Playboy Surgeon, Top-Notch Dad

“Quit saying that.” Blair frowned at her sister. “Whether or not he’s hot doesn’t matter. He’s a jerk.”

“A jerk who adores Dr T, adores your daughter and looks at you like he wants to rip your clothes off with his teeth.” Reesee shrugged. “Whatever he did that upset you, get over it, Blair. Life’s too short to stress the little things.”

“The little things? You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Blair bit into her lower lip.

“Then perhaps you should tell me. Or better yet, why don’t you tell him?”

“I don’t want to talk about him or to him.” She didn’t. She didn’t even want to think about Oz, yet her brain failed to take note and constantly dwelled on him. “I should go make more tea.”

Before her sister could do more than shake her head, Blair ducked back into the house. Anything to escape her sister. To escape the vision of Addy cuddled in Oz’s lap. Besides, Dr Talbot loved her sweet tea. She needed to make him a pitcher prior to going home.

And she would be going home soon. She couldn’t take much more of Oz. Reesee was right. Oz had been looking at her like he wanted to rip off her clothes.

Why?

Did he want more “cheap sex”?

As if.

She might be a slow learner, but eventually even she got the message. She wouldn’t

be used by a man again.

She got the teapot out of the cabinet, filled it with water, and placed it on the stove. Twisting the control knob to high, she leaned against a countertop.

“I’m sorry I took Addy out in my boat without your permission.”

Blair spun toward the opposite end of the kitchen. Looking impossibly handsome in his jeans and American Heart Disease T-shirt, Oz stood in the doorway.

He searched her face, waited for her to respond. Did he expect her to leap with joy? To fall down on her knees in praise that he’d apologized for something he shouldn’t have done to begin with?

“Fine.”

“No, it’s not fine.” He advanced toward her, grasped her arms, forcing her to look at him. “Nothing has been fine since the morning I came back from my run and you started shutting me out of your life.”

Wasn’t that what he’d wanted? Or had he wanted to continue their little fling a while longer before he called it quits?

“Dr T was being rushed to the hospital. What did you expect? That I’d throw my arms around you?”

God, would he quit touching her? She couldn’t think straight with him this near, with his skin against hers. The last time he’d touched her, they’d been in his room, in his bed.

Wincing at the unwanted memories, she averted her gaze. Unfortunately, she stared at the cabinet where Oz had tossed a noodle at her and it had stuck to the oak finish. Everywhere she looked, some memory of Oz lambasted her.

He inhaled a deep breath, brushed his palms over her bare arms. “I’d have preferred that to you giving me the cold shoulder during a time when we needed each other.”

She pulled free of his hold. “I didn’t need you.”

“No?” His brow arched. “I needed you, Blair. Each and every night while I lay in that god-awful cot in Dr T’s room, I needed you there with me.”

Blair’s heart raced. What was he saying? That they’d shared more than cheap sex?

No, that couldn’t be what he was saying. He’d told her point-blank he was leaving. He’d been the one to pull away before his heart rate had even returned to normal.

“You need to find someone else to be your friend, Oz. I no longer want that job.”

“Damn it, I’m not talking about being my friend, Blair. I’m talking about me and you, about what happened between us, about what is happening between us.” He frowned. “Or was happening.”

“Don’t act like I’m the bad guy here, Oz Manning. You were the one who called what happened ‘cheap sex’.”