Doctor's Delight (12 page)

“Big hands,”
Susie added brightly. “Long fingers.”

“Ooohhh.” Maxie
feigned a shudder of delight. “Long fingers! All the better for
stroking you, my dear!”

They had no
idea, a little voice wistfully whispered deep inside her. Cherry
shook her head in disgust. “Rick Reed is no longer worth my time to
discuss.”

“Ah well.” With
a sigh, Susie glanced at her watch. “Time for me to go, anyway.
Robbo’s taking me out for tea tonight. I better get home and make
myself beautiful for him.”

Cherry saw her
out to her car and waved her off. Susie could be both annoying and
funny, and Cherry loved her like a sister.

Maxie stayed
for another coffee and to chat about her wedding plans with Cherry.
She pulled out the bridal magazines she’d brought with her and they
poured over the bridal gowns before Maxie turned to the pictures of
bridesmaid’s dresses.

Cherry was
relieved when Maxie pointed out the bridesmaids dresses she was
intending to order for Cherry and Susie to wear. Plain lines,
pretty colours, and with only a little flounce. Sure, she’d look
like an overblown hourglass beside Susie, but at least she’d be
passable.

The knock on
the door caught her by surprise. Glancing up, she saw that it was
eight o’clock. She and Maxie looked at each other.

The knock came
again, and Cherry got up and started down the hall, only to halt
when a voice called out, “Cherry? It’s me, Rick. I just want to
talk.”

She froze in
her tracks.

Maxie’s head
popped around the doorframe. “Holy shit, is that who I think it
is?”

“Cherry?” Rick
knocked again. “I know you’re in there.”

“He’s a
freaking stalker!” Maxie reached for the telephone.

“Who are you
calling?” Cherry hissed.

“The cops.”

“Are you mad?
No!”

“Cherry, he’s
knocking on your door.”

“Calling three
times and knocking on the door once doesn’t make him a
stalker.”

Maxie gave her
a funny look. “So answer the door.”

“No.” Cherry
grabbed Maxie and thrust her towards the door. “I’m out of town;
you’re minding the cats and the house for me.”

Maxie’s mouth
fell open.

“Get rid of
him,” Cherry hissed, and bolted to her bedroom.

Closing the
door quietly, she leaned back against it and closed her eyes. What
the hell was she, a timid teenager? She should have just answered
the door and told him to rack off in no uncertain terms. Instead,
she was hiding in here while her friend did the deed for her.

Cripes, she was
pathetic.

Hands trembling
a little, heart pounding a lot, she strained to hear. Faintly came
the deep rumble of a male voice, followed by the lighter tones of
Maxie’s. The rise of a question, the lowness of an answer. Several
more words, a pause, and then the door shut. Seconds later came the
thump of a car door.

Maxie opened
the bedroom door and Cherry staggered back out, arms wind-milling
to keep her balance. She smacked up against the hall wall.

“Lover boy is
gone,” Maxie announced. “He’ll be back, though.”

“But not
tonight.” Cherry straightened.

“Not tonight.
You can’t hide from him forever, Cherry.”

“I know. I
know. I’ll face him…another day.”

Maxie sighed.
“You have to sort this out.”

“I will.”
Shoving one hand through her hair, Cherry screwed her eyes shut.
“Bloody Susie!”

“Susie may have
unwittingly caused some of this, but you’re also to blame.”

“What? How am I
to blame?”

“You didn’t ask
his name when Rick came to the door,” Maxie pointed out. “You could
have let in an axe murderer, dummy. You always ask the name of a
person before letting him inside.”

“Who are you,
my mother?” Cherry scowled. “Bloody Rick thinks he’s my father, and
you act like my mother.”

“Rick acted
like your father?”

“He said it was
dangerous to sleep with men I don’t know.”

“He’s got that
right.”

“Now you’re on
his side?”

“Hey, don’t
start on me, sister.” Maxie held her hands up, palms out. “I’m just
saying.”

Cherry gazed at
her for several seconds before she sighed and leaned back against
the wall. “You’re right. It is partly my fault. This is my mess and
I need to clean it up.”

Relaxing, Maxie
laid her hand on Cherry’s shoulder. “On the plus side, he is kind
of cute.”

“Max!”

“Just saying.”
Smiling, Maxie headed back to the kitchen. “Come on, help me decide
on the colours of these bridesmaids dresses.”

~*~

Gazing
unseeingly at the far wall, Rick wondered when he was going to
catch a break. Cherry was avoiding him, refusing to answer her
phone and even leaving town, for God’s sake. Why? Was he such an
ogre she couldn’t even bring herself to talk to him?

It had been a
different matter with Annabelle. The Barracuda wanted him, she’d
made that perfectly clear. There he’d been, explaining nicely to
her that there was going to be no dinner date, that he was seeing
someone else, and she’d reached up and stroked his cheek and told
him that she was the woman for him.

He shuddered
inwardly. Annabelle was beautiful, no doubt about that, but she was
a cold fish. Now Tim would find that comparison funny – The
Barracuda being a cold fish – but Rick wasn’t hugely amused. He had
a feeling that Annabelle wasn’t finished pursuing him yet. A woman
like that never gave up the prize without a fight. He just had to
keep that fight from finding its way to Cherry.

The way things
were going, he wasn’t going to find himself with Cherry any time
soon, either, but by God, he wanted to be with her.

Crossing the
street to his car, he’d seen Cherry walking down the pathway in the
park and he’d followed, his heart lifting at just the sight of her.
Too far behind for her to hear him, he’d quickened his pace to
catch her up, only to be stopped by an elderly woman who’d told
him, in an indignant and wavering voice, that teenagers were cruel
at times, and the poor lady ahead had been called some nasty names,
and after all, it probably wasn’t her fault she had a weight
problem.

That had been
enough information to make him speed up after Cherry, angry at the
thoughtless cruelty of some people, and wanting to gather her into
his arms and give comfort, but when he’d called out her name once
he was finally within hearing, she’d taken one look at him and
dived into a taxi.

She was
avoiding him. Why? Sure, he’d come on strong to her, even Tim had
been awed by that little tid-bit when he’d told him, but to avoid
him like this was ridiculous. He wasn’t that bad. In most circles
he was considered a catch. Many women, especially those of The
Barracuda’s ilk, would be thrilled to have him chase them.

Rick was no
conceited jerk, just a realist.

Swivelling the
chair back and forth, he glanced at the clock, pleased to see that
he had a few more minutes before his first patient was due. His
mind went back to the puzzle of Cherry.

It was pretty
basic, to his way of thinking. He wanted her, he was determined to
have her, and she didn’t want a bar of him for some reason. The
solution was pretty basic, too. He had to change her mind any way
he could, and that included underhanded tactics if required. For
that, he might have to get Tim onboard, but for now he’d try it his
own way. He just wasn’t sure what that way was just yet, but he was
confident he’d find it. All was fair in love and war, as the saying
went.

“Dr Reed.” The
receptionist’s voice over the intercom interrupted his
thoughts.

“Here.”

“Mr. Brandon,
your first patient, has arrived.”

“Send him in.”
With a sigh, Rick sat up and straightened his tie. The wonderful,
intriguing, maddening puzzle of Cherry was going to have to wait
awhile.

Damn it.

Pasting a smile
on his face, he greeted the first patient through his door.

~*~

Closing the
door of the hotel room behind him, Rick threw his suit jacket over
the back of a chair and pulled out the iced coffee from the
‘fridge. Pouring himself an oversized glassful, he took several
deep gulps and then rolled the cold glass across his forehead.

Thank God a
trying day had finally ended. Thank God he wasn’t on-call tonight,
and thank God he had the next few days off work.

Several of his
patients were repeat offenders – they didn’t take their medications
properly and whined about the expected results, one smoked like a
chimney and was in danger of coughing up her lung but still
complained that he, the doctor, wasn’t doing enough to control her
asthma, and another client kept bringing her son in with health
issues that weren’t there, and that could be cause for concern.
That particular patient would bear close monitoring. Maybe she was
just an overanxious mother, but one never knew and it paid to be
careful. Keeping an eye on both of them cost nothing.

Then came his
hospital round. He’d known that the nurse called Susie was a friend
of Cherry’s. He’d found out just how much of a friend. She’d given
him the cold-eye and been frostily polite as soon as she’d walked
into his presence. Any frostier and his balls would have
shrivelled. The nurses’ roster had been sitting behind the desk,
and he’d thought he’d been rather cunning to sit beside it with the
inpatient file so he could cast a discreet glance over the roster
to find out when Cherry was next on duty. Obviously he hadn’t been
discreet enough, because Susie had dumped a pile of files right on
top of it and given him that frosty smile that told him she thought
he was a piece of shit.

He admired her
loyalty, but he could really have done to have her on his side.
He’d smiled charmingly and her smile had gone from frosty to
frozen. His testicles had practically shot up inside him. Whatever
Cherry had told her about him, it obviously hadn’t been
complimentary.

Maybe he’d made
a huge mistake. Maybe stating his intentions so boldly hadn’t been
wise, but he’d always been a straightforward bloke, stating his
intentions and then going single-mindedly for it. Once his mind was
made up, he was focused.

His mother said
it made him successful, his father said it made him stubborn, and
his sister said it made him annoying. Tim said in regards to
pursuing Cherry, it made him a possible stalker. Rick preferred his
mother’s opinion.

Yanking his tie
loose, he let it hang down the front of his shirt while undoing the
top buttons of his shirt. Pulling it open, he took a deep
breath.

Maybe he should
start with flowers. In his experience, women liked flowers. They
also liked expensive presents, but he had the feeling that wouldn’t
cut it with a girl like Cherry. Not his Cherry.

His Cherry.
That sounded good, and he spoke it allowed, enjoying the sound of
it.

Hmmm
…maybe he was turning into a stalker.

After downing
the rest of the iced coffee, he rinsed out the glass in the
bathroom and returned it to the little cupboard above the
microwave. One bright spot to the day, at least this was his last
night in the hotel room. Tomorrow he was shifting into the house
he’d signed up to rent. The paperwork had been completed before
he’d arrived at the city and now he could finally move in.

He showered
quickly and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Pulling on socks and
sneakers, he debated whether to have something to eat before
heading over to Cherry’s house in the hope of catching her there,
or whether he should go over first and then eat. Maybe he could
convince her to have a casual dinner with him somewhere. Yeah,
that’d be the go. He frowned. Or should it be somewhere a little
more tasteful?

A knock sounded
on the door and he crossed to it. Opening the door, he found
himself face-to-face with his sweet mental tormentor standing there
in all her voluptuous glory, and with a scowl on her face to rival
any constipated, cranky patient.

God, she looked
cute. His spirits rose instantly. Grinning, he leaned against the
doorframe. “Hello, love.”

“Don’t call me
love,” she replied tartly.

“Sweetheart.”

“Don’t.”

“Sugar?”

“Listen,
Reed—”

“Rick.”

Her eyes
narrowed a fraction. “If you’re going to be a pain, I’m
leaving.”

Not bloody
likely. Rick quickly stepped back and gestured. “Please don’t. Come
in.”

“I don’t think
this warrants coming inside. Now, I—”

Rick
effectively cut her off by stepping to her side, placing his hand
on the small of her back, and starting to usher her into his
room.

She stiffened
and started to dig her heels in. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Being civil,”
he replied cheerfully, exerting more pressure on her back.
“Offering you a drink. Taking you inside rather than leaving you on
the footpath for everyone to gawk out.”

“There’s no-one
gawking.”

“My mother
brought me up better than to be uncivil. And the old couple three
doors down are watching from their car.”

Cherry glanced
around and it was enough distraction for Rick to push her through
the door. Prudently he left it open and stepped around her, going
to the ‘fridge and pulling out the iced coffee. Turning to her, he
lifted his eyebrows in silent query.

“You’re an
arse,” she stated flatly. “There was no one watching. What are you,
five years old?”

“Thirty six,
actually.” He poured a glass of iced coffee. “Sure you don’t want
one?”

“No.”

“Iced chocolate
it is, then.” Returning the iced coffee to the ‘fridge, Rick took
out the container of iced chocolate and poured some into a clean
glass.

“I don’t want
an iced chocolate,” she returned sharply.