One More Time - Louisa George Page 0,2

best shot. I’m all out.’ He winked, took his phone out and whispered, ‘Quick. Help me out here. What was that app called again?’

‘Yeah, right. Like you’d need it.’ She laughed. The glitter in her eyes turned to one of humour. Her mouth kicked up at the corners—she was fighting it, but he’d made her laugh. And that gave him a sharp punch of pride to his gut. She clearly got a kick out of the sparring and, hell, judging by the effect of that smile on his libido, so did he.

Her eyebrows lifted. ‘You must have some more lines? Surely? Tell you what—you try them on me and I’ll rate them out of ten. Then no other poor unsuspecting woman has to put up with the bad ones.’

‘Okay.’ He took a slug of beer and rose to the bait. If it meant a few more minutes laughing with her, then game on. Then he’d go out back. ‘My friend’s all-time favourite was “Hey, darling, do your legs hurt from running through my dreams all night?”’

‘No. No. No. Stop. Running away from a nightmare, more like.’ She grimaced and put her fingers in her ears. ‘That’s terrible. A very poor three. Please don’t tell me people actually use that?’ Her head tipped back a little as she laughed.

He was mesmerised by the delicate curve of her throat. Imagined placing a kiss in the dip lined with the silver chain. When she leaned forward again he got a delicate scent of flowers. Made him want to inhale way more deeply than he should.

Boy, he definitely needed to get out more.

She shook her head. ‘Was that your best shot? You are so bad at this.’

‘Thank God, I’ve never needed them. Obviously.’

‘The worst one I ever heard was “Is your dad a baker? Because you’ve got a nice set of buns.’” She snorted into her drink, then pointed to her face. ‘Hey. Eyes up here.’

‘Clearly he was a good judge of... character.’ Max reluctantly dragged his gaze from the swell of her blouse-covered breasts back to her smiling mouth. Whatever shadows had been haunting her when he’d arrived had gone. Her eyes shone clear and bright. Job done. ‘Seriously, you just looked like you could do with cheering up.’

‘And you voted yourself cheerleader? How sweet.’ Her eyes narrowed and she pointed at him. ‘But I was managing just fine without the benefit of your help. Now you should go. Thank you.’

Huh? This was new. He hadn’t been knocked back for a very long time.

Adrenalin pumped round his veins. Instinct told him they could have fun together—and his instinct was rarely wrong. That and the fact he always liked to win meant he’d have to up his game. The chase usually lasted all of two seconds once they knew who he was, what he did. ‘And yet here you are, smiling...er?’ He held out his hand. ‘I’m Max.’

‘Max...’ She paused, clicked her fingers together. ‘Max...Max Maitland. You’re that guy. Thought I’d seen you before.’

‘Seen me where?’ Because he sure as hell hadn’t seen her. He’d have remembered.

‘I had my first-day orientation on the paediatric high dependency unit today. While you were doing your rounds I looked after little Jamie for a few hours. He’s gorgeous.’

‘Yes. Yes, he is.’ A weird tightness squeezed his chest. He breathed it out, chalked it up to the long day. He’d just left Jamie sleeping soundly in his mother’s arms, tubes and drains permitting. He’d looked so small, still a baby really. Renal failure sucked at any age—but at three? The world wasn’t fair. He quickly checked his phone. No messages. No news was good news. ‘He’s my nephew.’

‘I get that. Same name. Same eyes. Cute kid. That must have been hard, watching your nephew fighting for his life then having to operate on him. Takes guts.’

The guardedness she’d had in her eyes relaxed a little as she watched him. She held his gaze as if weighing him up—no, more, as if she could see right through to his core. A hazy connection snapped between them—he sensed she understood some of what he’d been through.

Weird. The women he usually met only wanted a good time, a turn on his boat, expensive dinners, the high life of a successful surgeon. None of them ever saw past the label and the cash. Certainly, none of them had X-rayed his soul before.

Her lips formed a small pout. ‘You did good today. Very good.’

He leaned in. ‘That’s because I am good.’

‘Now, that’s better.