looked over his shoulder, probably visually patrolling for Brooke, then lowered his voice. “Brooke told me she’s been fairly unlucky with relationships. She had one that went pretty sour a couple of years back.”
“Haven’t we all.”
“To my way of thinking, after your argument with her at our wedding, that makes your odds slim to none.”
Obviously, they had drawn more attention during their confrontation than Nick had first believed. “It wasn’t an argument exactly.” More like casual warfare. “We just don’t see eye to eye on certain things.”
“Let me guess. You asked her for a date and she refused.”
“Nope. I just told her she looked like a princess in her bridesmaid’s dress, and then she said if I thought she believed in that old fairy tale about kissing a toad, I had another think coming even if I did fit the bill, at which time I made a comparison to her and the ice sculpture. That was about it.”
Jared chuckled. “That was enough.”
“Yeah, maybe, but I was just trying to be nice.”
“You were trying to hit on her.”
“Not exactly true.” Close, but not exactly.
Jared sent a wave in Brooke’s direction and gave her a look that revealed a man too smitten for his own good. He finally turned his attention back to Nick. “Let me tell you something else about Michelle Lewis. She’s a beautiful woman who probably fights off a dozen come-ons a week. Maybe even a day. If you want to win her over, you’re going to have to rethink your usual ‘Hi, I’m Nick, I want you.’”
“That’s a low blow, Granger. I have more class than that.”
Nick immediately recalled Al Rainey’s obvious lust for Michelle and realized Jared was probably right about men hitting on her frequently and without regard to restraint. God knew that was old Al in a nutshell. And yes, Nick wasn’t always subtle. But he was good at picking up signals, and he knew when to back off.
Nick felt the overwhelming need to defend himself, probably because he had spent much of his time in recent days on guard where his ex and her accusations about other women were concerned. “First of all I’m not really looking for anything heavy. Secondly, I’m not the playboy everyone makes me out to be. And last, who needs the grief of a woman who’s not the least bit interested in men at the moment?”
“You do. You thrive on challenge. You live for it.” Jared nailed him with a serious glare. “But I’ll warn you. Michelle is a really nice woman beneath that all-business exterior. Basically your average girl-next-door type.”
If Michelle Lewis was a girl next door, then Nick was Albert Einstein. “Are you saying I’m not her type?”
“I’m saying that if you do anything to hurt her, you’ll have to answer to Brooke, and believe me, you don’t want to deal with her.”
Nick realized all too well the potency of sisterly ties. He was the baby in a family with three female siblings. He’d barely survived all that womanly camaraderie. Not to mention the lack of bathroom space. “Okay. If I decide I might want to give Michelle Lewis a shot, I’ll proceed with caution.”
“I’m not betting on that horse.”
Jared knew him all too well. Yeah, he did thrive on challenge, but was Michelle Lewis worth the trouble? Whatever did transpire between them, he would definitely make sure he wasn’t the one to get burned.
But somehow Nick knew that when he was around Michelle Lewis, he was already standing too close to the fire.
As it was now nearing lunchtime, Michelle decided to take a break from her work and make the call she’d needed to make since yesterday. She needed to apologize to Brooke for her harried departure from the party. She also needed answers as to why Brooke hadn’t told her sooner about the baby. Maybe something was wrong aside from Brooke’s asthma. Something Brooke hadn’t told her yet. That prospect frightened her. She couldn’t stand the thought of something happening to her little sister.
“Hey. You got a minute?”
Michelle’s grip tightened on the phone at the sound of that voice—a voice belonging to a doctor she had thought about much too often in the past twenty-four hours. She couldn’t seem to get him out of her head. She certainly didn’t need him in her office, invading her space at work and worming his way back into her stubborn psyche.
Michelle dropped the phone onto its cradle and stared up at Nick Kempner’s disarming smile. She glanced at the door he had managed to close behind him without her noticing. She was trapped in a small room with a man who emitted sensuality like a nuclear-powered aphrodisiac.
On the heels of his surprise appearance, she was amazed she found her voice. “Good afternoon, Dr. Kempner. What brings you to the administrative offices?”
Without an invitation he pulled back the chair in front of her desk and sat, one leg crossed over the other as if he planned to settle in for a while. “I have a question for you.”
The doctor looked much too good in his tailored white shirt and conservative blue tie, his shiny brown hair as slick as his smile. Not that he hadn’t looked great in swim trunks.
Get a grip, Michelle. “Okay. What is it?”
His grin expanded. “Just say yes.”
“Yes to—”
“Good. I’ll pick you up at seven.”
The man was incorrigible. And sexier than any man had a right to be. “Tonight?” That wasn’t at all what she’d intended to say. And she darned sure didn’t mean to say it with such enthusiasm.
“No. Saturday night. I figured since we’re both attending the fund-raising gala, we might as well go together. Unless you already have a date.”
“I’m not going.”
His dark brows drew down over his equally dark eyes. “What do you mean you’re not going? This thing’s supposed to raise money for your pet project.”
Exactly what Michelle’s assistant had said when she’d asked her to fill in at the gala. “Actually, I’m going to the reception with the benefactors that afternoon. But I’m not going to the dance that night.”
“Care to tell me why?”
No, she didn’t, at least not the whole truth—that a few years back she’d met a doctor at a similar event who, little had she known at the time, belonged to someone else. “Large crowds aren’t exactly my cup of tea.”
“Mine, either. But I’m required to put in an appearance. I assumed you would be, too.”
“Not this time. I need to continue working on finalizing the ad layouts. Besides, no one will even miss me.”
“I will.”
Darn him. And darn her renegade smile that picked that exact moment to come out of hiding. She willed it away. “I appreciate that, Dr. Kempner, but I’m afraid you’ll have to find someone else to escort.”
“What if I don’t want to escort anyone else?”
She stacked some papers that didn’t need stacking, in avoidance of his tempting eyes. “There are probably, say, four single male doctors in this hospital and about ten times as many unattached women. That makes the odds in your favor. So I’m sure you can find someone who would more than appreciate your company.”
“And you don’t?” He slumped lower in the chair. “Man, you really know how to hurt a guy.”
In all honesty she did appreciate his company. More than she should. Not that she would ever make that confession, especially to him. “Let’s just say I’m not looking for companionship at the moment.”
She glanced up and met