Page 9 of Prognosis Bad Timing

‘Oh, God, sorry, that’s none of my business. Forget I asked.’

‘It’s OK.” His fingers eased around the wheel. “It was...kind of messy.’

“Sorry,” she apologised again before lapsing into silence, mentally castigating herself, ordering her mouth to zip up.

‘So...is there a dad around?’ He tipped his chin at her left hand. “I notice you’re not wearing a ring.”

Carrie startled at the quiet question, as intrusive as hers had been on such short acquaintance but answered it anyway keeping her voice neutral. Unemotional. ‘Not one that’s interested in Dana, no.’

She looked out the window. Even after five years Rupert’s desertion still stung.

‘Sorry.’

She shrugged. ‘His loss.’ Rupert had no idea what he was missing.

‘Absolutely.’

Carried glanced at him, hit by the sincerity of his tone but he was watching the road and she quickly looked away, also staring straight ahead. But his thigh was bulky and solid in her peripheral vision and his biceps flexed distractingly with every slight movement of the steering-wheel.

He reached for the radio, leaning in, his hair falling forward, momentarily obscuring the sexy stubble covering his jaw.

‘Do you mind?” he asked, his fingers hovering over the button. “Will it wake Dana?’

Carrie dragged her gaze away from his jaw. ‘She slept through a car smashing into us, four sirens and a helicopter.’

He chuckled. ‘Good point.’

Charlie was grateful for the music to distract them from conversation. At the accident scene Carrie had been easy to dismiss as a blood-phobic, hyperventilating, tie-dyed flake. But seeing her now, free of the stress of the accident, she was a different woman altogether.

One that appealed to him immensely.

She had teased him about his car, sympathised over his divorce and told him about her little girl. Suddenly she was three-dimensional. Complex.

Desirable even.

The thought slid insidiously into his head. Oh no. Hell no. She was a single mother. You didn’t mess with them. Honourable men knew that. Especially not when his life was such a mess.

A separation, a divorce and six months in limbo over his health. In two weeks he’d have some closure, but until then his life was on hold.

And after that?

There were things to do. Big things. A major project that had been shelved for too long was a priority. He wouldn’t have time for a single mother and her cute child.

Relationships were going to be light from now on. Nothing heavy. His life had weighed a tonne for years. And women with children deserved more than that.

They passed the rest of the trip listening to the music and indulging in occasional light conversation. Charlie was grateful when he pulled up outside her apartment block. Her laughter and her scent had filled the car and he couldn’t hear the squeak of the back tyre any more or smell the slight aroma of rust.

And he liked them. OK, it was probably a guy thing — heaven knew, Veronica had hated every inch of it — but he liked them a lot. It was disturbing to think this woman could completely obliterate them.

‘Thanks for the lift, Charlie. And for...you know... snapping me out of it back there.’

Now she was home, Carrie didn’t want to get out. Strangely she felt like staying in the car, chatting with him. They’d shared an experience tonight that few strangers shared. They’d saved a man’s life and she felt a weird kind of connection.

‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘I know that wasn’t easy for you. You did good. Really.’ Charlie wanted her to go as desperately as he wanted her to stay. It was an unsettling feeling. ‘I’ll help you with Dana.’

They got out of the car and Carrie ducked her head to unbuckle Dana. She managed to pick her up without disturbing her. ‘I’ll get the seat,’ Charlie said.

Except the damn thing decided to be recalcitrant. What the hell? It had gone in so easily. ‘I can’t get this blasted thing out?’

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