Page 26 of What the Doctor Ordered
CHAPTER 12
Simon
I was still stewing as Sicily disappeared through the crowd of people. I could feel a vein pulsing in my temple. This couldn’t be good for my blood pressure. I tried to unclench my jaw and took a calming breath to bring my heartrate down.
“Are you alright?”
I looked down in surprise at Kiley, who was looking up at me with her eyebrows furrowed in concern.
I blinked at her. “I should be asking you that,” I countered. “Sicily was extremely nasty to you.”
Kiley nodded. “Yes, she isn’t the most pleasant person, is she?” she asked rhetorically but then she laughed. “It’s fine. She didn’t hurt my feelings. She did kind of annoy me with the way she was openly ogling you, though.”
I startled. “Ogling me?” I repeated incredulously.
Kiley nodded. “She was openly flirting with you too,” she declared. She tilted her head. “You really didn’t notice?”
I shook my head. I did notice that Sicily seemed to be trying to butter me up but that was after she knew she had made me mad. It had been like that when we were kids growing up together as well. She would only be nice after she had irked me and I had to snap at her.
“Men really are dense,” Kiley quipped with a light laugh. “How do you know her, anyway? Did you go to medical school together or something?”
“No,” I answered. “Our fathers were actually good friends. We are about the same age, so we played together a lot when we were little.”
“Ahh, so you’re childhood friends,” Kiley said with heavy understanding. She glanced around before leaning toward me. “I’m a little surprised that you didn’t ask her to help you out with your current predicament.”
I winced at the image of making this kind of agreement with Sicily Alcott. “She is most definitely not well-suited for this,” I said. “She is far too eager, and she is rather close to my mother. I couldn’t trust her not to tell her or to try to make it a permanent arrangement.”
Kiley seemed unsurprised by this information.
I offered her my arm. “Come on,” I said. “I’m going to introduce you to a few more people, and then we can enjoy ourselves again.”
I said that but I found that I was already having a good time just by showing Kiley off to a few of my colleagues. Kiley was anatural at speaking to others. She was sweet and personable, and I could tell that everyone was taken with her. She was practically glowing as she shared her passion for veterinary medicine. Honestly, she was far better at socializing than I was.
A subtle but noticeable music change had me turning toward the ballroom. The dancing was in full swing now, people laughing and twirling beneath the glowing moon-colored lights.
I took Kiley’s hand and tugged her toward them. “Alright, I think we’ve socialized enough,” I said. “Let’s go dance.”
Kiley giggled and I wasn’t sure why until I saw mischief in her eyes when I looked down at her.
“Are you trying to hide from your colleague’s, Dr. Vale?”
“I wouldn’t call it hiding,” I said, pulling her along behind me. “Considering that we’ve been mingling with them for the past couple of hours.”
Kiley’s eyes rounded as we stepped into the lavish ballroom. Her dress seemed to glitter and glow beneath the glowing chandeliers. I watched her for a moment before pulling her into my arms, seamlessly leading us into the dance. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I tucked her against my chest.
Kiley’s cheeks bloomed with color. She was a little uncertain at first, her movements slightly stiff but I doubted anyone noticed. She looked extremely graceful, her steps light as we glided across the white marble floors.
“Did your friend help you choose that dress?” I asked, breaking the silence that stretched between us.
Kiley looked puzzled by the question. “No,” she said. “I actually chose it on my own. Lily has been pretty busy lately.”
“You made an excellent choice,” I told her. “This one really brings out your eyes.”
Kiley looked away shyly. “Thanks,” she said. She glanced around, as if looking for inspiration to change the subject.
I frowned. I hadn’t expected her to have trouble taking compliments. She was generally a very confident person, but it seemed comments like these caused her to become nervous.
I decided then that she needed a distraction. “You’re doing very well tonight,” I said. “Everyone has enjoyed speaking with you, my mother most of all.”
