Midwives On Call: From Babies To Bride. Kate Hardy
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For a hopeful heartbeat Sophia thought that Aiden might have sent her a message to cancel the date.
No such luck. He didn’t have her number either, did he?
The message was from Emily. ‘I hear you said yes,’ it said. ‘You go, girl. And have fun.’
So Flick had spread the word. Her friends would demand details and she was a hopeless liar. Her voice always got sort of tight and high. She’d never be able to make something up and sound convincing.
Gritting her teeth, Sophia marched back into her bedroom. She jammed her feet into knee-high boots, threw on a camisole top and covered it with a velvet jacket. Pulling the band from her hair, she raked her fingers through the shoulder-length waves and spent no more than thirty seconds in front of the mirror, putting on a slick of lipstick.
Then she grabbed her bag and slammed the door of the cottage behind her. She had less than ten minutes to get to the bar but having to rush was probably a good thing. It would give her less time for her stupid nerves to grow wings.
There was no sign of Sophia.
Aiden ordered a beer and stayed at the bar, an elbow propped and his posture relaxed enough to suggest he was thoroughly enjoying his view of the women coming in through the doors. Enjoying the appreciative looks he got in return even more.
Normally, he would be doing exactly that.
So why did he feel … good grief … nervous?
A little out of control even?
Maybe it was because he was meeting Sophia here, instead of having picked her up first. What if she didn’t show up?
Hey … no problem. There were plenty of very attractive women who seemed to be here unaccompanied by any male friends.
But he hadn’t come here to randomly score. He’d come here because he really wanted to spend some time with Sophia.
And maybe the strength of that want was why he was feeling a bit weird. Why this was assuming an importance that it wasn’t allowed to have.
No problem. Aiden took another fortifying swallow of his beer. This was only a number-one date. No big deal. If it continued to feel weird, he could just pull the plug and there wouldn’t be a number two.
Suddenly, he saw her. Looking small and a little bit lost as she stood near the door and scanned the crowded bar. And then she spotted him and smiled.
The noise of the people around him and the background music seemed to fade away.
The people themselves seemed to fade away. Until there was only himself.
And Sophia.
How weird was that?
HE WAS THERE.
He must have spotted her the moment she walked through the door because he was already looking straight at her when Sophia turned her head. She’d been worried she might not even recognise him out of uniform but even in a crowd of people there was no mistaking Aiden Harrison.
Her relieved smile faded as she threaded her way to the bar, however. He hadn’t smiled back. He’d looked a bit stunned even … Had he been surprised that she’d actually turned up? Or maybe he was disappointed that she had. There was no shortage of opportunities in a place like this. She could feel the gaze of other girls on her as she made her way towards the gorgeous guy standing alone at the bar. Envious glances.
‘Hi …’ He was smiling now. ‘Can I get you something to drink?’
‘A white wine would be lovely, thank you.’
‘Do you want to have it here or find a table out in the garden? They have live music here tonight so there won’t be any room to move in here soon.’
So she’d end up dancing or squashed against him at the bar? Sophia sucked in a breath. ‘The garden sounds great.’
There were rustic tables and wrought-iron chairs, flickering candles and the greenery of a rampant grapevine on an overhead pergola. The last unoccupied table they found in a corner with only two chairs was romantic enough to make Sophia hesitate. This was supposed to be fun. Nothing serious.
Aiden put their drinks down on the table. ‘Don’t know about you,’ he said, ‘but I’m starving. Fancy some nachos or a big bowl of fries?’
That was the right note to hit. They were here for a drink and something to eat and it just happened to be with company. They’d be able to hear the music out here without being deafened. A fun night out.
‘Sure. Nachos are my absolute favourite.’
‘Mine, too.’
They grinned at each other. They were on the same page and suddenly everything seemed easy. Over the cheese and bean-laden tortilla chips, the conversation was just as relaxed.
‘It must be a great job, being a SPRINT paramedic.’
‘Best job in the world. I love having no idea of what’s coming next or where I’m going.’
‘I love being out of the hospital environment most of the time, too. You get to connect a lot more with patients when you’re in their own home. Even more when they’ve had a home delivery. I feel like part of the family sometimes.’
But Aiden shook his head at that. ‘It’s the opposite that appeals to me. I get to ride in, do the exciting stuff and then hand the responsibility on to someone else.’
‘Don’t you ever follow your patients up and see what happened?’
‘I’ll talk to the crew that transports them. Or, if I’ve travelled in with them, I might hang around in the emergency department and see how it’s handled from there. Some of the docs are great. If I’m ending a shift, they let me go into Theatre or talk over the results of a CT scan or something. If I can learn something that’s going to help me manage better next time, I’m in.’
‘You should poke your nose into the MMU some time. You’re a bit of a hero up there after that cord prolapse job the other day.’
Aiden shook off the compliment. ‘We were lucky.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘How’s that baby doing? Do you know?’
Sophia laughed. ‘Of course I know. I’m still doing daily visits. His name is Isaac and he’s doing extremely well. Claire and Greg are over the moon.’
‘Good to know. Did he get a thorough neurological check?’
It was Sophia’s turn to raise her eyebrows. ‘Are you kidding? We’ve got the best doctors there are. He passed every test with flying colours. He might turn out to be a brain surgeon himself one day. Or the prime minister or something. You’ll see him on television and think about what might have happened if you hadn’t been there the day he was born.’
‘I might have a bit of trouble recognising him.’ But Aiden was smiling and Sophia felt … relieved? He did have a connection with his patients that wasn’t purely technical. Maybe he didn’t want to revel in that connection like she did but it was there—whether he wanted it to be or not.
And the idea of him being a maverick medic who rode around the city saving lives and touching those lives only briefly added to his attraction, didn’t it? Gave him a kind of superhero edge?
Oh, yeah … the attraction was growing for sure and it didn’t seem to be one-sided. Eye contact was becoming more frequent and held for a heartbeat longer. Their fingers brushed as they shared the platter of food. The butterflies in Sophia’s gut danced up a storm as she wondered if he would kiss her at the end of this date.
But then what?
She could hear an echo of Em’s voice in the back