Page 8 of Doc Defence

Frost didn’t answer, only vaguely aware of the question as he watched Hel. She dropped her gaze to her shoes, which he noticed were flat and very different from the footwear Star teetered around in the whole time.

Hel cleared her throat nervously, but Frost didn’t look away. He kept watching her until a voice calling his name above the hubbub of the bar caught his attention.

“Frost, baby. Where’s my drink?” Star’s shrill voice pierced through his ears.

He glanced over at her and gestured he would be two minutes, knowing it would mollify her before he turned back to Hel and Sadie. But this time, he kept his eyes firmly off Hel.

What on earth had he been thinking? He had a girlfriend. Even in his wild days, he never overlapped his women. He would admit they occasionally came a little close and had once or twice been only a few hours apart. But he never overlapped and shouldn’t be staring at a woman when his girlfriend was right behind him.

“Frost is short for?” Sadie prompted.

“Jake Forster,” he drawled. “But when you play ice hockey for a living, with a name like that—“

Hel butted in, ‘They start calling you Jack Frost?”

“Yeah,” Frost agreed.

He had initially despised the name and thrown punches every time people called him it. But like all good nicknames, it took on a life of its own, and now a lot of people assumed he was called Frost Forster, which was quite frankly bizarre. Who would name a kid that?

Hel chuckled, which lit up her face, her hazel eyes sparkling.

Frost was desperate to talk to her some more, but the barman arrived back with their wine.

“Sorry for the delay, ladies. Here’s your wine. And how many glasses do you need?”

Sadie glanced at Frost, “Did you want some wine?”

He shook his head, he wasn’t a big fan of wine. “No thanks.”

“Three glasses, please,” Sadie requested.

“Why do we need three glasses?” Hel questioned.

“I texted Clara. She’s coming too.” Sadie looked over at Frost and explained, even though he hadn’t asked. “She’s another doctor.”

“Cash or card, ladies?” The barman enquired as he placed the glasses on the bar.

Before either of the women could speak, Frost said, “I’ll pay. And can I have a pint of the IPA and the most ridiculous-looking pink cocktail you have. I don’t care what it tastes like, it just needs to be in a martini glass.”

“You can’t buy us wine. You don’t know us.” Hel shook her head.

“You saved Aiden’s life. I can buy you a drink. And you should come and sit with us. The boys will want to thank you as well.” Frost gritted his teeth, knowing with Star being there, he wouldn’t get to speak to Hel, and that was all he wanted to do.

CHAPTER 4

HEL

“Ummm.Sure.”Helglancedover at Sadie, who nodded vigorously, indicating she thought it was a great idea to go and sit with the hockey players.

Of course she did. Sadie would love to set Hel up with a hockey player so she wouldn’t be the only single one in their trio of friends. Hel still couldn’t quite believe Clara was engaged to Taylor, not that her friend wasn’t amazing, but it seemed so unlikely: small-town doctor and Hollywood megastar.

Hel still blushed every time she thought about her first meeting with Taylor, not that she realised it was Taylor at the time with the giant beard he wore. Clara brought him to the pub quiz she and a few of the other doctors went to regularly, and bizarrely, the whole quiz was about Superman, a role Taylor had played on the big screen.

After the picture round, Hel demanded the picture of Taylor dressed in his Superman suit and sat it next to her, saying he was going to be her imaginary boyfriend for the evening. At the time, she thought it was hilarious. It was less funny when she found out she said it in front of Taylor.

Clara had been lovely about it, reassuring her over and over that she had nothing to be embarrassed about, and they all knew it was a joke.

But Hel couldn’t help it, every time she saw the actor, a small wave of discomfort washed over her, assuming he thought she was a bit of an idiot.

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