I think we should talk—’
Before she could plant the seed for a future romantic interlude, Matt sprang away from her à la scalded cat. She barely had time to mourn the loss of his warmth around her when she spotted the reason for the abrupt separation.
‘Hey, Rebecca.’
Another member of staff headed towards them. A woman whose curves were apparent even in her shapeless scrubs. The rising colour in Matt’s cheeks would’ve been endearing if it wasn’t for the fact Quinn was clearly the source of his sudden embarrassment.
‘Hi, Matt. What on earth are you still doing here? Weren’t you supposed to be going somewhere tonight?’ A pair of curious brown eyes lit on Quinn and she immediately realised how selfish she’d been for monopolising his time. It hadn’t entered her head that he would’ve given up a glamorous night out to sit listening to her tales of woe in a dingy pub.
Matt slid his green-eyed gaze at her too, and Quinn hovered between the couple, very much an outsider in the conversation. There was clearly something unsaid flying across the top of her head. Metaphorically speaking, of course. She had the advantage of a couple of inches in height on the raven-haired doctor. But it was the only one she had here, as she didn’t know what they were talking about, or indeed, what relationship they might have beyond being work colleagues. It wasn’t any of her business, yet she had to refrain from rugby-tackling the pretty doctor to the ground and demanding to know what interest she had in Matt.
Okay, so she was a little more invested in Matt than she’d intended.
‘I…er…changed my mind. I wanted to check in on one of my patients, Simon, one of the kids from the school fire. This is his mum, Quinn. Quinn, this is Rebecca Scott, a transplant surgeon here at the Castle.’
Finally, she was introduced into the conversation before she started a catfight over a man who wasn’t even hers.
‘I’m so sorry you were caught up in that. I know it’s been horrendous for all involved but I hear Simon’s treatment’s going well?’ Rebecca reached out in sympathy and dampened down any wicked thoughts Quinn might’ve harboured towards her.
‘It is. In fact, I’m just going to see him now after his surgery.’
‘Well, he’s definitely in the best hands.’ There was admiration there but Quinn didn’t detect anything other than professional courtesy.
‘Yes, he is. Listen, Matt, I’m going to go and see how he is. I’ll catch up with you later. Nice to meet you, Rebecca.’ She didn’t hang around for Matt’s inevitable insistence he accompany her, nor did she look back to overanalyse the couple’s body language once she’d left. They had separate lives, different roles in Simon’s future, which didn’t necessarily equate to a relationship or a debt to each other. She was confusing her needs with his and a clear head was vital in facing the months ahead. It was down to her to prepare Simon for his future family and she couldn’t do that whilst pining for one of her own. Until then, she’d do well to remember it was just the two of them.
‘What are you doing?’ Rebecca moved in front of Matt, blocking his view of Quinn walking away.
‘Hmm?’ He was itching to follow her so they could see Simon together but the manner in which she’d left said she didn’t want an audience for the reunion. She could be emotional at the best of times and seeing her five-year-old post-surgery would certainly give her cause for more tears. He’d give her a few minutes’ privacy before he joined them, and as soon as he’d fulfilled his promise to the boy, he’d do what he should’ve done in the first place and go home.
Quinn rounded the corner and vanished from sight. It had been a long day for all of them and he didn’t want to abandon her when she was so fragile. Instead, he turned his attention back to Rebecca to find her with her arms folded, eyebrows raised and her lips tilted into a half-smile.
‘I told Simon I’d show him how to do a few magic tricks before he went home. I thought cheering him up was more important than a few drinks with someone I hardly know.’
‘I believe you,’ she said, her voice dripping with enough sarcasm to force Matt to defend his presence here post-shift.
‘What? You think there’s something going on with me and Quinn? She’s having a nightmare of a time with Simon and he seems to respond better when I’m around. That’s all.’ He shut down any gossip fodder without the utterance of a lie. Anything remotely salacious resided entirely in his head. For now.
‘Uh-huh? It’s not like you to turn down a hot date for a charity case.’ Rebecca wasn’t about to let this drop and he knew why when he’d been enthusing about the date he’d lined up all week, only to have blown it off at the last minute. It was no wonder he’d developed something of a reputation due to his reluctance to settle down with one woman.
It was true; there’d been a few female interests over the course of his time in London but that didn’t mean he jumped into bed with a different partner every week. Sometimes he simply enjoyed a little company. However, the slight against his character was nothing to the umbrage he took to Quinn being denigrated to a pity date. After two months of sparring and making up, he’d go as far as to say that they’d bonded as friends.
He pursed his lips together so he wouldn’t defend her honour and give Rebecca any more ammunition to tease, or admonish, him.
‘You know me, I’m never short of female company.’ Generally he wasn’t big-headed about such matters but it was better to shrug it off as a non-event than turn it into a big deal. The girl he was supposed to be seeing tonight, Kelly—or was it Kerry?—was just someone he’d met the other day. It was nothing special and neither of them had been particularly put out when he’d phoned to call it off so he could meet with Quinn instead. He wasn’t a player and it wasn’t as if he was trying to keep his options open. There was a good chance he’d never see or speak to Kelly/Kerry again.
‘No, but it is quite uncharacteristic of you to be so…hands on, at work.’
So she’d seen him with his arm around Quinn. He couldn’t even defend his actions there. There’d been no excuse for him to maintain that close contact after they’d exited the packed lift except for his own pleasure. He’d enjoyed the warmth of her pressed into him, her petite frame so delicate against his bulk and the scent of her freshly washed hair filling his nostrils until he didn’t want anything else to fill his lungs.
‘Simon’s a special boy. He’s in foster care and I guess I do have a soft spot for him. He’s one of the first patients I’ve been able to treat with spray-on skin, so I’m particularly interested in his progress for use in other cases.’ He didn’t delve into any other personal aspects of his affinity for the pair. Rebecca knew he had younger sisters, but as this was his new start, he hadn’t seen the need to divulge his personal struggles to reach this point. As far as anyone needed to know, he was simply escorting an anxious mother back to her son post-surgery.
‘It’s easy to get attached. I guess I was hoping for some juicy gossip to take my mind off things.’
‘Well, I’m not the one everyone’s talking about around here. The rumour mill’s gone into overdrive now Thomas is back.’
Rebecca’s sigh echoed along the corridor at the mention of her ex-husband. It might have come across as a dirty trick to shift focus from one taboo subject to another but he was genuinely concerned for his friend too. By all accounts the end of her marriage had been traumatic. The car crash which had claimed the life of her young daughter had also proved too much for the marriage to survive. Now her ex, a cardiologist, was here on loan, it was bound to be awkward for both of them.
Matt had seen grief rip apart many families in his line of work and in that respect he was lucky to have kept his own together. The alternative didn’t bear thinking about.
‘Me and