Page 49 of Doctor Charmer

She tosses the ball high, slapping it in an arc over the net. I don’t move an inch. I let it fall three feet to my left, its bounce against the hardwood floor echoing across the gym.

“You win.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ivy

“It’s a hip flexor strain. I’ve had it forever.” I press up on my elbows on the exam table Angie insists I lie back on. “All of this is unnecessary.” It’s four thirty, thirty minutes before my accidental meeting with Dr. Harriman. I have enough to worry about today without this exam.

Five minutes, Reggie promised. Yeah, right. I’m sitting in this god-awful puke-green and white hospital gown Angie insisted I change into. When I walked in, I had the image of her pressing a hand to my hip, pointing an X-ray machine gun at it, and her giving me a high five. That’s the five I pictured in my head. Not this.

“Five minutes,” I mutter out loud.

She spent more than five minutes talking about my medical history, even after I signed the paperwork for her to have access to my charts.

I glance at my watch again. Angie and Reggie worked their network of hospital contacts and learned Dr. Harriman breaks for two hours each evening at five o’clock. He uses the time forresearch and dinner, according to his official hospital schedule. Reggie suspects something different, and when he confirmed that Sarah’s shift in the lab wraps at five, I agreed with him. It’s their rendezvous time.

“Humor me.” Angie’s fingers probe the side of my hip. “This has given you issues since college?”

I nod. It’s all in the chart. “Yeah. It’s chronic but tolerable.”Most days. “I don’t take any pain meds.” I give her reasons that I think will move her along. I scan the exam room. We’re up on the sixth floor, the Ortho floor—Angie’s domain. This exam room is larger than the small ER rooms that only offer curtains for privacy. This is an actual room with a door.

I look over her shoulder as she continues to probe. My outfit hangs on the hook of the door: a tight pencil skirt with a dangerous slit, an even tighter white silk blouse that would make a sexy librarian blush, and a soft one-button pink sweater that gives off an essence of innocence.

A smile tugs on my face when I think back to Angie’s reaction when she stepped into the exam room.You are not leaving here until you tell me where you shop.

I flinch from her sharp poke deep into my side.

“You felt that?”

“Duh!”

She gives me an adorable smile, and I totally get how Reggie got hung up on her. She’s gorgeous. And she is his best friend. My eyes check her ring finger, and my insecurities tamp down when I spot the outline of her engagement ring underneath the tight latex gloves.

“I’d like to get another set of X-rays if that’s okay with you.” I twist my wrist and check the time. “You’ll be fine. Five minutes, tops.”

I nod.

“Thank you for what you are doing tonight,” she offers, and I blink, waiting for her to continue. “Reggie is very protective of people around him. He doesn’t open to just anyone. And he has a stubborn streak.”

She rips off her gloves and paces to the other side of the room. “Three years he held on to Sarah’s secret, never sharing it with anyone. Not even me.” Her voice softens with tenderness. “Took you less than three days. You’re special to him. He hides his feelings behind jokes and charm, but he’s a sensitive soul. Please take care of my friend.”

I nod, unsure of how to react. She begins to walk out when I call her back. “Dr. Carmichael?”

She turns back, walking slowly toward me. “Uh-oh, you’ve called me Dr. Carmichael. What’s on your mind?”

I push up to sit, my hands next to my hips. “It’s kind of personal, but after I say it, I think you’ll realize why, woman to woman.” I purse my lips and wait for her gaze to rise to meet mine. “If Brayton wasn’t in the picture when Reggie made his feelings for you known, would you have…”

Her hand lands on my knee, stopping me from saying the words that have swirled in my head each time I’ve crossed paths with Angie. She’s his best friend. She’s a brilliant doctor. He trained under her father. He was his mentor. The list in my head goes on and on, including the actual fact that they work in the same building and see each other every single day.

“Reggie, in my mind and in my heart, has always been and will always be a friend. I’ve known him for nearly fifteen years. I’ve never seen him that way. Brayton or no Brayton. You have nothing to worry about.”

She pulls me into a hug, squeezing me tight. “Woman to woman, he’s a good man. Not many people earn his trust and even fewer his heart. And you’ve gotten both.”

I want to tell her she’s wrong. I want to tell her it’s early days. But I don’t. She knows him. She knows his heart. Well enough to speak as his proxy. It’s exactly how I feel about him. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you.” She holds the hug. Her sniffle catches me by surprise. Angie has been so professional every moment I’ve known her. But here she is, getting emotional over her best friend finding someone he confides in other than her. “Reggie never asks for help. Ever. Thank you.” She swipes at a teardrop hanging from her lash before stepping back. “I’ll send in the X-ray technician and get you on your way. Tonight’s a big night for all of us.”

She reminds me of what lies ahead. We have just over two hours to execute a simple plan, but it involves dealing with the emotions of two wild cards: Sarah and Dr. Harriman. Reggie will be tasked with wrangling in Sarah. Given their history, he’ll need every ounce of charm to be successful.

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