Free The Surgeon's Family Wish by Abigail Gordon Page B

about.’
    â€˜Yes. She must have felt she was scraping the bottom of the barrel when it came to me,’ Annabel said drily.
    He was observing her with the dark intent gaze that she was beginning to know so well as he said slowly, ‘What do you mean?’
    She laughed, but it was without amusement. ‘Well, I’m not exactly a cuddly blonde, am I? I don’t dress to kill, I live in a box of a flat and basically have very little going for me as regards the opposite sex.’
    â€˜Why are you putting yourself down like this?’ he asked abruptly. ‘Don’t you ever look in the mirror? You’ve got good bone structure, wonderful eyes and legs that seem to go on for ever. And with regard to where you live, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. I know I’ve goneon about it a bit, but it was only because I was concerned about you. I thought you deserved better and now you’re doing something about it without any prompting from me.
    â€˜Regarding marriage, most women are married before they’re thirty. You are different. You have a touch-me-not attitude that to someone with less determination than myself might be quite offputting. What happened between us the other night was an example. I’d no sooner touched you than you shied off. Surely you’ve had some experience with my sex.’
    Aaron didn’t understand, she thought bleakly. Her childhood had been blighted with the constant feeling of not being wanted and it had spilled over into adulthood.
    â€˜Yes, of course I have,’ she told him stiffly. ‘I dated guys when I was at college. But none of it was serious. I was more interested in my career.’
    â€˜And of late?’
    â€˜Of late I’ve had my fingers burnt. Shall we leave it at that?’
    He sighed.
    â€˜Yes, if you say so. But, remember, if ever you need someone to talk to, I’m available. And now back to the reason for your visit. I’ll speak to my mother when she gets in and take it from there. If there are problems of any kind in her life, I want to know. We have always helped each other through the bad times and this will be no different.’
    His face was sombre in the softly lit room, and she ached to tell him that she wanted to share the bad times, too, if he would let her. But Aaron already had opinions about her lack of warmth and the last thing he would expect from her was the tenderness that was making her feel weak at the knees.
    She turned to go. Having reluctantly butted into a private family matter, she’d done what she’d come to do, and now the polite thing was to depart and leave Aaron to his thoughts.
    The next time she saw him she would know if her intervention had been warranted and she had a sinking feeling that she would find that it had.
    â€˜Thanks for taking the trouble to put me in the picture,’ he said as he held her coat from behind while she pushed her arms into the sleeves. ‘It couldn’t have been easy being the bearer of such tidings.’
    Her smile was rueful. ‘It wasn’t, but I had to make sure that you knew. Even if you thought me nosy and interfering.’
    â€˜Never would I think that of you,’ he told her with a dry laugh, and as she swivelled to face him Annabel found herself in his arms.
    â€˜You can interfere in my life any time you want,’ he said as their glances met, ‘but when you do, make sure that it’s what you want, too. Don’t mess me about, Annabel.’ And brushing her cheek with his lips, he pushed her gently towards the door.
    Because she knew that it would all fall apart if she stayed, she went, out into the winter night, back to the life that was empty compared to his.
    * * *
    After he’d closed the door behind her Aaron went to stand by the window and watched Annabel drive away, but just outside the gate she stopped and he wondered why. Only to have the question answered when Richard from next door appeared