“You know,” she murmured, sliding her hand over his bare, granite abs. “You’re way more cut than the first time I saw you like this.”
“That’s all you, beautiful.”
“I’m not the one who’s been doing those toes-to-bars, Superstar.” She forced herself to pull away, but stayed close and ran her fingers over his lips with the sad thought that they wouldn’t belong to her much longer. “I’d better get going.”
His hold loosened, but he didn’t let go. “Hey.”
“Hmm?” She lifted her gaze to his, hoping he didn’t see the heartache in her eyes.
His gaze was tender, his smile soft, and he ran the back of his fingers down her cheek the way he sometimes did after they’d made love and lay across each other, sprawled and sated. “I really do love the way you take care of me.”
The words jumbled in her head. She heard the “I really do love” and the “you,” only belatedly catching the other words in between and reconstructing the sentence. But by then, her heart was skittering around her chest like a psycho squirrel.
“Well”—she ran her thumb over his beautifully shaped mouth—“then I guess it’s good that I happen to love taking care of you.”
She kissed him, pulled from his arms, and headed out of the kitchen. “See you in a little—” She glanced down at her keys as she reached the front door. “Oh. Noah, you gave me your keys.”
She turned and found him following her toward the front door with that casual,
sexy saunter—no limp in sight.
“I know,” he said, glancing out the glass front doors and scanning the street. “We got six more inches of snow last night, and only the main roads will be plowed this early.” He ran his hand over her head and tugged on the end of her braid with a warm look in his eyes. “You’ll be safer in the SUV.”
Every muscle was strung tight by the time she reached Dr. McMillan’s office, but she didn’t have time to get herself together because she was already five minutes late to the appointment. She pushed the sudden rush of affection for Noah aside for later. Now she needed to do her job.
With the folder of information in hand, she entered the well-appointed office and was led down a hall past exam rooms and into Dr. McMillan’s private space, where she was directed to a chair across from his wide mahogany desk where she sat and was asked to wait.
She scanned the back wall dripping with diploma after diploma, certificate after certificate, award after award, and photo after photo after photo of McMillan with a dozen different immediately recognizable athletes.
Strike one.
She hadn’t cared for McMillan when she’d first met him with Noah. But this wall of accolades made her dislike—and distrust—him even more. Tension settled in Julia’s shoulders, and she tried to talk herself out of the skepticism that had already begun to creep in.
From the corner of her eye, she caught the flash of a white lab coat and turned to see McMillan stroll into his office and prop one ass cheek on the edge of his desk in front of her. He was in his late fifties trying desperately to hold on to his thirties. He grinned that impatient physician grin, showing perfect rows of pristine white teeth. Which matched his pristine white jacket and the pristine button-up and tie beneath. Which, of course, matched the pristine haircut and pristinely shaven jaw.
“Ms. Bailey, what can I do for you?”
No closed door, no handshake, no icebreaker.
Strike two.
“I’m here to discuss Noah’s—”
“Surely you know I can’t discuss my patients’ medical history with anyone other than the patient himself.”
“And anyone whom the patient agrees to share their medical history with,” she corrected. “As
you know from my last visit with Noah, he’s signed all the necessary paperwork to enable you to discuss his case with me.”
The skin over his cheekbones tightened, and the smile grew brittle. He didn’t like being corrected any more than he liked being questioned.
He crossed his arms. “So what did you need? I’ve got an office full of athletes who are waiting on me.”
“I’d like to discuss the cement mixture the surgeon used to augment the screw placement in Noah’s talus—”
“Why? What, specifically, do you want to know?”
She clenched her teeth.