Rescuing the Paramedic's Heart by Emily Forbes

Author:Emily Forbes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-12-11T13:09:12+00:00

* * *

Poppy changed out of her wet clothes and by the time she came back into the kitchen Ryder had stripped off his shirt and hung it over the back of a chair to dry.

Poppy swallowed, suddenly nervous and unsure where to look. She’d seen him bare-chested and semi-naked plenty of times at work over the past couple of weeks but it seemed far more intimate now in this setting. There was just two of them with nothing else to focus on. No medical emergency to draw her attention, no crowds of beachgoers.

‘Would you like me to see if Lily has some of Otto’s clothes in her room? You could borrow a shirt?’

‘No, it’s okay, my shirt won’t take long to dry,’ he said as he opened the fridge and pulled out a block of cheese. He looked right at home in Lily’s kitchen. Anyone walking in would assume he lived there but he’d always fitted in seamlessly into their lives. Why should things be any different now?

‘What are you doing?’

‘I thought you’d be hungry. I’m making cheesy treats. I assume you still eat them?’

Poppy smiled. Toasted cheese sandwiches had been their go-to after school, post-surfing snack. ‘They’re still my favourite,’ she said.

Poppy opened beers for them both, pinching them from Jet’s supply, before she sat down to enjoy the view as Ryder bent over to open the oven and turn on the grill. It had always been Ryder who had made this snack for them and sitting watching him and breathing in the scent of grilled cheese transported her back through the years. To when they’d had nothing to worry about other than catching a wave or whether there was bread and cheese in the kitchen.

It was funny how she had always thought of him as Jet’s friend, but revisiting the memory of those months before his family had moved away she realised now that he had spent far more time with her than he had with Jet. There had been a time when Jet had been sidelined with glandular fever and while Ryder had visited him frequently, Jet’s fatigue had meant those visits had been brief and Ryder had spent more time with Poppy. Had that been a conscious action on his part? One day she might find the courage to ask him.

‘Can you cook anything else or is this still your go-to?’

‘Are you complaining?’ He grinned at her as he slid the sandwiches out of the grill.

‘Not at all. Just curious.’

‘I think I’m pretty handy in the kitchen,’ he said as he piled the sandwiches on a plate and took them out to the deck.

They sat in silence, eating their way through the pile of sandwiches as they watched the storm roll over the ocean.

‘Feeling better?’ Ryder asked when the plate was almost empty.

‘A little,’ she admitted.

‘I know it seems bad now and you’re hurting but you will be okay.’

‘I just hate being taken for a fool.’

‘Look on the bright side. I know how much you love to make plans—this is a perfect chance to make some new ones.

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