Rescued by Dr. Rafe Read Online Free Page B

fast, not too slow. Rafe had always been a master of the art of good timing.
    â€˜Stay if you must. I’m calling for the tow truck.’ She forced herself to look away from him, scrolling through the list of numbers on her phone for the vehicle recovery company.
    * * *
    If he had to put a name to that look, Rafe supposed that hostile arousal might just about cover it. He had no doubt that the hostility was there, but the arousal was probably just wishful thinking on his part.
    He supposed he didn’t deserve anything else, but she didn’t have to ram it down his throat. It was obvious that she could cope without him, but he wasn’t entirely surplus to requirements. If she thought that leaving her hadn’t hurt him as well, then she could think again.
    Rafe kicked disgruntledly at the tyre of the disabled ambulance. Mimi had taken hold of her life with both hands, gained a qualification and got a new job. His life was back on track, too. When he’d left, he’d made the right decision and now was no time to start re-examining it.
    The ambulance was tipped at a slight angle in the mud, but it was wedged firmly against a tree and seemed stable enough. Rafe gave the vehicle a good shove and it stayed put, so gingerly he opened the back doors and climbed inside, looking around to assess the damage.
    â€˜They’re sending a truck out. The tow company’s pretty busy, but they’re giving me priority, so they should be here inside an hour.’ She was standing in the rain, outside the ambulance, looking at him thoughtfully.
    â€˜Good. Not long to wait, then.’ This couldn’t be easy for her. Medicine was all about teamwork, and he knew that the nature of the ambulance crews’ work tended to forge the tightest of teams. She must be feeling very alone right now.
    She looked up at him and he thought he saw a flicker of confused warmth in her face. ‘How much of the ambulance equipment can you take in your car?’
    â€˜Pretty much everything that’s portable.’ Rafe surveyed the inside of the wrecked vehicle. ‘Apart from the stretcher.’
    â€˜I was reckoning on leaving that.’ Mimi was standing stock-still, her arms folded. As if she knew what she had to do but just couldn’t bring herself to start. Rafe picked up one of the bags, stowed away under the seat, and climbed out of the stricken vehicle, making his way to his car.
    * * *
    Rafe’s sudden appearance seemed to have peeled away everything she had built up in the last five years, like a bad skin graft sloughing off a wound, leaving it red raw. And now she was leaving Jack behind and stripping her ambulance of everything that could be moved. She could almost reach out and touch the feeling of loss.
    She had to get a grip. Mimi repeated the words in her head, in the hope that they might sink in.
    As usual, it was practically impossible to see what Rafe was thinking, but as they worked quietly together the atmosphere between them seemed to relax. He watched as she checked through the contents of the Controlled Drugs safe, countersigning the inventory, and then set to work helping stow as much as they could from the ambulance into his car.
    Typically, the rain seemed to slacken off just as they were finishing, and the tow truck chose that moment to arrive as well. Tired and shivering, Mimi clambered into Rafe’s car and hung her dripping jacket in the back.
    â€˜Here.’ He rummaged for a moment on the back seat, unzipped a bag and produced a sweater. ‘Put this on.’
    He ducked back out of the car, closing the door, and Mimi picked up the sweater. She didn’t particularly want to follow his orders, nor did she want to wear his clothes, but refusing might give him the idea it meant something to her. And when she pulled it over her head it was warm and all-enveloping.
    The key was in the ignition and she started the engine, putting the heaters on full and directing the