CHAPTER 3

Jamie

I t was late and I was just getting off my shift. It had been a dramatic evening especially with that drive all the way from Esperance up to Wollongong. We'd had a cardiac patient in the bed, a serious case that I knew the local regional hospitals would have struggled to deal with. It had been a bit of a risk bringing the patient all the way up here to the biggest hospital on the southern coast but I also knew it would be worth it. I hoped he made it. His numbers had not looked great.

My mind was still fairly preoccupied with the man who had accompanied the patient in the back of the ambulance. Mateo was his name.

In all my twenty-seven years of life on this great planet, I could honestly say I had never laid eyes on anyone quite so beautiful as that man. I wasn't a religious person by any means but even I had to credit some higher power for that particular specimen of man. Good job, God. Really, well done.

He was visual perfection. Not a single flaw on his entire person. Like an airbrushed version of a human. The ‘after' shot.

I wasn't sure if it was the ash coloured hair with the blonde tips and the artistic waves that he kept at a medium length. Or was it that perfect olive skin that had dipped down below the v- neck top he had been wearing, beneath the delicate gold chain around his neck. Or was it those dark moody eyes, piercing in intensity, a colour so inky they could almost be black. Was it the cupid bow lips, so plump and luscious and damned distractingly kissable. Was it his cheekbones, cut like glass on his angular face that looked like it should have been up on a billboard. Probably was somewhere. The guy certainly looked like model material.

Anyways, a guy could always dream.

I'd dropped Mateo off at the hospital two hours ago and I would likely never see him again anyway even though he lived only two towns away from me. I was all but certain I'd be dreaming of that face again later tonight though.

Bill had already signed off by the time I made my way out the front of the hospital. This place was huge and I'd left the ambulance in the drop off zone longer than was strictly permitted. I also knew Andy was the security guard on patrol and he was easily bought with a wink and a little friendly flirting.

I was also a decent way from the base so I knew it was going to be a long drive back home tonight. It was nearing midnight and I was already exhausted.

I had just rounded the corner when I glanced up at the hospital front entrance, eyes delighting when I spied Mateo himself standing there, looking intently at his phone in his hand. I knew I should have left him well alone but there was something about him that just drew me in his direction. And I didn't think it was just his beautiful face.

"Hello," I said, keeping my tone jovial, hoping he actually remembered me. "How is your friend doing?" There. That was a completely valid reason for approaching the beautiful man.

"Dante's doing okay. They're running tests and monitoring him but it sounds like he'll be all right. His wife turned up an hour ago so she's going to stay by his side the rest of the night," Mateo replied. I remembered then the sound of his cute, accented English. I'd heard him speak briefly in Italian over the phone and had nearly melted on the spot. What was it about guys and accents?

"I'm glad to hear it," I told him. And honestly, I was. I was the first to admit I became overly invested in the outcome of my patients. It was never over for me just because I'd done my part of the job and delivered a patient over to the emergency department. By then I was usually invested, had met friends or family members and needed to know the outcome. It wasn't unusual for me to stop by to see how my previous patients were doing each time I came by the hospital.

"Yeah. It was a real shock actually," Mateo sighed and I could see the stress on his shoulders. "He's always been so healthy. I never expected it."

"No one ever does," I assured him, returning the brief smile he sent me. "You okay for a lift home? We're a long way from Esperance."

"I'm okay," he tried to assure me. "I've been trying to call my housemate but he hasn't answered yet. I'm sure it won't be long."

"Yeah but then you have to wait for him to drive all the way up here," I reasoned. "I can take you back in the ambulance. I'm headed back to base that way anyway."

I could see the hesitation in Mateo's eyes, could see the way he looked back at me, the same flicker of interest as that inky gaze perused my broad shoulders before moving back to my face.

Interesting.

"Are you sure? I don't want to get in the way," he mulled.

"I am absolutely sure. I'm going back that way anyway. And my shift's over so you would be doing me a huge favour in keeping me company." I watched as that smile flickered across his face again, the smile that was so hard to coax out and therefore all the more worth it. Though I should give the guy a break. He'd just witnessed his friend suffer a cardiac arrest after all.

"Okay then," he agreed, still with that soft smile on his face. Honestly, I reckon I could live a happy and content life just being able to look at that face every day.

I gestured with my hand and he fell into step beside me. That was when I realised how intoxicating he smelled, an incredible warm and spicy scent, some kind of vanilla-cocoa mix that must have been sending out some kind of Jamie inspired pheromones. Or maybe that was all just due to the man at my side as my eyes drifted to peek down that low slung v-neck top, a hint of the carved chest on display there. Or maybe it was those light blue jeans that looked like they were a designer label and which fit that snug ass in a way that made me need to bite on my fist to stop the appreciative hum from slipping out.

I really needed to stop ogling him. The poor guy had just watched his friend have a cardiac arrest. The last thing he needed was the on-call paramedic lusting after him. Judging by the looks of him I would suspect it was the type of treatment he got all the time. I wondered if he got sick of that. Always being pre-judged based solely on your looks.

Still, it was a temptation too hard to resist, the slide of my eyes as he climbed up onto the front seat of the ambulance, me at his side to help with the step. Not that he needed my help but I was a gentleman first and foremost and my mother would not be pleased if I failed to correctly attend to the beautiful man.

Mateo was quiet as we hit the road, eyes scanning the side window and not letting me get much of a read on him. I switched the radio on, needing a little sound to make up for the silence in the front seat of the van.

It only occurred to me then that Mateo had probably not eaten all evening and I wondered if that was something I could help out with.

"Are you hungry?" I asked, eyes on him long enough to see the quick glance he sent my way.

"I'm fine," he said.

"Are you sure? I bet you haven't had anything to eat all evening," I pressed, wanting to make sure he wasn't just being polite. As if on cue his stomach rumbled and I huffed out a laugh.

"I guess I am a little hungry," he admitted.

"There's this great little diner just off the highway up ahead," I told him. "Open twenty-four hours so it's a bit of a favourite with the medics. You okay if we stop there? I haven't eaten either."

"Sure if that's okay with you," Mateo replied.

"Absolutely okay with me," I grinned, waiting until he looked at me, that barely-there smile appearing on his face.

I pulled off the highway and wound through the side road to the diner I had stopped at many times on this drive between Wollongong and the base. The arrival of the ambulance in the carpark set off the usual concerned looks until it became clear I was here to eat and not treat a patient and the interest died down.

Or kind of died down. It did not escape my notice how many looks and doubletakes Mateo attracted as we stepped into the diner even if he was completely unaware. I couldn't blame them. I'd had to look twice to convince myself he was real too.

We lined up at the back of the short queue, Mateo's eyes scanning the menu board above the counter.

"Anything take your fancy?" I asked, pulling out my phone. "My treat."

"You're already doing me a huge favour by driving me home. You're not paying for my meal too," he replied.

"Sure I am," I hedged, not quite sure how far I could push him. "You've had a rough day and I want to pay for your meal."

"I am honestly fine and I don't need you to pay," he replied.

I had to smile at the way he so easily put me in my place. I wasn't usually that easy to dissuade. "Are you always this obtuse?" I asked.

"Obtuse?" he asked, a confused expression crossing his face. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that word. English is not my first language."

"Stubborn then."

"Oh, in that case, yes, I am obtuse," he replied simply and I had to respect that. So I stood back, going against all my better instincts, and let the beautiful man order the steamed chicken wrap and a bottle of water and pay for it himself. I ordered the much less healthy cheeseburger, a serving of fries and a bottle of coke then we took a seat in the red velvet booths to wait for our meals.

The food arrived quickly and I took a bite of the greasy goodness, noting the way Mateo eyed my side of fries with a hint of longing.

"Help yourself," I offered, pushing the bowl his way.

"No, I'm fine," he said.

"You sure? You look like you could do with a couple of fries," I pushed. He hesitated for half a second before reaching across and taking a single fry and just about making my day.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"Take some more," I said, pushing the bowl further towards him.

"No, I'm fine," he said but that didn't stop him from stealing another. And then another.

"So, you're an architect?" I asked, recalling the name of the firm we'd arrived at earlier this evening.

"No," he replied with a short laugh. "You could say I work as a drafter but without any formal qualifications."

"Ah," I mulled. "I thought you were going to say you were a model or something like that."

Mateo laughed again, the sound soft and vibrant but gone as quickly as it began. "I do actually work as a model too. Just a part time thing at present."

"Now that I can believe," I grinned, seeing the way his cheeks flushed at my soft compliment. "Have you always lived on the South Coast?" I asked after a lull in the conversation.

"Since I was thirteen," he nodded. "And you?"

"Coming up about six years," I told him. He said nothing to that so I decided it was time to push a little, see where things lay. "I actually moved down the coast for my boyfriend originally."

Bingo. He looked up at me then, eyes showing far more interest as they slid down my chest, across to my biceps almost as though he couldn't help himself from looking. I knew I hadn't been imagining the interest back at the hospital.

"What happened with the boyfriend?"

"Same old story," I shrugged. "We were on fairly different pages of what we were looking for out of a relationship. But we were both young and it was probably for the better."

"And you never left the coast?"

"Nah, fell in love with it I guess," I smiled. "It was a better match for me than my ex-boyfriend at any rate so I've never left."

"It has that kind of effect on people."

"That it does," I replied.

"Anyone else fill the gap?" Mateo hedged, feigning disinterest as he took a bite of his wrap.

"One or two but no one right now," I told him, not quite feigning the same level of disinterest. "You?"

"Nope," he replied simply and that was that.

We talked and we ate and Mateo polished off my entire bowl of fries and I watched as he slowly opened up, kind of like prying off a stubborn lid from a jar but worth it in the end. I got a couple more of those simmering smiles too, the ones that lit up his dark eyes and made me think I could fall in love with him right then and there in that red velvet booth in the middle of the roadside diner.

"Did you always want to be a paramedic?" he was asking. There was no reason for us to still be seated here in the middle of absolutely nowhere. We had both long since finished our meals and yet there was absolutely nothing prompting me to shift away from this incredible guy and his equally nice company.

"Not quite," I laughed. "Originally I wanted to be the stereotypical fireman. Like most boys I suppose."

"Not all boys," he chuffed and I sure liked that sound.

"No? What did you want to be when you grew up?" I asked.

Mateo mulled his answer. "I remember going on this international flight with my parents when I was five or six and I thought the air hostesses were the most beautiful and glamorous things I'd ever seen. I told my parents I wanted to do that when I grew up and they told me it was a stupid thing for a boy to want."

"Yikes. That's rough," I returned.

"Yep. So I changed my mind on that but then I picked up a magazine one day and saw all these incredible photos with all these beautiful models and I knew that was what I wanted to do. I kept that quiet to myself though. I knew better by then."

"Sounds like it. Also sounds like you've been able to follow your dreams."

"Yeah by spending all my days in an architects firm doing a job I barely tolerate," he laughed but there was an undertone there that made me want to ask more but before I could he cut me off. "You didn't finish your story."

"Oh, right. Yeah so the dream was to be a firefighter but when I was a kid, maybe same age as you were, my grandad had a nasty fall off a ladder when we were staying at his house. Ended up with a punctured lung, three broken ribs and a broken arm. The paramedics turned up at the house and I just remember being so in awe of them, how they turned the whole situation around and made everything better. I thought they were heroes."

"That's really cool," Mateo said. "And I agree with that sentiment by the way. About the heroes."

I felt something zing inside me at the casual way he said those words, my eyes meeting his inky gaze and feeling something thud inside. I was pretty sure there was some serious blood pooling going on too but I was a little lost in those pretty black eyes as he watched me back.

The doors of the diner chimed loudly as a customer walked in and the moment was broken, Mateo quickly looking away. I whooshed out a breath of air, unsure where that intensity had come from. I didn't usually fall too quickly into relationships. I liked to take my time, get to know a guy better before anything progressed.

But I had a strong feeling I was about to throw all my rules out the window for Mateo.