âIâve yet to meet a surgeon who isnât full of himself, a total control freak.â
âSo says the hospital controller,â her friend Ryleigh pointed out.
âThatâs my job title, not personality.â She got mad every time she thought about the pressure Spencer Stone had put on her. âWhat part of no doesnât he understand?â
âNowâs not the timeââ
âYeah, it is.â Avery was warming to her subject. Even her friendâs weird eye-rolling and nodding her head toward the doorway didnât penetrate the tirade. âI swear, if I ever meet a nice doctor, Iâd have sex with him at that momentââ
âAveryââ Ryleigh was dragging her hand across her throat, the universal cut-off sign.
She felt her stomach drop and heat spread through her. âHeâs behind me, isnât he?â
Avery OâNeill had guilty secrets, but her attitude toward a certain cardiothoracic surgeon wasnât one of them.
She stopped pacing long enough to look at Ryleigh Evans, her best friend. âItâs bad enough that I have to put up with Spencer Stone at your wedding. Far be it from me to question your future husbandâs taste in a best man. But I just found out I have to go to Dallas with him.â
This was Ryleighâs office and she was behind the desk, watching Avery walk back and forth to work off her frustration. Her brown eyes sparkled with more than bridal happiness. She was also rocking a pregnancy glow with a baby due in four months. She was a beautiful brunette and happiness made her more beautiful than ever.
âWhy do you have to go with him?â she asked.
âFor months Iâve been telling Stone that the surgical robotic system heâs lusting afterâjust like he lusts after every attractive single female employee at Mercy Medical Center is not in the budget. He went over my head to my boss, who pointed out that Doctor Heartthrob brings patients, publicity and revenue to Mercy Medical Center. In short, heâs the golden boy and we need to keep him happy.â
âAnd just how are you going to do that?â Her friend Ryleighâs tone dripped with double entendre.
âDonât go there.â
Avery certainly wasnât planning to. Spencer Stone was only interested in casual sexâand that didnât interest her. She knew his typeâbig man on campus. The guy that girls couldnât say no to. In high school sheâd learned the hard way that there were consequences for not saying no and sleeping with that guy. Hers were an unplanned pregnancy and a newborn daughter sheâd had to give up for adoption.
Her gaze dropped to her friendâs baby bump and the way she absently and protectively rubbed her hand over the swell of the growing child. A familiar envy, longing and sadness rolled through her. Avery covered it the way she always did, by being prickly. Ryleigh teased that it was one of her best qualities, but sheâd never confided her guilty secret, not even to her best friend.
âI have to go with Stone to talk to the financial people and find out if this Star Wars technology is fiscally feasible.â
âAnd what will he be doing while youâre playing with numbers?â
âHeâll be playing with the really expensive Star Wars technology.â
Ryleigh nodded sagely. âWell, I can see their point. Hospital administration doesnât want him to contract his considerable skills to another facility. But heâs officially really good at fixing hearts.â
âGood thing because he breaks so many. Heâs a pain in the butt.â
Ryleigh slid her a look of exaggerated patience. âYouâll get to know him better at the wedding. I promise not to say I told you so when you find out youâre wrong about Spencer. If he were as bad as you think, Nick wouldnât like him or ask him to be his wingman for vow-taking.â
The day after tomorrow her best friend was remarrying Dr. Nick Damian, the love of her life and father of her unborn child. Avery was the maid of honor, which meant sheâd have to play nice. But that was two days away and now, she was annoyed. âStoneâs a jerk.â
âNot true. Heâs a really nice guy.â
âRight.â Avery folded her arms over her chest and faced the desk with her back to the open office door. âIâve yet to meet a surgeon who isnât full of himself, a total control freak.â
âSo says the hospital controller,â Ryleigh pointed out.
âJob title not personality.â She got mad every time she thought about the pressure Spencer Stone had put on her. He buried her in emails with a subject line of 9-1-1, or stat, or Code Red. When that didnât work he tracked her down in the hospital wherever she happened to be, although so far he hadnât breached the sanctity of the ladiesâ room. âWhat part of no doesnât he understand?â