Page 65 of Doc Defence

“Absolutely not,” Taylor said firmly. “When you start grabbing people, you get cut off from the booze.”

Gloria pouted, and then her sparkling eyes rose to meet Frost’s before they darted to Hel, and the older woman gave him a barely noticeable wink.

“They’re right. You’re a menace,” Frost said and shook his head.

He probably should have been offended by the older woman’s actions, but she had such a cheeky twinkle in her eye that he forgave her instantly. It sounded like she had worked herself to the bone to raise Taylor and was now enjoying herself, occasionally a little too much.

“She is,” Clara agreed.

“You can’t say that! You’re nearly my daughter-in-law.” Gloria sounded affronted and had a haughty expression on her face.

Clara burst out laughing and put her arm around Gloria’s shoulder. “I can. And I will be escorting you for the rest of the evening, especially around Frost. You have lost your privileges.”

“I’m not five,” Gloria sulked.

Clara and Taylor both stared at her with raised eyebrows.

“Fine. I went too far. And I won’t do it again.” Gloria picked up her glass to take a sip, then remembered it was empty and put it back down, sighing in disappointment.

Frost was sure she muttered, ‘It was a nice ass.’ The snort of laughter that escaped from Hel suggested to him he heard correctly.

When it was time to leave, he got up and said goodbye to all the other doctors on the team. When he shook hands with the petite blonde, curly-haired doctor—he wanted to say her name was Maisie—he hesitated for a moment. As he looked at her, his mind for a second pictured a woman with the same face as this one, with long dark hair.

Frowning, he stared at her, his head tilting, trying to place her. “Have we met before?”

The blonde pushed her pink glasses up her nose, her eyes wide behind them. “No,” she said quietly, taking a step away from him.

“Oh. Sorry, you look familiar.” Frost shrugged.

“I have one of those faces.” Maisie’s voice was barely audible in the noisy pub, and now that he thought about it, while she smiled at all the banter, she had been mostly quiet.

“Sure,” he agreed. “That must be it. It was nice to meet you.”

“You too.” Maisie’s gaze was now on her shoes, and her curls covered part of her face. She lifted a hand and waved to Frost and the rest of the group before she strode out of the pub.

Frost watched her go, something nagging at the back of his mind. He pushed it aside and turned to Hel, asking, “Are you ready?”

“Yeah.” Hel flung her arms around Gloria, squeezing the older woman tight, and he was sure Hel whispered to her that she was a menace.

A smile threatened as he wholeheartedly agreed. She was hilarious but definitely a liability.

When Hel joined him to leave, he scowled at his crutches. He wanted to put his hand on the small of her back and guide her out of the pub, but the stupid crutches meant he couldn’t, and he was relegated to hopping along behind her, glaring at any man who even glanced in her direction.

CHAPTER 22

FROST

Frost’salarmpulledhimout of his restless sleep. He had spent a lot of the night tossing and turning, leaving him sweaty and exhausted. Maybe the air conditioner wasn’t working properly?

Dragging himself out of bed, he pulled his clothes on and grabbed his crutches to head downstairs to make breakfast for himself and Hel. She was on the early shift and needed to be in work at eight.

Everything seemed harder today, and the house felt hotter, making him break out in a sweat. But he ignored his discomfort and carried on making breakfast.

“Here.” Frost handed Hel a wrapped-up bacon sandwich when she dashed into the kitchen.

“Thank you so much. You know you don’t have to do this.” Hel grabbed the sandwich, sniffed it, and a grin crossed her face as she took in the delicious smell. “But I do appreciate it. Although I think the people who stock the vending machine will complain as their profits must be way down since I’ve moved in with you.”

Frost chuckled and handed her a lunch box. “I like to be useful. I can’t sit around and do nothing.”

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