Her Honourable Playboy. Kate Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ two evils. And Alyssa Ward was at least cool and calm. She’d be far better with the kid than he was.

      He switched to charm mode. ‘Alyssa, can I borrow you for a moment, please? I need your help.’

      Her eyes narrowed. ‘What?’

      ‘Little boy with a zip problem. I need someone to distract him while I do the necessary.’ Please, please, let her say yes. Please, let her like kids. Please, let her help me.

      She shrugged. ‘OK.’

      His smile, this time, was genuine. ‘Thanks. I appreciate it. Cubicle five. I’m just going to get the lidocaine, mineral oil and cutters.’

      By the time he returned—only a few moments later—the little boy was sitting on Alyssa’s lap and she was telling him a story. The child was still crying, but he was more interested in the story—something about a train and a dinosaur. Alyssa was a natural, Seb thought.

      And then the lightbulb pinged. Of course. Question: why wouldn’t you want a swish night out? Answer: when you were married with a small child.

      He glanced automatically at her left hand. No wedding ring. Either she didn’t wear it at work for hygiene reasons, or she wasn’t married but was still committed.

      Well, that was an easy one. He’d arrange a babysitter, and she could still have the night out—but with her partner instead of him.

      And he could go partying without having to worry about not fulfilling the terms of his promise.

      Sorted.

      He painted iodine onto the little boy’s skin, then slipped in some lidocaine. As the numbing action began to work, the child’s sobs diminished and he even started to talk back to Alyssa, asking her bits about the story.

      Not wanting to break the peace, Seb quietly told the mother exactly what he was going to do and then worked swiftly in silence. He covered the area in mineral oil—it wasn’t enough to make the zip move, so he was going to have to cut the slide. Alyssa was still distracting the little boy, which was good—it meant the child wouldn’t worry about the orthopaedic pin cutters which Seb had brought with him.

      There was one nasty moment when Seb thought he was going to have to try the other way—using heavy-duty towel clamps on either side of the zip slide and twisting the thing apart—but then the fastener slid apart, releasing the little boy’s skin.

      Result.

      He pulled the exposed zipper teeth open, cleaned the crushed skin and applied some ointment.

      ‘Has your little boy had his tetanus injection?’ he asked.

      The woman nodded, looking relieved.

      ‘That’s good. Now, he’s going to be a bit sore for a while, but there won’t be any lasting damage. If you’re worried about anything at all, call your GP or come back here and we’ll take a look.’

      ‘Thank you.’

      He smiled. ‘Hey, I just did the easy part. Alyssa did the tough bit.’ And he really meant it. She’d done the thing he found more difficult than anything else: she’d calmed the little boy right down.

      ‘Thank you, both of you.’

      Alyssa brought her story to a swift conclusion, but before she could follow the patient out of the cubicles Seb said softly, ‘Alyssa?’

      ‘Mmm-hmm?’ She looked faintly wary.

      ‘Thank you for bailing me out.’

      ‘Kids worry you?’

      Was it that obvious? ‘I’m just…I don’t have the rapport with them that you clearly do.’

      ‘No problems.’

      He cleared his throat. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t realise you were…well, married with kids. Of course you won’t want a night out on the town with me. But you won the raffle fair and square, so I’m more than happy to pay for a babysitter as well as the rest of it, so you and your husband can have a night out together.’

      She lifted her chin. ‘I’m not married.’

      ‘Partner, then.’

      Her green eyes glittered. ‘And I don’t have children. It’s just part of my job.’

      Hell, she was back to freezing him again. And he didn’t like the way she was looking at him. Kind of, well, as if she despised him. And it was irritation that made him say something he knew was seriously stupid, even as he spoke the words. ‘Then, if you’re free, let’s get it over with. Tonight. I’ll pick you up at half seven.’

      Without giving her the chance to say no, he went to find his next patient.

      CHAPTER TWO

      ALYSSA really didn’t want to go on this stupid night out.

      But what choice did she have? If she refused, people would start asking questions. Nosy questions. Dig into things she’d rather keep where they belonged: firmly in the past. Plus, the hospital grapevine would make a big thing about it. For weeks staff on other wards would be pointing her out in the corridors or the canteen as The Woman Who Said No To Seb Radley. Alyssa hated being gossiped about. Been there, done that, absolutely no way in hell she’d ever put herself in that situation again.

      And then there was Seb himself. He wasn’t the sort of man who took no for an answer—not unless there was a good reason. Which there was, but she didn’t want to discuss it with him and have him laughing at her.

      So that meant going out with him. Which made her a doormat, for letting other people bully her into doing something she really didn’t want to do. Also been there, done that, absolutely no way in hell she’d put herself in that situation again.

      Whichever way she looked at it, she lost.

      Out of all the hundreds of tickets sold, why had they had to pick hers out?

      And then a truly nasty suspicion hit her. Tracey had bought the ticket for her. Tracey—so Alyssa had heard—had been the one to pick the ticket out. Coincidence? Or had it all been a fix?

      No. Surely not. Tracey knew Alyssa hadn’t wanted the date. It had to be a coincidence.

      All the same, it niggled at her.

      ‘Right. Night out with Seb.’ Mr Smooth And Charming. It would’ve helped if he’d told her where they were going when he’d asked her for her address earlier that afternoon. Should she dress up? Dress down? ‘Bloody man,’ she muttered.

      Still, it was just one night. It was a charity thing. So he wouldn’t try it on with her; he wouldn’t try to add her to the notches on his bedpost. If he did…then she’d remind him about that case they’d worked on today. Toddlers weren’t the only ones who could catch themselves in a zip. Especially if they had a helping hand. That would be enough to make him realise that she meant business and he was wasting his time.

      In the end, she opted for a little black dress and СКАЧАТЬ