Single Dads Collection. Lynne Marshall

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ he couldn’t do anything about it.

      Lizzie was looking for a father. Someone strong who could swing her in the garden. Someone funny who’d let her watch television before school and who wouldn’t make her eat sprouts.

      Well, he could do that bit with no problem. He wasn’t that keen on sprouts himself so he was more than happy to collude over their exclusion from their diet. And he had no trouble swinging her in the garden, hugging her and making her laugh. In fact, he was great at all those things.

      The problem came with the last bit of her letter.

      I want a daddy who will hug my mummy and stay with us for ever.

      Jack leaned his head back against the seat and let out a long breath. He didn’t do for ever. He had trouble doing next month. The whole concept of ‘for ever’ frightened the life out of him.

      And Bryony knew that.

      She knew him better than anyone.

      Which was probably why she’d looked so shocked when he’d kissed her. Hell, he’d been shocked! And now he was confused, too, which was a totally new experience for him. He was never confused about women. He knew exactly what he wanted from them.

      Everything, as long as it wasn’t permanent.

      Which meant that he had absolutely nothing to offer Bryony.

      He started the engine and clenched his hands on the wheel. He had to stop noticing her as a woman. Surely it couldn’t be that hard? After all, he’d only just started noticing her that way. It couldn’t be that hard to go back to seeing her as his best friend.

      He’d just carry on as they always had. Dropping round to see her. Chatting in her kitchen. And seeing other women.

      It would be fine.

      If working with Jack had been hard before the kiss, for Bryony it became even harder afterwards.

      When he walked into a room she knew instantly, even when she had her back to him.

      She didn’t need to see him. She felt him. Felt his presence with every feminine bone in her body.

      And she noticed everything about him. The way the solid muscle of his shoulders moved when he reached up to yank an X-ray out of the lightbox, the way his head tilted slightly when he was concentrating on something and the way everyone always asked his opinion on everything. She noticed how good he was with anxious relatives, how strong and capable he was with terrified patients and how well he dealt with inexperienced staff. He was the cleverest doctor she’d ever worked with and he had an instinctive feel for what was wrong with a patient before he’d even examined them.

      If she’d had butterflies before he’d kissed her, they seemed to have multiplied since the kiss.

      Which was utterly ridiculous because obviously, for him, nothing had changed.

      Their relationship followed the same pattern of blonde jokes, man jokes and evenings when he sat with his feet on her table in the kitchen, watching while she cooked, a bottle of beer snuggled in his lap.

      And now they were into December and there was no sign of a man who was even remotely close to fulfilling Lizzie’s criteria for a daddy.

      David hadn’t asked her out again and she’d resigned herself to the fact that he was probably now dating Nina.

      ‘Are you upset about that?’ she asked Jack one evening, when they were curled up in front of the fire. She was writing Christmas cards and he was staring into the flames with a distant look in his eyes.

      ‘Upset about what?’

      ‘Nina.’ She said the other woman’s name as lightly as possible. ‘Someone told me that she’s seeing David Armstrong.’

      ‘Is she?’ Jack suppressed a yawn and stretched long legs out in front of him. ‘Well, good for him.’

      ‘You never should have sent them home together. I’m amazed you’re not upset.’

      He gave her a mocking smile. ‘Come on, Blondie. How long have you known me?’

      She stared at him. ‘You engineered it, didn’t you?’ Her pen fell to the floor as she suddenly realised what had happened. ‘You got rid of her.’

      His gaze didn’t flicker. ‘I encouraged her to find someone else, yes.’

      ‘Why?’ Bryony shook her head, puzzled. ‘She was nice. And she seemed crazy about you.’

      Jack looked at her steadily. ‘She was.’

      Which was why he’d ended it.

      It was Jack’s usual pattern.

      Bryony sighed. ‘Jack, you’re thirty-four,’ she said softly. ‘You can’t run for ever.’

      He gave a funny lopsided grin that made her heart turn over. ‘Watch me.’

      ‘Listen…’ She put her pen down and gave up on her Christmas cards. They could wait. ‘I know your parents’ divorce was really difficult for you, but you can’t—’

      ‘Drop it, Blondie. I don’t want to talk about it.’ His eyes glittered ominously and she saw the warning in the blue depths. Taboo subject.

      She sighed. ‘But, Jack, you can’t—’

      ‘Why did the blonde tiptoe past the medicine cabinet?’ he drawled lazily, and she rolled her eyes, exasperated by his refusal to talk about his emotions.

      ‘I don’t know.’

      ‘Because she didn’t want to wake the sleeping pills.’ Jack gave a wicked smile that made her heart jump in her chest.

      He was so shockingly handsome it was totally unfair, and when he smiled like that she just melted.

      ‘How many men does it take to change a toilet roll?’ She smiled sweetly. ‘No one knows. It’s never been done. So what did Nina do wrong?’

      Jack gave a sardonic smile. ‘Frankly? She said, “I love you”,’ he said dryly, and gave a mock shudder. ‘Which is the same as “goodbye” in my language.’

      Bryony rolled her eyes. ‘They always say that if you want to get rid of a man, you should say “I love you, I want to marry you and most of all I want to have your children.” It’s guaranteed to leave skid marks.’

      Jack laughed. ‘That’s just about the size of it. Why do you think I bought a Ferrari?’

      Bryony sighed. ‘Poor Nina.’

      ‘She knew the score.’

      But Bryony was willing to bet that knowing the score hadn’t made it any easier. On the other hand, Nina seemed to have moved on quite happily to David so she couldn’t have been that broken-hearted.

      ‘One day you’ll settle down, Jack,’ Bryony predicted, licking another envelope. СКАЧАТЬ