A Date with the Ice Princess

‘So where are we going?’ she asked.

‘About three-quarters of an hour away.’

He really wasn’t going to be drawn, was he?

‘Feel free to choose the music,’ he said.

The first radio station she tried was dance music—not her cup of tea at all. The second was playing one of her dad’s songs; she left the station playing, and couldn’t help humming along to the song.

Lewis smiled at her. ‘I had you pegged as listening only to highbrow stuff. Classical music. Like those tickets you bid on.’

He’d noticed that?

‘See, I told you that you could surprise me.’

‘So you don’t like this sort of stuff?’ Abigail had to remind herself not to jump to her dad’s defence.

‘Actually, I do. This sort of stuff is great on a play-list if you’re going out for a run. But I didn’t think you’d be a fan of Brydon.’

Their biggest. Not that she was going to tell Lewis that. Or why.

He didn’t press her to talk, and she found herself relaxing, enjoying the scenery.

Until he turned off the main road and she saw the sign.

‘Urban Jungle Adventure Centre.’ And it wasn’t just the name. It was the photographs on the hoarding of what people were doing at the centre. ‘We’re going zip-lining?’

‘It’s one of the biggest rushes you can get.’ He gave her a sidelong look as he parked the car. ‘With your clothes on, that is.’

She felt the colour stain her face. ‘Are you determined to embarrass me?’

‘No. I’m trying to make you laugh. I’m not trying to seduce you.’

‘I don’t understand you,’ she said. ‘I don’t have a clue what makes you tick.’

‘Snap. So let’s go and have some fun finding out.’

Fun. Zip-lining. The idea of launching herself off a platform and whizzing through space, with only a flimsy harness holding her onto a line to stop her plummeting to the ground… No, that wasn’t fun. It made her palms sweat.

He frowned. ‘Are you scared of heights, Abby?’

She let the diminutive pass without correcting him. ‘No.’

‘But you’re scared of this.’

She swallowed. ‘I work in the emergency department. I see accidents all the time.’

‘And you think you’re going to have an accident here?’ His expression softened. ‘It’s OK, Abby. This is safe. All the staff are trained. All the equipment is tested. Very, very regularly. Your harness isn’t going to break and you’re not going to fall. No broken bones, no concussion, no subdural haematoma. OK?’

How had he known what the pictures were in her head? She blew out a breath. ‘OK.’

‘The first time you do it, I admit, it can be a bit daunting. Hardly anyone jumps off the platform on their first time. The second time, you’ll know what the adrenalin rush feels like and you’ll leap off as if you’ve never been scared.’

She doubted it. A lot. ‘So this is what makes you tick. You’re an adrenalin fiend.’ And that was probably why he worked in the emergency department. Because it was all about speed, about split-second decisions that made the difference between life and death. Real adrenalin stuff.

‘Actually, I’m probably more of an endorphin fiend,’ he corrected. ‘Which is why I usually go for a run before every shift, so I feel great before I start work and I’m ready to face anything.’

She’d never thought of it that way before. ‘That makes sense.’

And of course he made her climb up the ladder before him. ‘Ladies first.’

‘You mean, you want to look at my backside,’ she grumbled.

He grinned. ‘That, too. It’s a very nice backside.’

She gave him what she hoped was a really withering look—no way did she want him to know just how scary she found this—and climbed up the ladder. Stubbornness got her to the top. But when it came to putting the harness on all her nerves came back. With teeth. And could she get the wretched thing on, ready for the adventure centre staff to check? Her fingers had turned into what felt like lumpy balloons.

Way to go, Abigail, she thought bitterly. How to embarrass yourself totally in front of the coolest guy in the hospital. Nothing changed, did it? She just didn’t fit in.

‘Let me help you,’ Lewis said.

He was all ready to go, harness and wide smile both in place. Well, they would be, she thought crossly.

‘And this isn’t an excuse to touch you, by the way. Fastening the harness can be a bit tricky, and I’ve already gone through that learning curve.’

Now she felt like the grumpiest, most horrible person on the planet. Because Lewis was being nice, not sleazy. She’d attributed motives to him that he clearly didn’t have and had thought the worst of him without any evidence to back it up. How mean was that? ‘Thank you,’ she muttered.

He laughed. ‘That sounds more like “I want to kill you”.’

‘I do,’ she admitted. And somehow he’d disarmed her. Somehow his smile didn’t seem cocky and smug any more. He was… Shockingly, she thought, Lewis Gallagher was nice.

Which was dangerous. She didn’t want to get close to a heartbreaker like Lewis Gallagher. She didn’t want to get involved with anyone. She just wanted her nice, quiet—well, busy, she amended mentally—life as an emergency department doctor.

‘OK. Step in.’

And what had seemed like an impossible web was suddenly fitting round her. Lewis’s hands were brushing against her, yes, but that was only because he was checking every single buckle and every single fastening, making doubly sure that everything was done properly and she was safe. There was nothing sexual in the contact.

Which should make her feel relieved.

So why did it make her feel disappointed? Surely she wasn’t so stupid as to let herself get attracted to a good-time guy like Lewis Gallagher?

‘OK. Ready?’ he asked.

No. Far from it. ‘Yes,’ she lied.

The adventure centre staff did a final check on her harness, clipped the carabiners to the zip-lines, and then she and Lewis were both standing on the very edge of the platform. Looking down over trees and a stream and—no, they didn’t seriously expect her just to step off into nothingness, did they?

‘You can step off or jump off,’ the adventure centre guy said.

‘See you at the bottom, Abby. After three,’ Lewis said. ‘One, two, three—whoo-hoo!’

And he jumped. He actually jumped.

‘I hate you, Lewis Gallagher. I really, really hate you,’ she said. Right at that moment she would’ve been happy to give him back the money he’d paid for their date and give double the amount to the hospital fund, as long as she didn’t have to jump.

‘Just step off, love. It’s all right once you get going,’ the adventure centre guy said. ‘It’s fun. Look at that ten-year-old next to you. He’s enjoying it.’

So now the guy thought she was feebler than a kid? Oh, great. Her confidence dipped just a bit more.

But there was no way out of this. She had to do it.

She closed her eyes, silently cursing Lewis. Deep breath. One, two, three…

The speed shocked her into opening her eyes. It felt as if she was flying. Like a bird gliding on the air currents. Totally free, the wind rushing against her face and the sun shining.

By the time she reached the platform at the end of the zip-line, she understood exactly what Lewis had meant. This felt amazing. Like nothing she’d ever experienced.

He was there to meet her. ‘OK?’ he asked, his eyes filled with concern.

She blew out a breath. ‘Yes.’

‘Sure? You didn’t look too happy when you were standing on the platform.’

‘Probably because I wanted to kill you.’

‘Uh-huh. And now?’

‘You’ll live,’ she said.

He smiled, and she felt a weird sensation in her chest, as if her heart had just done a flip. Which was totally ridiculous. Number one, it wasn’t physically possible and, number two, Lewis Gallagher wasn’t her type. He really wasn’t.

‘So you enjoyed it.’ He brushed her cheek gently with the backs of his fingers, and all her nerve-endings sat up and begged for more. ‘Good. We get three turns. Ready for another?’

She nodded, not quite trusting her voice not to wobble and not wanting him to have any idea of how much he was affecting her.

The second time, the ladder was easier, and so was standing on the platform This time she stepped off without hesitation.

The third time, she turned to Lewis and lifted her chin. She could do this every bit as well as he could. ‘After three? One, two, three.’ And she jumped, yelling, ‘Whoo-hoo!’

With her customary reserve broken, Abigail Smith was beautiful, Lewis realised. Her grey eyes were shining, her cheeks were rosy with pleasure, and he suddenly desperately wanted to haul her into his arms and kiss her.

Except she was already off into space, waving her arms and striking poses as she slid down the zip-line.

If someone had told him two days ago that the ice princess of the hospital would let herself go and enjoy herself this much, he would’ve scoffed. He’d brought her here as much to rattle her as anything else.

But he’d been hoist with his own petard, because she didn’t seem rattled at all.

Unlike him. Abigail Smith had managed to rattle him, big time.

He jumped off the platform and followed her down; he was far enough behind for her to be already taking off the safety harness when he reached the landing platform.

‘So are you going to admit it?’ he asked when he’d removed his own harness and handed it to the assistant at the bottom of the zip-line.

‘What?’

‘That you enjoyed it.’

She nodded. ‘If you’d told me earlier that this was where we were going, I would’ve made an excuse. I would’ve paid back your money and given the same amount to the hospital, so nobody lost out.’

‘But you would’ve lost out.’ He held her gaze. ‘And I don’t mean just the money.’

‘Yes. You’re right.’

He liked the fact that she could admit it when she was wrong. ‘That’s why I didn’t tell you.’

‘Thank you for bringing me here. I never would’ve thought I’d enjoy something like this. But—yes, it was fun.’

Oh, help. She had dimples when she smiled. Who would’ve thought that the serious, keep-herself-to-herself doctor would be this gorgeous when her reserve was down? He hadn’t expected her to be anything like this. And he was horribly aware that Abigail Smith could really get under his skin.

‘Let’s go exploring,’ he said. He needed to move, distract himself from her before he said something stupid. Or did something worse—like giving in to the temptation to lean over and kiss her.

CHAPTER TWO

ABIGAIL AND LEWIS spent the next couple of hours exploring every activity at the centre, including the almost vertical slides and the climbing wall. Abigail didn’t even seem to mind when they got a bit wet on the water chute, though Lewis’s pulse spiked as he imagined how she’d look with her skin still damp from showering with him.

‘Penny for them?’ she asked.

No way. If he told her, she’d either slap his face or go silent on him, and he wanted to get to know more of this playful side of her. ‘Time for lunch,’ he said instead.

‘Only on condition you let me pay. Because you’ve paid for everything else today.’

‘And you don’t like being beholden.’

‘Exactly.’

Someone had hurt her, he thought. Broken her trust. Maybe that was why she kept herself to herself so much: to protect herself from being hurt again. ‘Then thank you. I would love you to buy me lunch.’

She looked faintly surprised, as if she’d expected him to argue, and then looked relieved.

‘There really aren’t any strings to today, Abby,’ he said softly. ‘This is all about having fun.’

‘And I am having fun.’

Although her smile was a little bit too bright. What was she hiding?

There was no point in asking; he knew she didn’t trust him enough to tell him and she’d make up some anodyne excuse or change the subject. So he simply smiled back and led her to the cafeteria.

‘What would you like?’ she asked.

He glanced at the board behind the counter. ‘A burger, chips and a cola, please.’

‘Junk food. Tut. And you a health professional,’ she teased.

‘Hey, I’m burning every bit of it off,’ he protested.

She smiled. ‘Go and find us a table and I’ll queue up.’

When she joined him at the table with a tray of food, Lewis noticed that she’d chosen a jacket potato with salad and cottage cheese, and a bottle of mineral water. ‘Super-healthy. Now I feel guilty for eating junk.’

She looked anxious. ‘I was only teasing you.’

‘Yeah. I was teasing, too.’ He gave her a reassuring smile. ‘Thank you. That looks good.’

He kept the conversation light during lunch, and then they went back to exploring the park.

‘Do you want to do the zip-line again?’ he asked.

‘Can we?’

‘Sure.’

And, as well as his usual adrenalin rush, Lewis got an extra kick from the fact that she was so clearly enjoying something they’d both thought was well outside her comfort zone.

‘Thank you. I’ve had a really nice time,’ she said when they got back to his car.

‘The date’s not over yet.’

She blinked. ‘Isn’t it?’

‘I thought we could have dinner,’ he said.

She looked down at her jeans and her T-shirt. ‘I’m not really dressed for dinner.’

‘You’re fine as you are. I don’t have a dress code.’

She frowned. ‘I’m sorry, I’m not quite with you.’

‘I’m cooking for us. At my place,’ he explained.

This time, she laughed. ‘You’re cooking?’

He shrugged. ‘I can cook.’

She smiled. ‘I bet you only learned to impress your girlfriends at university.’

No. He’d learned because he’d had to, when he’d been fourteen. Because the only way he and his little sisters would’ve had anything to eat had been if he’d cooked it. Not that he had any intention of telling Abigail about that. ‘Something like that,’ he said lightly, and drove them back to his flat.

‘Can we stop at an off-licence or something so I can get a bottle of wine as my contribution to dinner?’ she asked on the way.

‘There’s no need. I have wine.’

‘But I haven’t contributed anything.’

‘You have. You bought me lunch.’

‘This was supposed to be my date,’ she reminded him.

‘Tough. I hijacked it, and we’re on my rules now,’ he said with a smile. ‘Just chill, and we’ll have dinner.’

Something smelled good, Abigail thought when Lewis let her inside his flat. Clearly he’d planned this, and it wasn’t the frozen pizza she’d been half expecting him to produce for dinner.

‘It’ll take five minutes for me to sort the vegetables. The bathroom’s through there if you need it,’ he said, indicating a door.

She washed her hands and splashed a little water on her face, then stared at herself in the mirror. She looked a total mess and her hair was all over the place, despite the fact she’d tied it back, and she didn’t have a comb with her so it’d just have to stay looking like a bird’s nest. Then again, this wasn’t a date date so it really didn’t matter how she looked, did it?

When she emerged from the bathroom, she could hear the clatter of crockery in the kitchen. ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ she called.

‘No, just take a seat,’ he called back.

There was a bistro table in the living room with two chairs. The table was set nicely; he’d clearly made an effort.

There was an array of photographs on the mantelpiece, and she couldn’t resist going over for a closer look. At first glance, Abigail wasn’t surprised that most of them seemed to involve Lewis with his arm round someone female. One of them showed him holding a baby in a white christening gown.

His baby? Surely not. If Lewis had a child, he would’ve mentioned it.

But then she saw a wedding photograph with three women and Lewis. When she studied it, she could see the family likenesses: the bridesmaids were clearly the bride’s sisters. And the same women were in all the photographs. One of them had the same eyes as Lewis; one had his smile; all had his dark hair.

Which meant they had to be Lewis’s sisters. She guessed that the baby belonged to one of them, and Lewis was a doting uncle-cum-godfather.

He came through to the living room, carrying two plates. ‘OK?’ he asked.

‘Just admiring your photographs—your sisters, I presume?’

‘And my niece.’ He nodded. ‘My best girls.’

She’d already worked out that he was close to his family. What would it be like to have a sibling who’d always be there for you, someone you could ring at stupid o’clock in the morning when the doubts hit and you wondered what the hell you were doing? Being an only child, she’d got used to dealing with everything on her own.

‘They look nice,’ she offered.

‘They are. Most of the time. You know what it’s like.’

No, she didn’t. ‘Yes,’ she fibbed.

‘Come and sit down.’

He put the plate down in front of her, and she felt her eyes widen. Oh, no. She should’ve said something. Right back when he’d first told her they were having dinner here. But she’d simply assumed that by ‘cooking’ he’d meant just throwing a frozen cheese and tomato pizza into the oven, and then she’d been distracted by the photographs.

Dinner was presented beautifully, right down to the garnish of chopped fresh herbs.

But no way could she eat it.

Maybe if she ate just the inside of the jacket potato, then hid the chicken stew under the skin?

He clearly noticed her hesitation. ‘Oh, hell. I didn’t think to ask. And, given what you had for lunch…’ He frowned, and she could see the second he made the connection. ‘You’re vegetarian, aren’t you?’

‘Yes.’ She swallowed hard. ‘But don’t worry about it. You’ve gone to so much trouble. If you don’t mind, I’ll just eat the jacket potato and the veg.’

‘A casserole isn’t much trouble. And I’m not going to make you pick at your food. Give me ten minutes.’ Before she had a chance to protest, he’d whisked her plate away.

She followed him into the kitchen. ‘Lewis, really—you don’t have to go to any more trouble. Honestly. It’s my fault. I should’ve said something before. Leave it. I’ll just get a taxi home.’

‘You will not,’ he said crisply. ‘I promised you dinner, and dinner you shall have. Are you OK with pasta?’

‘I…’

‘Yes or no, Abby?’ His tone was absolutely implacable.

And, after all the adrenalin of their day at the adventure centre, she was hungry. She gave in. ‘Yes.’

‘And spinach?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good. I know you’re OK with dairy, or you wouldn’t have eaten cottage cheese. But I’ve already made enough wrong assumptions today, so I’m going to check. Are you OK with garlic and mascarpone?’

‘Love them,’ she said, squirming and feeling as if she was making a total fuss.

‘Good. Dinner will be ten minutes. Go and pour yourself a glass of wine.’ He was already heating oil in a pan, then squashed a clove of garlic and chopped an onion faster than she’d ever seen it done before.

So much for thinking he’d exaggerated his cooking skills. Lewis Gallagher actually knew his way around a kitchen. And he hadn’t been trying to impress her—he was trying to be hospitable. Bossing her around in exactly the way he probably bossed his kid sisters around.

She went back into his living room, poured herself a glass of wine and then poured a second glass for him before returning to the kitchen with the glasses. ‘I, um, thought you might like this.’

‘Thank you. I would.’ He smiled at her.

The spinach was wilting into the onions and the kettle was boiling, ready for the pasta. ‘Sorry, I’m out of flour, or I’d make us some flatbread to go with it.’

And she’d just bet he made his bread by hand, not with a machine. Lewis Gallagher was turning out to be so much more domesticated than she’d thought. And the fact he’d noticed that she couldn’t eat the food and guessed why… There was more to him than just the shallow party boy. Much more.

Which made him dangerous to her peace of mind.

She should back away, right now.

But then he started talking to her about food and bread, putting her at her ease, and she found herself relaxing with him. Ten minutes later, she carried her own plate through to the living room: pasta with a simple garlic, spinach and mascarpone sauce.

‘This is really good,’ she said after the first mouthful. ‘Thank you.’

He inclined his head. ‘I’m only sorry that I didn’t ask you earlier if you were veggie. Dani would have my hide for that.’

‘Dani?’

‘The oldest of my girls. She’s vegetarian.’

Which explained why he’d been able to whip up something without a fuss. And not pasta with the usual jar of tomato sauce with a handful of grated cheese dumped onto it, which in her experience most people seemed to think passed for good vegetarian food.

‘So your sisters are all younger than you?’ she asked.

He nodded. ‘Dani’s an actuary, Manda’s a drama teacher, and Ronnie—short for Veronica—is a librarian.’

‘Do they all live in London?’

‘Dani does. Ronnie’s in Manchester and Manda’s in Cambridge. Which I guess is near enough to London for me to see her and Louise reasonably often.’

‘Louise being the baby?’ she guessed.

‘My niece. Goddaughter.’ He grinned. ‘Manda named her after me, though I hope Louise is a bit better behaved than I am when she grows up.’

Abigail smiled back at him. ‘Since you’re the oldest, I’m surprised none of them were tempted to follow you into medicine.’

It wasn’t that surprising. Lewis had been the one to follow them to university. Because how could he have just gone off at eighteen to follow his own dreams, leaving the girls to deal with their mother and fend for themselves? So he’d stayed. He’d waited until Ronnie was eighteen and ready to fly the nest, before applying to read medicine and explaining at the interview why his so-called gap year had actually lasted for six.

‘No,’ he said lightly. ‘What about you? Brothers or sisters?’

She looked away. ‘Neither. Just me.’

‘That explains the ice princess. Daddy’s girl,’ he said.

Daddy’s girl.

Did he know?

Had he made the connection with ‘Cinnamon Baby’, the little girl with ringlets who’d been the paparazzi’s darling, smiling for the cameras on her father’s shoulders? She really hoped not. Abigail didn’t use her first name any more, and it had been years since the paparazzi had followed her about. Even so, the times when her identity had been leaked in the past had made her paranoid about it happening again.

And there was no guile in Lewis’s face. Abigail had already leaped to a few wrong conclusions about him, and she knew she wasn’t being fair to him.

‘I suppose I am, a bit,’ she said.

‘Is your dad a doctor?’ he asked.

‘No. What about your parents?’

He shook his head, and for a moment she was sure she saw sadness in his eyes, though when she blinked it had gone. Maybe she’d imagined it.

Pudding turned out to be strawberries and very posh vanilla ice cream.

‘Do I take it you make your own ice cream?’ Abigail asked.

Lewis laughed. ‘No. There’s an Italian deli around the corner that sells the nicest ice cream in the world, so there’s no need to make my own—though I would love an ice-cream maker.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘But my girls say I already have far too many gadgets.’

‘Boys and their toys,’ she said lightly.

‘Cooking relaxes me.’ He grinned. ‘But I admit I like gadgets as well. As long as they’re useful, otherwise they’re just clutter and a waste of space.’

Abigail glanced at her watch and was surprised to discover how late it was. ‘I’d better get that taxi.’

‘Absolutely not. I’m driving you home. And I only had one glass of wine, so I’m under the limit.’

It was easier not to protest. Though, with the roof up, his car seemed much more intimate. Just the two of them in an enclosed space.