Almost slamming the mug down on the bench, Cherry stuck one hand on her hip and glared at him. “Look, that’s my business and I don’t want to talk about it. So you got to pop my hymen, big deal. Why the hell do you care? Why come here?” Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me you think I’ll be an easy lay, Reed, or that you can blackmail me.”
“Blackmail?” Keeping the surprise from his face, Rick continued to gaze steadily at her. One thing being a doctor in an emergency room had taught him, staying calm was paramount. “Blackmail is something I abhor.”
“Oh, so then you must think I’m an easy lay.” Teeth clenched, Cherry pointed a finger at him. “You might think I’m pathetic, Reed—”
“Rick.” Placing the mug on the bench, he folded his arms and arched one brow. “Do go on.”
“Stuff you, Reed!” She swung away.
Hooking his hand around her upper arm, Rick swung her right back around, steadying her with a hand at her waist when she teetered off balance. “We’re not finished yet.”
She slapped his hand off her waist and glared at his other hand on her arm. “Let go.”
“You’re very touchy about this whole thing,” he drawled, leading her toward the table.
In vain she tried to tug away from him. “What do you expect? You come barging into my home demanding that I tell you things that aren’t your business.”
It was no effort to whiz her around and push her gently down into the chair. “Stay there.”
It wouldn’t have surprised Rick if she’d bounced right back up, but when he returned to the table with both coffee mugs and placed one in front of her, she was just sitting silently, her lips tight and eyes a darker shade of blue with temper.
Hmmm, he wasn’t going to get any answers from her by tweaking her temper. Obviously embarrassment and anger were going hand-in-hand with this whole reaction, but he wasn’t sure why.
Sitting down in the chair opposite her, he relaxed back, stretching his legs out and crossing his ankles. “Let’s start this whole thing again,” he suggested quietly.
“Let’s not,” she retorted instantly.
Taking a deep breath, he rolled the mug between his palms and glanced around the room, giving her time to compose herself. Two of his ex-girlfriends had both said his gaze could be unnerving at times. Maybe this was one of those times.
When he looked back at Cherry, she was taking a mouthful of coffee and he caught a faint flicker of her eyes. Surely that wasn’t sadness? A little startled, he frowned slightly.
Cherry lowered the mug. “Look, I was supposed to meet Damien the other night, all right? I hadn’t met him before, I didn’t know what he looked like, and so when you came to the door I thought you were him. Okay? End of story.”
“Not quite the end,” he replied. “When I awoke, you were gone. You left money on the table, and your virgin’s blood on the sheets and me.’
“Do we have to go over this all the time?”
“How do you think I felt?”
“You?” She blinked.
“Yes, me. This isn’t only about you, Cherry, it’s about me as well.” He shrugged. “I don’t usually sleep with women I don’t know.”
“You did that night,” she said tartly.
“Whiskey will do that to a man.” When her cheeks paled, he swore silently. “I don’t mean to hurt you. I was a little inebriated that night and when I got to what I thought was my room, I thought you were the little surprise my friend, Tim, had mentioned. I don’t sleep with women I don’t know, as I already said. You were the exception.” And a damned nice one, he thought.
Her gaze dropped to the table as she traced slow circles on the clean top with the bottom of the mug. She was so quiet that Rick thought she might just get up and walk away any second, but she surprised him.
Her voice was soft, almost inaudible, and she didn’t look at him while she spoke. “It was my first time, as you know. A male escort seemed…safe. I thought you were him. You mentioned someone called Tim, but I was sort of…” Her cheeks flushed again. “Caught up in the moment. That’s it.” She shook her head. “It won’t happen again, that’s for sure.”
“No, it won’t,” he agreed.
She looked up at him. “I beg your pardon?”
Rick wasn’t sure who was the most startled, Cherry or himself.
“What did you just say?” she queried.
Well, hell, what he was going to say was the truth, so he might as well just spit it out. “You won’t hire male escorts, Cherry, and you won’t sleep with men you don’t know.”
“Who are you, my father?” Outrage shone in her eyes.
“It’s dangerous.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“I’m a doctor in your hospital, so it is my business.”
“Bullshit!” Surging to her feet, Cherry laid one hand flat on the table and leaned forward, stabbing her finger in his direction. “This has nothing to do with our working relationship. This is just you being a sticky-beak.”
“Our personal relationship.” He didn’t like fingers pointed at him, but he sure enjoyed the fire in her eyes.
“Of which we have none!” She stabbed in his direction again.
In a slow move, he stood and leaned across the table, meeting her halfway. She glared at him, and he arched one brow.
“Stop doing that,” she snarled, “Or I’ll slap it right off your face.”
“I wouldn’t try it,” he returned quietly. “Or I’ll return the slap, but it’ll be where you’ll feel it every time you sit down.”
Her lips parted in shock, her eyes widened.
“Oh yes,” he murmured, his gaze dropping to those cupid lips. “Don’t threaten me unless you mean to take the consequences, love.”
She was speechless for several seconds before stammering, “Don’t call me love.”
Rick looked deeply into her eyes. The blue irises were so clear, the lashes surrounding them naturally long and thick. Her scent flowed through his senses, warming him, and he could again feel those luscious curves beneath his palms, the silk of her skin beneath his stroking fingers.
And right then something happened to him. A feeling wove through him, an intuition. This woman was more than just a surprise, more than just a luscious female.
This woman is mine.
Hard on that knowledge came action.
Rick closed the small distance between them to capture her mouth, his lips hard on hers as he instinctively sought to brand himself on her, to brand her for every other man to know to whom she belonged.
She jerked back, but his hand reaching up to cup the back of her head prevented it.
Taking his mouth from hers, he looked her directly in the eyes. “I’ll call you Cherry, love, sweetheart, anything I like.”
“How dare you try to take advantage of me?” Her eyes showed twin flashes of panic and fear. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“I’m your lover.” Oh yes, that statement just made the satisfaction curl right through him.
“My lover?” Shock wiped out all her panic.
“Your lover.” He couldn’t help it, he just knew his smile was a touch arrogant. “Your only lover.”
“Are you mad?” She jerked back from him and this time he allowed it, straightening up as she backed away.
“Some would think so,” he drawled. “But I’m known to follow my own instincts, and they’ve never steered me wrong so far.”
“What the hell? Did you drink whiskey before you came here?” She sniffed the air, her stance cautious, poised for flight. “Are you drunk?”
“You know better than that.”
“No, I don’t. I don’t know you, Reed—”
“Rick.”
“Reed. I don’t know you, I don’t want to, and I want you to leave.” She pointed to the doorway. “Right now.”
Smiling confidently, Rick moved around the table and strolled to the door. As he drew level, he stopped and looked down at her. “You�
�ll get to know me more, Cherry, and you’ll want to. I’m only leaving so you have time to digest those little facts.” Knowing he’d dropped enough bombshells for one day, Rick left the kitchen, walked down the hallway, and out through the front door.
Walking down the short pathway, he grinned. God, he felt good, better than he had for a long time. His work had occupied all his time, but now there was something – someone – more, and that was his future wife. He just had to convince her of that, and he would, because failure wasn’t an option.
And he wanted one more taste of her.
Wheeling around, he strode back up the pathway, onto the veranda, and knocked on the door.
Cherry yanked it open, her eyes flashing a warning. “What do you want now, you egotistical maniac?”
“A kiss from my lover.”
Grabbing her around the waist, Rick jerked her up into his arms and fastened his mouth to hers. One quick, hard kiss, a fast plunder of her mouth to fill himself with her taste, and then he released her, still floundering and trying to work out what the hell had just happened.
While she was still gaping up at him, he allowed a carnal growl to seep through his tone. “And we’re going to get intimately acquainted, Cherry. I’m going to feast my eyes on your delectable curves, I’m going to taste every inch of you, and I’m going to claim you in every way I can.” Placing his finger beneath her chin, her closed her mouth gently. “Get ready to be ravished, sweetheart. I’ll be back.”
He left her staring after him, and as he got into his car he heard her door slam shut.
God, he felt so good. Rick thrived on challenges, and Cherry was the biggest challenge in his life, and the reward of her at the end was just…God, he felt so good.
Chapter Five
Pacing around the house wasn’t helping put her scattered thoughts into any order, so Cherry headed out for a walk.
What the hell was Rick Reed up to? Kissing her and telling her – telling her! - that he was going to be her lover? So highhanded, amused at her shock and outrage, he’d simply told her and walked out, and then returned and kissed her again before finally leaving.
Feeling more than a little hot and flustered at the memory, Cherry turned her face up to the cooling breeze. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. A handsome man interested in her, plain fat old Cherry. A small smile played unbidden around her lips. More like a fairytale.
A fairytale.
Her smile faded as another thought occurred to her. Maybe he’d got caught up in the moment, a little pity, give the girl some pity kisses, make her feel special for a short while. Maybe Rick felt guilty.
Yeah, that had to be it. Rick felt guilt at sleeping with her. Her lips now turned down, a frown creasing her forehead. Probably he wanted to let her down gently.
But if that was so, he wouldn’t have told her he was going to be her lover. That kind of statement wasn’t letting someone down gently. That was giving hope.
Hope? Cherry tripped over a broken piece of pavement and quickly regained her balance. Hope? Did she feel hope?
Coming to stop in the middle of the pavement, she stared unseeingly into the nearby park. Sure, she had hope that one day some man might find her desirable, some man who would accept her, generous curves and all. Some man who would see past her physical appearance and know that she was a nice person, that she had a lot of love to give the right man.
That man couldn’t be Rick Reed. No way. Granted, he was everything a woman dreamed of in a man – well, apart from the startling caveman attitude – but not the kind of man she’d ever imagined would be interested in her.
But he had certainly seemed interested. He’d come to her house, he’d kissed her, he’d told her he’d be back to…a shiver curled right through her, from the tips of her toes to the top of her head before clutching low in her loins…ravish her.
Could a man like Rick really say something like that and not mean it? Could he be that cruel to play her along? He certainly didn’t seem that kind of man, he was no juvenile with cruel intentions. Not that she really knew him, but one could never be certain about everyone.
Still musing, she returned her attention to the pavement in front of her and started walking. Hearing a familiar voice, she glanced up and came to a dead stop. Not far from her was parked a dark blue BMW and beside it stood a tall, slim, blonde woman she recognized as Annabelle Forbes. Facing her was Rick. He was speaking very quietly, so none of his words could be heard from far. Even as Cherry watched, Annabelle reached up and laid one hand on his cheek. Rick also reached up, taking her hand and curling his fingers around hers, lowering that elegant hand to hold it in his as he continued talking.
Cherry shattered inside. Her heart dipped, her stomach lurched, and she felt the world tilt a little. Turning around, she hastily took the pathway leading into the park, moving quickly so that she could be hidden by the tall hedges.
“You idiot,” she muttered. “You fat, foolish, idiot.”
Rick Reed was meeting with the slim, gorgeous Annabelle Forbes. He wasn’t interested in Cherry, or only as a side fling. Screw the chubby chick for laughs, but concentrate on the beautiful and slim for the ever after.
“Hey, hippo!” A young male voice rang out. “Move your fat arse out of the way!”
She leaped aside and a bicycle went whizzing by, a lanky young teenager on it and his two friends following fast behind.
The last youth turned around and flipped her his middle finger. “Go home, fatso! Hide your fat arse! You’re hurting my eyes!”
They laughed cruelly and disappeared around a curve in the path.
Slowly, Cherry recommenced walking. Every hope in the day had leeched out, every secret enjoyment of the masterful kiss and words that Rick had given and spoken fading away under a haze of hurt. Normally she could shrug off biting words, but right now those cruel words from the thoughtless youths raked deep.
Reaching up, she wasn’t really surprised to find a tear on her cheek. It had been a long time since she’d cried. Seemed like the drought was over.
“Oh, my dear.” Cherry glanced back to see an elderly woman behind her. The withered hand reached up and touched her shoulder, concern in the wise old eyes looking up at her. “Ignorance is the bane of youth,” the woman said softly. “You’re a lovely soul, my dear. I can see it in your eyes.”
“I’m all right.” Cherry smiled, feeling it wobble on her lips. “Thanks.” She left fast before any more tears could fall.
The old lady called out to her but Cherry kept going, not wanting to break down and cry in front of her. She was horrified at the lump in her throat. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Stupid to cry when she knew those teenagers were simply ignorant, when she knew she was worth so much more. But something had broken through her little wall and now the dam was threatening to overflow, and she didn’t know why.
Yes, she did know.
Rick Reed, his words, his kisses, and his betrayal.
It was time to forget about him and everyone else and head for the sanctuary of her home and her beloved cats who loved her and didn’t care what she looked like.
Swinging out of the nearby gate near the taxi rank, she started back down the pavement only to be drawn to a halt by a now very familiar and unwanted voice calling her name.
Horrified, she looked around to see Rick hurrying up the pathway, his face concerned – yeah, right! – and standing not far behind him was the little old lady. Cherry was going to die of embarrassment, she just knew the elderly woman had told Rick what had been said, and now he was coming.
Oh shit, he was coming!
Panicked, not wanting to see or talk to the betraying bastard, Cherry jumped into the nearest taxi.
Startled, the taxi driver looked over the seat at her, his eyes taking in the tears on her face. “You all right, love?”
Hearing a muffled yell, and seeing Rick now running full pelt down the pathway, drawing dangerously close with every long-legged stride, she blurted out Maxie’s addr
ess and added “Fast! Now! Go!”
The driver’s gaze went from Cherry to Rick nearing the gate, and it was more than obvious he thought it was a lover’s tiff. Or something. Probably the something. With a shrug he put the car into gear and pulled out of the taxi rank.
Cherry caught a glimpse of Rick leaping over the fence and starting after the taxi, but the traffic closed in and she was safe. Slumping against the seat, she closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath, trying to still her pounding heart.
Any more of this shit and she wasn’t going to last the day.
Maxie wasn’t home, and Cherry sighed when she remembered that her friend had the early shift at the hospital. Sitting on the veranda, she contemplated her choices. She could go to Susie’s house, presuming she was there, or she could go into town and do some browsing. Or she could go home. She didn’t have much money on her, and she certainly couldn’t afford to take taxis everywhere. Her car was at home and she couldn’t avoid her own home forever.
After procrastinating for another twenty minutes, Cherry sighed and left her friend’s house. Crossing the street, she started the long walk home. By the time she arrived there, her feet throbbed. Flat ballerina pumps were cute, but hell for walking long distances.
A cautious peering around showed that no handsome, dark-haired, betraying doctor was lurking anywhere nearby, so she walked up the path, entered the house and locked the door behind her. Frizz peered lazily up at her from his upside-down position on the hall floor and she kicked off one shoe to rub his furry belly with her bare foot, smiling when his rumbling purr filled the air.
“You love Mummy, don’t you?” she said softly.
He scrunched his eyes closed in bliss as she continued rubbing his belly.
~*~
Refusing to pick up the phone when Rick rang, Cherry switched on the answering machine.
“Coward,” Susie stated bluntly after he’d left a message asking her to please ring him. “Just answer him.”
“He’s not worth it,” Cherry replied.
“Tell him to piss off,” Maxie suggested. “Bit of profanity might get through to him.”
Doctor's Delight Page 8
