YES...
This was all shaping up to be even better than Georgia could have imagined.
While she was well aware that she was a part of the growing percentage of women succeeding in demanding careers like paramedicine, there were hundreds and hundreds of people here and it seemed like the majority of them were men.
The kind of men that had always stood out from the crowd for her. Intelligent, confident men who were caring enough to devote their working lives to caring for others. Born leaders who could wear a uniform like a second skin rather than an advertisement of achievement or authority.
One of them could be exactly the kind of man she would choose to be the father of her child.
The sense of unease that touched the back of her neck and rippled down her spine was becoming familiar but Georgia had come up with a way to shrug it off with what seemed a perfectly feasible argument in her defence. She wasn’t the only woman who was prepared to embrace the decision to bring a child into the world without a partner.
She could have taken what was becoming an accepted route to parenthood by paying for the services of a sperm bank and the initial part of that process would be to peruse the profiles of available candidates. She would be making judgements based on physical attributes like height and colouring. Academic qualifications and profession could indicate levels of intelligence and determination and interests in things like sport or music could offer an insight into attitudes or talents.
She could well end up doing exactly that but what put her off that route to parenthood was the fact that it would be recorded. Traceable. The risk of that knowledge being used to interfere with her life was probably small enough to be insignificant but Georgia knew only too well how damaging that interference was capable of being. Why take the risk if it was possible to eliminate it completely?
She had convinced herself that all she was planning to do was to peruse profiles in a much less clinical fashion, by means of personal interaction.
The thornier issue of consent was more difficult to shrug off, of course, but there wasn’t any point in facing that one unless she found a suitable candidate. Given her list of requirements, it was quite possible that even this best-case scenario of potentially great men wouldn’t provide exactly what she was looking for.
What with getting through the registration protocol and transferring their luggage to their accommodation, the time since she and Kate had arrived at the rally had been a bit too busy to get more than a very general impression of their fellow competitors but that had just changed. Standing in a crowded dining hall, holding her dinner tray, Georgia found herself joining Kate’s attempt to locate two empty spaces at a table. Except that it was the array of faces capturing her attention instead of any empty chairs. Surprisingly, many of those faces were looking back at them and they didn’t seem to be simply curious glances that might be assessing competitors. There were smiles to be seen, along with raised eyebrows that suggested friendliness, if not interest.
Like that very tall guy, with a mop of sun-streaked blond curls and a cheeky grin. The tilt of his head was an unmistakeable invitation to claim the extra space at his table.
Georgia smiled back.
‘There’s some space on that table,’ she told Kate, leading the way. She smiled again as they got closer. ‘Do you mind if we join you guys?’
‘Please do.’ He looked delighted. ‘I’m Dave. This is Ken and that’s Sally, who’s stuffing her face there.’
‘You’re from Australia, right?’
‘No. New Zealand.’ Dave sighed heavily. ‘Everybody thinks our accent is the same but it really isn’t.’ He grinned at Georgia. ‘No mistaking yours. You’re Scottish.’
‘I am.’ Georgia took the empty seat right beside Dave.
New Zealand... It was a country that conjured up images of clean, green forests and pristine beaches—like advertisements for healthy lifestyles. Even better, it was a country on the opposite side of the globe. About as far from Scotland as possible. It was impossible not to register that that fact ticked one of the first boxes on the list of requirements she had drawn up on her potential master plan.
The plan that had suddenly become rather more than just a half-baked idea, in fact.
The dumplings on her plate were rather dense and speckled with something green that could be parsley. Dave appeared to be enjoying his meal and Georgia was never fussy with her food so she took a large bite and found that the dumplings were actually better than they looked, especially with a covering of the gravy they were swimming in.
She glanced sideways as she loaded her fork again. ‘I like your uniforms. Are you paramedics?’
‘Yeah...you guys?’
‘I’m a paramedic. Kate’s a doctor. Is this your first time here?’
‘Sure is. Never seen anything like it.’
‘Where are you based at home? City or country?’
‘Auckland. Biggest city in the country. And up there in the top cities of the world to live in. You should come and visit sometime.’
‘Oh? What’s so great about Auckland?’
The attractions seemed to focus on fabulous beaches, a great night life and the best food and coffee the world had to offer. Sally and Ken were keen to tell her about what a great place it was to work in the ambulance service as well, but Auckland wasn’t a likely destination to add to any future travel plans, as far as Georgia was concerned.
Especially if any more boxes on that mental list were going to get ticked and that was apparently happening without her even consciously thinking about it. Dave was tall, which made a good genetic balance for her own slightly below average stature. He was definitely good looking and there was a gleam in those blue eyes that suggested intelligence. As a bonus, his camaraderie with his teammates told her that he wasn’t any kind of sociopath.
Dave seemed, on first impression, to be a very nice guy and Georgia experienced another pang of guilt that she could even be thinking along these lines. Was she really planning to cultivate a friendship enough to use someone for such a selfish purpose? Getting pregnant accidentally was common enough to be almost normal but it was more than a little disturbingly immoral to plan such an event.
She glanced at Kate, almost hoping that enough telepathy existed between them that her friend would sense the secret list-ticking and deliver a hint of shock with some raised eyebrows and then a frown, or perhaps a headshake, of total disapproval.
But Kate wasn’t even looking in her direction. She seemed to be focussed on her meal and wasn’t joining in with the conversation around her. Maybe she was more out of her comfort zone than Georgia had anticipated when she’d persuaded her to come to this competition. Kate was incredibly clever and hardworking and the best friend Georgia had ever had, but nobody could say she was overly adventurous. Or even spontaneous. If there was going to be a break in her normal routines, Kate liked to be able to plan how to cope with it. Making a plan that would turn her whole life upside down would be so unthinkable that Georgia had known instantly that it had been a mistake to even voice her idea of bypassing the search for a suitable partner and moving straight on to parenthood.
Or maybe Kate was thinking about the old friend from medical school she thought she’d spotted in the crowd at registration. The news that he was now married had been disappointing. Thanks to the latest disaster of being unceremoniously dumped by Rick, Georgia was completely over the idea of finding the love of her life but her flatmate was still a believer and, if anybody deserved the happy-ever-after of the full package, it was Kate.
Perhaps the vibe of wishing the best for her had transmitted itself to Kate because she finally looked up from her meal. She glanced from Georgia to Dave and back again, a subtle quirk of her eyebrow confirming what Georgia already knew—that Dave was interested and it would be very easy to turn this chance meeting into something more—but even that didn’t provoke any hint of disapproval.
Kate started chatting to Sally and Ken then, clearly interested in hearing about what it was like to live and work in New Zealand. Seeing that she seemed more relaxed about being here allowed Georgia to release a small sigh of relief. Maybe Kate was making an effort to embrace this adventure and the next couple of days would be a lot of fun for both of them.
And maybe that was exactly what Georgia needed to do. To focus on this competition for what it was—an opportunity to demonstrate her skills to the best of her ability. Kate was smart enough to be right most of the time and the plan that had seemed like an epiphany a few weeks ago, however half-baked it had been, was a hare-brained scheme.
And wrong?
With a small, inward sigh, she joined in the conversation and avoided looking at Dave again until she had finished her meal. By the time they all filed out of the dining room on the way to the pre-competition briefing she had decided that Dave, despite how cute he might be, was safe. After only one candidate, she was done with her personal profile testing.
She didn’t need Kate’s disapproval because she had just tapped into plenty of her own.
Men who contributed to sperm banks were doing so with the full knowledge that they could be fathering children they would never know. Making an assumption that what someone didn’t know couldn’t hurt them was irresponsible and...and unacceptable.
All the men here were safe.
She was done with any list-ticking. The master plan had been scrapped.
* * *
‘Between eleven-thirty and midnight tonight, you will all receive your list of events.’
Georgia felt her heart pick up its rate as a squiggle of excitement tickled her gut. This was really happening. She’d heard about this competition years ago, when she’d been training to become a paramedic, and it had always been a dream. This was why she was here and the crazy idea of hooking up with someone and possibly going home pregnant was no longer even remotely interesting.
‘You will be given the GPS coordinates of the scenario and a start time,’ the official continued. ‘Please be there at least ten minutes before that time. If you are late, you will not be admitted and you will not be marked in that section of the competition.’
Georgia elbowed Kate, who was standing close beside her in this very crowded room. ‘No chance of that happening,’ she whispered. ‘Not when I’m with you.’
The comment should have earned the kind of eye-roll that Kate bestowed automatically whenever she was reminded of her compulsion to obey rules but, instead, she received a quick grin. Maybe Kate was feeling as excited as she was now that this was actually beginning. Or would be in a few hours.
Starting at six a.m. tomorrow, there would be twelve tasks for each team to complete within twenty-four hours, with time allowed for rest and meal breaks along the way. A final warning about possible elimination from the competition if any teams were found to be sharing information about the tasks completed the briefing and a babble of conversation broke out amongst a shifting audience.
To Georgia’s surprise, Kate immediately turned to the man standing on her other side.
‘What section are you in?’ she asked. ‘All doctors? Doctors and med students?’
Her body language suggested the ease of an old friendship so Georgia realised that this man had to be the one Kate had told her about. Luke?
‘Doctor/paramedic.’ He put his arm over the shoulders of his companion. ‘This is Matteo Martini. Italian paramedic extraordinaire.’
Georgia’s gaze shifted. And then something a lot bigger shifted inside her chest.
This Italian paramedic had to be the most gorgeous man she had ever seen in her entire life. Well over six feet tall, his strong features were softened by a frame of soft waves of black hair and his eyes looked like the darkest, most luxurious chocolate you could imagine. And that smile...just crooked enough to give a hint of playfulness. Mischief even?
Whatever. The net effect was drop-dead sexy.
‘Ooh...’ The sound was almost an approving hum and Georgia felt as if her body was shifting itself a bit closer, even though she knew she hadn’t moved. And then her mouth opened without giving her time to think about whatever words she wanted to produce. What did emerge was vaguely appalling.
‘A martini? Yes, please... Extra-dry—with an olive.’
She saw the flash of surprise in those chocolate-coloured eyes but then it vanished in the wave of laughter that Georgia managed to join in with, making her ridiculously flirtatious comment no more than a joke.
‘This is Georgie,’ Kate said. ‘My paramedic partner.’
It seemed the most natural thing in the world to fall into step beside Matteo as Kate and Luke led the way to the bar where everyone was going to wait for the scenario list and start times to be handed out.
She felt small beside this solid male figure. And a bit embarrassed, to be honest, after her overly enthusiastic response to their introduction.
Matteo seemed perfectly at ease. He bent his head so that his voice was like a soft, teasing growl intended only for her ears.
‘So...you and me, then?’
Oh, help... If her response to their introduction had been flirtatious, this was more like blatant seduction and the reaction of her body to both the sound of his voice and the implied invitation was like nothing Georgia had ever experienced. She’d met this man less than a minute ago and already the attraction was so powerful she wanted...
An upward glance gave her direct contact with those extraordinary eyes.
Oh, man...she wanted everything. The sheer force of such an unexpected response to a stranger was actually alarming enough to make her break the eye contact within the space of a heartbeat.
And she didn’t trust herself to say a single word.
Even more disturbingly, she could feel a faint fluttering sensation that she recognised only too well.
Hope...
That this was it. That perhaps she had found the person she had been searching for. Her person.
The mental stamp was forceful enough to squash the flutter.
How many times? It wasn’t even that long since her heart had been broken for what she had sworn would be the very last time. She was not going to be stupid enough to take even a single step down that path. The one that ended with someone waiting inside a pretty church, bathed in all the promise of happily-ever-after.
No and no and no.
‘The competition,’ Matteo offered helpfully into the short silence. ‘We’re in the same category. We both have a doctor for a partner.’
‘Oh...that’s true.’ There was a very different sensation dampening the flicker of desire now. Disappointment?
For heaven’s sake, Georgia told herself firmly. Get a grip...
Matteo paused by the entrance to the bar to allow her to go in first. He smiled at her.
‘I intend to win,’ he said.
Georgia couldn’t help herself. ‘So do I,’ she warned.
This time she didn’t look away. Neither did Matteo. He was still smiling.
‘Do you always get what you want, Georgie?’
The way his accent changed her name into something rather more exotic sent a shiver down her spine. The gleam in his eyes suggested amusement but there was a warmth there, too, that made her feel like he would be more than happy to help her get what she wanted, even if it meant sacrificing something he wanted himself.
She shook her head sadly.
‘Not always.’
But she was smiling as well.
Maybe—this time—she would. The question was simply what she wanted more.
The first prize in this competition?
Or Matteo Martini?