New Boss New Year Bride by Lucy Clark Read Free Book Online

and Melissa reached the area Bluey leaned forward and swung another punch at Carto. But it missed and connected with Dex’s jaw instead.
    ‘Dex!’ Melissa couldn’t help the rush of familial concern and rushed to his side. Bluey and Carto, now free of restraint, started laying into each other with abandon, kicking over a table, knocking down other innocent bystanders and generally causing havoc.
    Melissa had to fight her way through the throng of women crowding around Dex, all of them panicking. She’d just knelt down beside him when an almighty, piercing whistle cut through the air, followed by a loud, ‘Oi! That’s enough!’
    Melissa looked around to see Joss standing near the two men, arms akimbo, as they both looked sheepishly up at him like naughty schoolboys.
    ‘Bluey—your lip is split. Carto—you’re bleeding from your eye. Now, both of you sit down before I knock you into the middle of next week. This is the New Year. You’re supposed to change. To grow. To stop fighting in the bar like you do every other week. Just as well your boss has already gone home, or you’d both find yourselves on suspension tomorrow. As it is, I’ll have to file a medical report.’
    ‘Aw, come on now, Doc,’ Carto protested. ‘Do ya have to?’ He was hauling himself up off the floor and righting a chair before he sat down. Someone else righted the table, and people started clearing up the mess which had been made.
    ‘We was only fighting about football.’
    ‘You two are always fighting about football. It’s not good enough and I’ve heard it all before. Add to everything, you’ve knocked Dex off his feet.’
    Both men stared over to where Melissa was kneeling beside a dazed Dex.
    ‘Aww, jeepers, Doc. We didn’t mean to,’ Bluey mumbled as he held a napkin to his lip.
    ‘I don’t want to hear it.’ Joss looked at Melissa and spoke more calmly. ‘How is he?’
    ‘I’m fine.’ Dex winced. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t duck in time. So stupid.’
    ‘Stupid was getting in the middle of them in the first place. What were you thinking?’ she scolded, sounding to her own ears very much like a big sister.
    ‘Careful there, big sis. You’re starting to sound more like my mother.’
    ‘If the shoe fits…’ She shrugged and accepted the towel full of ice someone handed to her. ‘Hold this.’
    ‘Am I still in the pub?’
    ‘Lying on the floor.’
    ‘Everybody looking?’
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘Oh, this is going to be so shaming,’ he moaned, and tried to move.
    She put a hand on him to stop him. ‘Stay still.’ She held up her finger and got him to track it. ‘Good. You seem fine.’
    ‘Except for the totally humiliated part,’ he agreed, and she smiled. ‘Look—I’m fine, Melissa.’ His tone was quiet, yet serious. ‘I’ve been knocked out on many occasions before.’
    ‘It’s true,’ Joss said from behind her. ‘Let’s get you to your feet.’
    ‘He’s up!’ someone yelled, and a rousing cheer met their ears. Several girls started to crowd around Dex, all highly concerned for his wellbeing.
    ‘Happy New Year!’ someone else yelled, and once again the night’s festivities continued.
    ‘So…’ Joss turned Melissa and took a coin from his pocket. ‘What do you want? Tails—split lip—or heads—bleeding eye?’
    ‘What?’ She looked at him as though he’d grown another head.
    ‘Choose,’ Joss urged. ‘Heads or tails?’
    ‘Er…tails.’
    Joss spun the coin into the air before neatly catching it and placing it on the top of his hand. He held the coin out for her to see. ‘Tails it is.’
    ‘All right!’ Bluey punched the air. ‘I get the sheila doc.’
    ‘Is this the way you make all important medical decisions?’ Melissa asked as she pulled on a pair of gloves from the medical kit.
    Joss merely gave her one of his sexy and very disarming smiles. ‘Welcome to Didja, Lis.’

CHAPTER THREE

    ‘I’ LL let you know the blood test results as soon as I have them, Mrs