Page 80 of Second Act
She waved him to the sofa and poured the dark-amber liquid into a crystal tumbler. He simply watched her, taking in the curves of her backside under her jeans, the sure, efficient movements of her doctor’s hands, the way her hair rippled and flowed over her shoulders as she leaned forward. He cherished every detail of her.
When she leaned back on the sofa to hand him the glass and snuggle up against his side, he wrapped his arm around her and sighed with contentment. “This is perfect.”
“You haven’t tasted the bourbon. It’s a little better than the stuff you used to drink.” Jess picked up her wineglass. “So’s the wine, for that matter.”
“The bourbon has nothing to do with it. It’s having you beside me that makes for perfection. I could drink rotgut and still be happy.”
“When you say things like that, I think...” She trailed off, and Hugh looked down, trying to read her expression. But she was staring into her wineglass.
“You think what?” His voice was sharper than he intended.
She lifted her head and smiled. “I think you are a mighty big flatterer.”
“That’s not what you were going to say.”
“Okay, some things happened today that I need to talk to you about.”
Alarm vibrated through him. “Good or bad?” he asked for the second time that evening.
“Both.” She took a gulp of wine. “The good is that I hired that veterinarian you sent to me. She’s terrific and starts tomorrow, so thank you for that.”
For a moment he didn’t catch the bombshell in her statements. He was about to say how glad he was when he realized she had somehow found out that he was responsible for Riya Agarwal’s job application. “What makes you think I sent her?”
“She told me.”
“That wasn’t supposed to happen.” He knew his voice was tight with annoyance.
“It was a misunderstanding. She thought I already knew.” Jess turned toward him. “Why, Hugh? We weren’t dating then, so I don’t understand.”
He shrugged. “A simple desire to help someone I’d treated badly. Maybe a little bit of atonement. You don’t have to feel guilty, because I got my assistant to do all the legwork of finding someone qualified.”
“You mean Trevor, who claims you’re a dream to work for?” she said with a half smile. Putting her hand on his arm, she leaned in to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek. “Carla says never to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I’m just going to accept your vet with gratitude.” Then her voice turned stern. “But don’t do anything else like that behind my back.”
He put up a hand in acknowledgment of his blunder. “I didn’t think you’d interview her if you knew I was involved. But you’re right. I overstepped a boundary.”
“I like this new Hugh, who admits he made a mistake.” Her smile was teasing, but the underlying truth was real.
“Eight years teaches you a lot of lessons.” He grazed his lips against her temple. “I hope Dr. Agarwal works out, for reasons both altruistic and selfish. You need the rest, and I want more of you.”
She melted into him, her head on his shoulder, her hand burning a brand on his thigh through the denim of his jeans. For a long moment, he allowed cowardice to get the better of him, stroking his palm up and down the soft wool covering her arm as her body heat soaked into him.
“All right, what’s the bad?” he finally prompted.
She took a deep breath. “When I got to the clinic this morning, there were a bunch of photographers waiting. I might have yelled at them because they were upsetting one of my patients.”
Hugh winced. He knew enough to imagine what those photos would look like. He didn’t care for himself, but he feared it would upset Jessica. “Next time, call me. I have people who deal with that all the time.”
“I have people, too, you know. Carla called the local K-9 unit. I patched up one of their dogs last year, so they brought a couple of combat-trained German shepherds to scare away the paparazzi.”
Hugh threw back his head and laughed. “I wish I could have seen that.”
“Unfortunately, they also figured out where I live.”
His free hand closed into a fist as relief turned to anger. “How many?”
“About six or seven. There was kind of a swarm, so it was hard to count. Aidan had to bulldoze through them so I could get to the car tonight.” She shifted against him. “I don’t know how you bear it. They shouted horrible questions, asking if you’d cheated on me and that’s why I’d dumped you.” Her distress was clear.
“They’re just trying to get a reaction on camera, but I’m sorry.” He pulled her closer against him, as though he could protect her from the paps that way.
