Page 52 of Doc Hollywood

“Nope.” She pulled her hand free and picked her phone up from where she had placed it on the table. “Hang on.” A quick Google search was all it took to find Natalia’s ring. “Here you go.” Clara handed the phone over again.

“It’s, umm, well, it’s something,” Taylor said, zooming in on the ring. “I mean, it’s big.”

“Gaudy?” Clara suggested.

She hated how flashy it was with its two-carat diamond and multiple stones set around it to make it look even bigger.

“Yeah, it is a bit. What would you pick if it was for you?” Taylor didn’t return her phone; instead, he pulled up the Tiffany website and handed it to her.

“What?” Puzzled, Clara took her phone and looked at the screen, which was open to a page of engagement rings.

“If you could choose one ring, which would it be? Money is no issue,” he repeated, tapping on the screen.

“Weirdo. I’m not picking out an engagement ring,” Clara huffed and closed the web browser, shaking her head.

Taylor shrugged but didn’t ask again, instead saying, “Did you speak to the credit card company?”

“Yeah. My account, my debt. I signed everything to give Jack an authorised card, so I can’t claim it was stolen,” Clara groaned.

She had spent a long time wishing she hadn’t given him a card.

“Shit,” Taylor cursed.

“Shit indeed. You know what? I don’t want to talk about him anymore. It didn’t make me feel better. In fact, it just made me feel worse.” Clara leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes,afraid that tears would spring into them again. She shouldn’t have spoken about Jack; that was a massive mistake. “Sorry. I thought I wanted to slag him off.”

Taylor’s arm snaked around her shoulder, tugging her into his side. “No. I shouldn’t have asked. Are you okay?”

Clara leaned into him and shook her head, muttering, “Just give me a minute. I’ll be fine.”

“Take your time,” he soothed, hugging her tighter.

Clara sat there quietly, letting her upset settle down, gradually remembering whose arm she was tucked under and whose hard chest she was snuggled against. All thoughts of Jack vanished. Her heart rate increased, and her cheeks flushed. She tried to pull away from Taylor, but he didn’t let her.

“Just for the record. Your ex is an enormous shithead, and you deserve far, far better.”

“I could hardly do worse.” She laughed.

Clara started when Taylor’s phone rang. She tried to pull away from him, but he clutched her tighter and pulled his phone out.

Glancing down at the screen, he groaned, “It’s my manager. I need to take this.”

“That’s okay. I’ll just—“ She tried to pull away again, and he kept a firm hold on her.

“Stay.” He turned to look at her, staring into her eyes.

“Alright,” she whispered, settling back into his arms.

Taylor answered his call. “Hi, Ken. How are you doing?”

Clara tried not to listen but was four inches away from the phone and could hear everything.

“Bad weather’s closing in on the Antarctic. We need to move fast to get you there, or we won’t be able to fly for another two weeks, and that won’t work with your schedule,” Ken told him.

“When do I need to leave?” Taylor’s arm flexed around her shoulder.

“Now. I’ve got your location from your phone. I’ve got a helicopter en route to you. I’ll text you the landing address,” Ken informed him.

“I’ve got a hire car,” Taylor replied.

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