The Nurse's Christmas Wish (The Cornish Consultants)

t shockingly handsome man she’d ever laid eyes on.

He lifted an eyebrow questioningly. ‘In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s snowing again and I’m freezing to death here. Are you going to get into my car or am I going to have to carry you?’

She got out of the car and gave a squeal of shock as her legs slid from under her. ‘It’s icy!’

With a soft curse Mac caught her hard against him and for a moment she clung to him like a child, feeling rock-solid muscle under her fingers. Then she started to giggle.

‘I didn’t realise it was that slippery.’

‘Louisa.’ His voice was patient. ‘For heaven’s sake, stand up.’

Her feet slithered on the ice as she struggled to regain her footing, and he cursed again and braced himself as she almost took the two of them down hard.

‘It’s like an ice rink.’ She was clutching at him and she couldn’t stop laughing, and when she looked into his face she saw an answering gleam in his eyes.

‘My car is all of three feet away.’ His teeth were gritted as he braced himself to keep them both upright. ‘Do you reckon we can make it?’

She was still clinging to him, although how he was managing to keep his footing she didn’t know.

‘Yes. OK.’ She took a deep breath and gingerly released her grip on his arms. ‘I can do this. I’m just not that great on ice.’

‘I’d noticed. The trick is to walk purposefully.’

‘Walk purposefully. I can do that.’ She straightened, took one step and immediately landed hard on her bottom. ‘Ow-w!’

‘You’re a disaster!’

‘You told me to walk purposefully!’

Without further comment he scooped her up and deposited her in the passenger seat of his car before climbing in next to her. ‘Are you hurt?’

She was laughing so hard she couldn’t tell. ‘I think I may have broken my bottom.’

He grinned in response, started the engine and then glanced towards her. ‘Why are you staring at me?’

Because he was every woman’s fantasy?

‘Because that’s the first time I’ve seen you laugh,’ she said, ‘and it suits you. You should do it more often.’

‘If you keep on falling on the ice, I probably will,’ he said dryly, reversing out of his parking space. ‘Don’t think I’m some sort of sad figure, Louisa. I’m perfectly happy with my life.’

‘That’s because you don’t know what you’re missing.’ She pulled a face and shifted in her seat. ‘I think I’ve seriously broken something.’

‘You want me to examine you?’

‘I’ve got a feeling that’s an offer I should refuse.’ She winced as she tried to find a more comfortable position on the seat. ‘Next time I step out of the car, remind me to wear crampons.’

‘The roads are terrible,’ Mac muttered, flicking on his windscreen wipers to try and clear the snow from the windscreen. ‘Let’s hope everyone has the sense to stay indoors.’

Louisa stared ahead, watching the snowflakes racing towards them out of the darkness, relieved that he was the one who was driving.

They turned onto the coast road that led to his house and Louisa squinted in front of her. ‘Mac, stop!’

With a soft curse he gently pumped the brakes and pulled the car over. ‘Now what?’

‘Back there on the side of the road...’ She twisted in her seat and tried to look out of the rear window. ‘I saw something. A bundle.’

Mac ran a hand over his face. ‘I didn’t see anything.’