Her Mistletoe Wish by Lucy Clark

the table next to the maple syrup. As far as he was concerned, this was a done deal. She had no say in it and anger started to replace her earlier incredulity.
    ‘I am not moving in here.’ She enunciated each word crisply.
    He considered her words for a moment then asked logically, ‘So where will you go?’ He added strawberries, cream and syrup to his pancake, behaving as though this was just another ordinary breakfast conversation.
    ‘I’ll go to a hotel for a while.’
    ‘And waste your money when there’s a perfectly good room—free of charge—here for you? Until the insurance money comes in, you’re better off using your funds to buy clothes and shampoo and other essentials you’ll need, rather than having to pay for accommodation.’ His words were matter-of-fact and logical and she hated him for them.
    She sighed again, her frustration clear. Didn’t he realise that with what had happened between them, with the way he’d taken her to the highest of highs when he’d confessed his love and proposed to her then plummeted her to the lowest of lows less than twenty-four hours later when he’d broken her heart by cancelling their engagement, that there was no way she could move in with him?
    ‘Mmm, smells good.’ He pointed to her plate. ‘Come on, Reg. Eat up. We’re due at the hospital in an hour’s time.’
    ‘What?’ She blinked at him in astonishment. ‘You’re not even going to suggest I take the day off? That given the circumstances of my recent emotional trauma, of losing practically everything I own, except for my laptop, my phone and the clothes on my back, I shouldn’t stay in bed and rest?’
    ‘I know you, remember.’ He leaned over and spooned some strawberries onto her pancake. ‘Regardless of what may or may not be happening in your life, the last thing you would ever do is let your patients down. You’re not about to cancel a fully booked outpatient clinic because of personal reasons. You and I both know that being with your patients, helping them out and making their lives just that little bit easier, is going to be the best medicine to take your mind off things…at least, for a little while.’
    She frowned at him. He did know her, at least on some levels. On other levels…she’d kept a lot hidden from him, previously rationalising that they had a lifetime together to discover all there was to know about each other.
    ‘True. Working will help me to process everything that’s happened,’ she rationalised, including Flynn’s offer for her to stay with him. ‘Working will keep my mind focused.’ She would go to work, see her patients, help people out, spread a little sunshine, as Flynn had termed it, and then, she was sure, life would seem a little clearer. At least, so she hoped. She looked down at her pancakes and breathed in appreciatively. ‘These do smell good.’
    ‘They taste good, too.’ He ate another mouthful and winked at her, the action causing Reggie’s insides to start fluttering. Why was it that one simple look fromhim, whether it was a wink or a smile or one of his long stares across a crowded room, made her feel so…special, so unique, so feminine? Flynn had always had been able to turn her insides to mush, to make her want to fan her face because her cheeks were tinged with heat from excited embarrassment. Now was no exception and it was far easier to concentrate on eating than trying to avoid his hypnotic gaze.
    She really had no intention of permanently staying here with him because even the thought of living under the same roof as Flynn set her entire body on fire. The man was too dangerous at the best of times but to be around him both at work and at home, no doubt dreaming about him whilst she slept, would make it nigh on impossible for her to keep her emotions in check.
    Still, his offer did solve her immediate problem so for the moment she would just let everything roll. She would have breakfast and a shower, mentally and figuratively