‘Out,’ he clipped, cutting her off, then turning to retrieve her scooter from the back.
‘Bossy,’ she muttered, then jumped about a mile high when she realized he was right next to her again. Given his size, he was pretty silent on his feet; it was beginning to freak her out. She took a breath, preparing to inform him, yet again, that she was in fact an adult and capable of making it to her own front door unaided, but was silenced by one of his trademark scowls, after which he jerked his head in the direction of her small cottage. Katie decided to take the path of least resistance, and, rolling her eyes, she jumped out of the car.
Unfortunately the pavement was slick with ice, and despite the fact that her trainers were disgustingly sensible and ugly, their grip had long since worn away, so she slipped when her feet hit the ground, falling face first into Sam’s chest. It was the closest contact she’d had with him since the disastrous Attempted Wedding Hug Incident, and she had forgotten just how big and solid his body actually was.
‘Sorry, sorry,’ she mumbled into his chest, before pushing against him to take a much needed step back. Unfortunately she still had no traction on the ice, and both feet shot out from under her, her arms windmilling as she started to fall backwards. Before she could hit the ground, a strong arm around her waist hauled her back up against Sam’s body.
Tucking her into his side, she heard him mutter, ‘Fucking liability,’ under his breath as he straightened them both up and headed towards her front door, with Katie sliding along helpless beside him. When they reached the more stable ground of her porch, he pushed her away, taking a rapid step back before unceremoniously shoving her scooter into her arms.
‘Right … well … um …’ she trailed off as she dug around in her coat pocket for her keys and he stood watching her with his arms crossed over his chest. The atmosphere was so thick that she nearly cried with relief when she finally closed her fingers around them; but before she could unlock the door she noticed the familiar cream envelope tucked under the knocker.
Atmosphere forgotten, brooding, grumpy man forgotten, she froze. Automatically she reached for the envelope and tore it in half and then half again, before dumping it into the recycling bin next to the door. She took in a shuddering breath, trying to get a handle on the cold fear that had invaded her body. When she glanced over at Sam, who was no doubt questioning her mental stability, he raised his eyebrows in a silent question. Goodness, she thought, this guy has non-verbal communication down to a tee.
‘I didn’t want to read it,’ Katie told him, and left it at that. The last thing she wanted was to explain anything to somebody who had already branded her ‘ridiculous’. No doubt he would think her a freak for her overreaction about the note – and an arrogant one at that.
‘No shit,’ he returned, another smile tugging at the corners of his lips. She huffed out an annoyed breath and finally unlocked the door.
‘Right … well … you know … I better get inside; I’ve got natty scooters to put away, insane Oompa Loopa outfits to burn, more letters to rip up, so …’
He jerked his chin at her in response and, assuming this was his non-verbal form of saying goodbye, she flashed him a small smile before slipping inside and closing the door.
*****
Sam stood on the small porch in front of the crazily small cottage and listened as she turned the locks. At least she locked the bloody door, he thought, surveying the isolated location with annoyance. He stepped over to the bin, yanked open the lid, and retrieved the cream pieces of paper from inside, before tucking them in the inside pocket of his jacket. Turning back to the door, he felt his fists bunch at his sides, resisting the urge to wrench it open and prove just how flimsy he suspected her locks actually were. He took in a deep breath through his nose and let it out through his mouth, leaning his forehead on the wood of the door for a moment, pain etched across his features. After a couple of minutes his years of training and discipline kicked in, and he straightened up before spinning on his heel and striding back to his car.
Chapter 4
Trust me; you want me to be seeing good things
‘Come on lovely, kind Katie, pleeaaase!’ Russell was begging Katie for what seemed like the five hundredth time, his hazel eyes assuming puppy-dog proportions. She knew she was going to cave, and so did he; it was just a matter of time and emotional manipulation.
‘Russell, I don’t want to go all the way to the Gower on my afternoon off. I didn’t even agree to this crap idea in the first place. We always said we wouldn’t do any private work.’
Russell shifted on his chair, looking uncomfortable. ‘Youtry saying no to “The Hot Brigade”. They scrambled my brain with their whole broody-but-yummy-but-could-kill-a-man-with-their-bare-hands-and-not-even-break-a-sweat thing they’ve got going on. Honestly, I was just concentrating on keeping my tongue in my mouth; I wouldn’t have had the wherewithal to say no if my life depended on it.’
‘Russ,’ she said warningly, ‘I had already said no to Rob, if you recall. The last thing we need is to have to trek out to the Gower at a moment’s notice. My ovaries, unlike your dangly bits, are firmly under my control. It would take more than a few stacked ex-special forces guys to scramblemybrain.’
‘Well, you were outvoted, if you remember, two to one. The money is amazing – it’ll double our income for this quarter. We’ve got to diversify, K.K., or the practice will go under.’ Katie sighed: the gradual reduction in NHS earnings, combined with an increased workload, was a problem most practices faced every day, and they were no different. ‘Anyway, we could get to see all the stars close up. Anyone else would jump at the chance to go down to that set and have a nose around.’
‘Fine, so why aren’t either of you guys going? I’ll tell you why, you know as well as I do that they’ll be bloody nightmare demanding patients, ready to sue at the drop of a hat.’
‘Kate, come on, I would love to go but I have an important prior engagement.’
‘Picking up your latest squeeze from the station is not an important engagement. Tony could make his own way to your bed.’
‘Um, its actually Steve this weekend,’ Russell muttered, dragging a hand through his sandy blonde, too long hair. ‘You know I have to bus them in from London, there’s not much of a gay scene here in deepest darkest Aberllwellyn – I get lonely.’ Aberllwellyn was a relatively big village but Katie would admit that it did lack a vibrant gay scene, although Swansea and Cardiff weren’tthatfar away.
The small practice Katie was a partner in with Russell and Dafydd served nearly the whole community. Unfortunately, what with Katie being the only female partner, Dafydd nearing retirement and taking on as little work as possible, Russell’s active social life, and the fact that Katie was a pushover, a lot of the work got dumped on her.
Bugger, she could feel herself cracking. Why was she was feeling sorry for Russell missing out on one afternoon of nookie when she dreaded to think how long it was since she’d had any action between the sheets?
‘Fine, whatever. You’re such a weasel. You better make this up to me. In fact I want morning Red Roaster for a week,’ she declared.
‘There’s a perfectly decent coffee shop across the bloody road, Katie, and there’s no difference. Red Roaster is all the way into Llandough.’
‘There’s a world of difference, you lazy bastard, and you know it.’
‘Fine.’
