Reawakened by the Surgeon's Touch by Jennifer Taylor Read Free Book Online Page A

heard that Claire was going to the airport this afternoon to collect you.’
    â€˜Jude Slater at your service.’ He smiled as he held out his hand. ‘And you are?’
    â€˜Lesley Morris. One of the nurses,’ the woman explained as they shook hands.
    â€˜Nice to meet you, Lesley. So far I’ve met Bill Arnold and a couple of the local staff but that’s basically it. How many of us are there on the team?’
    â€˜Nine at the moment, although it can and does fluctuate. There are five nurses and four doctors now that you’ve arrived.’ Lesley pointed to a group of women in front of them. ‘That’s Kelly, Amy and Sasha—they’re all nurses. Lola, who’s our administrator, is also a nurse and helps out whenever necessary. Javid and Matt are the other two doctors on the team. Matt’s working tonight, so you’ll meet him at dinner before he goes on duty. And Javid should be along any second now.’
    â€˜What about Claire?’ Jude frowned as he looked at the women. ‘You said there were five nurses, so where does Claire fit in?’
    â€˜Oh, she’s not part of our team,’ Lesley explained. ‘Although I don’t know how we’d manage without her. If you need something doing around here then Claire’s the woman to ask. We call her our very own miracle worker!’
    â€˜Praise indeed,’ he replied lightly, wondering who Claire worked for if she wasn’t part of the Worlds Together team. Although his knowledge of the agency’s set-up was pretty sketchy, he didn’t recall anyone mentioning at his interview that they would be working with another aid agency, yet who else could she be working for? He was just about to ask Lesley when the truck arrived and everyone stood up.
    Jude followed them down the steps and waited his turn to board. Lesley had moved to the front. She patted the seat, indicating that he should sit next to her, so he climbed over everyone’s legs and squeezed into the gap. The driver was just about to fasten the tailgate when Jude saw Claire coming out of the hospital and he felt his heart give an almighty lurch. She had shed the ugly old boiler suit and was wearing a light grey dress with a prim little white collar and cuffs. She had also got rid of the baseball cap and her blonde hair was caught back at the nape of her neck.
    Jude’s pulse began to drum as he took stock of the gently rounded curves of her breasts and hips, the purity of her profile. There was no doubt that she was a very beautiful and desirable woman and he would have needed to be dead from the neck up and down not to notice that fact...
    â€˜Do you want a lift, Sister? I can call at the convent on my way back if it will save you having to wait.’
    Jude heard what the driver said but it was a full minute before the words registered and he gasped. It felt as though everything was happening in slow motion as he watched Claire walk over to the truck and climb on board. She was obviously popular because everyone greeted her with a smile although he didn’t. He couldn’t. He could neither smile nor speak as he watched her take her place on the bench. He closed his eyes, wondering if his mind was playing tricks. It had been a stressful day and it was understandable if he was a little...well, confused.
    The truck set off with a lurch and Jude opened his eyes, expecting that the scene would have changed. It hadn’t. Claire was sitting serenely on the bench, her hands lightly clasped in her lap. A breeze suddenly blew into the truck and he saw her lift up her hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Jude felt a huge great wave of regret wash over him. Even though he knew he had no business feeling that way, he couldn’t help it. It just seemed like such a terrible waste. Claire might be beautiful and desirable but she was also strictly off limits to him or to any other man.
    The fact was that Sister