‘That’s supposed to make me feel better?’ Jade asked tartly, taking a step backwards to reclaim some distance between them.
‘Come on, lassie, take the boy up on his offer and be off with the pair of you,’ said a paediatric consultant Jade recognised from NCIU. Her accent was thick and Jade felt certain it was Irish. She was putting her bag in the back seat of one of the BMW sedans that Jade wished with all of her being was Mitchell’s mode of transport. Not for the prestige attached to the vehicle, it was the doors and roof that she wanted. And the console between them.
‘You’re a wise woman, Maggie O’Donnell, to be sure, to be sure,’ Mitchell, said mimicking her accent.
Maggie sharply turned her attention to Mitchell. ‘Any more from you, Dr Forrester, and I’ll convince the poor girl not to take the ride and I won’t be talking to you again, to be sure, to be sure!’
Mitchell smiled as he watched Maggie shake her head of neat grey curls. ‘It’s been a long day and I’m in need of a cuppa and some kip so you two can do what you please. I’m away.’ With that she reversed from the car park and drove off into the dark, leaving Jade alone with Mitchell again. And a problem.
Why couldn’t he just drive a regular car like all the other doctors?
Dread filled her thoughts. It wasn’t safe.
For two reasons.
It was a motorbike and they could have an accident. They could be sideswiped, hit a pothole or skid in the rain. It wasn’t raining, she admitted to herself, but it still was a bad idea.
And secondly, if she were crazy enough to accept a lift, a bike would force her to wrap her arms around Mitchell just to stop her falling off. There was no way she wanted to be that close to him and feel the warmth of his body close to hers.
‘It’s a straight run down North Terrace then ANZAC Highway to Glenelg,’ he said. As if he read her mind he continued, ‘It’s not raining, the highway’s just been resurfaced so there’s no potholes along the way and not much traffic so there’s negligible risk of being knocked off the bike.’
‘I just don’t feel good about it.’
‘Have you ever been on a motorbike before?’
Jade nodded reluctantly. She had been on so many motorbike rides that she’d lost count. She’d loved to ride around the winding roads to Malibu on the Pacific Coast Highway. Whether she had been the rider or the passenger, she’d loved the feeling when she’d headed out along the beach road, the faster the better as the fresh ocean breeze had hit her face under the helmet.
‘Yes, a few times but—’
‘And you’re here to tell the tale so that makes two of us. So I say let’s get going.’
Jade felt she’d be a hypocrite if she refused and walked back to the cab rank when she knew she had ridden a bike in far more dangerous situations than a quick trip home.
Grudgingly, she accepted the helmet and that simple act elicited a huge smile from Mitchell. He knew that underneath Miss Prim was a woman who wanted to let go and lie naked in the sun. He would just have to take small steps to draw out the real Jade and make her feel comfortable to be herself. He wondered how long she had been hiding beneath the maiden aunt façade. Had it been since Amber was born or something more recent? It would be a challenging few weeks but he would do his best to make Amber’s aunt fun to be around for Amber.
It wasn’t for him, he told himself. He wanted Jade to lighten up and be fun for her niece, that was all.
He slipped on his helmet, put her bag in the storage compartment of the seat and then climbed on the bike and started the engine.
Jade stood frozen to the spot. Her helmet was securely on her head but her mind was fighting her decision.
Mitchell lifted his visor and reached his hand out to her. His eyes told her a story that she didn’t want to hear. He was handsome, intelligent and fun. And she was losing the struggle to refuse his invitation.
She relented and, accepting his hand, climbed on the back of the bike.
His warm scent was all around her, and she prayed that once they hit the road the breeze would make it dissipate, along with the feelings he was stirring in her body. Her hands limply held on to the sides of his body until his strong hands suddenly pulled her hands across his waist in a tighter grip. Her body was pulled against his as they hit the road. Together.
‘HOME IN ONE PIECE, as promised,’ Mitchell announced as he stood holding his helmet beside the shiny black motorbike that had been their carriage home.
Jade was already off the bike and in the driveway, putting distance between them quickly. His proximity during the ride home had been unsettling and now his silhouette against the light of the streetlamp was ridiculously appealing. She had to step away and stay away. If things were different she could see this night having a different ending too. Perhaps a kiss and the promise of another bike ride. But it couldn’t end any other way than a polite thank you, she thought as she looked wistfully up at the window where Amber was sleeping.
But she wasn’t angry with Mitchell any more. That had subsided. He had his reasons and he was clearly smitten by Amber now. She hoped that their relationship would build over the years and deepen. His dedication to the babies in his care at the hospital and the empathy he had for their parents was clear, and it did raise her opinion of him. His absolute determination to see the tiny children survive against the odds was an admirable quality.
And his gift to Amber of the locket to carry with her on her adventures all over the world was something that Jade had to admit to herself she would have appreciated a few years ago.
Mitchell was not a bad man but he was still the wrong man for her and she couldn’t allow their truce to grow into something more. He was suddenly ticking every box. And some she hadn’t known had been there to start with.
It was ironic that it scared Jade how safe she’d felt, taking a risk with Mitchell and riding the motorbike. In the past, she would take risks because she wanted to and because she didn’t care about the consequences, but with Mitchell it wasn’t like that. She felt protected by him. But she had to remember what was at stake. She had Amber to consider. And they would only be in Adelaide for a few weeks and Mitchell might not even stay that long.
It would be over before it began.
‘Thank you for the lift.’
‘You’re most welcome, and if you need a lift in tomorrow morning I’m happy to oblige.’
Mitchell could see that beneath Jade’s sensible exterior was a woman who could let her hair down. Tonight had proved it. She knew how to ride a bike. She’d leaned into the turns, she hadn’t been afraid. He hadn’t been teaching her anything that she hadn’t already known and he liked that about her.
She was fun and adventurous but she was playing a safe hand of cards. He liked to shuffle the deck and take his chances and he suspected that once upon a time she had too. He just had
