Golden Luckenbooth

Twenty-Three

"This is ridiculous," I tell Harry as he settles in a chair in my house, and I pull the door mostly closed.

"Indulge me anyway," He grins.

When that dimple pops, I remember why I caved on this in the first place. Why does he have to be so handsome? Shit. If our child has that dimple, I'm never going to be able to say no. They will be eating chocolate all the time, never have a clean room, and will likely be spoiled with every desire being met. I won't be able to prevent it. That dimple will pop, and I'll be lost, thinking of my baby's father, giving in to all of the indulgences she wants. Shit! Not "she". "They". His damn dimple is persuading me that we are having a girl.

"Why are you setting up the interviews to take place back here?" Cara wanders in, setting her handbag on the table. "And is it just you, me, and Kai doing these?

"Not exactly..."

Piper nudges open the cracked door between the clinic and my home, gleefully jumping onto Harry with her front paws and licking his face. His laughter is normally contagious, but now I'm terrified of how Cara will react.

"Oh. Hi, Harry. I didn't know you'd be here today." She says as nonchalantly as if they had just chatted together over the water cooler. "I'm Cara, Anna's cousin and secretary."

Rising effortlessly, Harry extends his hand. "Pleasure to meet you. Anna's told me all about you."

At his words, she blushes and stammers, and I recall the night she'd met her now-husband. She'd had a similar reaction to him, batting her eyelashes and saying the daftest things.

"Oh, you can't trust anything Anna says about me. Family, you know."

"She's told me you're quite competent, and that she can't wait to hire you full time."

His response completely flusters her, and she flaps her arms like a bird as she giggles at him.

"You're going to be here for the interviews?"

"Not in the room," he explains, "but over here where I can hear."

This piques her interest, and she tilts her head. "Because this person will have an influence on your child?"

"Something like that." Harry's smile this time doesn't cover his entire face, and I can tell that having a stranger talk about his private life so intimately is making him uncomfortable.

"Cara? Did you make copies of the interview questions?" I try to steer my cousin away from the popstar in the room. No easy feat.

"Yes." She leans towards Harry, opening her mouth to likely interrogate him further.

I interrupt whatever she'd been planning to say. "Great. Could you bring them in here? And some bottled water in case our candidates get dry mouth?"

There's a moment of annoyance on her face, but she quickly shakes it off, nodding at Harry. "Of course, boss. I'll be right back."

"Thank you," he mouths to me once she's left the room.

"Sorry," I mouth back, shrugging.

"Anna, do you want to use the broken leg x-ray or the tumour ultrasound?" Kai enters the room, holding one visual in each hand before he freezes upon sighting Harry. "Oh. Hi. Um, Harry, right?" Accusingly, Kai looks at me as though I've betrayed his trust and revealed he'd robbed a bank. Which he's too polite to do.

"Kai, this is Harry. Harry, my nurse Kai."

His eyes scanning my male nurse, Harry nods. "Pleasure." No smile. No dimple.