“But what if she is...you know...woof, woof,” Brad commented seriously.
“Then you’ll act like she is the hottest woman you’ve ever seen. You’ll treat her with respect...I know a foreign concept for you and above all else, no looking at other women, no touching other women, and no talking to other women, got it?!”
Brad laughed, “Got it. I swear, I’ll be a saint. The only woman I’ll say anything to is Maggie and I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”
Todd smirked, “We’ll see. Oh,” Todd started as he got up to leave so he could start booking flights, “one last thing. Don’t sleep with this one. Okay?”
Brad looked wounded, “Todd, I’m hurt. A gentleman would never do such a thing. I only sleep with the woman I plan to marry.” Todd rolled his eyes and walked out of the room without another word.
********
The flight was smooth, and Todd had been able to get a room at the only hotel in town. When they arrived, there were no crazy fans waiting in the terminal trying to get his attention or a glimpse of him as Todd had kept this visit a secret from the press. Todd grabbed his bags and headed to get a rental car for the week, while Brad looked around the tiny baggage claim.
A handful of people were also getting their belongings and headed out to meet loved ones waiting for them to arrive. Brad was not sure how these next few days were going to go, and he was pretty sure he did not want to stay here any longer than needed.
When they arrived at the hotel, Todd checked them in. “No visitors, got it!?” Todd reminded him as he placed the keycard in his hand.
Brad laughed, “I got you the first time, man. Best behavior, I promise.”
Todd rolled his eyes, not totally convinced he could trust Brad. As they walked down the hall to their rooms, Todd went over the plan for the rest of the week. “Tomorrow we’ll go to Maggie’s work and try to talk with her,” he started.
“Wait, why are we going to her place of work?” Brad asked curiously, wondering why they wouldn’t meet her at her house to talk.
“She won’t answer her phone and hasn’t returned any of my calls. So, I made us an appointment to see her,” Todd replied.
“An appointment? So, if she’ll not answer your calls, why would she make an appointment for us?” Brad asked rather confusedly.
“She’s a vet, so...I may have made it seem like I was making an appointment for my pet dog named Brad,” Todd commented, avoiding Brad’s glare.
“PET DOG?! Now I’m your pet?” Brad asked, very irritated.
“Hey, I had to do what I had to do. The receptionist just assumed I was making an appointment for a checkup for my pet, so I went with it,” Todd replied nonchalantly.
“And when we show up with no animals?” Brad asked exasperated.
“We’ll cross that bridge tomorrow,” he called back as he opened the door to his room and hurried in, closing it before Brad could comment further on the situation.
Brad shook his head and entered his own room. Slamming his luggage on the dresser, Brad was frustrated with the whole situation. Not for the first time, he wondered if this contest date may have been a bad idea.
Chapter 6
The next morning, Todd was pounding on Brad’s door early. Brad rubbed the sleep from his eyes as the infernal pounding continued. He had spent the night alone, which was rather unusual for him. So, he decided to address his sorrows with a bottle of scotch instead. He glanced over and saw the bottle of Glenlivet half gone. “That explains the throbbing headache I feel this morning.” Brad commented out loud.
The pounding continued along with a dull throb in his temples. “Okay, okay,” he shouted at the door. “I’m getting up.”
Brad wrapped the bed sheets around the lower half of his body, he preferred to sleep in the nude, but he surmised that Todd may not care to get a view of his manhood. Todd was already pissed off at him enough, that he didn’t want to mess with him anymore, or at least for the remainder of this trip. He had agreed to help set things straight with Maggie and make sure that the date happened. Todd’s job was on the line as much as Brad’s.
Brad opened the door and Todd came barreling in, talking a mile a minute, while Brad tried to form a cohesive thought. “We have the appointment in two hours. So, we need to go over exactly what I want you to say to make Maggie, like that you’re thrilled to get to go on a date with her and so forth. By the end of this appointment, we need her gushing about how kind and sweet you are to all her friends. Got it?” Todd exclaimed while he looked around the room, the half empty bottle of scotch not going unnoticed.
He looked at Brad’s disheveled appearance, his eyes were bloodshot, and he reeked of day-old booze. “You need to get your ass in the shower, you smell,” Todd commented as he turned his nose up, getting a full whiff of the stale alcohol. “It’s coming out of your pores.”
Brad shrugged and sniffed himself. He had been worse, like after he had come down from a three-day bender, when Christy had left. Still holding on tight to the sheet around his waist, he reached into his suitcase and pulled out a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt to put on after he cleaned up.
He took his time in the shower, knowing that Todd was probably still in the room pacing back and forth waiting for him to be ready to go. When Brad finally got out of the shower, he used his palm to wipe the film of moisture off the mirror and took a minute to analyze his face. He could see his eyes had traces of red to them, but otherwise he didn’t look too bad for being up most of the night drinking.
He reached into his toiletry bag and pulled out some saline drops to put into his eyes to clear them up a bit. Placing a few drops in each eye, he blinked to help the drops move around to soothe his eyeballs. He brushed his teeth, combed out his hair, and called it good. Slipping into his clean clothes, he emerged from the bathroom a half-hour later.
Todd looked at his watch and figured they had an hour left to get a bite to eat and make their way to the vet’s office. He made a noise of frustration towards Brad as he walked out of the bathroom. “Finally,” Todd commented. “We need to get going. There’s a restaurant downstairs and we can game-plan over some eggs and bacon.”
Brad’s stomach grumbled, indicating that his gut was in agreement with this plan. Brad started towards the door, “Well, what are you waiting for?” he teased Todd. “We don’t have all day, man.” Brad laughed as he walked out the door into the hallway. Todd gave him an irritated look as he followed him out.
The restaurant was quiet, and they helped themselves to a booth in the corner. Brad had worn a baseball cap to try and conceal who he was. He was not in the mood this morning to be surrounded by fans, trying to get a picture or sign an autograph. The waitress met them at the table and Todd ordered coffee and fruit, while Brad ordered the biggest breakfast they had, a stack of pancakes, three eggs and a side of bacon, with a black coffee and a side of toast.
“Hungry?” Todd asked.
“Nope, just hungover and the carbs always help me feel better,” Brad replied, keeping his head down to hide who he was.
“Well, then you better eat up, as I need you to be at your best. We have two days until the camera crew arrives and you officially ask Maggie out on your weekend-long getaway,” Todd reminded him.
“Where are we going again?” Brad asked as the waitress came back with two cups and a large craft of coffee.
“Seriously?” Todd asked, irritated with Brad’s lack of caring. “You’re going to a small ski lodge in Warren, Vermont. You’ll be there for two nights and you’ll spend your days skiing and nights cozying up to the fire. Imagine The Bachelor, but instead of giving a rose to someone every night, you get to show the world how romantic and loving you can be towards ONE woman,” Todd emphasized. “You will not meet another woman, talk to another woman, or even glance at another woman for the whole weekend. Keep it in your pants,” Todd stated.
Brad rolled his eyes, “Seriously, I’m not such a manwhore that I can’t even go two nights without finding a woma
n to warm my bed,” Brad commented as the waitress placed his order own in front of him, leaning over just enough to give him a clear shot of her ample cleavage.
Todd got the direction of Brad’s gaze and kicked him under the table. Brad jerked his leg up, his knee smacking the underside of the table. “Ouch,” he cried out as he rubbed his knee. The waitress just laughed as she sauntered away and went over to whisper into the other waitress's ear. They both glanced over at Brad and he knew the cat was out of the bag. Pretty soon the whole town would know he was here.
“You can’t even go an hour without making eye contact with another woman. Come on, Brad, I really need you to get your shit together,” Todd pleaded. Brad could see the hopeless look in Todd’s face. For a brief second, he felt like a complete jerk.
“I get it. I promise...best behavior. Now can I eat? I’m starving,” Brad stated as he picked his fork up to devour his food.
They sat chatting and eating their breakfast and twenty minutes later they were ready to head to the vet’s office to charm Maggie into saying “Yes” to the date.
********
Maggie had arrived early to the office that morning. She had a full caseload and wanted to get a look at a few charts before the day began. When Tina arrived to open the office, Maggie had already downed her second cup of coffee and could feel the caffeine kicking in. Her vet tech, Roger, arrived ten minutes after Tina, apologizing profusely for being late, saying that it would not happen again. Maggie rolled her eyes, knowing this was not the first and definitely not the last time he would say that.
Roger grabbed the charts that Tina had placed out on the waiting room desk and began to rummage through them. “Looks like we have a new patient to start with this morning,” Roger called out across the waiting room to Maggie who was still in her office.
“They aren’t here yet, must be running late. I’ll get their paperwork filled out as soon as they arrive,” Tina commented. Maggie closed the door to her office to get a few more minutes of quiet before the day began so she missed Roger and Tina’s exchange.
Tina turned to Roger. “Did you hear? My friend just texted me that Bradley Thomas is in town. She just waited on him at Georgia's restaurant this morning,” Tina squealed.
Roger’s face lit up. “OMG...that was why I was late. My friend Charlie just texted me to say he heard he was here! Can you imagine! Dr. Vaughn is so lucky. The things I would do to that man,” Roger insinuated lustfully.
A few minutes later, Brad walked in. Tina glanced over, “May I help--” Her eyes grew wide.
“Why yes,” Brad replied as he gave her a smoldering grin.
“Aren’t you...you’re…” Tina could barely speak. She tried to collect her thoughts, but she couldn’t believe that Bradley Thomas had just walked through the door. Tina tried to nonchalantly fix her hair as she batted her eyes in his direction.
“What can I do for you? Are you here to see...” Tina asked, jealous he wasn’t here for her.
“Well, since you asked so sweetly. I was hoping that you could take me to the exam room and keep it a secret that I’m here. I wanted to surprise Maggie,” Brad commented and winked. He watched as Tina’s face turned from pink to red. “You see, I’m Dr. Vaugh’s eight o’clock appointment.”
“I’ll take you right in myself.” Tina ran around to the front of the desk and escorted him back to the first exam room. Tina closed the door and turned around smacking straight into Roger, who was holding the first patient’s chart. He opened it up to see the reason for the visit, but he saw it was empty inside.
“I thought you were going to have him fill out the forms?” he asked confused.
Tina brought her hands up to her mouth, trying to conceal her excitement. Roger gave her a strange look. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked.
Tina burst out giggling and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him out the front door, so not to let Maggie overhear what had just happened. When she finished telling Roger everything, his eyes grew as large as marbles. “You mean...Bradley...the Bradley Thomas is here to see Dr. Vaughn!?”
“Yes. So, I need you to go into her office and tell her the patient is ready to see her. Got it?” Tina directed him.
Roger was so giddy he could hardly speak. After a few deep breaths, he regained his composure and walked back into the clinic, straight into Maggie’s office.
“The patient is ready to see you,” he informed her. Roger looked like he was about to burst, which Maggie found rather odd.
“Is everything okay, Roger?” Maggie inquired.
“Perfect,” he responded and backed away to let her through the door.
Maggie gave him a quizzical look as she grabbed the chart from his hands. Roger tried to keep her from taking it, knowing there was nothing in it. But Maggie yanked hard and freed it from his grasp.
She shook her head, not sure what to make of his strange behavior as she walked across the waiting room to exam room one. Maggie knocked on the door and walked in. She opened the chart as she entered the room, not glancing up to see that only Brad was in there. “I’m Doctor Va--” she started and stopped as she noticed nothing was written on the forms and then glanced up and saw Bradley standing in front of her. A devilishly, handsome grin plastered on his gorgeous face.
The folder fell out of her hands as she stood there in shock. She could not believe that he was right there, in front of her, the man that she had no interest in going on a date with. She had to admit, as she stared at him, that he was incredibly gorgeous. If only he was not such a despicable human being, she might be a tiny bit excited to have won the contest as she looked into his dreamy eyes. Maggie opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.
Brad could see she was flustered, so he began, “It’s very nice to meet you Dr. Vaughn. I’m Bradley Thomas...your date,” he smiled slyly and took off his cap.
Maggie slammed her mouth shut, her shocked expression turning to one of fury. “I told the reporters that I was not going on a date with you, and I…” then she remembered her promise to her dad. Maggie’s mouth quickly snapped shut. She paused a moment and took a deep breath. “I mean…” she gritted her teeth, “nice to meet you, Bradley, you can call me Maggie,” she stuck out her hand to shake his.
Brad was the one caught off guard now. He had gone in expecting there to be a battle from everything Todd had told him, but instead here she was agreeing to the date. Brad was not sure if this was a trick or what, but now he was the uneasy one. He wasn’t sure what she was playing at, with the drastic change. From everything Todd had told him, he thought he would have had to beg to get her to agree.
“Nice to finally meet you, Maggie,” Brad responded, his voice dripping with charm. “So did I hear you right...you’re good with the date? I mean, you don’t plan to back out on me on live T.V., do you? I’d hate to have the whole world view that,” Brad chuckled as he ran his free hand through his thick locks.
Maggie watched him intently. She could see the appeal and why women fell all over themselves to be by him. And she speculated his charms worked on Tina enough to get him in here. “Yeah, I had a change of heart and I thought it could be fun, I guess,” Maggie shrugged as she walked around to the other side of the exam table, putting some space between them. “Plus, if it’s a total flop, at least I got a paid vacation out of it, right?” Maggie stated and shrugged.
“That is correct,” Brad replied with a cocky grin.
“I do have a few questions though, or demands really,” Maggie watched his reaction as she started to list her rules for the weekend. “First, I better have my own room. There’s no way we’ll share a room or a bed together, no matter how it may help the ratings. Two...I’ll hold your hand, but that’s all. No kissing, and definitely no sex,” she glanced away as she stated the last word. “Third...I want to bring my father with us,” Maggie stated the last demand with finality.
“Is that all?” Brad asked, relieved at her small list.
“For now. I haven’t had a wh
ole lot of time to think on the matter as I just decided two minutes ago to agree to the date, so there could be more. I’ll make sure to have my people call your people. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I do have actual patients that need to see me today,” Maggie stated, ending the conversation.
Brad had never been dismissed before and he wasn’t about to go so easily. He knew he needed her to go along with this production very badly, but she didn’t know that, and he wanted to have a little fun with her.
Brad stepped in front of her path as she moved to walk out the door, cutting her off from leaving. “So, even if you’re begging me after the first night to kiss those soft, sweet lips of yours...I promise I’ll deny you. And if you come to my room in the middle of the night...I’ll be the complete gentleman and make sure you get safely back to your room to save your virtue,” Brad smirked as he spoke.
Maggie looked up and saw the mischievous twinkle in his eyes and the gorgeous smile plastered on his flawless face. She stiffened her spine, irritated that he was so damn good looking but such an asshole at the same time. “I promise you...you will not have to save me from myself,” Maggie huffed. “Now, if you’ll please step aside, I’ve work to do.”
Brad sidestepped to let her leave. “I look forward to seeing you in a few days for the live airing,” he reminded her.
Maggie made no comment as she exited the room. She headed straight to her office slamming the door behind her. Once inside she let out the breath, she had been holding in. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she yelled to herself.
Every part of her being had desired Brad when she entered the exam room. She had never expected to feel such an overwhelming attraction to him. Sure he was hot, like most Hollywood types, but to see him in person, she about fainted. Maggie’s knees almost buckled when she heard her name roll off his tongue and all she could think about was running up and jumping on him and slamming her mouth on his. And that was exactly why she needed the rules. For the first time in her life, she did not trust herself around a man.
A Date for Christmas Page 5
