primary focus would always be Simon and any other future foster children over men with wanderlust in their bewitching green eyes.
‘Hey. Is everything all right?’ She managed to keep her voice steady and un-chipmunk-like regardless of her heart pounding a dizzying beat.
All of the thoughts she’d had about him since that night hit her at once as the sight of him reminded her she hadn’t exaggerated the effect he had on her. Her lips tingled with the memory of him there, her skin rippled with goose bumps as though his hand still rested upon her and the hairs stood on the back of her neck where he’d kissed her so tenderly.
She supposed it would be really out of order to grab the fire extinguisher off the wall and hose herself down before she forgot where she was and tried to jump Matt’s bones.
‘I thought I’d call in and see how things were going.’ He ruffled Simon’s hair, not meeting her eyes.
Did he mean that in a purely professional capacity? Was he checking in to see how she was after their moment of madness, or just Simon? Why was she overanalysing his every word like a neurotic teenager when she was the one who’d called it a night? She’d forfeited her right to be on his watch-list when she’d directed him towards her front door rather than her bedroom door.
And now her imagination was really going into overdrive, along with her heart rate. Any minute now her tachycardia was going to require a hospital stay of her own if she couldn’t stop thinking about Matt without his scrubs.
She cleared her throat and refocused. He was wearing clothes. They were in public. He had Simon by the hand. Anything remotely erotic beyond that was in her disturbed mind.
‘We’re chugging along as usual.’ The only disruption to their carefully organised schedule were the distractions she was seeking to stop her obsessing over a certain medic. ‘Oh, and I’ve volunteered my services to the hospital committee.’
‘Good. Good. We can use all the help we can get.’ Matt rocked forward and back on his toes, displaying the same unease about seeing each other after their last meet.
Yet, he’d come to seek her out. Albeit using Simon as some sort of barrier between them.
‘How did you get on today, sweetheart?’ It was never fun waiting on the sidelines no matter what the purpose of the visit because there was no telling how his mood would be at the end of these appointments. No child enjoyed sitting still for too long or being poked and prodded by doctors and nurses. Although there was no dragging of heels when he was with Matt. She should really capitalise on that and get him home while there were some happy endorphins going on.
‘Okay.’ It was probably as good an answer as she could hope for.
‘I took the liberty of checking on Simon while I was here. Everything seems to be healing nicely.’
‘Yes. Thanks to you and the rest of the staff.’ Praise where it was due, Matt was very skilled at what he did and everyone here was working to ensure Simon’s scarring would be as minimal as possible.
‘And you. Aftercare at home is equally as important.’
Quinn didn’t know how to respond to his kind acknowledgement that she’d contributed to his recovery in some small way. So far, she’d only seen the areas in which she’d failed him.
As they ran out of things to say to each other, memories of that kiss hovered unattended between them, the air crackling with unresolved sexual tension.
‘Matt says we can go to the zoo tomorrow.’ Leave it to Simon to throw her even more off guard with extra last-minute drama.
‘I don’t think so.’ They’d had this conversation so she could prepare him for the disappointment when they ended up going alone, impressing upon him the importance of Matt’s job and how he couldn’t take time off when small boys demanded it.
She wouldn’t expect Matt to keep his word given the circumstances, when he’d either be nursing a bruised ego or breathing a sigh of relief after she’d rebuffed him. Although, strictly speaking, she hadn’t rejected his advances; she’d simply declined a further sample of his wares before she became addicted.
Simon’s bottom lip dropped, indicating the moment of calm was about to come to an abrupt end.
‘If you have other plans I totally understand. I really should have got in touch sooner.’ Matt raked his hand over his scalp, mussing his usually neat locks.
Quinn found it oddly comforting to find she wasn’t the only one trying to keep her cool.
‘No plans.’ Certainly none which included spending another day in adult male company because she apparently had trouble containing herself when left alone with one.
‘Good. It’s a date, then.’ Matt’s very words, no matter how innocently intended, shattered her fragile composure.
Whatever deal these two had struck this time, there was no going back on it; otherwise Simon would never forgive her for it. She couldn’t afford to be the bad guy here.
‘Great,’ she said, smiling sweetly while glaring daggers at Matt. She didn’t understand why he’d insisted on making this happen when it had been made very clear socialising between them wasn’t a good idea at all.
Matt strolled towards the designated meeting point for his day out with Quinn and Simon. He never imagined he’d be back playing the stand-in father figure so soon but he couldn’t go back on his word to Simon.
Okay, he wasn’t being totally altruistic; he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Quinn, or that kiss they’d shared, no matter how hard he’d tried to avoid her. In the end he’d resigned himself to see this through, spurred on in part by the glimpses he’d caught of her flitting in and out of the department like a ghost until he hadn’t been entirely sure if she was anything but a figment of his overactive imagination.
It was difficult to convince yourself you weren’t interested in someone when they were at your place of work every day and driving you to distraction when you knew how it was to hold them, taste them, be with them.
In the cold light of day he should’ve been relieved when she’d sent him home for a cold shower. After all, he’d had more than enough family duty stuff to last him a lifetime. Instead, he and his dented male pride had brooded, mourned the loss of something which could’ve been special.
It was seeing Quinn carry on taking care of Simon regardless of her own wants and feelings which had made him see sense in the end. Forget the playboy car and bachelor pad in the city; he was a thirty-five-year-old man, an adult, and Simon was the child who had to come first.
Now he was committed to this he was going to make it a day to remember. One which wouldn’t be dictated by hospitals and authorities for Quinn and Simon. If Matt had learned anything about raising younger sisters, it was how to have fun and keep their young minds occupied away from the harsh realities of life.
Quinn had declined his offer of a lift but he hadn’t minded since it reduced his responsibilities for the afternoon. It gave the impression he was more of a tour guide today rather than a date, or part of the family, and that suited him fine. As soon as they were back on the train home he was off the clock
