A Baby to Care for (Mills & Boon Medical) by Lucy Clark Read Free Book Online Page B

know that the women in that line weren’t serious.’
    ‘Pardon?’ Iris raised an eyebrow at him. He’d sat there for a good minute or two not saying a thing and then just when she was about to leave, he threw out a comment like that!
    ‘The women. The kissing. It didn’t mean anything. It was just for a good cause.’
    ‘To raise funds for an ambulance, and it was good that we succeeded in that cause. Joss has said the ambulance should be here in two months’ time. However, I also remember a lot of those women getting quite impatient whilst waiting for you to kiss them, as well as a lot of them leaving the line when Bluey took his turn. Admit it, Dex. You’re more than happy to have the women of this community salivating for you.’
    He chuckled at her words. ‘Charming image,’ he murmured, which only seemed to make her angry.
    Iris stood, wineglass forgotten in her haste to leave, and nearly jumped out of her skin when Dex stood too. She felt he was crowding her when in reality there was actually quite a bit of physical distance between them. ‘You take nothing seriously,’ she huffed. ‘It’s pointless trying to have a proper conversation with you.’
    Dex stared at her, his words soft and clear. ‘It’s difficult trying to have any conversation with you.’
    Iris glared at him. ‘What does that mean?’
    ‘It just means that during this past week, any time I walk into a room, you walk out of it. You’re elusive, you’re closed off and that’s fine—to a point—but we’re colleagues, Iris. This is a very small community. We’re going to need to have some conversation at some point.’
    ‘We’re talking now.’
    ‘And that’s good, but during the week would be helpful, too.’
    ‘I didn’t walk out of the room when we had our businessmeeting.’ Iris wasn’t at all sure what to say, mainly because Dex was right. What she hadn’t realised was that he’d not only noticed her keeping her distance from him but that he cared enough to comment on it. It appeared out here in the outback, there was no beating about the bush. Honesty reigned.
    ‘That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it. You’re here for six months and that’s great. Sure, we’d all love it if you stayed longer, mainly because the children of this community will benefit from having a specialist here, but that’s beside the point.’
    ‘Which is?’
    ‘I don’t go around proposing to women at the drop of a hat.’ Dex looked down at the ground for a moment and Iris was surprised at the sincerity of his words. ‘I wanted to apologise if I made you feel uncomfortable. It was a joke and now I realise a rather bad one.’ He met her eyes, even though it was now rather dark and difficult to read her expression. ‘At that time, I had no idea you were a widow.’
    Iris stared at him, uncertain what to say, but he continued.
    ‘I’ve been trying to apologise all week. I’m glad I finally got the opportunity.’
    ‘How did you find out? Did you ask Melissa? Joss? Did you discuss me with them?’
    She was still mad. Dex wasn’t quite sure why. He’d made a mistake. He’d apologised. Those tactics had helped him through countless situations in the past and he wondered if he’d used up his ‘charisma’ quota for the day.
    ‘No. Neither of them said a word.’ He glanced away for a moment before meeting her gaze. ‘I read your résumé. Your marital status was on there.’
    ‘You did what? You don’t think that’s Joss’s business? He does own the clinic after all. Isn’t it his business who he hires and why?’
    Dex frowned for a moment. Perhaps Iris didn’t realise hewas as much a financial partner in the clinic as Joss was. It was true that Joss had more of a flair for the day-to-day running and management side of things but where staffing was concerned, he had just as much right to read a résumé as Joss. Right now, as he watched Iris he realised there was more going on than he’d initially