Mills & Boon Christmas Delights Collection. Rebecca Winters

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      ‘Darcy is staying at home. Making a home is a full-time job as far as we’re concerned, isn’t it, darling…?’ A firm hand beneath her jaw turned Darcy’s head so that she was exposed to the full intensity of his green eyes. No desperate appeal for her co-operation there—on the contrary; if anything, there was a hint of challenge.

      ‘You’re a full-time job!’ she breathed incredulously.

      The doctor laughed. ‘I’ll send a nurse in to suture up that head wound,’ he explained, scribbling rapidly on the sheet in front of him.

      Darcy waited until he’d gone before she exploded.

      ‘Are you mad?’ she seethed. Why hadn’t she just told the doctor he was lying through his teeth when she’d had the chance?

      ‘Hush, darling, or they’ll hear you.’

      She saw that he was looking well pleased with himself—and why not? Her anger escalated rapidly as he calmly began to shrug on his shirt as if nothing had happened. The man had the gall to stand there looking as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, when… Her train of thought skittered to an abrupt full stop—it had been a bad mistake to think mouth; she could still feel the tingling area on her neck where his lips had been moments before.

      ‘Let them!’

      He directed a mildly irritated glance in her direction.

      ‘I don’t know what you’re playing at…’

      ‘Sure you do; you’re not that stupid.’

      Darcy’s eyes narrowed. ‘Let’s pretend for the sake of argument that I am,’ she suggested sweetly.

      ‘I think I can just about make that giant leap. They were highly reluctant to discharge me without assurances I have someone responsible to take care of me. Whilst I could have just walked out of here, it seemed less stressful all round if I was married.’ The longer he was here, the more likelihood there was of someone recognising him and then it was only a matter of time before the local Press showed up…in his experience these things snowballed pretty fast.

      ‘And you thought of me. Naturally I’m deeply flattered,’ she spat sarcastically. ‘Why on earth did I have to be a nurse…?’ she wailed.

      ‘I thought that was a nice touch,’ he agreed complacently. ‘If the doc had been on the ball he’d have realised you’re not old enough to be experienced.’

      ‘You’re mad…quite mad!’ she announced with conviction.

      ‘You’re not a nurse, then?’

      ‘Of course I’m not a nurse!’

      ‘Just when your father said you were a great little nurse I thought…’

      ‘I’ve got brothers—I can stick on a plaster. I’m not Florence Nightingale…!’

      ‘True. Nobody with an ounce of caring in their body could stand there watching me struggle like this.’ He stood there, one arm inserted in his shirt, wondering what to do next.

      ‘If that was a hint, you’re really pushing it!’ she growled. ‘What if someone asks me to do something…nursey?’ she worried hoarsely.

      ‘Is that likely?’ he drawled, managing to project the distinct impression he found her complaints slightly hysterical.

      It occurred to Darcy that they were drifting away from the real cause of her simmering anger. ‘Don’t try and change the subject,’ she growled.

      One slanted dark brow quirked. ‘Which was…?’

      ‘I’m not your wife!’

      ‘This is true,’ he conceded with an expression that suggested he was mightily relieved about this. ‘I didn’t think you’d mind—it’s not like I’m actually asking you to marry me or anything drastic.’

      ‘For your information, I’ve been proposed to several times!’ she felt goaded into unwisely boasting.

      ‘Congratulations,’ he drawled, looking amused.

      Darcy’s cheeks were burning with humiliation as she discovered a major flaw in his manipulations. ‘What were you going to do if I’d driven straight off?’

      ‘I knew you wouldn’t do that,’ he stated confidently.

      ‘How could you possibly…?’

      ‘You’d be eaten up by guilt if you did. You’re deeply into doing the right thing.’ He made it sound like a flaw in her character. ‘Be a sport, Darcy,’ he cajoled.

      ‘I’m not lying for you.’

      He sighed. ‘Just don’t say you’re not, that’s all I’m asking. It’s no skin off your nose. Walk out of here with me and then you’ll never have to see me again.’

      Darcy’s shoulders slumped in defeat. ‘I must be mad…’

      A wolfish grin split his lean, dark face. ‘Good girl,’ he approved.

      Further comments were made impossible by the arrival of the nurse who’d directed Darcy here originally.

      ‘I’ve come to suture your head wound,’ the young man explained.

      Darcy took the opportunity to excuse herself. ‘I’ll wait outside.’ Halfway through the curtain, she paused. ‘Are you going to give him a local anaesthetic?’ she asked the young nurse.

      He looked confused. ‘Well, yes,’ he admitted.

      ‘Pity!’ Darcy declared maliciously.

      The sound of husky laughter followed her down the corridor.

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