Runaway Sister by Ann Jennings Page B

have happened if Nurse Wellow hadn’t come knocking on the door. As it was, there was a discreet tap on the door that caused them to break abruptly apart. Samantha turned away, straightening her cap, and she could hear Adam breathing behind her, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
    â€œGet out,” she muttered in a low voice. “You’ve taken just about enough liberties today!”
    â€œDon’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it,” came his voice in her ear, low and vibrant, “because I wouldn’t damn well believe you!”
    Without giving him a look Samantha stumbled blindly back to her desk, and he opened the door to let Nurse Wellow in. As he left he slammed the door violently behind him, leaving Nurse Wellow looking slightly apprehensive.
    â€œYou two don’t seem to get on too well,” she ventured.
    â€œWhat can I do for you?” asked Samantha in a tone of voice that left Nurse Wellow in no doubt at all that to continue the conversation about Adam Shaw would be most unwise!

Chapter Three
    She answered all Nurse Wellow’s queries automatically, still in some kind of daze, and was more than a little thankful when she eventually left the office.
    Samantha sat at her desk, staring with unseeing eyes at the paperwork in front of her. Why did Adam Shaw keep interfering in her life? What right had he to do so and why, oh, why had he kissed her?
    In that one brief kiss he had stirred fires of passion within her, something Steve had never done. Was that what he meant by the phrase “all-conquering passion”? She smiled to herself a little somberly. He certainly was capable of arousing that in her, she knew that now. She had suspected it before, from the way her nerves were set jangling whenever he came close to her, but now that he had kissed her she had no doubt of her reactions.
    If they had been alone she would have been like putty in those masterful hands of his, she would have willingly submitted to his every desire. Desire—yes, that was the word. “Damn, damn you, Adam Shaw,” she said out loud. “I am not going to fall willingly into your arms, as you so obviously expect!” She slammed the drawer of her desk shut with a ferocity that would have surprised anyone who had seen her and closing her office left to walk back to her flat.
    I must find out more about him, she mused as she walked briskly through the cold but sunny hospital grounds, her attractive red and navy cloak wrapped around her. He obviously is used to women succumbing easily to his undeniable charm and expects me to do the same. Well, she thought purposefully, there’s an exception to everything, and I’m going to be the exception in this case! Although even as she was making these resolutions she knew resisting Adam Shaw was not going to be easy.
    When she arrived back at the flat the first thing that she saw was a note on her doormat—Steve’s writing. Funny, she thought, frowning as she opened the envelope, it’s only two days since he jilted me and I’ve hardly given him a thought. It just shows I didn’t love him as much as I thought.
    The note told her that he was leaving the hospital the next day on terminal leave before he started his new post. He apologized for any unhappiness he had caused her and wished she could find true happiness in the future.
    Impulsively Samantha rang his extension number.
    â€œHello.” It was Steve’s familiar voice. My heart should be lurching now, she thought inconsequentially, but it isn’t.
    â€œSteve, it’s Samantha. I just wanted to thank you for your note and to say I have no hard feelings. I do hope you’ll both be very happy, and I truly mean that.”
    There was a silence for a moment on the other end of the line, then a relieved-sounding Steve said, “Thanks, Samantha, I didn’t want to go feeling bad about you.”
    â€œYou needn’t,” replied Samantha. “I