Sydney Harbour Hospital: Lexi's Secret Read Online Free PDF Page B

looking where I was going.’
    ‘I’m sure you have much better things to do than wash and iron my shirt,’ Sam said.
    ‘Like paint my nails?’ she said with an arch look.
    He shifted his mouth from side to side. ‘OK, round one to you,’ he said. ‘I had no idea you were so actively involved in raising funds for the unit.’
    ‘I did tell you I was Head of Events.’
    ‘Yes, but I didn’t know you had been responsible for raising over five hundred thousand dollars last year.’
    ‘I’m going to double that by the end of this year,’ Lexi said. ‘You can make a donation if you like. I’ll give you the website address. You can pay online. All donations over two dollars are tax deductible.’
    Sam was starting to see why she had been chosen for the job. Who could resist her when she laid on the Lockheart charm? She looked especially gorgeous today. She was several inches shorter than usual. But she still smelled as delicious as ever. That intriguingmix of flowers and essential oils teased his nostrils. She was dressed in grey trousers and a loose-fitting white cotton shirt with a camisole underneath that hugged her pert breasts. She had dangling earrings in her ears; they caught the light every now and again, making him think of the sun sparkling on the ocean. It had been her brightness that had attracted him like a moth to a flame all those years ago. He had been drawn to her bubbly nature; her positive outlook on life was such a contrast to his more guarded, introverted approach. She had flirted with him outrageously at a charity dinner held by her father in honour of the hospital. Sam hadn’t realised who she was at the time, and he often wondered if he would have taken things as far as he had if he had known she was Richard Lockheart’s youngest daughter. He couldn’t answer that with any certainty, even now.
    Put simply, she had been utterly irresistible.
    With her stunning looks, charm and at-ease-in-any-company personality, he had temporarily lost sight of his goal. He had compromised everything to be with her because that was the effect she’d had on him.
    But finding out the truth about how she had used him had made him cynical and less willing to open his heart in subsequent relationships. He dated regularly but commitment was something he avoided. Friends of his were marrying and having families now but he had no plans to join them any time soon. He didn’t want to end up like his father, loving someone so much that he couldn’t function properly without them.
    His gaze drifted to Lexi’s sparkling engagement ring. He felt a ridge come up in his throat as he pictured her walking down the aisle towards that nameless, faceless man. She would be smiling radiantly, looking amazinglybeautiful, blissfully happy to be marrying the man she loved.
    Engaged .
    The word was a jarring reminder.
    Lexi was engaged .
    The three words were a life sentence.
    Sam gave himself a mental shake. ‘I’ll get my secretary to make a donation on my behalf,’ he said. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me …’ He pushed against the fire-escape door with his shoulder.
    ‘There is a lift, you know,’ Lexi said.
    ‘Yes, I know, but I prefer the exercise.’
    She glanced at the lift again before returning her gaze to where Sam was holding the fire-escape door open. She gave him a tight little smile that had a hint of stubbornness to it and brushed past him to make her way up the stairs. He felt his body kick start like a racing-car engine when her slim hip brushed against his thigh. It was probably not deliberate as there wasn’t a lot of space to spare. She went ahead of him up the stairs, another bad idea in spite of it being chivalrous on his part. He got a perfect view of her neat bottom and long legs as she made her way up. He tried not to think of those long legs wrapped around him in passion and that beautiful hair of hers flung out over his pillow.
    He had lain awake for the last week, sifting through every moment he