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He smiled at her. “So it will. I can’t wait to see it.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s nearly dinner time.” He helped her up from the floor and reached for the brace that held the icepack. She held up her t-shirt and he tried not to notice the expanse of bare skin she revealed.
“Are you staying?”
He glanced up at her. “No, I have a date.” He thought he saw something flash in her eyes but couldn’t be sure. “With my accountant.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Will your lad be in?”
“I think so.”
“Does he know it’s beef wellington for main and chocolate fudge cake for afters?”
Georgie grinned. “I’ll tell him.”
“I saw him in the kitchens the other day, charming the head chef. Wouldn’t surprise me if she’s planned a whole menu of his favorites.”
“He’s got no shame,” she replied with a giggle as she climbed into bed.
Glancing at her, Ryan felt his heart squeeze. She looked so lovely. Her smile was bright, there was color in her cheeks and the shadows of pain were barely noticeable. He pulled the blanket over her legs. “It’s good to hear you laughing, mo chroi.”
“It’s good to laugh.”
He’d better get out of there, he thought. Before he did something crazy. “Eat all your dinner, won’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
Ryan went out, letting out a breath. He wondered if he’d sinned in a past life. Because he must have done something pretty terrible to deserve the torture of wanting someone as much as he wanted Georgie. Someone he couldn’t have. Someone who didn’t see him the way he saw her. Someone who gave no more thought to going to bed with him than she would going to Mars. And to further add to his torture, he had to touch her. All. The. Time. Into and out of bed, doing stretches, adjusting the ice pack. She wore tight leggings and slim fitting tops. It took every scrap of strength he had to maintain his professionalism.
After Ryan had gone out, Georgie lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling confused.I’ve got a date.She’d felt an instant flash of…she wasn’t sure what, at the words. He was a good looking, charming, single man. Of course he dated. It wasn’t her place not to like it. He was her doctor, that was all. Well, that was a lie. He was also her friend. A good friend. She had no business feeling flashes of…whatever because he said he had a date. Nor feeling relieved when he clarified it was with his accountant.
Brandon came in, rescuing Georgie from further wallowing in her confusion. He was followed by a smiling orderly delivering their dinner.
“That smells amazing,” Georgie observed as the tray was placed on the table
“Beef Wellington.”
“Ryan said he saw you in the kitchens the other day. Did you put in a request?”
He grinned. “Maybe.”
Georgie rolled her eyes. Taking a bite of dinner, she asked, “What did you get up to today?”
Brandon shrugged. “Took a tram into the city. Wandered around a bit. Then I bunkered down in a café on Degraves Street and did some re—business.”
“You weren’t going to say business just then.”
“Yeah, I was.”
Georgie looked at him for a moment. He returned her gaze openly, so she let it go. She managed to eat half her dinner before passing it to Brandon to finish off. She eyed the fudge cake for a moment. Even back in the day when she ate properly, she usually didn’t go for sweets. But it looked really good. Maybe she could squeeze it in. Picking up the spoon, she broke off a small amount and put it in her mouth. She nearly groaned. It tasted so much better than it looked. Which was saying something because it looked delicious. She glanced up to find Brandon watching her. “What?”
“You know, the Epicurean philosopher Epictetus said that true pleasure was merely the absence of pain.”
Georgie thought about that for a minute while she took another spoonful of cake. “Well, your mate Epi—whatever, obviously never had chocolate fudge cake.”
Brandon laughed at her. “True. But I’m looking at you and I’m thinking it must feel so good to not feel so bad anymore.”
“Yeah, it does.”
