A Baby to Care for (Mills & Boon Medical) Read Online Free PDF Page A

bycoming here, by venturing to do something different, and she hoped it would help her to put her previous life behind her once and for all.
    They both finished eating and Dex looked at her. ‘Want another one?’
    ‘Perhaps later, although they were extremely good.’
    ‘Told you so.’
    ‘Yes you did. You’re a man who knows his schnitzel sticks.’
    ‘Thank you, Iris. Such a compliment from a woman of your calibre is something I shall treasure for ever.’
    She smiled and shook her head. ‘Melissa was right. You are such an over-actor.’
    Dex leaned a little closer and said in a stage whisper, ‘It’s already on my résumé.’
    His hypnotic, earthy scent wove around her and she tried not to like it. There was heat radiating from his body as his lips twitched into a smile. Iris took a step backwards, not liking the mildly intimate atmosphere he’d created. ‘Glad to hear it.’ She tried to keep her tone brisk and impersonal but wasn’t sure she’d succeeded.
    ‘So…’ He clapped his hands together. ‘Where to next? What would you like to see? More stalls? Or perhaps the pub? It is the main hub of the town.’
    Iris thought for a moment, unsure what to do. She decided it was best if there were people around them—lots of people—wherever they went. When she’d driven by the pub earlier, she had noticed it was relatively full. Yet the fair atmosphere would provide less time for personal chit-chat as there was so much to comment on.
    ‘Perhaps another stall,’ she remarked. ‘After all, I hear that the district does need an ambulance. Best get to spending our money.’
    ‘Yes, we should.’ And he stepped forwards to link his arm with hers as he’d tried to do when she’d first arrived.
    ‘We don’t need to do that,’ she said, stepping back from him again.
    Dex held up his hands in surrender. There was definitely a big N O T OUCHING sign above her head and he could respect that. ‘Fair enough. Was just trying to be neighbourly.’ He indicated to the stalls with an open hand. ‘Would you like to go to the cake stall? The second-hand clothing stall? The jewellery stall? The kissing booth?’ He raised an eyebrow suggestively. ‘I could take another turn if you’d prefer to spend your money wisely?’
    Iris shrugged and started walking off. ‘Oh, I don’t know. That Bluey chap looked OK.’
    Dex nearly choked on his tongue and she couldn’t help but laugh. ‘What would your husband say about that, I wonder?’ he asked, unashamedly fishing.
    Before Iris had time to respond, a woman started shrieking at the top of her lungs.
    ‘Help! Help! He’s choking. Watson. Stop it. Help! Somebody!’
    Dex and Iris wasted no time, both doing an about-face as they headed in the direction of the cry for help. It was coming from the area where people could sit and relax whilst they ate.
    ‘He’s choking!’ The woman continued to yell.
    ‘Hit him on the back,’ someone suggested.
    ‘No, put your arms around his waist and pull,’ someone else suggested.
    ‘Doc Dex? Doc Dex!’ Stig was calling for him.
    ‘I’m here,’ Dex called over the hullabaloo. At the back of the area Stig had set up with tables and chairs for his patrons, a young boy, Watson, who was seven years old, was frantically trying to suck air into his lungs.
    ‘Stand back,’ Dex ordered. ‘Give him some room.’ He lifted the boy to his feet and wrapped his arms around the upper part of the abdomen. Clasping his hands into a fist, he suddenly and firmly forced them upwards into the gapbetween the lower ribs, hoping the compression of air in the chest would expel the bolus of food.
    It didn’t. Watson continued to gasp for air, his mother screaming hysterically. Iris came up behind Dex.
    ‘Bend him slightly forward,’ she instructed, and Dex obeyed. He kept Watson’s head as low as possible whilst Iris struck the seven-year-old firmly between the shoulder blades with the heel of her hand.
    Nothing!
    A crowd was beginning to