Madison frowned. “You’re saying I’m not a modern woman?”
“I’m saying that you’re taking this modern woman thing to the extreme and forgetting who Madison Swanson is in the process. The real Madison, the one I know and love.”
Taking a deep breath, Madison ran her hands down her scrub top. Karen hadn’t been in Winston-Salem, hadn’t witnessed the devastation Simon’s betrayal had wrought with her heart. She didn’t want to be the real Madison Swanson, the one who could easily be walked all over and tossed aside without a second thought.
She wanted to be the one doing the walking. While wearing fabulous stilettos that caused the man she was leaving to fall to his knees, grab hold of her ankles and beg her to stay. Okay, so that was a bit extreme, but the image worked for her and she clung to that thought rather than the one of her having been the one to shed tear after tear when Simon had stomped away, crushing her heart with each step.
“Fine. I’ll tell you.” She gave in. “Levi asked me to dinner. I said yes. Nothing’s happened between us, but if it does, great. Mission accomplished.”
“Hello? Dr. Levi Fielding, playboy extraordinaire and total hottie, asking you to dinner is not ‘nothing’.” Karen whistled, shaking her head in thoughtful concern. “He’s been rather quiet the past few months. Since you started at the hospital, maybe a few weeks before, actually.” Another thoughtful look. “Although maybe he was dating someone from outside the hospital and no one heard.” Her friend’s gaze met hers. “I guess you’re next.”
“Next?” Why did she ask? She knew what Karen referred to. Next in Levi’s revolving door of female friends. Hadn’t he warned her himself? Was she the next Miss Dr. Levi Fielding’s Soon-to-Be-Ex-Girlfriend? Ha, good thing she was already planning for him to be the first next Mr. Madison Swanson’s Ex, otherwise she might think that rumble in her chest was more than indigestion.
Karen tapped her fingernail against her chin, studying Madison. “Obviously, he’s attracted to you.”
Trying to look nonchalant, Madison leaned over to straighten a wrinkle in the sheet covering the empty hospital bed. “He’s attracted to all women.”
“Not true. All women are attracted to him. There is a difference.”
Madison didn’t comment. What could she say? She thought Levi was attracted to her, but he hadn’t kissed her when he’d had the opportunity so perhaps she’d misread him yet again.
“What are you going to do?”
“What do you mean?” She glanced at her friend. “I’m going to dinner.”
“Dr. Fielding doesn’t have ‘just dinner’ with women.”
Wasn’t that what she herself had thought?
“He did on Saturday night,” Madison said pointedly, then frowned. Now, why had she told her friend that?
“Seriously?” Karen gasped. “After all your new persona, you had the gumption to say no? I’m so proud. I was afraid you’d do something you’d regret later.”
“The need to say no never presented itself. I told you, we just had pizza and one shouldn’t regret doing something one wants to do.”
Ignoring the last part of her comment, Karen’s jaw dropped. “Dr. Fielding didn’t make any moves on you? Not a single one? Not even a light kiss?”
Karen made it sound a crime. Maybe spending the evening with Levi and not getting a goodnight kiss was a crime. If not, it sure should be.
Madison sighed. “Not a single one.”
Karen considered her a few moments, letting her revelation sink in. A little scary.
“Not his usual modus operandi,” her friend finally said, still eying Madison in a way that made her feel like a bug under a magnifying glass. “Maybe he does want to be just friends.”
That was what Madison was afraid of. That she was feeling all these zaps, all these over-the-rainbow sensations, and Levi was just toying around with her because she’d flirted with him.
“Maybe. From what you’ve said, I’m not really his type,” she mused, letting her self-doubt shine through. Simon had done such a number on her. Would her confidence ever return?
“Ha,” Karen harrumphed. “You’re any intelligent, straight man’s type. Smart, pretty, fun to be around. I know you set your sights on him from the beginning with this crazy I’m-a-playgirl make-over so I’m surprised he didn’t make a move way before now.”
“Thanks, I think.” Madison hesitated, wanting to hug her friend for the kind words she’d needed to hear. Yes, someday her confidence would return. Moving to Angel Creek had been the wisest thing she’d done in a long time. “But you’re not listening. Lev—er, Dr. Fielding didn’t make a move. Maybe I should forget this whole thing and just go to dinner with you instead.” At Karen’s eyebrow lift, Madison waggled hers at her dearest friend. “We already know we’re compatible roommates and you obviously appreciate my finer qualities.”
“Obviously, but you don’t look at me the way you were watching that man leave.” Karen wrapped her arm around Madison’s shoulder as they walked toward the doorway. They’d been away from their patients too long already.
No, she didn’t look at anyone the way she looked at Levi and never had. Not even Simon.
“Have fun. Enjoy his attention. Just be careful, sweetie,” Karen warned. “Because even if you think you’re a player, I’m not buying it and don’t want you getting hurt.”