times.’
As she spoke, she picked up her cup to carry it to the sink. Joss took four huge steps away from it, almost ending up in the doorway, to give her more than enough space to rinse her cup. Distance. He needed a lot of distance from her.
‘Well, I’m up to date with my patients,’ Dex commented, his tone and words striving to find some normality in all of this. ‘It’s you two having your little tête-à-tête that’s putting you so far behind.’
‘You just want to finish early so you can get to the pub on time,’ Melissa teased. ‘Don’t tell me you want Bluey to give you another black eye?’
Both men chuckled at her words, and the air cleared to a happier atmosphere. Dex raised a hand to tenderly touch his eye and winced.
Melissa winced too. ‘Does it still hurt? It should have started to heal by now.’ Her voice was full of concern, but Dex’s expression changed instantly to one of cheeky humour.
‘I’m fine, but I really appreciate the concern.’
‘You’re most welcome. Any time you need genuine concern, come and see me.’
‘Will do.’ He paused and looked expectantly at Joss. ‘And if I need genuine favours I’ll go and see Joss.’
Joss looked at his friend. ‘No.’
Dex spread his arms wide. ‘You don’t even know what I’m going to ask!’
‘I really do, and the answer is no.’
‘But…’
‘No.’
‘Come on, mate. You know how I hate it.’
‘Hate what?’ Melissa felt as if she was at a ping-pong match, looking from one to the other.
‘No.’ Joss beckoned for Melissa to leave. ‘We have patients to see, so we’d best get back to work,’ Joss continued as he urged Melissa from the room. ‘Don’t want to keep them waiting any longer.’
‘What was all that about?’ Melissa asked as they walked towards their consulting rooms. He leaned a little closer, lest Dex should hear him, his breath fanning her neck and causing goosebumps to race down her spine. Did the man have any idea the effect he was having on her?
‘Dex hates house-calls.’
‘He does?’ Her eyes widened at this news, and in the next moment she flicked her gaze down to look at Joss’s mouth. Big mistake. She shouldn’t be looking at his mouth when they were this close to each other. Dangerous. Very dangerous.
‘Yes, and he’ll do anything to get out of going—so don’t let him talk you around. Stand firm. Be strong.’
‘You don’t think I can resist him, do you?’ The question was rhetorical, because she wasn’t quite sure she would have been able to resist Dex if he’d asked her to swap with him, even though she wouldn’t have had a clue what house-calls entailed out here in the Outback.
‘At this stage? No. You’re still in the excited stage at being so close to your brother.’
Melissa tried not to laugh at that, because she was in a bigger state of excitement simply because she was so close to Joss . The man obviously had no clue how his nearness was affecting her.
‘You need to trust me on this. I know him a lot better than you, and you do not want to swap house-call shifts with him—because it doesn’t end up being a swap; it ends up being you doing all of them.’
‘Why doesn’t Dex like house-calls? I thought he liked mixing with people.’
‘He does. He’s more than happy to see patients here, and he’ll chat with people in the pub, but going to their houses?’ Joss shook his head. ‘He’ll do it, but only under duress.’
‘So you put him under duress?’
‘I have to. It’s part of his job description. We take turns. It keeps it fair and stops us from burning out.’
‘Fair enough.’ Melissa decided it was best not to argue with the boss, although she was curious as to why her brother didn’t like that one aspect of the job.
‘In fact,’ Joss continued as an idea dawned on him, ‘it might be a good opportunity for you to go with him tomorrow. That way you’ll get to learn the ropes of what’s expected of us as far as Outback
As she spoke, she picked up her cup to carry it to the sink. Joss took four huge steps away from it, almost ending up in the doorway, to give her more than enough space to rinse her cup. Distance. He needed a lot of distance from her.
‘Well, I’m up to date with my patients,’ Dex commented, his tone and words striving to find some normality in all of this. ‘It’s you two having your little tête-à-tête that’s putting you so far behind.’
‘You just want to finish early so you can get to the pub on time,’ Melissa teased. ‘Don’t tell me you want Bluey to give you another black eye?’
Both men chuckled at her words, and the air cleared to a happier atmosphere. Dex raised a hand to tenderly touch his eye and winced.
Melissa winced too. ‘Does it still hurt? It should have started to heal by now.’ Her voice was full of concern, but Dex’s expression changed instantly to one of cheeky humour.
‘I’m fine, but I really appreciate the concern.’
‘You’re most welcome. Any time you need genuine concern, come and see me.’
‘Will do.’ He paused and looked expectantly at Joss. ‘And if I need genuine favours I’ll go and see Joss.’
Joss looked at his friend. ‘No.’
Dex spread his arms wide. ‘You don’t even know what I’m going to ask!’
‘I really do, and the answer is no.’
‘But…’
‘No.’
‘Come on, mate. You know how I hate it.’
‘Hate what?’ Melissa felt as if she was at a ping-pong match, looking from one to the other.
‘No.’ Joss beckoned for Melissa to leave. ‘We have patients to see, so we’d best get back to work,’ Joss continued as he urged Melissa from the room. ‘Don’t want to keep them waiting any longer.’
‘What was all that about?’ Melissa asked as they walked towards their consulting rooms. He leaned a little closer, lest Dex should hear him, his breath fanning her neck and causing goosebumps to race down her spine. Did the man have any idea the effect he was having on her?
‘Dex hates house-calls.’
‘He does?’ Her eyes widened at this news, and in the next moment she flicked her gaze down to look at Joss’s mouth. Big mistake. She shouldn’t be looking at his mouth when they were this close to each other. Dangerous. Very dangerous.
‘Yes, and he’ll do anything to get out of going—so don’t let him talk you around. Stand firm. Be strong.’
‘You don’t think I can resist him, do you?’ The question was rhetorical, because she wasn’t quite sure she would have been able to resist Dex if he’d asked her to swap with him, even though she wouldn’t have had a clue what house-calls entailed out here in the Outback.
‘At this stage? No. You’re still in the excited stage at being so close to your brother.’
Melissa tried not to laugh at that, because she was in a bigger state of excitement simply because she was so close to Joss . The man obviously had no clue how his nearness was affecting her.
‘You need to trust me on this. I know him a lot better than you, and you do not want to swap house-call shifts with him—because it doesn’t end up being a swap; it ends up being you doing all of them.’
‘Why doesn’t Dex like house-calls? I thought he liked mixing with people.’
‘He does. He’s more than happy to see patients here, and he’ll chat with people in the pub, but going to their houses?’ Joss shook his head. ‘He’ll do it, but only under duress.’
‘So you put him under duress?’
‘I have to. It’s part of his job description. We take turns. It keeps it fair and stops us from burning out.’
‘Fair enough.’ Melissa decided it was best not to argue with the boss, although she was curious as to why her brother didn’t like that one aspect of the job.
‘In fact,’ Joss continued as an idea dawned on him, ‘it might be a good opportunity for you to go with him tomorrow. That way you’ll get to learn the ropes of what’s expected of us as far as Outback
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