’ll carry Paige over and we’ll sleep there.’
‘Sensible.’ Jessie reached into her fridge and produced a chilled green bottle. ‘Especially as it means you can have wine with your omelette.’ She smiled. ‘It’s even Barega wine.’
‘Our very own Riesling. And you weren’t intending to produce it if I was driving.’ Niall’s eyes glinted with laughter. ‘Has anyone ever told you what a managing woman you are, Dr Harvey?’
‘I try.’ Jess said demurely and laughed back at him.
Their laughing eyes met.
And the weird, magnetic force slammed home with such impact that Jess gasped.
Good grief…
What was she getting into here?
She poured the wine with shaking fingers and turned away quickly. She had no idea what was happening and she didn’t want to know. This man was threatening her safe, cocooned world and she didn’t like it one bit.
Maybe they should have airlifted Frank to the mainland.
Maybe it would have been safer.
A movement by her leg caught her eye and Jess knelt down in relief. Wobble, her tiny baby wombat, was struggling free of his pouch.
‘You want your dinner, too?’ Jess said in a voice that wasn’t quite steady.
At least it gave her something to do. She fed her two orphans with their milk formula while Niall ate his omelette, drank his wine and watched her like…
Like a benevolent genie…
A genie who’d just produced something magical and was amazed with what he’d done.
Jess wasn’t at all sure that she liked the impression.
Finally, her babies tucked back in their pouches, she stood up.
‘I’ll put Harry back into his cage and take you to your apartment,’ she faltered. ‘The domestic staff have cleaned it out for you and they tell me it’s ready.’
‘Cook showed me the general layout of the place,’ Niall replied. ‘I know where to go. Why does Harry have to go back in his cage?’
‘Because he’s getting better,’ Jess smiled. ‘And I don’t trust him with my babies. Even if he just sticks his nose into their pouches it might shock them.’
‘I see. Well, don’t put Harry back on our account.’ Niall stood then, large and overpowering, his presence seeming to fill her kitchen as it had never been filled before.
‘Thank you for the omelette,’ he said softly. ‘And for the wine.’
‘It was my pleasure…’
‘As it was your pleasure to look after my little daughter?’
‘That, too,’ Jess agreed softly. She looked down at the sleeping child and shook her head in bewilderment. ‘How could her mother abandon her? How could she?’
‘Heaven knows.’
Jess looked up at Niall. He was staring down at his sleeping daughter and his face was a mixture of pride and love. Love for a little daughter that he hadn’t known existed until four months ago!
How many men would leave their career and go halfway round the world to claim an ailing child they’d never been told had been conceived? Niall had gone with no proof that the child was his-only a message from a monk in Tibet and a scrawled note in the back of a passport.
And he’d come here…Put aside his medicine in London and brought his daughter to Barega. To find a cure for ills that weren’t just physical.
What sort of man…?
Jess didn’t know. All she knew was that his presence frightened her. The very knowledge of what Niall had done scared the life out of Jessie. She’d sworn not to have anything to do with another man-ever-and here was this man undermining all her determination.
Overwhelming her with his compassion…
He turned to her, a question in his eyes.
As if he could read her thoughts.
No…
Confused, she turned away to open the door-but Niall was there before her. Whatever the current was that was running between them it didn’t have just one direction. It flooded back and forth with the strength of fire.
‘Jess?’
He moved like a sleek cat, somehow propelling himself to stand between Jess and the door. Niall placed strong hands on her shoulders and gazed down into her confused, brown eyes.
His confusion matched hers.
And his desire…
‘Jess,’ he whispered, his hands pulling her to him. ‘Do you feel this thing, too? This thing between us? Dear
