mess.’
Instinctively she ran her hand over her head and felt stupid for doing it, knowing he’d been teasing, or hiding something.
Cam held up two bulging paper bags. ‘Lunch courtesy of the bakery.’
‘Yum. I looked in their window on Saturday and everything looked very enticing.’
‘Your hair is beautiful.’ Then he disappeared inside to the kitchen.
Aha. That’s what the throat movements had been about. He’d been stumped by her shocking red hair. No doubt the sun was highlighting all the tones and her head would be looking the colour of a cooked lobster. She called after him, ‘I’m easily found in a crowd, that’s for sure.’
‘You don’t like it?’ Surprise registered on his face as he popped his head out of the kitchen window. ‘Or is it that you don’t like standing out in said crowd?’
As she’d said, too damned astute for his own good. ‘I tried blonde once. Had lots more fun.’
A quick flick of those lips into a brief smile. ‘Redheads don’t have fun?’ he asked.
Did he want to know if she was into fun? ‘Definitely not. We’re very serious people.’ There was no stopping the grin splitting her mouth wide. Cam had some magic power that made her smile more than she had in for ever.
‘But they drive fast sports cars.’ He approached with plates, glasses of juice and the bags from the bakery. ‘Bread rolls with smoked chicken and cranberry salad okay with you?’
‘Just what I was about to ring out for.’
‘So, how’s that foot?’
She watched as he bit into his roll, noticing for the first time what perfect, white teeth he had.
So what? They’re teeth. Everyone has them.
But not everyone’s teeth had her wondering how it would feel to be nibbled on her breasts or down her stomach.
‘Jenny? A guy could be insulted with the number of times you go space tripping around him.’
Oh, I’m not insulting you, believe me
. ‘The foot’s doing as well as expected. In other words, it’s not ready to play football or do a tango. It does complain quite sharply at any sudden movement but, hey, we’re still getting along.’
He shook his head at her. ‘You are something, you know that?’
There really wasn’t an answer to that. She bit into her lunch. ‘How’s your day going? Lots of patients?’
‘The usual run of blood-pressure tabs, antihistamine scripts and general health checks. We’re rarely rushed off our feet at this centre.’ Was that longing in his eyes? ‘But then there are the days when an emergency throws everything up in the air, and around here those tend to be messy.’
‘You ever miss the busier practice in Wellington?’
‘Do I?’ He chewed thoughtfully. ‘You know, I’ve been too busy making sure the boys get established in their new life and are happy to stop and think about it. Two friends from med school and I started that practice. We were doing very well. Then one day Greg went for a run after work and had a massive coronary on the side of the road.’
‘He didn’t make it?’ It was a reminder that other people had bad stuff happen to them and didn’t run away.
‘Yes, he did. But it was a huge wake-up call. Sometimes we seemed to be working more hours than we had in the ED as interns. We brought in more partners, but it was never the same. So the long answer is, no, I don’t miss that particular practice. Though I now work so far at the other end of the stress scale I’m almost horizontal.’
‘Yeah, right. That explains the shadows under your eyes.’
‘I knew I’d forgotten something. Didn’t put any make-up on this morning.’
Had his wife disliked the slow pace of Havelock? She wasn’t asking. Instead she tried, ‘Where do the boys go after school?’ Maybe she could look after them until Cam got home.
‘Amanda, the mother of one of their friends, takes them. She also takes their swimming lessons.’
Disappointment tugged at her. Of course he’d have everything organised. He hadn’t been waiting for her
Instinctively she ran her hand over her head and felt stupid for doing it, knowing he’d been teasing, or hiding something.
Cam held up two bulging paper bags. ‘Lunch courtesy of the bakery.’
‘Yum. I looked in their window on Saturday and everything looked very enticing.’
‘Your hair is beautiful.’ Then he disappeared inside to the kitchen.
Aha. That’s what the throat movements had been about. He’d been stumped by her shocking red hair. No doubt the sun was highlighting all the tones and her head would be looking the colour of a cooked lobster. She called after him, ‘I’m easily found in a crowd, that’s for sure.’
‘You don’t like it?’ Surprise registered on his face as he popped his head out of the kitchen window. ‘Or is it that you don’t like standing out in said crowd?’
As she’d said, too damned astute for his own good. ‘I tried blonde once. Had lots more fun.’
A quick flick of those lips into a brief smile. ‘Redheads don’t have fun?’ he asked.
Did he want to know if she was into fun? ‘Definitely not. We’re very serious people.’ There was no stopping the grin splitting her mouth wide. Cam had some magic power that made her smile more than she had in for ever.
‘But they drive fast sports cars.’ He approached with plates, glasses of juice and the bags from the bakery. ‘Bread rolls with smoked chicken and cranberry salad okay with you?’
‘Just what I was about to ring out for.’
‘So, how’s that foot?’
She watched as he bit into his roll, noticing for the first time what perfect, white teeth he had.
So what? They’re teeth. Everyone has them.
But not everyone’s teeth had her wondering how it would feel to be nibbled on her breasts or down her stomach.
‘Jenny? A guy could be insulted with the number of times you go space tripping around him.’
Oh, I’m not insulting you, believe me
. ‘The foot’s doing as well as expected. In other words, it’s not ready to play football or do a tango. It does complain quite sharply at any sudden movement but, hey, we’re still getting along.’
He shook his head at her. ‘You are something, you know that?’
There really wasn’t an answer to that. She bit into her lunch. ‘How’s your day going? Lots of patients?’
‘The usual run of blood-pressure tabs, antihistamine scripts and general health checks. We’re rarely rushed off our feet at this centre.’ Was that longing in his eyes? ‘But then there are the days when an emergency throws everything up in the air, and around here those tend to be messy.’
‘You ever miss the busier practice in Wellington?’
‘Do I?’ He chewed thoughtfully. ‘You know, I’ve been too busy making sure the boys get established in their new life and are happy to stop and think about it. Two friends from med school and I started that practice. We were doing very well. Then one day Greg went for a run after work and had a massive coronary on the side of the road.’
‘He didn’t make it?’ It was a reminder that other people had bad stuff happen to them and didn’t run away.
‘Yes, he did. But it was a huge wake-up call. Sometimes we seemed to be working more hours than we had in the ED as interns. We brought in more partners, but it was never the same. So the long answer is, no, I don’t miss that particular practice. Though I now work so far at the other end of the stress scale I’m almost horizontal.’
‘Yeah, right. That explains the shadows under your eyes.’
‘I knew I’d forgotten something. Didn’t put any make-up on this morning.’
Had his wife disliked the slow pace of Havelock? She wasn’t asking. Instead she tried, ‘Where do the boys go after school?’ Maybe she could look after them until Cam got home.
‘Amanda, the mother of one of their friends, takes them. She also takes their swimming lessons.’
Disappointment tugged at her. Of course he’d have everything organised. He hadn’t been waiting for her
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