Damn. It was still where he’d put it a few hours ago.
‘Right trouser pocket.’
Their eyes locked, and she looked hastily away and squirmed her hand under his plastic apron and into his pocket, groping for the keys while he tried really, really hard to keep his mind in check.
Not to mention his body—
‘These them?’
‘No. The loose one, the one you gave me back,’ he said, and gritted his teeth again while she went back in and rummaged again, then returned the others.
‘Do you want me to check everything’s OK?’
‘No. Just let them in, sign for it as unchecked, that’s all. Well, unless it’s obviously trashed in transit.’ He gave her a rueful smile. ‘Thank you, Beth. I owe you, big-time.’
‘You do. Don’t worry, I’m keeping a tab.’
He grunted, and she gave him a cheeky grin and left him to the spurting artery and his mounting guilt.
She’d spent days helping him, and now she was heading back to his house, waiting in for the furniture. And he was clock-watching, dividing his guilt between his new job and his old friend.
If that was what you could call her, the woman you’d had a brief affair with, who’d ended up giving birth to a baby whose heart was so compromised she’d been doomed from the moment of conception.
There had to be a better word than ‘friend.’ It was what she’d called herself when he’d thanked her for all her help, but she was so much more than that, their relationship so complicated, and he knew they’d be bound together for ever by the heartbreaking loss of their tiny daughter.
His chest squeezed, and he focused his attention on his patient and put Beth, their baby and his guilt out of his mind.
It was after eight before she heard the scrunch of tyres, and she gave the bedding a last swipe with her hand to straighten it, then opened the door.
‘Beth, I can’t believe you’re still here!’ he said instantly, his face hugely apologetic. ‘I’m so sorry. I thought you’d be gone ages ago. Have they not come yet?’
‘Yes, of course they have, they came at five. I’ve just been pottering and waiting for you. Jenny rang me so I knew you’d be late.’
‘I didn’t. Not this late, anyway, and there was no way I could leave.’
‘No, I gather you had another really nasty RTC with multiple casualties. Nice, gentle introduction on your first day.’
He snorted softly. ‘Tell me about it. At least I was working with you, which made it significantly easier. So I assume everything was OK with the furniture?’
‘Fine—lovely. Come and have a look.’
She opened the bedroom door, and he stopped in his tracks.
‘They built the bed?’
‘No, I did, because I didn’t think you’d want to do it after such a hectic shift.’
He stared at her. ‘You did it? Wow. I didn’t for a moment expect you to do that, Beth. Thank you.’
‘It was easy,’ she said, lying slightly because another pair of hands would have been hugely useful. ‘Eight bolts and a few screws.’ She waggled an Allen key at him. ‘They even provided the technology.’
He gave a soft laugh, and hugged her.
‘Thank you so much. I really wasn’t expecting—’
She put her hand over his mouth, cutting him off. ‘Hush. You’ve spent your life looking after people. I thought it was time someone looked after you a bit.’
He reached up and caught her hand, pressing a kiss into her palm before threading his fingers through hers.
‘Thank you.’
His eyes were filled with a host of conflicting emotions, and she guessed he was just as confused as she was. And it really didn’t help that there was a massive bed right beside them…
She retrieved her hand gently and stepped out of reach, ignoring the tingling in her palm. ‘I hope I used the right bedding. It was new, but it was all I could find that would fit.’
‘No, that’s great, it’s all there is,’ he said, his voice unexpectedly gruff. ‘Did the sofa come?’
‘Yes, they unpacked it and the coffee table and took all the packaging away. It looks really good. Go and see.’
She followed him into the sitting room with a silent sigh of relief, and he sat down on the sofa, then swung his legs up and groaned contentedly. ‘Wow. An actual sofa, long enough to lie on—and it’s comfy. That’s such a luxury.’ He looked around and laughed softly. ‘It looks almost homely, in a rather bare sort of way. And the floor’s beautiful.’
He got to his feet, staring down into her eyes searchingly. ‘Look, I could do with a shower, but I’m hungry, and if you haven’t eaten yet, how about going out for something? Nothing fancy, just a pub—or we can go posh, if you like. Up to you.’
Her stomach rumbled, and she gave him a wry smile. ‘Food’s probably a good idea. I haven’t even given it a thought but there’s not a lot in my fridge. I was going shopping after work but I got slightly side-tracked.’
‘Then I’m definitely buying you dinner,’ he said firmly, the guilt back in his eyes. ‘Go home, get changed while I shower, and I’ll pick you up in half an hour. And work out where you want to go.’
She nodded, then on impulse went up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. The brush of stubble against her lips sent a shockwave through her body, and she dropped back onto her heels and headed for the door, more confused than ever.
‘See you in half an hour, then,’ she said lightly, and walked out, letting out a quiet rush of breath.
Clearly her body hadn’t forgotten him, then…
‘Where to?’
‘I thought the Harbour Inn?’
Really? He glanced at her, then away again quickly before she could read his expression. Of all the places to choose…
‘If you like. It’s nice and close.’
He headed down towards the little yacht harbour, to the pub where they’d had lunch nearly two and a half years ago, just before he’d kissed her for the first time and set the ball rolling.
He’d split up with Katie when he’d realised she was trying to get pregnant to stop him joining MFA, and Beth had been right there at the time, working alongside him in Theatre, intriguing him, tempting him—but when after a few weeks he’d asked her out she’d said no, holding him at arm’s length because she didn’t want a relationship.
Well, neither did he, not so soon after Katie, and maybe not for years, but that didn’t make him a monk, and after a week when everyone in the Midlands seemed hell-bent on injuring themselves and they’d been trapped together in Theatre for countless hours, the tension simmering between them had reached breaking point.
He’d needed to get away, get out of the city and away from Beth, but by sheer coincidence they’d both been scheduled for a long weekend off, so he’d put his cards on the table and asked her to go away with him. No strings, no commitment, no relationship, just a few days of adult fun by the seaside after the week from hell, and with any luck it’d get it out of his system.
If