The Legendary Playboy Surgeon by Alison Roberts Page B

including tendons and nerves and muscles and things. It can show us whether this tumour is confined to the bone.’ Connor paused for a moment, letting the implications sink in. ‘Normally, we’d do a biopsy and if we didn’t like the kind of cells we found we’d look at a course of chemotherapy or radiotherapy to shrink the tumour before surgery. Depending on what we find, the better course of action may be to remove the tumour during surgery and use chemo later if it’s necessary.’
    ‘How much of the bone do you have to remove?’ Estelle’s mother asked quietly.
    ‘That will depend on what we find. If it’s benign, only enough to allow your leg to continue growing as normally as possible. If it’s cancerous, it will depend on both the type of cancer and whether it’s spread.’ Connor didn’t want to go into details about the more aggressive types of bone cancer unless he had to when the diagnosis was confirmed. He gave Estelle’s mother a steady glance. ‘I know it’s a big ask but right now the consent form you need to sign allows me to take what I consider the best course of action depending on what we find during surgery.’
    Estelle was gripping a fold of her sheet in her hands. ‘I thought I was just going to have to stop surfing for a few weeks and that I’d have crutches and a cast that the kids at school could write stuff on. That was bad enough but I could deal with it.’ The fold of sheet twisted in her hands and she gave a huge sniff. ‘I’m scared, Mum...’ she sobbed. ‘I’d rather die than have my leg cut off.’
    ‘Don’t say that.’ The older woman was close to tears herself now as she reached to hold her daughter in her arms.
    Connor couldn’t deny that amputation was a possibility and it was something they needed to talk about. He had a dozen things to get sorted before slotting this emergency case into his surgery schedule for the day but there was no way he could leave until he had provided enough reassurance to reduce some of his patient’s fear. The possibility was extremely remote that Estelle would have to lose her leg but if that was what it would take to save her life, that was what Connor would have to do. He perched a hip on the end of the bed and settled in to talk for as long as it was going to take. At least it was still early in the day. Some people wouldn’t have even started work yet. People who had cushy jobs, maybe.
    Like pathologists?
    A nurse poked her head around the door but Connor sent her away with a glance. He could keep an eye on whatever needed monitoring, like the circulation in Estelle’s foot. Reaching out, he touched the skin. It was a bit cool but his fingers found a strong pulse on the top of her foot and he kept them there for a few moments to check her heart rate.
    * * *
    He was touching her .
    His hand was on the bare skin of her neck. It tracked the bumps of her spine, ran beneath the angle of her shoulder blade and then the trickle of exquisite sensation moved relentlessly on to touch the curve of her breast. His fingers spread to cup the soft swell of flesh and the ball of his thumb grazed her nipple.
    The shaft of pleasure was so intense it was painful.
    The pain of heightened desire was enough to wake Kate. The sheets were tangled around her and she was gasping for air.
    She rolled out of bed and headed for the shower but the dream lingered in the shape of the deep burning that was a desire she had never experienced in a conscious state. She didn’t want to experience it, awake or asleep. It was pure sensation. Uncontrollable.
    Destructive.
    Oh...God. Even turning the shower control to sluice her body with icy cold water wasn’t enough to douse the effects of that dream.
    She shouldn’t have danced with Connor.
    Somehow, something had been unleashed that night. Kate had recognised it at the moment it had happened and she’d gone into damage control mode by tearing herself away and then putting as much distance as possible between