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of the advantages to her pixie cut. Not a lot of hair there to get bent out of shape.
    â€˜I thought you might like to know that Ben’s condition has stabilised a little.’
    â€˜Oh!’ She glanced up quickly. ‘What a relief!’ She’d tried to ring Harry during the break between lists but had got his message bank. ‘Thank you.’
    If anyone knew what it was like to watch your child critically ill in an intensive care unit on life support, it was Paige. Her heart went out to Harry and his family. She didn’t envy them the days ahead.
    Valentino nodded. ‘We’re all going for a drink after work. Why don’t you come? I can give you a lift if you like.’
    Paige ignored the traitorous pull she felt at his invitation. Was he insane? ‘Sorry. I can’t.’
    Valentino gave her a wry smile. ‘Can’t or won’t?’
    Paige shook her head. ‘Can’t.’
    â€˜Who takes care of McKenzie when you work?’
    â€˜My mother.’
    â€˜I bet she wouldn’t mind staying on for an extra hour.’
    Paige knew for a fact she wouldn’t. But that wasn’t the point. She wanted to see her daughter. She missed McKenzie desperately when she was at the hospital andresented the hell out of Arnie for putting her in a position where she had to work to support them both.
    Paige took in the lazy grace with which he lounged in the doorway, the charming smile on his face and those dimples, which thankfully the mask had hidden all day. What did an Italian playboy know of her mundane, hand-to-mouth, practically housebound existence?
    â€˜Sorry. I can’t.’
    Valentino pushed out of the doorway and sauntered towards her. He placed two hands on the desk where Paige was sitting. From his height advantage he could see the ridges of her prominent collarbones. And the unlined curve of breast which told him she wasn’t wearing a bra under her modest T-shirt. ‘You know you want to.’
    This close he looked better still. And smelled absolutely divine. She put her pen down and plastered a bored look on her face. ‘I don’t expect you to understand, with your carefree, different-girl-every-night lifestyle, but I’m a mother.’ She said it slowly so he understood. ‘At the end of the work day I go home to my child. I even look forward to it. That’s what a parent does.’
    Valentino gripped the desk hard. She was wrong. He did understand. There’d been a girl once, a long time ago. And, briefly, a baby.
    He frowned. He hadn’t thought about Daniella, about the baby that never was, in years. He pushed off the desk lest the urge to speak about it, to tell her he did know, overcame him.
    He folded his arms. ‘Suit yourself.’
    Paige nodded. She intended to. His dimples and hislazy lounging had gone and he was all dark brooding intensity. It was equal parts sinister and sexy. ‘Hadn’t you better be going?’ she asked pointedly as the silence between them grew.
    â€˜I was wondering if you’d had a chance to think over McKenzie’s operation?’
    Had a chance? She’d thought about little else all day. And she knew she didn’t have it in her to postpone again over something so petty in comparison to her daughter’s deafness. Not when she had the services of a world-class surgeon and a place on his Monday-morning list.
    Still, her pride, all she had left these days, made the words difficult and she hoped she wouldn’t choke on them. ‘Yes, I have.’ She nodded, dropping her gaze to the top button of his shirt. ‘I’ll not be cancelling.’
    Valentino regarded her for a moment. He could see how hard it had been for her to say the words. He hadn’t wanted that. He’d sensed from the beginning that Paige was like a tightly coiled spring, just holding it all together. It wasn’t his object to break her. Not like this anyway. ‘Good. I guess