Christmas Eve: Doorstep Delivery (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 7)

She slid out of the car, took a moment to balance herself and then Patrick put his arm round her and guided her to the door. And she couldn’t pull away because she knew that any sudden movement was guaranteed to land her flat on her back on the ice.

So she endured the warmth and strength of his arm but still kept her mouth zipped shut.

Even when he closed the door on the cold Christmas night, she didn’t move her lips.

Instead, she hurried across to the dining table, which was still covered in empty plates and abandoned crackers.

‘What are you doing?’ Patrick watched as she noisily stacked plates and scooped up jokes, toys and paper hats. ‘Leave that.’

‘I’ll just take it through to the kitchen,’ she said brightly, balancing a stack of plates and walking away from him.

‘In that case, I’ll help you.’ The muscles in his shoulders flexed as he removed his coat. ‘It will be quicker if two people do it.’

‘I don’t want you to help! I’m the housekeeper. This is my job.’ She disappeared into the kitchen, hoping that he wouldn’t follow. She wanted to be left alone with the washing-up and her humiliation.

But he didn’t leave her alone. ‘You’ve also worked all day as a midwife,’ he said mildly. ‘We’ll do it together, Hayley.’

Together.

Why did he have to use that word? She was trying not to think ‘together’.

‘Fine.’ She hurried back to the table, horribly conscious that it was just the two of them in the barn—horribly conscious of the width of his shoulders and the way he kept looking in her direction.

Swiftly she gathered glasses and after several trips to the kitchen the beautiful contemporary dining area was once more clear. Patrick had turned on the Christmas tree lights and chosen a CD. A female with a sexy, smoky voice sang about love and loss and Hayley returned to the kitchen, clattering as loudly as possible to drown out the soulful notes.

‘I’ve never known you so quiet.’ He stood in the doorway, a concerned look on his face. ‘What’s wrong?’

Oh, for goodness’sake! How could he ask her that? What’s wrong?

Wasn’t it obvious?

She gritted her teeth and finished loading the dishwasher. ‘Nothing is wrong.’

‘Is this about what happened earlier?’

‘Of course not. Why would you think that?’

‘Hayley, you have no reason to feel embarrassed.’

‘Of course, no reason at all.’ Hayley crashed the door of the dishwasher shut and set it to rinse. ‘It isn’t embarrassing to proposition a man at work. It happens to people all the time.’

‘You didn’t proposition me.’ His tone was mild. ‘You thought I was propositioning you.’

‘Thanks for reminding me of the details. I’m well aware that I misread the situation, but do you mind if we don’t talk about this?’

‘And I would have been propositioning you if the wife of my closest friend hadn’t been on the point of delivering and my children hadn’t been across the corridor.’

‘I really think we should just—’ She broke off and stared at him. ‘What? What did you just say?’

‘I said I would have been propositioning you. You didn’t misread the situation, Hayley. I was worried that you were tired, that’s true. I thought you might want to hand Sally’s care over to another midwife and get some rest, that’s true as well.’ His tone was soft. ‘But I want you as much as you want me.’

‘Oh…’

‘And I’ve already missed the cut-off point for a four-minute warning, so I’m giving you about…’ he glanced at his watch ‘…three seconds.’

‘Three sec—’ The words vanished under the pressure of his mouth and Hayley moaned as his tongue traced her lips, sending shock waves of excitement through her body. She had no idea how he’d crossed the room so quickly, but as his hands slid into her hair and his mouth grew more urgent on hers, she didn’t care.

He powered her back against the table, his hands biting into her thighs as he lifted her up and lowered her onto the surface. A mug toppled and smashed on the kitchen floor, but neither of them noticed. Hayley was incapable of noticing anything except the hot burn of sexual desire in Patrick’s eyes. The fact that he wanted her so badly increased her own desperation and she gave a whimper of need and arched her hips, but he was already there, his hands unzipping her jeans and stripping them from her legs.