“Well, Judas, what did you expect? That I’d be dancing with stars in my eyes?” Regina asked Lauren, bitterness dripping from her voice.
When the drink appeared, Regina drank the entire glass in a single gulp, handing it back immediately. The server took the empty glass away to refill it.
Alexa snickered, but kept her laughter soft. One of them would have to take Regina home later, she thought. And one day soon, she was going to have a talk with Dr. Logan about her drinking. There were much better ways of handling stress.
Ignoring the Judas reference, mostly because she wondered if she deserved it, Lauren sympathetically petted Regina’s hair.
“Ben didn’t come, did he?” she asked Regina sadly.
Regina looked at Lauren and snorted, lifting the second glass to take a healthy sip of it.
Noticing the look of evil in Regina’s eyes, Alexa started laughing before Regina even answered.
“Oh no, Ben came. In fact, we both came several times,” Regina said easily, laughing at Lauren’s in-drawn breath.
Knowing she deserved the punishment, Regina absorbed the sting of Lauren’s hand smacking her arm without complaint, looking at Lauren’s shocked face with sick pleasure.
“Stop that!” Lauren ordered, embarrassment pinking her face as Alexa roared. “I don’t know why I even bothered to be sympathetic to you. You’re disgusting.”
“And pathetic,” Regina agreed sadly, bursting into tears.
Lauren was appalled. What had she said? What had she done? Regina never cried.
“Regina, I’m sorry if I hurt you,” Lauren said, her own lip quivering.
“Not you,” Regina said between sobs. “Ben.”
Even worse, Lauren thought, and it was the second time he’d upset her.
Alexa was shocked to see Regina melt into an emotional puddle. Regina didn’t care what anyone thought about her, much less a man. Who was this guy? She already didn’t like him.
Lauren and Alexa looked at each other over the table. Alexa finally took one of Regina’s hands in hers and squeezed. Lauren reached over and patted Regina’s back as she sobbed.
“Regina—honey, don’t cry,” Lauren said, patting furiously. “Whatever Ben did, I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”
But even as she said the words, Lauren wondered exactly what Ben Kaiser had done. She had been sure Ben was a perfectly nice man. She would have bet money on it.
And this is why I don’t date, Lauren decided as she handed Regina her bar napkin and then Alexa’s trying to stem the flow of tears.
She had no desire to be in this state over a man ever again in her life. Her marriage had been enough of an emotional roller coaster ride.
“So what happened with him?” Alexa asked when the sobs had dwindled to sniffles. “Do you want to tell us about it?”
Regina wiped at her nose with her last dry bar napkin. She pulled her hand from Alexa’s, shredding the now soggy paper while considering her words.
She looked at Alexa first. “At Lauren’s fundraiser two weeks ago, I ended up kissing a man named Ben Kaiser in the garden. When he found out who I was, he ran screaming of course. They all do. But when I went to my car to go home, he was waiting to apologize. We ended up kissing again, but that was all until he asked Lauren out to dinner.”
Alexa glared at Lauren, who shook her head rapidly from side to side, eyes wide. “It’s not like it sounds,” Lauren denied.
Regina looked at Lauren. “I know you told him about the conference in Norfolk. Ben got to see me at my professional best. Thank you for that,” Regina told Lauren, reaching out to squeeze her hand. “I’m sorry I was mean earlier. I’m an emotional mess.”
“You’re not a mess. You’re an amazing woman. I was just trying to help Ben figure that out,” Lauren explained.
“Ben is amazing, too,” Regina told Lauren, sniffing and remembering again. “Being with Ben is better than I’m ever going to tell you about because you’ll hate yourself for not going after him.”
“Oh please—like that was ever going to happen,” Lauren said, sarcasm all but dripping off the words. “Ben Kaiser never looked at me or any other woman the way he looked at you that night. In all the years I knew them, I never saw him look at his wife that way either. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man look at a woman like there was no one else. I thought that kind of stuff only happened in the movies.”
Lauren instantly regretted her honesty when it brought on a new round of tears in Regina.
“I don’t get it,” Alexa finally said, exasperated with a happy story instead of getting to the bottom of why Regina was so destroyed. “If this guy is so great, and he has a serious case of lust for you, why are you in this state and not with him?”
Alexa studied Regina’s worried face, trying to understand her distress.
Regina sniffed again. “Ben has called three times this week just to say hi and tell me he missed me. He’s a very, very nice man.”
Lauren wrinkled her forehead. “Sounds great, Regina. I don’t get it either.”
Regina raised her hands palms-up to both of them. “Tell me what about my life is simple enough to have someone as nice as he is in it. I’m attacked by the media if I sneeze wrong. The press will chew up Ben’s niceness and spit out the bones at his feet. How can I stand by and watch the nicest, best man I ever met get put through hell because of me?”
Regina shook her head and lifted her chin. She was not going to let it happen.
“I can’t do it,” Regina told them sadly. “I like Ben too much to mess up his life.”
There was nothing reassuring Alexa and Lauren could say because they knew Regina was right about the bad publicity. Everyone in Dr. Regina Logan’s life eventually had to take some public heat for being there.
“Why couldn’t I have found a man like Ben who wasn’t so nice?” Regina asked woefully. “I need a man whose scandalous past is worst than mine and who doesn’t care about what people say about him.”
“Oh, I know several of those,” Lauren said, one in particular topping the list in her mind. “James Gallagher comes immediately to mind. He’s married but doesn’t seem to care about the little problem of being married one bit.”
“Yeah, Jim’s perfect. I would date him if I could, but I can’t,” Regina said, sniffling. “I think you should take a closer look at him, Lauren. You might be surprised by what you find.”
“You’re kidding, right? You think I should date James Gallagher, instead of you? Why? Why can’t the queen of sex scandal date the prince of affairs? He’s notorious enough—,” Lauren stopped, as the realization came to her about the one reason Regina really couldn’t date someone.
“Oh. James is a client, isn’t he?” Lauren asked, seeing the truth in Regina’s eyes before she looked away without answering the question.
“Jim is a friend,” Regina told Lauren instead, reaching out to pat her hand.
Lauren swallowed. There were probably good reasons James Gallagher had made the friend list, but Regina would never tell her because of ethics. If Lauren wanted to know anything about the man, she’d have to find out for herself.
Regina picked up a clean napkin and blew her nose. She already felt a little better just having spoken her concerns out loud.
“Maybe I’ve been looking at this wrong,” Regina said, her tears drying. “Maybe all I really need is a younger man who’s only interested in sex. What do you think, Alexa?”
Lauren looked at Alexa, relieved the conversation was shifting away from Regina’s pain.
Alexa looked at Regina wishing she could lie, but she couldn’t about something so important.
“Sorry, but I have to burst your bubble of hope there. The sex is phenomenal, but Casey is a nice man, too,” Alexa said, looking at both women over her glass. “In fact, he’s asked me to marry him, and I’ve said yes.”
Lauren squealed and clapped her hands.
Regina sighed, happy for Alexa but sorry for herself and Ben.
“Well, if you’re finally going to settle on one guy for the rest of your life, I’m just glad you picked a younger one with some life left in him. It’s damn hard to find an older guy still interested in sex,” Regina told Alexa, wanting to cry again because Ben was certainly an exception.
And because Regina really didn’t want to think about how exceptional Ben was, she finished the second martini and waved to the bartender to order a third.
*** *** ***
Despite their insistence she go home with one of them, Regina had taken a cab home as she had originally planned. She lived in an upscale condominium that offered what she considered the prime necessity for any sanctuary in her life. There was always a friendly dragon guarding the gate of her castle.
Depending upon the time of day, the dragon’s name was Marvin, Scott, or George.
“Hey, Marvin,” Regina said, staggering through the front door even as Marvin rushed to take her arm and walk her across the lobby.
“Rough day, Doc?” Marvin asked, helping her to steady herself.
“Man trouble,” Regina whispered, joking as she always did, patting Marvin on the chest as he laughed.
“In that case, I’m afraid trouble ain’t over for you yet,” he whispered back, pointing to a man dressed all in black, wearing sunglasses, and sitting on the lobby couch.
“Ben? What in the world are you doing here?” Regina asked dizzily, swaying against Marvin again.
Ben took off his sunglasses as he got up and walked over to her.
“Regina,” he said sighing. “You’re drunk. I’m guessing this is the reason you aren’t answering your phone.”
“I was out with friends,” she said defensively, lifting her chin. “I turned the damn thing off. It’s not a crime.”
Ben looked for politeness, but couldn’t find any. He’d lost his politeness two hours ago as he waited for her.
“Right. Never mind that I was worried about you. Are you going to ask me up or lean against Marvin all evening?” he challenged.
Regina straightened at the censure in Ben’s tone. Marvin laughed a little nervously, but kept a grip on her arm.
“There are other choices, Doc,” Marvin said quietly, looking at Ben and letting him know he would protect Regina if needed.
Regina wasn’t up to mediating between the posturing males, so she stumbled forward to take Ben’s arm, swaying against him instead of Marvin. Ben caught her tight to him as he held her up.
“It’s okay, Marvin,” she said. Ben’s arm muscles under her hand were as taut as stone. Again, she realized Ben’s calm tones hadn’t told the whole story about his emotions. He was obviously mad at her. But since she was really drunk, Regina couldn’t work up the energy to care much.
Marvin punched a code on the elevator, watching the man who had been sitting in the lobby for hours waiting on Dr. Logan. Mr. Kaiser had come when Scott was still there and stayed. They didn’t eject him because they both could tell he wasn’t one of the Doc’s crazies who showed up now and again. He didn’t have press written on him either. Wearing all black, the man was dressed to hide.
While Mr. Kaiser might be mad at the Doc for reasons of his own, Marvin had noticed the look of concern in his eyes as he put his arm around the Doc to hold her up. It didn’t take much to see the man had a major thing for Dr. Logan, Marvin concluded.
“Have a good evening,” Marvin said to them both, smiling at Ben, who now held the almost comatose Regina tightly against him. Ben nodded back and pulled Regina closer.
Yeah, this one was okay, Marvin thought, intending to pass the info along to Scott and George later.
When the elevator door closed, Ben pulled Regina completely into his arms, hugging her to him with obvious relief. “Are you okay?” he asked, letting his worry finally show.
“Of course,” Regina said, shaking her head affirmatively against Ben’s chest.
Regina patted his back. She hadn’t meant to scare him. Hell, she hadn’t suspected he’d be there waiting on her.
At her door, Regina found her key access card and passed it to Ben.
Once they were inside, Ben threw the lock and set the deadbolt. Taking the purse from her shoulder, Ben set it on a table in the hallway. Then he pulled Regina along with him while he looked for a place to sit.
“I don’t know why I let you pull me along behind you like a child,” Regina complained angrily.
Ben finally saw a couch. “Stop being so stubborn and I’ll show you why,” he said to her.
He sat, pulling Regina down beside him as he landed. Then he stretched them both out on the couch and was on top of her before Regina could make even a token protest.
“I missed you, Regina,” Ben said softly, stopping her response with his mouth on hers.
She was still wearing her doctor’s coat and all the clothes she’d had on all day. Through all the layers she felt Ben’s heat searing through the coldness that had threatened to consume her all week. She had missed him every moment of every day since she’d last been with him. She couldn’t even remember ever missing a man before.
“I’m seriously drunk, Ben,” Regina told him, kissing him back deliriously. “This is what women like me do at the end of a rough week. Why don’t you go find a nice woman to do this with?”
“I’ve had nice,” Ben said, laughing at the self-pity in Regina’s drunken question. “Now I want you.”
Her answer back was to simply to reach for him. Ben felt one of Regina’s hands move under his shirt as the other slipped inside his jeans to stroke the erection already straining for her. Her body arched under his, making him desperate to be inside her again, just as desperate as the other times.
And over all the layers of lust, Ben was just incredibly happy to be with her again. It was like coming home. The fact that her very talented hands could raise heat in him in about thirty seconds was just a bonus.
Ben couldn’t help comparing Regina’s naked passion to what he’d had with his wife. For all the years he’d been with Catherine, Ben had had to seduce her nearly every time.
In contrast, Ben could always feel the raw sexual need straining inside Regina, and there was always a demand from her to act. What had initially scared him about Regina now thrilled him. After having a taste of her uninhibited response, he didn’t want anything else.
Ben gratefully pressed his growing arousal against Regina’s hand, feeling her belly through her clothes on the other side of it. Regina tightened her grip, moaning against him, and made Ben shiver with a need to get inside her.
He had loved his beautiful wife sincerely, and sometimes he still thought about their good times together. But there wasn’t a shred of guilt in him about giving in to what he felt for Regina Logan. It didn’t surprise him that he didn’t give a damn either. Ben had always known he wasn’t as nice as most people thought.
“Where’s your bedroom?” Ben asked harshly, standing up and removing her hands from him.
Regina was almost the same size as he was and too drunk to support her own weight. Ben had to use most of his strength to pull her to her feet. He put a foot on one of hers to hold her still, and laughed at how bad off she was as she weaved. The last time he had been drunk was the week Catherine died. He wondered what Regina’s reasons were, suddenly torn between lust and a need to take care of her.
“Are you actually going to have sex with me in my drunken state? I know you threatened to once, but I never really believed you were that kind of guy,” Regina told him, swaying again.
Ben smiled at her. Drunk off her ass and yet a dare was still in her eyes. Oh the things he planned to do to her.
“Yeah, I don’t understand it. I’m not usually into taking advantage of drunk women. But all I can think about is getting inside you again. You look like hell, by the way,” he said. “Did you miss me that much?”
Regina tried to give him the universal hand gesture in reply to his insult, but her coordination wasn’t working.
Ben just laughed and
linked his arms around her waist.
“I don’t think you’re as nice as people think you are, Ben Kaiser,” Regina informed him, pushing her doctor’s coat off her shoulders to let it fall to the floor.
Since Ben’s shirt was already free, Regina reached under it and adeptly flicked open the snap of his jeans. Not bad for a drunk, she thought proudly, watching Ben’s eyes darken as he stopped her hand from further efforts to remove his clothes. She leaned against him to stroke the ridge of his raised zipper seam with the hand that was still free. She didn’t bother to stifle the moan the action brought to her.
Ben wasn’t surprised when his already hard erection turned to stone at her insistent touch.
“Pay attention then. I’m going to show you just how nice I can be,” Ben said, his voice calm, sexy, and low. “Too bad you won’t remember it tomorrow morning.”
Ben kissed Regina then, passion and laughter pouring out of him and into her.
When a smiling, but scruffy looking man dressed all in black and wearing sunglasses staggered out of the lobby elevator at five the next morning, both George and Marvin smiled as he waved goodbye.
“I told you he was okay,” Marvin said. George nodded his head in agreement.
Chapter 5
Regina dreaded TV interviews because for her they were almost always an ambush.
Sure the station would send over a list of questions the interviewer planned to ask, but they always arrived with a caveat about asking as many follow-up questions as needed depending on the answers.
Regina had learned the hard way this was a media-speak warning conveying the interviewer would ask anything she damn well wanted if you let her get by with it. Unfortunately, there was no better way to sell books and/or garner the positive publicity she needed. So Regina learned to play the media games well.
Today’s interview was with a local TV station newswoman, Stephanie Sawyer of About Town with Stephanie. National affiliates would likely buy the rights to the show if it aired well. Two questions into the interview and Regina could tell Stephanie was highly motivated to get some dirt.
Dating Dr Notorious Page 7
