Falling at the Surgeon's Feet

by Lucy Ryder

  “You’re not just any woman, Holly,” Delia snapped. “And being sexy is more than flashing your body and pouting for a camera.”

  “It made her famous.”

  “It also made her spoiled,” Delia said firmly. “For which I blame myself.”

  “It’s not your fault, Mom. Paige always craved attention. She got it.”

  “And you shunned it.”

  “I liked books more. Anyway,” she sighed, waving her hand dismissively, “I was just wondering what happened to Darian. I thought she was over the moon in love and planning to become Mrs. Darian Something…and now here she is.” All over my date.

  “It was Andreas,” Delia corrected quietly, and Holly could see her mother’s concern for Paige in her worried expression. “Darian was the one before.” She sighed. “And like Darian, Andreas apparently forgot to mention that he was already married.”

  Holly rolled her eyes and nearly yelped when her brain threatened to explode inside her skull. She didn’t say what was obvious to them both: Paige liked taking other women’s men. It made her feel powerful and…desirable. And now it looked like she wanted Holly’s. Again.

  If only to prove she could.

  Not that Gabriel was hers, she amended quickly. Two incredible nights didn’t make him hers any more than it made her his. He was free to do anything he wanted and she…well, she’d had her exercise and now it was back to her plan. A plan that didn’t include getting worked up over a man who could make women scream one minute and cozy up to another the next.

  Holly pretended, for her mother’s sake, to have a wonderful time but she couldn’t wait for the evening to end. Her sister had somehow switched the name settings so she could sit next to Gabriel, whom she proceeded to manipulate with soft touches, coy looks and, Holly was certain, feeling him up beneath the tablecloth. Heck, she’d seen it all before. A hundred times.

  Holly sat between Franklin and Richard Westchester, the son of a family friend that Delia had invited before Holly had called to say she was bringing a date. And if she smiled a little too brightly at Rick and leaned toward him a little too closely, Holly told herself it was simply because she was being a gracious dinner companion. It certainly wasn’t because Gabriel was being attentive to Paige or watching her with a brooding expression.

  The instant dinner was over she shoved back from the table and quietly excused herself. Her head throbbed like an open head wound and she headed upstairs to her parents’ bathroom.

  After downing pain meds and splashing her face with cool water, she made for the French doors that led to the balcony. Maybe a little fresh air and alone time would help soothe her aching head before she put on her game face and returned downstairs.

  She let herself out and shivered in the cool night air but it was dark and quiet. Wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the chill, she leaned her hot forehead against the old stone pillar, staring out across the lawn toward the water.

  She’d been out there a minute only when she became aware of murmured voices. One deep and achingly familiar, the other…well, it wasn’t a surprise to hear her sister’s smoothly amused tones.

  She didn’t mean to eavesdrop and wasn’t in the least bit interested in Paige’s plans to have some imaginary defect fixed, but when she heard her name she couldn’t help peering over the balustrade and holding her breath so she could listen.

  Paige was draped artfully in a pose she often used to display her amazing body to maximum effect. She took a sip of champagne from the flute she’d brought from the dinner table and Holly had to wonder how many times it had been refilled. She wondered too if her mother had noticed that as dinner had progressed, Paige had become more and more flushed and animated.

  Watching now, she saw Paige tip back her head, luxurious waves of silvery blonde hair cascading over her naked shoulders. For a moment she thought Paige looked right at her and although she was in deep shadow, Holly drew further into the darkness.

  “I came with Holly,” she heard Gabriel say. “What do you want, Paige?”

  “I just needed some fresh air and as I’m not feeling well…” her breath hitched dramatically “… I thought having a doctor around would help.”

  “You don’t need a doctor to tell you that laying off the champagne would help.”

  Paige gave a dramatic sigh and set her glass aside before pushing away from the balustrade. “You’re right,” she purred, sliding her hands over Gabriel’s chest and linking her arms behind his neck to smile up into his face. “You’ve got me. I know you came with Holly, but it’s clear she’s otherwise occupied and…well, I just didn’t want you to feel left out, that’s all.”

  Holly wondered if she was the only one who’d noticed that Paige had been the one feeling left out, which was why she’d attached herself to the best-looking man in the group.

  “I saw you change the seating arrangements,” he observed, putting his hands on her waist, whether to push her away or an excuse to touch her Holly couldn’t tell. “I wondered about your motive.”

  “Oh, Richard’s such a bore. I can’t understand why Mother insists on inviting him but, then, I suppose it’s because Holly always had a thing for him. Besides…” she pouted charmingly “… I just wanted you to myself without her watching every move I make. She’s incredibly…possessive for someone who claims you’re just colleagues.”

  “She said that?”

  She shrugged. “Anyway, I thought I might convince you to change your mind about doing me that teensy favor.”

  “I’ve already told you I don’t do cosmetic surgery anymore, Paige. Besides, I’m booked solid for the next six months. Probably longer.”

  Annoyance flashed across her features and she spun away to say sulkily, “Fine, then maybe you can use your incredible sex appeal to persuade Holly to have a little work done.”

  “Work?”

  Light spilling from the salon illuminated Paige’s face, giving Holly a clear view of the flirtatious look she sent over her shoulder. She gave a little laugh and turned back to slide her palm over his heart. “Don’t pretend they’re invisible, Gabriel.” She shuddered delicately. “Those scars are awful and people don’t realize how hurtful pitying stares are. In fact, I used to feel so bad when boys called her Scarface that I wondered if you could persuade her to have them…fixed?”

  Like hell she’d felt bad, Holly thought darkly. She’d laughed, telling Holly she should have an infamous comic book badass named after her.

  “Hmm…” Gabriel rocked back on his heels as though he was considering her words.

  Holly sucked in a sharp breath, the betrayal like a blow to her heart. She couldn’t believe that after kissing every one of those scars, moving his lips against her skin and murmuring that she was beautiful, he—She bit her lip. Clearly, after seeing Paige’s flawless beauty, he was reconsidering.

  She pressed the heel of her hand to the spot between her brows as pain lanced through her head. Oh, God, she needed to get out of here. Away from…them. Away somewhere where she could fall apart in private.

  She was about to turn away when she heard him say, “So what else would you suggest she have…done?”

  Feeling the backs of her eyes burn, she waited with a huge hot lump of devastation in her chest for her sister’s reply. When it came, it sliced at the self-confidence she’d spent so many years trying to build. And even though she understood that Paige’s opinions reflected her own insecurities and jealousy, it made Holly feel like the ugly adopted sister Paige had always called her.

  “Well,” Paige said demurely, “I was thinking a breast lift and maybe since her hips and thighs are getting chunky, a little lipo? And she could certainly do with a nose job. What do you think?”

  And when Gabriel laughed and said, “Chunky? You really think so?” she couldn’t listen anymore because Paige reached up and twined her fingers in his hair.

  His hands came up to her shoulders and the sight of them plastered together like a seal-a-meal ripped at the
tender new feelings that had been blossoming inside her chest. But she couldn’t…couldn’t bear to listen to every one of her flaws discussed like a grocery list. She’d survived it once before when Paige had slept with and then dumped Holly’s last boyfriend and she would survive it again.

  Right now she couldn’t bear to stick around and watch it happening again.

  The last twenty-four hours had been fun but it was over and time to return to the real world. Time to return to planning for her future and time she forgot about a hunky surfer from California. No matter how hot he was or how good he was with his hands. And his lips.

  Oh, God.

  Turning, she walked blindly into the safety of her parents’ bedroom, her mind spinning as she wondered how she was going to make a clean getaway. There wasn’t time to fall apart however, as Delia entered as she was closing the French doors.

  “There you are, darling,” she said, catching sight of her. “We’re getting ready to serve coffee so your father can blow out his candles.” Holly turned and her mother stopped abruptly, her eyes widening when she caught sight of her expression. “I’m going to slap that girl,” Delia said fiercely. “She’s not too old for it.”

  “Mom…it’s fine. Really,” she insisted, when her mother opened her mouth to object. “Besides, I’m not feeling well and I wondered if you’d please tell Dad I’m sorry and make my apologies to everyone else?”

  She searched Holly’s face and then sighed, her eyes filled with so much compassionate concern that Holly was tempted to walk into Delia’s arms and bawl. But that would only upset her mother more.

  “All right, darling,” Delia agreed softly, “but I think you’re making a terrible mistake. I like him and…well, I guess I shouldn’t interfere.” She rolled her eyes before turning with a muttered “I promised myself I wouldn’t interfere.” Then over her shoulder she asked gently, “Do you want me to ask Gabriel to take you home?”

  “No!” she yelped, and when her mother’s eyebrow rose, she said more quietly. “Please, Mom…don’t. I just… I…” She heaved out a heavy breath and tried to wrestle her spinning emotions into submission. “I’ll call a cab. You can tell Gabriel the hospital called.”

  For a long moment her mother silently studied her until Holly thought she might break down beneath that blue gaze. Finally she stepped closer and gave Holly a warm hug. “All right,” she murmured softly, “but you’re not calling a cab. I’ll ask Richard to drive you back to the city.”

  Holly’s eyes abruptly filled but she drew in a deep breath and willed away the tears. “Thanks, Mom.”

  Gabe was furious—with Holly for leaving without a word and with Paige for her machinations. But mostly he was furious with himself for thinking Holly was different. He also felt very bad for Delia Buchanan, who’d seemed genuinely upset when she gave him Holly’s message.

  “I’m so sorry, Gabriel,” she said, taking his hands in hers.

  “You have nothing to be sorry about, Mrs. Buchanan,” he said. “This is not on you.”

  “No,” she agreed quietly. “It’s on both my daughters and I’m very sorry you got caught in the middle. Paige…well, Paige was always incredibly jealous of Holly even as a child, and after a while it was just easier for Holly to withdraw and let Paige have her way.”

  “That’s insane.”

  “Yes, well,” she said with a sad smile. “Paige is beautiful but there’s just something a little fragile in her make-up. Holly was always the strong one, even when she was so adorably skinny and clumsy. She was smart and funny but couldn’t get the hang of all those coltish arms and legs. I tried to help with ballet lessons, deportment and acting classes but I fear I just made things worse.”

  “You did what any mother would do,” Gabe said, recalling the sacrifices his own mother had made for him. “But she’s made her feelings perfectly clear.”

  “Yes, she has,” Delia said sympathetically, laying her hand on his tense arm. “And you’ve misinterpreted her actions.”

  “How can I misinterpret the way she acted with Westchester during dinner or that she left with him the minute it was over?” he demanded, feeling once again like that poor med student invited to the mansion and humiliated by Lauren’s family’s condescending attitude.

  “You appeared engrossed with Paige,” she reminded him gently. “And for Holly at least, it seemed like history repeating itself all over again. So she did what she’s always done when it comes to Paige. She withdrew. But I know she cares for you, Gabriel. She wouldn’t have invited you or gone off like that if she didn’t.”

  Sighing, Gabe thrust a hand through his hair. He didn’t know what to think.

  “Don’t give up on her,” Delia begged softly. “Get her to talk to you, please. And for God’s sake don’t get sucked into Paige’s dramas. She has a bad habit of wanting what Holly has and destroying everything good in her own life.”

  But Holly didn’t have him, Gabe thought furiously as he drove back to the city. She’d made it perfectly clear that she preferred someone from her own social circle. Someone from old money and an ancestry that could probably be traced back to Ellis Island. Maybe the Buchanan sisters were letting their history repeat itself but there was no way he was going to make the same mistake.

  Not again, he vowed fiercely as Holly’s phone again went to voicemail. He ground his back teeth together until his jaw popped.

  Great. Now he was grinding his teeth into powder.

  Disconnecting with a short jab, he ignored the angry honking around him and whipped across three lanes to take the Brooklyn exit. He was done with women, and he was especially done with Holly Buchanan.

  So why, when he got home and smelled her on his pillow, did he get a hollow feeling in his chest that felt very much like grief? It wasn’t, he told himself, lurching off the bed to strip the sheets and pillowcases.

  It was humiliation and disgust with himself that he never seemed to learn his lesson. He was still hankering after women from the world his grandfather had denied him. Well, he was done with it, with her, he told himself as he threw himself across the freshly made bed that he’d shared with her. Twice. Which didn’t explain why it suddenly felt so damn cold and…empty. Or why he couldn’t stop thinking about her with another man.

  He really hated thinking about her with—

  Damn it!

  He grabbed his phone and after a couple of indecisive beats hit redial. She’d done him a favor, he told himself, growling with frustration when the call again went to voicemail. Done him a favor by reminding him that he couldn’t rely on anyone but himself and the professional reputation he’d earned through his own hard work and skill.

  It had landed him the job of his dreams and he wasn’t going to screw it up, especially not over some woman with big blue eyes that exposed her every thought and emotion. A woman who was soft and sweet even when she thought she wasn’t. A woman who had a habit of falling at his feet and quoting random facts when she was flustered. A woman who—He stopped breathing and stared into the darkened room as the truth finally dawned.

  Oh, man, he thought when he realized his mouth was curved into a sappy grin, he was in trouble. The kind of trouble that started with L.

  His breath expelled in a hard, dry laugh.

  He might as well go out and shoot himself.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  INSTEAD OF GOING back to Brooklyn, Holly had Richard drop her off at her grandmother’s summer house in Bay Shore. He offered to keep her company but she declined. She needed to be alone to work on her shaky defenses before facing Gabriel on Monday.

  But when Monday rolled around, all Holly had to show for her days off were dark circles under her eyes and a bone-deep certainty that there was no way she could accept a fellowship in the same hospital—oh, God, the same department—as Gabriel. And as much as she hated the idea, she needed to review her options. And fast.

  She spent the next week researching P&R programs in other cities while avoiding everyone, including her mo
ther. She just happened to quite successfully avoid Gabriel too. Not that he’d come looking for her, she admitted with a pang. But, then, she hadn’t returned his calls, even when he’d left a dozen “Call me” messages. And if she’d listened to his voice over and over again as she’d lain in bed at night, it hadn’t been because she’d been yearning for the sound of his voice or the smell and feel of his body against hers.

  He finally stopped calling and when she caught herself scouring the papers for pictures of Paige, or holding her breath every time her phone rang, she realized she’d been secretly hoping he’d…Well, she didn’t know exactly, only that she’d hoped he wouldn’t quit.

  But he had. So…that was that, then.

  The week was frantically busy. She stood in for another cosmetic surgeon whose wife went into early labor and ended up with more than enough to keep her busy and too tired at the end of each day to stay awake and brood.

  The week leading up to the Chrysalis Foundation’s annual charity ball she wasn’t so lucky. On Tuesday she was called to Theatre for two late-night procedures when Gabriel’s scheduled assistant called in with stomach flu. And because everyone was way behind schedule, Dr. Hunt assigned Holly to pick up the slack.

  Fortunately there wasn’t time for him to do more than study her with a penetrating blue-green gaze that made her heart flop around in her chest like a landed catfish and make quiet suggestions or give orders that everyone—including Holly—snapped to obey.

  During the last stages of the second procedure, on a guy who had gynecomastia and wanted his man boobs removed, he was called away, leaving Holly to finish up the routine procedure.

  She didn’t see him again until late Friday afternoon as she left the surgical ward.

  Scrolling through the dozen messages Delia had left about her dress and shoes for the ball, as well as her tickets, Holly rolled her eyes at her mother’s OCD and…walked into a wall of living muscle and bone.