Playboy Surgeon, Top-Notch Dad

“To the bathroom.”

“Now? Oz is up for bid.”

Did everyone think she was oblivious to that fact? If only.

“And Oz being up for bid matters to me how?”

Stephanie frowned at Blair’s snappish question. “He matters to you a great deal. Don’t pretend otherwise.”

“Then you’ll understand why I have no desire to watch women fight over him.”

“Why aren’t you fighting for him?”

Blair stared blankly at Stephanie.

“If you care about him, why did you let him walk away so easily? He told you he wanted a relationship and you walked away, Blair. Why?”

“I didn’t understand why he said that last night. Not at first, but tonight I realized. He thinks our being involved would make Dr Talbot happy, that’s why he said what he did. Because he loves Dr Talbot and would do anything to make him happy.”

“Surely you don’t believe that bunch of bull?”

Her eyes watering, Blair blinked at her friend. “He’s going to leave, Stephanie. What then? Am I supposed to beg him to stay?”

Stephanie shrugged. “If that’s what it takes. Loving a man like Oz isn’t easy, but nothing worth having ever is. The real question is—do you love him enough to risk everything to be with him? Even knowing it might not last, even knowing you’d be devastated if it doesn’t? Is the risk of pain worth the joy of loving?”

Blair stared at Stephanie, a woman in love with a man full of cancerous lesions, a man she’d likely lose to death sooner rather than later. “I do care about Oz.”

“I’m not the one you should be telling. You need to tell him, right now.”

“He’s on stage.”

Stephanie shrugged. “Life’s too short to let something like that stop you. He wants you to buy his date.”

“This is crazy, Stephanie. I can’t bid on him.” His date was sailing. “I won’t bid on him.”

Looking disappointed in her, Stephanie shrugged. “Oz wants you to trust him, Blair.”

Damp heat flushed her skin, darkened her vision.

“Do you love him?”

Blair couldn’t speak.

“Do you?” Stephanie demanded, shaking Blair’s arm.

“Yes.”

“Then perhaps it’s time you showed him just how much.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

OZ SCANNED the crowd, but the stage lights prevented him from seeing beyond the first row of tables.

Blair hadn’t returned to her seat. She’d caught his eye when he went onto the stage, but he hadn’t been able to spot her since. Had she left?

She’d cared for him, but he’d been a fool and lost her.

Hell, he’d pushed her away.