Free Doctor's Delight by Angela Verdenius Page B

she could hide behind the safety of her closed door.
And cringe and worry there.
    Arriving home,
she parked her car in the garage and went up the path to the house.
Locking the door behind her, she greeted Frizz and Sugar, who met
her and complained at not having been fed since midday.
    “Yes,” she
agreed dispiritedly, “You both have very hard lives.”
    Dropping her
bag on the hall table, she went into the kitchen, the cats meowing
and twining through her legs. Placing two bowls of fresh, raw meat
on the floor, she emptied and refilled their water bowl and watched
them eat for several seconds.
    No doubt about
it, Frizz and Sugar had it good. Fresh food, fresh water, a soft
bed, and they didn’t have to go to work or worry about making fools
of themselves. Hell, they didn’t even care if they were fat or
skinny, as long as they were loved and fed. What a great life.
    Leaving them to
their dinner, she went down the short hall to the laundry where she
took her clothes off and dumped them into the washing machine to
deal with in the morning. Her shower was lukewarm, just the way she
liked it, but her mind wasn’t on the water or the fragrant soap.
Her mind was on Dr Rick Reed and the problem looming over her.
    It didn’t look
like Rick was going to pretend he didn’t recognize her. He’d been
almost challenging, his mouthed ‘wait’ a direct order he obviously
expected her to obey. Not in this lifetime. The problem was, how
far was he going to pursue this? Would he just give up? Decide
after seeing her in the harsh light of - well, not day, but the
electric lights – that she wasn’t really worth it? Why did he want
her to wait? It certainly wasn’t to profess undying lust for her,
not going by the grimness on his face. And it was that grimness
that made her so glad she hadn’t hung around.
    Drying herself
briskly, she glanced at her face in the mirror above the basin. She
was okay in a fresh, apple-cheeked kind of way, but there was no
way she was a raving beauty. Nor a slim seductress, far beyond
that, in fact. Rick, on the other hand, was handsome and built like
a wet dream.
    Feeling self
pity well up, she pulled her nightgown on and went to sit on the
end of the bed. Picking up the remote, she flicked on the small
television and stared unseeingly at the late-night news. Thank God
she was on days off and wouldn’t have to worry about facing Dr Rick
Reed. She had two days to figure out what to do when they finally
met again. By then, who knew, he might just be happy to forget
about it and not refer to their little meeting. Once the shock wore
off, she had no doubt he would be more than happy to forget about
it.
    Yes, she
comforted herself as she lay down and flicked through the channels,
once he got over the shock of recognizing her, he’d see the wisdom
in not referring to it again. Life could go on as before and as
long as she avoided him—
    The phone
rang.
    Thinking it was
the hospital ringing with a query, she picked up the receiver.
“Hello?”
    “Cherry
Williams?”
    “Yes?” The deep
tones of the caller didn’t sound like any of the male nurses she
knew.
    “This is Rick
Reed. I—“
    Cherry
practically threw the receiver back onto the cradle. Heart
thumping, she sat on the bed staring at the phone. He’d actually
rung her home!
    Frizz jumped up
on the bed and rubbed his head against her arm, purring
energetically.
    The phone rang
again, the ring a persistent peeling. Was it her imagination or did
it suddenly have a decidedly masculine burr to it? If it was Rick
again, she could ignore it, yep. But what if it was the hospital?
Reaching over, she flicked on the answering machine and waited, her
heart bumping uncomfortably in her chest.
    The phone
stopped ringing and the message was clear. “Cherry.” Definitely a
masculine burr. The deep tones sent a shiver through her. “We need
to talk.” No, we don’t. “Give me a call on the following number and
we’ll arrange a meeting somewhere.”