Found: A Father For Her Child. Amy Andrews

and snuggled her face into Carrie’s neck. Carrie hugged her closer, inhaling the sweet smell of her.

      Charlie approached, surprised to see a mop of blonde hair peeking out of the top of the blanket. She had a kid? No wonder she’d been reluctant to get out the car.

      ‘Is this your daughter?’

      Carrie nodded.

      ‘I’m sorry, I had no idea…’ Maybe that’s why she’d been so shaky? She’d probably still been reacting to the potential consequences had the red car hit hers head on.

      ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said. ‘Dana slept through it all.’

      ‘Who are you?’ Dana’s high voice broke into their conversation.

      Charlie was captivated by a pair of big blue eyes fluttering behind heavy lids. ‘I’m Charlie.’ He grinned.

      ‘Were you in the accident?’ Dana asked sleepily.

      ‘No, Sleeping Beauty, I just helped out.’

      Dana giggled. ‘Mummy, Charlie thinks I’m Sleeping Beauty.’

      Carrie smiled down at her daughter. ‘Go to sleep, then, Sleeping Beauty.’ She dropped a kiss on Dana’s forehead.

      They both watched Dana drift off.

      ‘How are you doing?’ Charlie asked.

      ‘I’m fine,’ she assured him, despite the persisting tremble of her hands.

      ‘I’m sorry, I was probably a bit forceful back there.’

      ‘You were just trying to help him,’ she said dismissively.

      ‘You did well.’ Charlie leant his hip against her vehicle.

      Carrie laughed. ‘Sure.’

      ‘It’s not everyone’s cup of tea.’ He shrugged.

      Carrie decided it was best he didn’t know about her qualifications. The chances that they’d ever meet in a professional capacity were fairly negligible. He was obviously an emergency medicine specialist and she was firmly ensconced in management.

      ‘Are you going to be right to travel home?’ he asked. ‘Your car still goes?’

      Carrie looked at the dented rear side panel. It did, but she doubted whether she could drive again tonight, she felt too shaken up. ‘I’ll get one of the tow-truck drivers to take it away and arrange to have it fixed first thing tomorrow. It’s a bit of a pain but, considering I thought we were going to die tonight, it’s an inconvenience I can live with.’

      Charlie chuckled. ‘You heading back to Brisbane? Can I give you a lift home?’

      Carrie watched the traffic accident investigation squad put yellow markings on the road. They’d promised her a lift back into the city but they didn’t look like they’d be finished any time soon.

      She looked up into his face, taking notice of his looks for the first time. He was tall, a good head taller than her. He had nice eyes, grey eyes. A nice face, actually. Calm. Serene. Confident. Even when he’d been snapping orders he’d been completely self-assured. There was something innately tranquil about his features.

      He had shaggy brown hair shot with blond, as if naturally streaked by the sun. It hung down, brushing his collar, and seemed to part naturally in the middle, falling in haphazard layers over his ears, just stopping short of impeding his vision. It was hardly inner-city chic, more 1970s rock star, but it suited his laid-back look.

      Combined with his three-day growth, he looked a little hippy-ish and as far from Rupert’s cleanly shaven short back and sides as was physically possible. His arms were tanned a deep brown, as if he’d spent a lot of time in the sun. His clothes were casual—threadbare jeans and one of those trendy T-shirts that looked like it had been painted by a preschooler. His chest was broad, his biceps firm in her peripheral vision.

      ‘You can just drop us at the first taxi rank,’ she suggested.

      ‘Nonsense.’ He rejected her suggestion. ‘It’s the least I can do for your help tonight. Where do you live?’

      ‘Windsor.’

      ‘Perfect. I live in the Valley. You’re on my way.’

      Charlie pushed away from the car. He cleared their departure with the scene controller while Carrie arranged for her car to be towed away.

      Two minutes later he opened the passenger door to his sedan. Carrie eyed it disparagingly. The thought of leaving the scene with her precious cargo intact was amazingly lightening and for the first time since she’d met him, she could feel her old self returning.

      ‘You sure this thing goes?’

      Charlie feigned an insulted look. ‘I’ll have you know this is a classic car.’

      ‘It’s ancient.’

      He chuckled. It was. It had been secondhand when he’d inherited it as his uni run-around. ‘It’s…retro.’ He was fond of the old banger, preferring it to the ostentatious BMW his parents had bought him for his thirtieth birthday. It had lot of happy memories. He’d kissed his first girl in this car. Had driven to Ayers Rock in it. Slept in it the night of his bucks’ party when he’d been too drunk to drive it home. The Beamer just didn’t have the same amount of soul.

      ‘Hmm,’ she said, waiting for Charlie to position Dana’s seat. ‘We’ll see how far it gets us.’

      Dana stirred as Carrie buckled her into the seat. ‘Where are we, Mummy?’

      ‘In Charlie’s car,’ Carrie said quietly. ‘He’s taking us home.’

      Dana looked around with heavy eyelids. ‘I like it,’ she murmured as her eyes drifted shut.

      Carrie stood up and met Charlie’s amused gaze. It was warm and sexy and she blinked, surprised by the parts of her body that were responding to it.

      ‘Your daughter obviously has an eye for a classic.’

      ‘She’s four.’

      His laughter followed her into the car and Carrie felt a warm sensation down low and deep spread out sensual tentacles until her whole body was humming. It was strange and unnerving and she put the brakes on immediately. So, he had a nice face and a great smile and had talked her down from the ledge tonight. She was a single mother with her eye on a prestigious job. She didn’t have time for this.

      Charlie started the car and they drove away slowly. It was a good minute before he lost sight of the multicoloured glow of the accident scene in his rear-view mirror. The adrenaline he had felt at the scene had dissipated, leaving him feeling edgy, and he drummed his fingers against the steering-wheel.

      He took a sideways glance at his passenger. At least she was looking better than she had at the accident scene. There was colour in her cheeks now. She had auburn hair, he noticed for the first time. It was wavy rather than curly, tumbling to her shoulders and framing her oval face perfectly.

      She had a creamy complexion with a smattering of freckles across her nose and big light brown eyes the exact shade of whiskey. She was wearing a purple tie-dyed shirt with a heavily beaded modest neckline and matching trousers. It was loose and flowing, hinting at her figure beneath rather than revealing it. She had exotic large silver hoop earrings and a thin silver choker with lines of purple beads hanging off it like icicles. The total effect was quite exotic. Very gypsy.

      He adjusted the rear-view mirror so he could see Dana’s face. She was staring sleepily out the window, her blonde hair and blue eyes nothing like her mother’s.

      ‘So, what do you do?’ Charlie asked, making small talk as the silence stretched between them.

      Carrie felt her heartbeat pick up tempo. ‘I’m…in management,’ she said.

      He laughed. She looked like she read palms for a living. ‘Very vague.’