Page 39 of Doc Hollywood

Taylor didn’t answer, obviously forgetting that he was supposed to be called Tom.

Clara nudged his leg and repeated the question. “Tom, Hel was just asking why you don’t come to the quiz next week.”

Taylor looked pained as he replied, “I’d love to. But I travel a lot for work, and I’m never in one place very long, so I won’t be in town next week.”

Clara felt a stab of disappointment shoot through her. It was so fun sitting with him and having someone to whisper and laugh with. And for a second, her mind skipped to a place whereTaylor was at her side every week rather than it being a freak, never-to-be-repeated event in her life.

“The final scores are in. Our winners this week are ‘the Suture Superstars’,” Ron announced to the bar.

The whole table leapt to their feet, jumping and pumping their fists in the air. Hel swept Clara into an excited hug, and Mike dashed over to pick up their prize.

She froze in shock when an arm looped around her shoulder, tugging her away from Hel, and before she could work out what was happening, she found herself pressed against the very hard chest of Taylor. Who lifted her off her feet and swung her around; on each spin, she saw Sadie’s delighted face giving her a thumbs up.

When he placed her back on the floor, she was breathless and gazed up into his bright blue eyes, which were staring straight back at her. The noise from the pub faded away, and she couldn’t see anyone else in the room except Taylor and couldn’t hear anything except the sound of her own ragged breaths in her ears.

Taylor leaned slightly towards her, his face getting closer, his eyes never leaving hers. Then she was wrenched from his grasp by Mike, who had just arrived back with the prize.

“Well done, mate. We wouldn’t have won without you,” Mike declared, grabbing Taylor’s hand, giving it a firm shake and patting him on the arm. “Sorry if I was a dick at the start. Ouch, what was that for Sadie.” He rubbed at his ribs where Sadie had just elbowed him.

“Sorry, I slipped,” Sadie said sweetly to Mike and inclined her head toward Taylor, indicating that Clara should step back into his arms.

Clara shook her head and stepped away from Taylor, trying to suppress the shiver she felt when she moved away from the heat of his body.

Taylor returned Mike’s handshake, grinning. “It’s all good. I had a lot of fun.”

Mike slung his arm around Clara and squeezed her into his chest, crowing, “I can’t believe we won.”

Clara hugged him back, then stepped quickly away, glancing up at Taylor to see him staring at her, a frown pulling down at his eyebrows.

“What’s the prize?” Taylor turned his attention back to Mike.

“A fifty-dollar voucher for the pub. It’ll be enough to get us all a pint!” Mike smiled happily, the paper voucher clutched in his hand. “I’ll go to the bar. Does everyone want the same again?” He consulted everyone about their drink preference and was about to head to the bar when he paused, pulled two dollars out of his pocket, and handed it to Clara. “Can you enter me in the bonus round?”

Clara took the money and nodded before sitting down and fishing around in her handbag for another two-dollar coin to enter herself as well. She found two and passed one to Taylor.

“What’s this for?” he asked quizzically.

“The cash bonus round. It’s a single question. You pay two bucks to enter, and it rolls over week to week if no one wins the jackpot,” Clara explained.

Ron announced loudly into the microphone, “And now, the round everyone has been waiting for. The bonus round. We’ve not had a winner for a few months, and the prize has jackpotted to six hundred dollars.”

“I can’t take your money,” Taylor refused and tried to hand the coin back to her.

“Do you want to enter?” Clara asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Yes,” he admitted.

“Do you have any coins?”

“No.”

“So take the money,” she insisted, putting it into his hand and closing his fist over the gold coin.

“On one condition.” Taylor waited to continue speaking until Clara nodded at him. “If I win. The cash is yours, as you put the two dollars up.”

Clara stared at him for a second before she nodded again. The questions were always so difficult that she wasn’t going to have to take his money.

When the pot came around, they all chucked their coins in and took their entry slips.

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