The Last Doctor She Should Ever Date Read Free Page B

‘You’re dicing with death there, Doc. You know Danatello’s tournament rules. No drugs, no alcohol, no bawdy behaviour. No sex . Especially not with the boss’s daughter.’
    Zac’s eyes drifted back over to the smoky dress. The soft skin he’d touched for the merest second. The blonde ringlet curls he could imagine decorating his pillow.
    Reality check: she’d broken cardinal rule number three’she was Davide’s daughter. Heck, he’d met the father before he’d even met the girl.
    But he couldn’t pretend there wasn’t an attraction there. The four-week sex ban had only started this morning and it was doing strange things to his head already. ‘You know, there’s absolutely no evidence that sexual abstinence makes any difference to an elite athlete’s game. In fact, spending time with wives or girlfriends might even help morale.’
    Matt grinned. ‘Yeah, I got you, mate. I agree, and so does the wife.’ His eyebrows rose. A kindred spirit, clearly. ‘I don’t see why management should have to abstain too. Davide’s got this crazy idea from some article he read; no sex is supposed to keep the players hungry and high with testosterone. It’s not proven at all, but are you going to tell him he’s wrong on your first day? Don’t forget what happened to Stewy.’
    ‘Ah, Stewy. A difference of opinion? Yeah, right. Davide dumped Stewy because he dared to disagree with the game plan. But the boss obviously didn’t think about the effect it would have on the team. Or me.’ The physiotherapist had been sacked one day before the most important rugby tournament since the World Cup. Leaving Zac without a right-hand man and facing a lot of work between now and the opening ceremony in a few hours. ‘There’s a salutory lesson in keeping your mouth shut, but maybe if I blind him with medical science, he might listen to me.’
    ‘Don’t waste your breath.’ Matt slapped him on the back. ‘Davide Danatello doesn’t care about science. He lives for Auckland Jets. It’s not like your last job’here, Davide is chairman, major sponsor and boss. So, if you want to keep your job, embrace his sentiment.’
    ‘My last job was voluntary. Having a salary is a whole different ball game, I need to keep on his side.’ But he knew he was at the beck and call of a volatile investor. No decent medical structure. Rash decision-making based on gut reaction and no clinical evidence.
    ‘Absolutely.’ Matt shrugged. ‘And for twenty-eight days you’ll have no sex’whether it’s with his daughter or not’and no arguing, Doc.’
    ‘And now, no physio too...I’m holding out for some yeses. The list of nos is getting too depressing.’ Zac groaned as he watched the Jets players taking their seats, all decked out in black tie and suits that hid the metres of sport strapping holding them together. ‘Three quarters of them need some sort of massage or intensive therapy between matches to even get them on the pitch in one piece. With the best will in the world I can’t do that single-handedly. I’m good, but I’m not that good.’
    His gut tightened as he took his place at the table, nodding in greeting to the others as the MC called for order. One empty place remained next to him. Some unknowing sap had forgotten to remove the table-setting card for the missing physio. Just another minor irritation to add to the rest. It all seemed so...unprofessional.
    Great. It was supposed to be every boy’s dream, working for their favourite sports team. If the Jets won the tournament there’d be glory in abundance. But, if he stood his ground and fought Davide’s irrationality with reason he’d be out of a job completely.
    His heart sank and met his fading libido somewhere around his navel. No women. No sex, and surrounded by jokers. Not to mention he’d thrown his successful GP career over for this. Left his well-earning practice and the safety net of friends and scrap of family. The ‘life’s-too-short’ lesson he’d