Operation Seduction Read online

  Operation Seduction

  By

  Angela Verdenius

  Copyright © 2012 by Angela Verdenius

  Cover photo courtesy of Valentinrussanov & istock.com

  Cover by Joleene Naylor

  ebook Edition License Notes

  No part of this book may be reproduced or copied in any form without prior written consent of the author & publisher. This ebook is licensed for your enjoyment only and may not be sold again or given to another person.

  This is a work of fiction and all names, characters, incidents and places are from the author’s imagination

  Original copyright 2006 Angela Verdenius

  Published 2006, 2008 and 2010

  Foreword and Australian slang Glossary

  Operation Seduction has been published several times before with other publishers, as both a stand-alone novella and part of an anthology.

  Now, I have re-edited and self published it for you to read. Sit down and enjoy an Aussie seduction set in the not-so-distant future!

  United Air Medics & the Royal Flying Doctor Service

  The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) is an integral part of linking outback and isolated areas to major cities in the different states of Australia. Usually the airplane is staffed by a pilot, nurse and doctor.

  Because this story takes part in the not-too-distant future, I have taken the liberty of using my own form of outback medics, changing the name to the United Air Medics, and incorporating extras, such as a spaceship and the presence of a dentist and dental nurse.

  ** Please note that some Australian spelling of words will be different to US spelling.

  GLOSSARY

  Bloke – man

  Bonzer – great/wonderful

  Bugger – a person considered contemptible, alternately it can also be used as an annoyed exclamation

  Cattle duffer – cattle rustler

  Clacker – backside/bum/bottom/butt

  Crack a coldie – open a can of beer and drink it

  Crook – broken, sick. Alternately, it can also mean a dishonest person.

  Drongo – silly person, hopeless

  Duck bill - speculum (used in pap smears)…may not technically be Aussie slang, but author’s own!

  Gyno – shortened term for gynaecologist

  Hooroo – goodbye

  Mate – generally used for a friend, but depending on the infliction, its usage will depict the user’s mood and true feelings

  Outback – country areas

  Shag – have sex

  Sheila - woman

  Shirty – annoyed

  Spinifex – prickly grass that grows in clumps

  Station – ranch

  Station hand – cowboy

  Tinny – beer

  Wally – idiot

  Chapter One

  “I can’t believe how bad I feel,” Charlotte moaned.

  “I can’t believe you got sick and left me with Dr. Dickie.” Reg looked at her friend without sympathy.

  “I mean from the food poisoning!” Charlotte wailed. “The food was a gift!”

  “The food was from a patient,” Reg replied. “It’s revenge.”

  Charlotte glared up at her from her sick bed. “How do you figure that?”

  “You’re a dental nurse and Barry’s the dentist. Only you two got sick.”

  “That’s because we were the ones who got the food!”

  “From a patient, after you pulled out six teeth from both the top and bottom row of the poor sod’s jaws. What do you think?”

  Charlotte scowled. “You’re not very sympathetic, Reg. For a United Air Medic nurse, you’ve got an appalling bedside manner.”

  “Listen, lady, I travel with you and Barry all the time. I know you both. You’re out of danger, so why waste good sympathy?” Reg grinned. “Besides, we’ll pick you up on our way back.”

  Grumpily, Charlotte folded her arms.

  “Speaking of which, how is Barry?” Reg picked up a small piece of chocolate from the box given to Charlotte.

  “Barry is doing well,” a deep voice said from behind her.

  Now things were taking a bad turn. Reg glanced over her shoulder to see Dr. Digby Carslow standing in the doorway. He came in with that groin-heating smile of his, all walking male testosterone in khaki pants and shirt that hugged his tall, muscular build to perfection. His dark hair was confined at the nape of his neck with a tie, giving him a rakish appearance to go with his roguish good looks and sparkling blue eyes.

  Looking at him, Reg tried to hide her antagonism. The man brought out the warrior woman in her. She felt like beating her fists against her generous bosom and hurling chocolate at him. I could lick it off, then. Her eyes narrowed. No, I wouldn’t.

  Digby gave her a cursory glance. “Ready to go, Regan? We’ve a lot of miles to cover today.”

  “What are we going to do about the dentals?” she queried. “There are no spare dentists in the next few country towns.”

  Picking up Charlotte’s file, he glanced over the observation chart. “Barry gave instructions for antibiotics and analgesia, and he’ll do a trip out to the places as soon as he’s feeling better.”

  “So we’re going to be alone?” Poop.

  Without lifting his head, he raised those thick black lashes so that he was looking at her from the top of his eyes. “Got a problem with that?”

  “Not at all.” Bugger me.

  With a curt nod, Digby dropped the obs file back on the end of the bed. “Let’s be off then. I want to get to Baringa by tonight and set up clinic first thing in the morning.” He strode from the room.

  Turning to Charlotte, Reg caught her friend staring at Digby’s backside with her tongue practically hanging out. “I’d trade places with you if I could.”

  “Thanks, Charlie. Such a sacrifice.”

  “Only for you, Reg, only for you.”

  Shaking her head, Reg left the room. Outside the hospital, she caught up with Digby, who was taking large strides towards the UAM flight ship. The ramp was down, and without saying a word to her, he strode up them and into the cool interior out of the glaring sun.

  Refusing to hurry, Reg walked up the ramp sedately.

  Digby frowned at her from around the corner of the pilot cabin on the right of the corridor. “Are you coming?”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  His frown grew. “Is something the matter, Regan?”

  Her smile was totally false. “Not at all.”

  “Hmm.” His head disappeared back into the control cabin. “We leave in five minutes.”

  It was, Reg thought, going to be a long three days, stuck in the flight ship with Dr. Dickie.

  ****

  Digby had no idea what was the matter with Regan. He remembered her as Reg, the shy, over-weight sister of his one-time best friend, Derek. Vaguely he remembered her hovering around corners, in doorways, always shy, always blushing.

  Taking on the role of doctor on this flight plan that covered thirty thousand miles over different parts of Australia, he’d been surprised to find that shy Reg was the nurse that worked on this ship and route. Only Reg wasn’t shy anymore.

  Engaging the controls to automatic, he left the cabin to go to the clinic rooms and read up on the files of the patients they had to see in the outback towns.

  Passing the door to the treatment room, Digby glanced in and stopped. No, Reg wasn’t shy anymore. In some ways, Regan had changed a lot, in other ways, not at all.

  Right now, she was bent over looking into a cupboard, her generous bottom in the khaki pants waving in the air in time to the beat of the music that was coming from the disc player.

  Reg was still big, her figure a full blown hour glass shape. Whe
n she lifted her head, he caught sight of her face in the polished surface of the sterilizer. Full, pert lips, tip-tilted nose, big brown eyes. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, and several long strands had escaped the band that held it high on her head.

  Her pony tail was bobbing in time to the music.

  Reg glanced up, saw him and straightened slowly, and he could almost swear he saw steel seep into her posture. That generous bottom stopped swaying, the perky ponytail went still, and those full lips, which had been pursed in a silent whistling, were now pressed together tightly.

  She turned to face him. “Yes?”

  “Nothing.” He hesitated, which was unusual, for he was normally at ease with women. Hell, the sheilas loved him! Except for Regan, obviously. “Everything okay here?”

  “Of course.” One fine brow arched coolly. “Do you need anything?”

  “Not at all.” With a quick nod, he continued to the clinic rooms.

  Damn! Why does she look at me as though I’ve just climbed out from under a rock? What have I ever done to her? He racked his brain. Nothing that he could think of, anyway.

  Maybe he was imagining it. Maybe this was just Regan now. Almost instantly he discarded that thought. No, Regan was a ball of laughs when with her friends. She joked around with the best of them, and the patients loved her. So why was she so stiff and on guard when he was around?

  Maybe he’d find out on this trip, while they were alone.

  ****

  Sitting down in the little dining room, Reg rubbed her hands mentally as she eyed the plateful of roast meat and vegies. No taking the fat off the meat for her, no sirree! Meat was meant to be eaten with fat on it, dripping in gravy, and the potatoes were crispy. Yum yum.

  Digby sat down directly opposite her, and Reg mentally rolled her eyes. Salad and a piece of cold meat - with the fat cut off.

  He glanced at her plate, then up at her, and smiled. “Hungry? I’ve noticed you’ve quite an appetite.”

  The remark stung. “Got a problem with that?”

  He blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

  “With my appetite?” Of which she suddenly didn’t have any.

  “I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?”

  Reg glared at him. “Are you making a crack about my weight?”

  “Your weight?” Those bright blue eyes slid over her, lingered on her breasts and drifted back up. “You’re dieting? Because if you are, I might be able to assist -”

  “Back up there, mate,” Reg growled. “I’m not dieting. I never diet. You have a problem with that?”

  “No, but obviously you do.” His generous lips tightened. “What’s going on, Regan?”

  How she hated when he said her name like that. Regan, as though she were a naughty child being called to task for something.

  “Nothing.” Spearing a piece of potato, she wiped it through the gravy and looked at him while popping it into her mouth.

  “When I first joined this ship a week ago, you were friendly. That lasted one day. Why?”

  “I have no idea what you mean.” Just eat your bloody rabbit food.

  Digby’s fork and knife hit the table with a determined crack. “Regan.”

  Her temper, which had been simmering since the episode a week ago, started to unravel. “What...Dickie?”

  “Ah - ha!”

  Reg jumped, and the potato she’d just forked up fell off onto her uniform. “Hell!”

  One long finger was pointing directly at her, and she scowled from it to the too-handsome owner.

  “You only ever called me Dickie a few times, Reg, and that was when you were upset with me about something.” His brow creased. “From memory, when I laughed about your three-legged cat after it came back from the vet, and another time when I….”

  “Yes?” Coolly she arched one brow, because if he didn’t remember, she sure as hell did.

  “When I…er…” He cleared his throat, his gaze running over her again while a faint flush crept into his cheekbones.

  “Told me I was busting out of my dress on my first ever date with a boy?” The stab of her fork into the beans was done with a lethal intensity. “And then, if I remember correctly, you told my brother, Derek, that the only boy who’d take a hefty sheila out would be someone desperate.”

  Uncomfortable was a mild way of putting how Digby looked right then, which was just fine by Reg.

  “Regan, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d overheard that.”

  “How about the fact that Derek and you got into a fight over it?”

  “I deserved it.” The tension eased from him a little. “Did I hurt you that much back then that you don’t like me now?”

  Regan stared at him. How could such an intelligent man be so…so…thick?

  “Regan?” Troubled, he held out his hand.

  His big, broad hand that could sew stitches into a patient with skill, hold a newborn with tenderness, soothe a cantankerous child…and could make a woman hot up in places that had no right to hot up.

  Shaking the mental picture away, Reg raised one brow. “What?”

  “I’m so sorry if I hurt you so much that it’s stayed with you all these years.”

  “Look, Dickie-”

  “You are still mad with me!”

  Exasperated, she shook her head. “I knew you were an over-sexed, hormone-ridden, male slut when you were a teenager, but I could have forgiven you the snide remarks about over-weight sheilas.”

  Those gorgeous lips tightened.

  “Indeed, I was prepared to get to know you again, seeing as how I haven’t seen you since your family shifted years ago. But a few things have happened since then that makes me certain you’re not much better now than you were then.” With a sniff of righteousness, Reg took a sip of soft drink.

  Sugared soft drink, thank you, not the diet stuff.

  Digby’s eyes seemed to grow brighter in intensity. “And what could I have possibly done to convince you that I’m still a - how did you put it? Sex-crazed teen?”

  “Over-sexed, hormone-ridden, male slut.” Reg rolled the words around her mouth. “Yep, that’s right.”

  The nostrils in his aristocratic nose flared. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure, Dickie. Really.”

  “Now you can tell me just what I’ve done to make you think I’m still as I was.”

  She could tell him. She could tell him and not be so childish as to sulk over it, but geez, now and again the inner child had to have free rein. Right? Taking another slow sip of the soft drink, Reg eyed him over the rim of the glass.

  Mr. Gorgeous-And-Make-The-Panties-Wet was watching her with a flash of temper in his fine eyes. Power to the warrior woman!

  “Tell me, Regan,” he growled.

  “For what reason?” She drawled. “Let’s be adult about this, Dickie, and forget the whole conversation.” The inner child in her chortled.

  For some insane reason, she was enjoying pushing Digby’s buttons. Getting a rise out of him. Having him notice her - oops! Where did that come from?

  In one abrupt move, Digby slammed his hands down, pushed up out of the chair and strode around the table. Placing one hand on the back of her chair, and the other on the table, he leaned forward and glared down at her. “Tell me.”

  “Watch your blood pressure, Doc.”

  He ground his teeth. “Regan….“

  Having him up this close was starting to play havoc with her senses. The faint, fresh scent of his aftershave barely over-laid his own unique, male scent. His eyes were fairly snapping now, and that square jaw of his was clenched.

  No callous teenager now, Digby was all male. One very annoyed male. And she was on the receiving end of that temper for being silly enough to give over to her inner child and poke the snake until it threatened to bite.

  Ooohhh, he can bite me anytime! Especially with his trouser snake! She shook her head slightly. Now where the hell did that errant thought come from? It’s not like I even really like him!

&nbs
p; But I lust after him.

  Give over. He won’t bed a big girl like you. You’re not his skinny type.

  The thought was like a jug of iced water being thrown over her, bringing to the fore hidden resentments and old hurts she’d thought long buried. And reminding her of the episode, of which it was now time to inform him.

  Reg glared up at him. “I saw you looking at Barry’s girlie mags containing the naked women with their perfect bodies. I even heard you agreeing when Barry was going on about how slim women were sexy, and fat women only good for a slow, stodgy ride.”

  Digby’s brow creased in puzzlement. “He said that?”

  “Oh, come on! I heard you mumble a yes, and I saw your eyes go wide when he showed you the next picture!”

  “Well of course my eyes went wide, Reg. Yours would have too, if you’d seen the huge, fake breasts on that woman!” Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. “I don’t remember agreeing that fa - er - large women were only for slow, stodgy rides, though. I do, however, remember not really even listening to him go on about the big knockers on the slim women.”

  “Whatever.” Suddenly tired of the whole thing, Reg slipped out of the other side of the chair and stood up.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To my cabin.”

  He straightened up slowly. “You haven’t finished eating.”

  “Well, I might lose a few pounds and not have to get your help to diet, will I?” She said snidely.

  He blinked, his gaze flashing from the plate of roast to the plate of salad, and then he winced. “Ouch. Regan, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean -”

  “That’s the whole problem, isn’t it?” She stabbed her forefinger in his direction. “No one thinks about what they say around big women. We’re practically invisible when it comes to being in a room full of women with perfect figures!”

  “Regan.” He reached out for her. “That’s not true -”

  “Touch me and I’ll break your fingers!” Reg strode past him. “When you were young, you didn’t even see me half the time. Your eyes were on the other lovelies. And now? Your eyes are still on the lovelies.”