Page 18 of Falling for His Best Friend

How the hell could he know?

Perhaps he was the only one who thought this was a good idea.

No. Scratch that. It was a terrible idea.

He should resist the urge. Although it might be one way to stop her from thinking about sex with strangers… But then where would it leave them?

He was a mess of indecision. He had lost all form of coherent thought and his indecision made him hesitate. In that moment, in that split second when his desire battled with logic, Kitty stepped back.

Her reaction was probably the right one. The best one.

He should also back away before he did something stupid. He’d had several beers and was far from sober. Kissing him was probably the last thing on Kitty’s mind. It was highly likely she would have slapped him and he would have deserved it.

He stepped away. That was best. The combination of her hormones and his blood alcohol level may have made them do something they would regret.

He opened his mouth to say something but he was at a loss for words.

Kitty beat him to it. ‘I’m tired, I think I might head home,’ she said, and she was gone before he could say anything further.

But that was OK. That was good even. That was definitely the sensible outcome.

As he watched her go, he tried to gather his thoughts. His brain was fuzzy and it took some time before he could make his legs move.

‘Where’s Kitty?’ Lisa asked as he went back into the pub.

‘She’s gone home,’ he replied. ‘She was tired.’

One of the other girls at the table stood up. He recognised her from the hospital, she was one of the nurses. He thought her name was Victoria.

‘Would you like to dance?’ she asked him. Her voice was quiet and he had to lean in closer to hear her. Had she done that deliberately? She was standing awfully close to him. She was pressed up against his thigh, her hand on his arm, and she was looking at him as if she had no place she needed to be.

Joe didn’t dance and he’d had enough to drink. He definitely had somewhere better to be. ‘I’ve got a better idea. Do you want to get out of here?’ he said, and was not surprised when she agreed.

Victoria was thin and blonde, the complete opposite of Kitty. She was exactly what he needed to take his mind off what had just happened.

* * *

‘Kitty and Anna, incoming patient, three minutes,’ Davina said. ‘I don’t have much information. He’s a surfer, picked up by the coastguard, suffering from exposure and dehydration. That’s all I’ve got.’

Kitty grabbed a fresh gown and gloves and made her way to the ambulance bay. Dr Anna Lewis was already there.

The ambulance pulled in, followed by a couple of news vans, and Joe jumped out.

Kitty took a deep breath. She hadn’t seen him for several days, not since she’d almost kissed him, but she’d known their paths would cross again. She’d also heard that he’d gone home with Victoria that night. Victoria had made no secret of that fact the next time she and Kitty had had a shift together. What was that all about?

She was still fuming about it. Annoyed with him and annoyed with herself for caring. She didn’t normally have an issue about Joe’s dalliances or relationships, but something about him and Victoria was bugging her and having to work with Victoria was only making things worse. She knew it was because she’d stupidly thought he’d been about to kiss her at the pub. Until he hadn’t. Obviously, that had been the last thing on his mind. He’d probably been about to ask if Victoria was single. Did everyone assume Kitty would just play matchmaker now that she was pregnant? Why didn’t anyone imagine that maybe she wanted sex? She was pregnant, not dead.

But Kitty had fled the pub after that. She hadn’t wanted to give Joe a chance to read what must have been written all over her face. He’d always known what she was thinking and she didn’t think she would have managed to hide the fact that she’d thought he’d been about to kiss her—and that she’d desperately wanted him to. What was wrong with her? That would be the surest way to ruin their friendship.

But she still wished he hadn’t hooked up with Victoria. That was just rubbing salt into the wound. Victoria was tall and thin and blonde. All the things Kitty wasn’t, and Kitty was unusually irritated by the thought of them together.

But there was nothing she could do about it.

Joe pushed the stretcher towards them and Kitty deliberately went to the opposite end, knowing she’d be able to avoid eye contact. She virtually ignored him as he gave them a rundown on the situation while they transferred the patient into an exam room.

Their patient was of Asian appearance, slim with a badly sunburned nose and shoulders. According to Joe he was Japanese. ‘This is Toshi. He got into strife in the surf yesterday and spent the night drifting out to sea on his board.’ That caught Kitty’s attention but she still avoided looking at Joe and instead looked at Toshi. He’d spent a night in the ocean on a surfboard? ‘He is dehydrated, tired and sunburnt but otherwise in reasonable shape considering the circumstances. He’s had a litre of saline, this is the second litre running through now. His English is better than my Japanese but I think you should call an interpreter.’

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