Free The Doctor's Private Visit by Altonya Washington Page B

couldn’t resist admiring the breadth of his muscular arms bared by the short-sleeved shirt he wore.
    Grimacing, Tiberius scanned the sun-drenched parking deck and shrugged. “Wooing just leads to misunderstandings.”
    “And are you speaking from experience?”
    “More than I wish I had.”
    Capri pushed up and down on her toes once. “Maybe it’s time for you to change your techniques. Maybe be a little less obvious?” She suggested playfully.
    “You’d want a guy like that?” Tiberius was serious, suddenly fixing her with a probing look. “Honestly? You’d want someone who beat around the bush and acted like he didn’t want you when wanting you was all he could think of?”
    “Well…” Capri followed Tiberius’s lead and leaned against her vehicle. “Seeing as how that’s the only type of man I’ve been attracting lately, I’d be willing to set my sights on a different type of guy.”
    Tiberius burst into laughter that had him doubling over. Capri could practically read his thoughts when he looked up at her.
    “Go on and say it,” she permitted.
    “All right… women .”
    His laughter returned and she was struck by the appeal of his expression. “So would you be kind enough to give me more detail on that, Doctor?” She worked to take her mind off the crazy somersaults being performed in her stomach.
    “Okay,” Tiberius stroked his jaw as though concentrating on how best to state his argument. “Women claim to want a man who’ll wine, dine and romance them, and then they realize it was all about sex for the guy. Then they feel betrayed. If the poor bastard would’ve just been up front about what he wanted in the first place everyone would be a lot happier.”
    “Everyone except the poor bastard,” Capri noted, grateful when the sun dipped behind a heavy cloud and provided shade. “But I don’t know if I’d agree with your reasoning. I can’t buy that many women would accept an offer just for sex—even if it would be more honest just to be up front about wanting it.”
    “Hmm,” Tiberius massaged his neck and considered her point of view. “There’re a lot of women in the world, Ms . Timmons. Anyway, I’d rather be up front and not get what I want than hide itand suffer consequences later.” He massaged a sudden pain that streaked through his forehead. “Hell, even when you are up front, the chances of suffering consequences are still pretty high.”
    Now Capri was frowning, too. “Sounds like most of your experiences have been bad.”
    “Not all, but enough to jade me, I guess.” Tiberius remembered his conversation with his older colleague, Oscar Addison, then.
    Silence settled between them and Tiberius realized he’d lost track of the time talking to Capri. The sun began to beam down again and he pushed off the truck to open the driver’s-side door.
    “Sorry for holding your ears hostage.” He helped settle her behind the wheel. “I know your work is very active but you should rest that foot as much as possible anyway.”
    “All right.” Capri allowed herself just a few more moments to gawk at him.
    “I’ll be over later to check on you.”
    “Oh, Tibe, you don’t have to—”
    “I’ll be over later.”
    Without arguing the point, Capri started the ignition and left the parking lot. Tiberius watched her leave and told himself to forget about it. He’d go check on her as any concerned doctor would, and that would be that. He’d had enough of mixing neighbors with pleasure.
     
    “So does anyone know what Avery’s excuse was for being late to the shoot this time?”
    Everyone laughed over Capri’s question. She’d offered to treat her crew that afternoon and they were enjoying a working lunch at a small, unassuming restaurant not far from her new neighborhood.
    “Got a sick aunt who lives out in Kendall,” Barry Coines spoke between bites of his broiled scallops. “Said he had to go see her and got tied up with things. He’s her closest