Page 88 of Doc Showmance
“He was smart to bring his dog to you.”
“Anyone could’ve done what I did.”
“Not anyone. Come on, Amber. You’re good at what you do.” He waved at Susan, who was holding her post-surgical blood work results. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“She doesn’t do compliments, Dr. Todd. But, yes, she’s good at what she does. Only time she’s not good is when someone messes with her patients. Then she gets dangerous.” Susan held out the lab work.
A quick check said the dog’s anemia was holding and not worse. “I’ll go call the senator. I think he went to have lunch with Seth.”
“Who’s that?” Ian asked.
“Seth Briscoe. The sheriff. Remember him at Thanksgiving? Sexy guy in the cowboy hat?”
Ian’s smile fell. His tone had an edge. “I remember him.”
“Hilarious guy. I’m going to invite him over for dinner. He’s been sending patients my way and I didn’t even know it.”
“Really?” Ian’s face clamped up.
“Is there something wrong?” I blinked up at him, not understanding why he looked murderous. I wasn’t scared of him, although the look might be daunting to other people. It was exciting to see this darker side of him. Was he angry about Seth? “Are you thinking I want to… Me and Seth? Didn’t we already talk about this?”
He worked his lower jaw.
“I like him. As a person.” I leaned close and held my hand over my mouth to cover what I was saying from the camera. “He’s into Joley. Well, he was. Tough to read if interest is still there. I mentioned this before, but you must’ve tuned it out. I’d love for her to find someone worthy and stable like Seth.”
“Oh.”
“Maybe the Wade thing would work. You’re possessive. Who knew? Maybe that angle of him taking me on a date would drive you crazy. Remember, you and me and whatever this may be is a temporary situation. Get your emotions in check, or one of us will get hurt.”
“No matter how this ends both of us will get hurt,” he said low.
34
Ian
“There’s so much secrecy. Where’s this romance going? After that last episode aired the day after Thanksgiving, I’m dying to know if this is real and where’s it’s gone? Have you two already boffed?” asked our interviewer for the morning show in her British accent. Marianna must’ve pulled strings to get this particular person, who garnered a lot of attention for her high-profile interviews. I’ve never even been on the contenders list for getting on this show until now.
I emptied a soda out of its mini can into the tumbler on the side table in the hospital’s end of life room, the only exam room with a real sofa, end tables, and a carpet. I shouldn’t risk soda on national television, but I needed a diversion. The beautiful Asian interviewer wanted details of my sex life divulged. Not that she had a chance in hell of finding out anything.
“You sure you want to drink soda?” Amber whispered.
“Want a sip?” I offered her the tumbler before I drank. Amber took a small sip. A ring of lipstick stayed on the glass, reminding me of the moment her mouth was all over my body. Pink and perfect.
Shit.
Not what I needed to be thinking about right now.
“You want one?” I asked the interviewer and took a second small can and poured it into a glass for her.
The interviewer giggled and lifted her cup. “Cheers.” After a sip she said, “I needed that. So, is there something between you two, or is it all TV hype?”
“We knew each other before I joined the clinic. We went to the same vet school,” I said in an attempt to shift the conversation. We were under strict orders not to give away what happened next. We could hint. We could flirt. But our goal was to get people to watch the show.
“Did you like each other in school, too?”
Amber snort laughed.
I failed to suppress my own chuckle. “Not in the least. In fact, she’s the only woman who threatened to cut off my balls if I came within a mile of her.”
