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But none of them had ever had such an impact on such a short acquaintance Not even Paul And they’d bored her so quickly too They had been boys co bone in his body In short, Callu unsettled her And that was to be avoided at all costs She wason with her life—she didn’t need to co for another attainable man

A fleetingShe could hug it close, daydreaht to relive over and over in her sleep But when that ue? She had learnt the hard way not to mix ith her private life What had happened in London had burnt her so badly she orn off men for life

Particularly men with little boys

Callum entered the ward on Thursday afternoon to attend his ward round He spotted Hailey just as she was disappearing into the panrooain

She was avoiding him

OK, he got it Her signals were co across loud and clear Back off Not interested Don’t even think about it

She obviously regretted their ht madness

He wished the same could be said for him It was, after all, thehe needed noas to develop a thing for a wo to do with him

His six years alone—coping with his wife’s death and a six-et hih his illness, scared to death nified Maybe that hat happened? Maybe Hailey’s kiss had made him realise what a solitary life he led Why else would his body be reacting so strongly to a woman as so patently not interested?

Because he didn’t have the time or the ithal for any kind of a relationship He’d spent the last six years protecting Tos life had thrown at him—the loss of his mother and a truly vile illness He’d dropped the ball with Annie, he wouldn’t do the same with Tom

But he didn’t have time for this hide-and-seek routine either They were both adults and this state of affairs couldn’t continue She couldn’t keep avoiding hiether They were two mature adults Surely they could act that way?

He glanced at his watch Fivehihts and pushed open the panroom door

‘Afternoon, Hailey’