The Magic of Christmas

The little girl who had been holding Christian’s hand danced forward, her blonde curls bouncing around her face. ‘Is it our turn now? Is he ready for us?’

‘He’s ready.’ Ignoring Christian’s intimidating frown, Lara dropped onto her knees so that she could concentrate on the child. What was the point in worrying? She couldn’t change the fact that he’d seen her. She may as well get on with the job, which was to entertain the children. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Aggie. And this is my big sister, Chloe, and this is my dad. We’re sort of in a hurry because Daddy has to go back to work.’ She leaned forward, her voice a loud whisper. ‘My daddy is very clever. He’s a doctor and he mends people who break themselves.’

Mends people? Well aware of Christian’s skills in the resuscitation room, Lara decided that it wasn’t a bad description of his job. ‘Right…’ She cleared her throat. ‘In that case, we’d better get you in to see Father Christmas as fast as possible so that your dad can get back to work.’

Aggie reached out a hand and touched her wings. ‘Are you a real fairy?’

Lara smiled. ‘What do you think?’

‘I think you’re probably a girl dressed up as a fairy,’Aggie said slowly, ‘but you’re very pretty.’

‘Oh—well—thank you. That’s very sweet of you.’ For the second time in one day Lara was suddenly aware of Christian’s intent masculine appraisal and she blushed and waved a hand. ‘Isn’t life a weird thing? I go through twenty-five years with no one telling me I look good and suddenly I get told twice in one afternoon. It must be my lucky day. And Father Christmas is waiting. Go on through.’ She urged the children forward, intending to follow them, but strong fingers closed around her wrist, preventing her escape.

‘And just what,’ he demanded in a cool voice, ‘is an ED nurse doing dressed up as a fairy in a Christmas grotto? I think some explaining is in order, Staff Nurse King.’

His head was close to hers and she was suddenly engulfed by an explosion of awareness that astonished her. He’s married with two adorable kids, she reminded herself. What was the matter with her?

Reluctantly, she turned her head to look

at him. His blue eyes held hers for a long moment and she felt the strength in her knees vanish. His eyelashes were long and thick and served to accentuate the sensuality of his amazing blue eyes. Strands of dark hair flopped over his forehead, the beginnings of stubble hazed his jaw and he looked nothing like the cool, forbidding consultant she was used to seeing at work.

Someone hand the man a stethoscope, she thought desperately. Anything to remind her who he was.

Lara forced herself to breathe evenly in an attempt to stabilise her churning insides. ‘It’s my afternoon off,’ she croaked, ‘and I thought I’d—I’d—’

‘Dress as a fairy?’

‘I can explain—sort of.’

‘You’re moonlighting.’

‘Not exactly moonlighting.’

‘You’re doing another job. Are you short of money?’ One eyebrow lifted in sardonic appraisal. ‘Sustaining a gambling habit?’

She giggled at the thought. ‘No! I’m saving to go travelling! And I love Christmas,’she confessed. ‘I love seeing the children’s faces and I don’t have any of my own, so I borrow other people’s.’

His eyes slid over her body, lingering on the revealing lines of the silky bodice, which she knew was barely decent. Only a few transparent pieces of net and tulle protected her from his scrutiny and she felt her whole body become warm.

Their eyes locked and for a moment neither of them spoke.

The entrance to the grotto felt oppressively hot and suddenly Lara couldn’t breathe properly.

‘Daddy?’ Breathless with excitement, Aggie appeared in the doorway. ‘Come on! It’s our turn!’

It took him a moment to answer. ‘Yes, sweetheart.’ Christian dragged his eyes from Lara’s and finally released his iron grip on her wrist. ‘Let’s see Father Christmas. We can talk about this later.’

‘We don’t need to,’ Lara muttered. ‘Honestly, as far as I’m concerned, we can consider the subject closed.’

But the look he shot in her direction indicated that he considered the subject to be far from closed.

Wishing her knees would stop shaking, she led him through to the grotto and laughed aloud at the look of naked incredulity that flickered across his handsome face as he took in the metres of red satin and tinsel and the fake snow. She’d had the same reaction when she’d first seen the interior of the grotto. But the children loved it. Aggie was already sitting next to Father Christmas, her eyes sparkling and her list in her hand.

‘Aggie, take your feet off the seat,’ Chloe murmured, but her little sister ignored her.

‘My feet are clean because these are my absolute bestest shoes.’