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'Since I lived with three of them,' Sean said ruefully. 'I'm decidedly outnumbered in my home and work life so I've decided to give in gracefully and adopt some of their habits.'
'Well, whatever gossip says, rest assured that I have more self-control and decency than to seduce sixteen-year-olds.' Zach was careful not to reveal the slight uneasiness Sean's words had prompted.
If it had been left to little Keely, they most certainly would have had an affair. She'd had a massive teenage crush on him.
A ghost of a smile hovered around his firm mouth as he remembered the night she'd proposed to him. Turning her down without hurting her fragile ego had been one of the hardest experiences of his adult life.
What would she be like now? And would she have recovered from her teenage crush on him? If she hadn't then they were going to be in trouble.
Zach gave a short laugh, picked up the mug and finished his coffee. Of course she would have recovered. That was years ago, for goodness' sake, and he hadn't seen her since that night. He'd kept away—more for her sake than his. He'd decided that the sooner he removed himself from her life, the sooner she'd get over him and start fancying boys her own age. Which was probably what she'd been doing ever since.
'So come on, Mr Eligible Bachelor, bring me up to date.' Sean leaned back in his chair, a slow smile spreading across his face. 'Who's the lucky woman at the moment?'
'I thought you were one of the few people I could trust not to interfere with my love life,' Zach growled, irritation sizzling through his veins. This was one topic of conversation guaranteed to ruin his day. 'I have enough of it from your wife and the nurses in this department, without getting it from you, too.'
Sean looked at him calmly. 'Ally thinks it's time you got married.'
Zach closed his eyes and counted to ten. He loved Sean's wife dearly but he wished she'd stop trying to arrange his life. 'For the record, I am perfectly satisfied with my love life.'
'From what I've heard, you don't have a love life,' Sean said bluntly, 'just a sex life.'
'And since when was that any of your business?' Zach's blue eyes flashed a warning and Sean must have heard the threatening note in his voice because he gave a lopsided smile and lifted a hand.
'All right, all right. Calm down. I'm just saying that sooner or later you're going to have to take a risk and get back into a proper relationship.'
Sean was as direct as ever and Zach felt his hackles rise. Why did everyone feel they knew what was best for him?
'I have no intention of doing anything of the sort. I like my life as it is.'
There was a slight pause. 'It wasn't your life I was thinking of,' Sean said gruffly, not quite meeting his eyes. 'It was Phoebe's.'
Zach swore under his breath and stood up suddenly, the chair scraping on the floor as he pushed it away. 'Phoebe is fine.'
'Zach, she's not even three years old,' Sean said quietly. 'She needs a mother.'
Zach closed his eyes and the breath hissed through his teeth. Damn. Why did it still hurt so much? Why? It had been more than a year now. Were his battered emotions ever going to recover?
Sean gave a sigh and rubbed his forehead with long fingers. 'Look, tell me if I'm out of line
, but—'
'You're out of line,' Zach said coldly, dropping his empty mug into the washing-up bowl. 'And, please, tell Ally I don't need her advice on my love life. And I certainly don't intend to get married again. There are some things you only do once in a lifetime.'
Sean studied his coffee. 'You say that now because you don't think you'll ever meet anyone again, but you will. Perhaps sooner than you think.'
Zach rolled his eyes. 'And I suppose this is the part where you tell me that you and Ally are having some people to dinner and I'm the available single man?'
Sean shook his head and grinned. 'I know when I'm beaten. I'm just going to let nature take its course. Once you meet Keely I'm sure you'll revise your opinion on romance.'
'Keely?' Zach blinked, thrown by the change of subject. 'What on earth has she got to do with this? Keely's a child, Sean.'
Why were they talking about Keely all of a sudden?
'A child?' Sean lifted an eyebrow and a ghost of a smile played around his mouth. 'She might have been a child when you last saw her but, believe me, that was no child that I interviewed. Your "child" has grown into a woman. And a very beautiful woman.'
Zach scowled. 'You shouldn't be making sexist comments about the doctors who are coming to work for you.'
'I wouldn't dream of making a sexist comment when I'm working,' Sean defended himself smoothly, 'but you and I are off duty at the moment and as your friend I'm just telling you that your little Keely is a knockout. Sweet, sexy and honest as the day is long.'
