Page 55 of Doc Defence

Crouching down on the floor, she peered under the sofa and tried to reach her water bottle, but it was too far away. Huffing in annoyance, she got back to her feet. She would have to buy a new one at work, which was irritating when she needed to save her money to replace all the things she had lost that insurance didn’t cover.

“What went under the sofa?” Frost hopped over to her, much steadier on his crutches than he had been the previous day. In fact, without alcohol in his system, he made it look easy.

Hel averted her gaze from the way his muscles bunched and stretched with every step. “My water bottle.” She shrugged, no point in getting upset. “I’ll have to grab another one at work.”

“Hang on. I have a spare one.” He turned his back on her and hopped back into the kitchen.

“Thanks. That would be great.” Hel followed him, sniffing the air, and her stomach grumbled when an amazing smell of cooking bacon wafted over her.

She was instantly jealous. He would be sitting down to a nice breakfast, and she would have to buy a chocolate bar from the vending machine.

“No problem.” He threw a grin over his shoulder at her. “Although I hope you don’t mind the Burra Wombat’s logo, as it’s all over everything I have.”

“I don’t mind at all.” Hel tried to keep her eyes away from where his t-shirt rode up when he reached into the cupboard above the kitchen bench.

Tried being the operative word, as she failed dismally and stared at him from behind, okay, she ogled him. She totally ogled him.

“Here.”

Hel jumped in surprise when Frost spun around, holding a navy drink bottle out to her, which, as promised, had the Burra Wombat’s logo on. She attempted to hide her embarrassment at having been caught staring by making a joke.

“It’s weird, isn’t it, for the team to be ‘The Kookaburra Creek Wombats’? They should have stuck with one or the other and not had both a bird and an animal. It’s a bit weird, it’s—.” Hel bit her tongue and reminded herself to stop talking.

‘Yeah,“ he said. “To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about it. Team names make very little sense usually, so I nod and smile.”

Hel gazed at him. She wanted to stand and talk to him longer but needed to go to work.

“Thanks for this.” She reached out and took the bottle, being careful not to touch his hand, as she didn’t think her already overtaxed nerves could handle it.

She glanced at her watch and swore. She needed to leave now, or she would be late.

“I really appreciate it.” Hel filled the bottle quickly from the tap and strode out of the kitchen to grab her work bag.

“Wait a second. You haven’t got your breakfast or coffee.”

Hel stopped and turned back to face him. She was sure he said he made breakfast.

“You said you weren’t a morning person, and I am. I figured I’d make you breakfast as I wasn’t doing anything else.” Frost smiled tentatively at her.

Hel blinked at him a few times without saying anything.

“You don’t have to take it if you don’t want it.” Frost’s smile faltered, and he sounded unsure.

Hel blurted, “No, I want it.” She stepped back into the kitchen. “What is it?”

“It’s not exciting, sorry. It’s just a bacon sandwich.” Frost shrugged apologetically.

“You made me a bacon sandwich?” No one, apart from her mum, had ever made breakfast for her.

“Yeah. I made one for myself too. I don’t know how you take your coffee, so I’ve left room for milk and sugar.” He gestured to the reusable mug sitting next to the wrapped sandwich. “And you’re free to say no thanks, but I’ve made up a big cous cous salad to have later. It’s cooling in the fridge. Did you want to take some for your lunch?”

Hel answered immediately, “Yes. Please!”

She had also had far too many lunches, which were something out of the vending machine. Okay, it was a chocolate bar too. Thank goodness she enjoyed running, or she would be the size of a tank. Actually, that reminded her she needed to go and buy some new running shoes, or she would go insane from no exercise.

“Great.” Frost swivelled around to a different cupboard, balancing on one leg, grabbed a Tupperware container, and then hopped across to the fridge without bothering with his crutches.

“You’re a lot steadier today,” Hel observed.

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