Doctor's Delight (11 page)

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 address 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.”

“You think?”
Susie snorted. “When a man has his sights set on getting back into
a woman’s pants, nothing sidetracks him.”

“Delightful,”
Cherry muttered.

“I’ll answer
the phone,” Susie stated. “Give him a piece of my mind, the
man-whore.”

Cherry glared
at her.

“Oh, come on. I
meant ‘man-whore’ as in he’s bouncing from you to Annabelle.”

“I hired a
man-whore, remember?”

“Totally
different scenario.”

“You’re not
answering the phone, and you’re not talking to him about this
stuff. This is between him and me, and you’re not to tell anyone or
say anything.”

Susie rolled
her eyes.

Cherry gritted
her teeth.

“Susie won’t
say anything,” Maxie assured her. “If she does, I’ll kick her arse
myself.”

Susie blew out
a breath and stared at the ceiling.

“What if he
comes around?” Maxie queried.

“He won’t.”
Cherry hoped.

“So, what?
You’re not going to answer the door?” Susie crossed her legs and
rocked her foot, the gold sandal caught by one strap on her big toe
bobbing up and down. “You can’t hide forever, Cherry. You have a
job.”

“He won’t do
anything in the hospital, and by then he’ll also know I’m serious
about not being interested in him.” Cherry tapped one finger
against the tabletop. “I think me catching him with Annabelle
showed him I’m no fool.”

“I still say I
could sort him out for you.” Lower lip jutting a little, Susie
bobbed her foot faster.

“I appreciate
it, really, but I need to sort this out myself.” The phone rang and
she jumped. Fortunately it was only telemarketing, so she ignored
it.

“Oh yeah,
you’re really handling it.” Susie took a self-satisfied sip of her
coffee.

“Bitch,” Maxie
said mildly.

Susie flipped
her the middle finger.

Ignoring her,
Maxie patted Cherry’s arm. “You’re doing the right thing. Ignore
him enough and he’ll lose interest.”

“He wasn’t
really interested to begin with.” Cherry ruthlessly ignored the
little pang in her heart.

“Ignoring him
will only make him more determined,” Susie warned darkly. “And he’s
going to come around sooner or later.”

“He’s a doctor,
he’s busy. Maxie said he was on-call this afternoon, so no chance
of him coming around.”

“Saved by a
sick person. Nice.”

“You just want
a piece of him.”

“Bastard,
playing one of my best friends like that.” Susie abruptly turned to
face Cherry. “But I’m not sorry you went ahead and hired a male
escort.”

“Hells bells,
you can say that after all this?” Maxie protested.

“Hey, that was
one mistake. It’s no reason to not hire a male escort again.”

Cherry’s mouth
fell open.

Maxie shook her
head.

“That Damien
was a hunk, wasn’t he?”

“Also an
unprofessional loud-mouth,” Cherry snapped.

“He was
speaking to a nurse and a doctor, he knew you were bound by oath
not to repeat anything.”

“Shouldn’t he
have a similar oath, the little prick?”

Susie
guffawed.

Cherry glared
at her. “I should have given him his pethidine shot with a blunt
needle.”

“The drawing up
needle,” Maxie added.

“And put the
thermometer where the sun doesn’t shine.”

“Maybe Rick
will be a patient one day and you can have the pleasure of giving
him that shot with the blunt needle.” Susie got up, filled the
kettle and plugged it in again. “I’ll volunteer to insert the
thermometer.”

Maxie rolled
her eyes at Cherry.

“The man might
be a bastard, but he has a really nice arse,” Susie pointed
out.

“He does,”
Cherry agreed without thinking, only to stop in horror and slap her
hand over her mouth.

“And you’d
know.” Susie leered and sat down again. “You didn’t tell us what
he’s like in bed.”

“No, you
didn’t.” Arms folded on the table, Maxie gaze was avid.
“Spill.”

“What? No!”

“Oh, come on.
You don’t owe him any loyalty now.”

No, she might
not owe him any loyalty, but neither was she going to discuss every
intimate detail. Every intimate detail that just the memory of
still made her tingle down in her treacherous nether-regions, damn
it.

“It was nice,”
she said.

“Nice?” Susie
raised her eyebrows. “You can do better than that.”

“Good.” Bloody
amazing, in fact. She could still feel the strength in his arms,
the shift of muscle beneath his smooth skin.

“Good?” Maxie
repeated. “We want more than that.”

More? She’d
gotten more all right. The heat of his hard body, the strength, the
clean, masculine scent as he’d pressed closer, his breath warm on
her neck, his lips—

“The man is a
bastard,” she said briskly, folding her arms decisively. “As far as
I can tell he was a good lover.” She stumbled a little over the
word. “But as for character, he sucks. I don’t want to talk about
the jerk anymore.”

Susie and Maxie
exchanged looks.

“And you can
stop that,” Cherry said sharply.

“You’re not
going to tell us anymore?” Susie was disappointed.

“What about his
donger?” Maxie persisted. “Is he well hung? He looks like he’s got
a good body under those suits he wears.”