Read Online Harry St Clair: Rogue or Doctor? by Fiona McArthur - Free Book Online
Authors: Fiona McArthur
Tags: Medical
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words hit him like the splashes of mud he’d just pedalled through. Sticking to him. Was he? Or just plain scared?
They were passing through a village and two young boys ran out holding up their hands. Bonnie swerved because she wasn’t concentrating and nearly collided with Harry, who took evasive action more easily than she had.
‘Whoa, there,’ Harry cautioned, though he still managed to high-five the two boys. Squeals of delight followedthem down the road and he could feel a smile tug at his lips. He did enjoy seeing the village children.
She looked ahead to rice paddies and sighed. ‘It must be hard work in there.’ Just like that. She’d brushed him off. He’d asked her to but now he wasn’t sure he liked the feeling she could do it so easily. It was darned good she was leaving tomorrow.
‘Follow me,’ Harry steered them onto a smaller track. ‘This one comes out between the fields.’
They bumped down a rocky incline and suddenly the way was smooth again as they hit a concrete path that rose between the fields and separated one rice paddy from the next. Their bikes were at waist-level with the workers and several called out to Harry as they pedalled past.
Bonnie would have loved to have looked closer but she was too busy concentrating on not steering off the path into the water and reeds below. But it took her mind off Harry and she was glad of that. It wasn’t her job to save the world. She plastered a smile on her face, determined to soak in the sun and the sensation of wind in her face and blow away the distractions of the man beside her.
Good. She looked happy again. Harry savoured Bonnie’s uncomplicated enjoyment of the scenery and the people they passed, like a new-taste sensation. He rolled her spontaneity around in his mind like a sweet in his mouth. It had been too long since he’d felt those things and it swallowed the dark feelings he’d been left with.
But there was no escaping that through the course of today he’d begun to recognise that it wasn’t healthyto stay as closed off from emotion as he’d been, so he noted her pleasure, learnt from it, and even began to question his isolation.
It hadn’t all been escape here, though. A large part of Bali had been healing to his soul. He wished he could have shown her his mother’s house. Let her feel the peace he always felt there. He wondered how she’d respond to that and to the different vibe of Ubud as a town.
He pedalled faster to catch her and when he was alongside he caught her eye. ‘Will you have dinner with me tonight?’ Funny how plans he formed for Bonnie were immediately acted on. Almost as if he acted before he could stop himself. Did he need more exposure when she was going? ‘I’ll drop you back at Kuta afterwards, and even take you to the airport tomorrow if you like.’ The words just kept flying out. She was going. There was no offer of commitment in that.
Bonnie wanted to say yes. Knew she shouldn’t because every minute she spent with this confusing and compelling guy meant he was going to be harder to leave behind when her plane took off.
She thought about Jimbaran, and the beach and all the people, and a secret place inside her whispered the urge to suggest somewhere more private, more amenable to intimacy, which should be the last thing she wanted. She was a fool. It was better to stay public. ‘Tonight, yes, I’d like that. Not the airport tomorrow. I’ll make my own way there.’
‘As you wish,’ he said, and she was glad. It was like a limit she’d set herself. So far but not all the way. Now, that had connotations she didn’t want to think about.
‘How about when the bus drops you off after the ride I’ll pick you up in my car?’ He glanced at her as if not sure how she’d react. ‘Would you like to see Ubud? It’s only an hour’s run.’
She hesitated. She’d be agreeing to disappear into the middle of Bali with Harry. A man she hardly knew. But she was kidding herself if she
They were passing through a village and two young boys ran out holding up their hands. Bonnie swerved because she wasn’t concentrating and nearly collided with Harry, who took evasive action more easily than she had.
‘Whoa, there,’ Harry cautioned, though he still managed to high-five the two boys. Squeals of delight followedthem down the road and he could feel a smile tug at his lips. He did enjoy seeing the village children.
She looked ahead to rice paddies and sighed. ‘It must be hard work in there.’ Just like that. She’d brushed him off. He’d asked her to but now he wasn’t sure he liked the feeling she could do it so easily. It was darned good she was leaving tomorrow.
‘Follow me,’ Harry steered them onto a smaller track. ‘This one comes out between the fields.’
They bumped down a rocky incline and suddenly the way was smooth again as they hit a concrete path that rose between the fields and separated one rice paddy from the next. Their bikes were at waist-level with the workers and several called out to Harry as they pedalled past.
Bonnie would have loved to have looked closer but she was too busy concentrating on not steering off the path into the water and reeds below. But it took her mind off Harry and she was glad of that. It wasn’t her job to save the world. She plastered a smile on her face, determined to soak in the sun and the sensation of wind in her face and blow away the distractions of the man beside her.
Good. She looked happy again. Harry savoured Bonnie’s uncomplicated enjoyment of the scenery and the people they passed, like a new-taste sensation. He rolled her spontaneity around in his mind like a sweet in his mouth. It had been too long since he’d felt those things and it swallowed the dark feelings he’d been left with.
But there was no escaping that through the course of today he’d begun to recognise that it wasn’t healthyto stay as closed off from emotion as he’d been, so he noted her pleasure, learnt from it, and even began to question his isolation.
It hadn’t all been escape here, though. A large part of Bali had been healing to his soul. He wished he could have shown her his mother’s house. Let her feel the peace he always felt there. He wondered how she’d respond to that and to the different vibe of Ubud as a town.
He pedalled faster to catch her and when he was alongside he caught her eye. ‘Will you have dinner with me tonight?’ Funny how plans he formed for Bonnie were immediately acted on. Almost as if he acted before he could stop himself. Did he need more exposure when she was going? ‘I’ll drop you back at Kuta afterwards, and even take you to the airport tomorrow if you like.’ The words just kept flying out. She was going. There was no offer of commitment in that.
Bonnie wanted to say yes. Knew she shouldn’t because every minute she spent with this confusing and compelling guy meant he was going to be harder to leave behind when her plane took off.
She thought about Jimbaran, and the beach and all the people, and a secret place inside her whispered the urge to suggest somewhere more private, more amenable to intimacy, which should be the last thing she wanted. She was a fool. It was better to stay public. ‘Tonight, yes, I’d like that. Not the airport tomorrow. I’ll make my own way there.’
‘As you wish,’ he said, and she was glad. It was like a limit she’d set herself. So far but not all the way. Now, that had connotations she didn’t want to think about.
‘How about when the bus drops you off after the ride I’ll pick you up in my car?’ He glanced at her as if not sure how she’d react. ‘Would you like to see Ubud? It’s only an hour’s run.’
She hesitated. She’d be agreeing to disappear into the middle of Bali with Harry. A man she hardly knew. But she was kidding herself if she
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