Читать книгу Their Baby Surprise - Jennifer Taylor, Jennifer Taylor - Страница 9

RACHEL could feel butterflies flitting around her stomach as she entered the restaurant. It wasn’t very busy with it being a Monday evening and she had no trouble getting a table. She told the waiter that she was expecting someone to join her and sat down to wait, trying to control the frantic fluttering inside her. It was just dinner with Matt, nothing more, nothing less, and definitely nothing to get worked up about.

Matt arrived a few minutes later, looking big and imposing as he stopped to speak to the waiter. Rachel noticed several women glance his way and look a second time too as he made his way over to her. No wonder, she thought as he took off his coat and draped it over the back of a chair. He was an extremely handsome man and she wouldn’t blame any woman for finding him attractive.

‘This is nice.’ He looked around the restaurant with obvious pleasure. ‘It all looks very sleek and modern without being too stark and bare. Call me old-fashioned but I like a bit of clutter around the place.’

‘Me too, probably too much clutter,’ she agreed ruefully.

‘So you don’t go in for the minimalist look that Ross favours?’ Matt queried, loosening his tie. He undid the top button of his shirt as well and Rachel hurriedly averted her eyes when she felt those pesky butterflies start flapping even more wildly. She had seen Matt wearing a variety of outfits over the years they’d worked together, from the jeans he had worn on staff outings to the suits he preferred for work, so why was she reacting this way to a glimpse of bare tanned flesh?

‘No, it’s not my taste at all. As for Ross, well, he probably favours that style because it’s the complete opposite from what he grew up with.’

Rachel hurriedly dismissed the question. They were there to have dinner, not so she could analyse how she felt about Matt. He was a colleague and a friend, and that was all she needed to know.

‘Really?’ Matt sat back in his chair, obviously keen to hear more, and she continued, finding it easier to talk about such a safe topic.

‘We lived with my parents for a long time, you see, so Ross grew up in a house decorated according to his grandparents’ tastes. Mum is very much into chintz and frills and I think that’s why Ross rebelled and opted for something very different when he bought his own home.’

‘It must have been a help to have your parents on hand,’ Matt said quietly, and she nodded.

‘Oh, it was. Mum not only looked after Ross while I was studying but while I was doing my rotations as well. I don’t know how I’d have managed otherwise. The hours a newly qualified doctor has to work are horrendous.’

‘I remember how exhausting it was working such long shifts. My first post was as a junior house officer in A and E at a hospital in London—I don’t think I went to bed for three days solid at one point because I was on call.’

‘Thank heavens they’ve put a stop to young doctors working such terrible hours, although it’s no picnic for them even now,’ she agreed. ‘It’s madness to expect someone to function properly when they’re exhausted.’

‘It is. I certainly couldn’t have coped with looking after Heather on top of the hours I worked. Thankfully, I didn’t need to because Claire took care of all that. She gave up work when Heather was born so she could be a full-time mum.’ Matt sighed. ‘You’ve not had an easy time, Rachel, have you? You didn’t have that option.’

‘It wasn’t that bad,’ she protested, touched by the concern in his voice. ‘As I said, Mum and Dad were marvellous and once I’d completed my GP training, life became much easier. It was still hard work, of course, but at least I didn’t need to work such gruellingly long hours.’

‘When did you move out of your parents’ house?’ Matt asked curiously.

‘When Ross was about twelve. I was earning a decent salary by then and I was able to afford a mortgage. Mum still helped out if I needed a hand, but it was good to be independent at last.’