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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.”’

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