Flirting with the Society Doctor

But the reality was he’d be willing to continue his relationship with Faith. Willing? More like he didn’t know how he was going to be near her without touching her. Without wanting to hear his name on her lips.

Had she seen that in his eyes? Was that why she’d pulled away from him? Why she’d begun to shut him out?

Because she was afraid that if they continued it would have an impact on her career?

He pulled up outside her building.

“Just let me out so you don’t have to park.”

“Parking isn’t a problem,” he assured her as he turned into the parking garage. “Besides, I’ll get your suitcase.”

Turning to stare out the passenger window as if she was looking at the most amazing sights rather than the boring concrete of the parking garage, she went back to ignoring him.

Vale had had enough. “Talk to me, Faith.”

She didn’t look at him. Only the stiffening of her spine gave a hint that she’d even heard him.

“Faith?”

She sighed. “What do you want me to say?”

“Tell me what you’re thinking. What you’re feeling.”

“That going with you this weekend was a big mistake.”

“We don’t have to end with the weekend, Faith.” Had he really just offered to have a relationship with Faith? A real relationship where emotions were on the line? Where they would exclusively see each other? Where they would share much more than their bodies? Hell, they already did share much more than their bodies.

She spun in her seat to face him. “That would be an even bigger mistake.”

He parked the car, turned off the ignition. “Why?” Not that he couldn’t name a hundred different reasons. Not that he could believe he was trying to convince a woman to have a relationship with him. Women chased him, not the other way around.

“Why?” she scoffed. “Because I’m not the kind of woman you

date.”

She had a point. He’d never dated anyone like Faith. Had never even met anyone like her.

“Maybe you should be.”

“I’m not changing into one of those arm-candy girls.” Her retort bordered on snide.

“That’s not what I meant, Faith.” He raked his fingers through his hair, searched for the right words, words that wouldn’t leave his lips easily as they lowered the shields he’d painstakingly erected so long ago. “I meant maybe I should be dating women like you. Specifically, I should be dating you.”

“Why?”

Why? Was she kidding? He frowned. “After this weekend you have to ask why I want to date you?”

She waved her hand dismissively. “That was just sex.”

“Really? Just sex?” He’d had sex before. Whatever had happened between Faith and himself had never happened before, though. He’d never felt that protectiveness, never lost reason. Just the memory of being inside her was enough to make his brain cloudy. “I thought it was more.”

Her green eyes narrowed, her jaw dropped a bit, and she regarded him quizzically, before laughing a bit hysterically. “Oh, I get it. You’re worried that because I was a virgin I’m going to have all these great expectations of you. Don’t worry, Vale. The only expectation I have is for us to continue our working relationship as if this weekend never happened.”

A strange pain shot across his chest. “You don’t want to see where whatever this is between us could go?”

“I know where it would go. Nowhere. And I’m not willing to mess up my career to go nowhere.”

Her words stung, yet he recognized the validity of what she said. Still, he played devil’s advocate. “How can you be sure we wouldn’t end up making my family very happy by making an announcement of our own?”