Dr. Zinetti's Snowkissed Bride Read Online Free Page B

off her head and immediately saw Dino’s expression change as he followed the crazy tumble of her hair with narrowed eyes.
    She tensed, thinking that he was probably comparing her messy, tangled hair to the smooth, blow-dried version he’d stared at across the lunch table a few hours earlier. For a moment she wished she’d left her hat on and that thought annoyed her because she’d long ago come to terms with who she was. When other girls in her school had been learningabout lipstick and moisturiser, she’d been learning to map read and use a compass. While they’d spent their weekends shopping for clothes, she’d been up on the mountains. Her only interest in clothes was whether they were wind resistant and weatherproof. She knew about wicking layers and the importance of not wearing cotton. She didn’t know whether grey was the new black or whether jeans should be straight cut or boot cut. And, more to the point, she didn’t care.
    Meg turned away, irritated with him for looking and even more irritated with herself for caring that he’d looked.
    What could have been a decidedly awkward moment was broken by her mother’s disapproving tone.
    â€˜Megan, I found mouldy cheese in your fridge.’
    Meg gritted her teeth and vowed never to let her mother babysit again. ‘Is Jamie still awake?’
    â€˜Mummy?’ Right on cue a small figure dressed in a Batman costume barrelled into her, crushing her round the waist. ‘We decorated the house. We’ve put mistletoe everywhere.’
    â€˜I’d noticed.’ Why was everyone suddenly so obsessed with mistletoe?
    â€˜Grandma says the berries are magic. If you stand under them, exciting things can happen.’
    â€˜Is that right?’ Meg dropped to her knees and hugged her son. Immediately she felt her mood soften and the tension in her limbs evaporate. He smelled of shampoo and bedtime and his smile was the best thing she’d seen all day.
    As long as she had him, everything was all right with her world.
    â€˜Hey there, Batman.’ Dino was smiling. ‘Have you saved Gotham City lately?’
    â€˜Loads of times.’ Jamie wrapped his arms round Meg’s neck, shivering in the thin costume he insisted on wearing to bed but grinning up at Dino anyway. For some reason that Meg didn’t even want to think about, in the months that she’dbeen working alongside Dino, her son had developed a serious case of hero-worship for him. ‘Why? Do you need any help?’
    â€˜When I do, you’ll be the first person I ask. I need to get back to the hospital.’ Dino retrieved his car keys from his pocket.
    â€˜Did you drive the Lamborghini? Wow, that’s so cool. It looks like the Batmobile. Can I sit in it?’
    Meg tensed. ‘No, Jamie, you—’
    â€˜Just for a minute—pleeease?’
    Anticipating Dino’s inevitable rejection and Jamie’s subsequent disappointment, Meg shook her head. ‘Dino has to go, Jamie. He’s a very important doctor and he’s needed at the hospital. And, anyway, I know you love cars but the temperature is minus five and you’re in your Batman costume. You need to get back inside.’
    â€˜Batman doesn’t feel the cold.’
    â€˜You heard Dr Zinetti, he has to get back to the hospital now. Another time, perhaps.’ Having made his excuses for him, she expected Dino to leave, but instead he handed his empty mug back to her mother.
    â€˜Does Batman have a cloak or some sort of coat? Anything you could wear over your outfit?’
    Jamie frowned. ‘I’m not cold. Batman is tough and strong.’
    â€˜I know,’ Dino didn’t miss a beat. ‘But the neighbours might be watching and you don’t want them to know who you really are. A superhero likes to keep his identity a secret.’
    Jamie turned his head and looked at the neighbouring cottages. ‘You think they might be