Page 3 of Doctor Daddy Dilemma
Harsh. I felt it as soon as the words left my mouth. She was doing her job, likely put up to it by a boss or coworker. I watched her cheeks grow even darker red, if it were possible, and then her shoulders wilted.
“I’m sincerely sorry, Dr. Hartman.” When she turned her chin up it was with a bright and warm smile. “I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot and I accept full responsibility for that.” Persistent too—incredible. “I honestly would love to get to know you—I, uh… I mean, to do the interview.”
She squirmed under my gaze like a bacteria in a petri dish and I ate it up. Every second of her torture as she pleaded with me for this interview gave me great satisfaction, even when I started in on her and she kept the plastic smile on her lips.
“Do you understand I get paid twelve-hundred dollars per consultation? You’ve just wasted my time, and twelve-hundred dollars of your precious newspaper’s money. And you think I’m going to change my mind and just do an interview? When? Right now?” I raised my eyebrows at her. “You think a fifteen-minute interview, which is now”—I looked at the tablet and then back up at her face—“six minutes left, is long enough to do an exposé?”
“Sir, if you would?—”
“What part of time equals money don’t you understand?” I stood and slid my hands into my pockets and she backed up a step. The idea of doing an interview with her didn’t actually displease me. She was bold and beautiful, and judging by her nervous yet polite demeanor, she was likely a good human being. Not a single reporter had come along with the intent to show the world the real me. Most of them merely wanted the fame associated with my name, which inevitably brought them a boost to their career. This woman might be no different, but she might also be chasing a dream and just hopping on my tailwind.
“I’m so sorry, sir. I really do want to do a great job on this story and show the world you’re more than just a surgeon. That you’re not the things the tabloids say about you.” Again with the biting of the lower lip. She had no clue what that did to me, and I had no way to tell her without it coming across as nothing more than a cheesy pick-up line from Miami’s number one playboy, which would only fuel the gossip mills.
“Please leave now.” I felt the business card in my pocket, tucked there with the intent that she could hand it to Eva at the front desk to schedule the next appointment, but perhaps it could serve a different purpose now that I knew she wasn’t here with genuine interest in my services.
“You were like me once…” Her smile wavered only for a second. “Young and passionate about your career. I need this story, please. You have no idea. If I go back and tell my boss I didn’t get the interview…”
Resorting to pleading didn’t look good on her, but I just couldn’t get the image of her tits out of my head. I slid the card into my palm and shook my head, deepening my scowl as I pulled my hand out of my pocket and reached toward her.
“Give this to Eva at the reception desk.”
She glanced at my hand then reached for the card with a confused look on her face. “I don’t understand.”
“Get out of my office. Do you understand that?” my voice boomed and she jumped again as she backed toward the door. “And when you receive the time and date, write it down. I don’t take kindly to no-shows.” I was going to enjoy this thoroughly. “And whatever you do, don’t be late.”
“Oh God…yes, sir,” she mumbled. Clearly quite flustered. And then she was gone. And I was standing there with an erection of biblical proportions hoping she didn’t notice it.
Yes, I was going to enjoy this a lot.
3
CHARLIE
My plane touched down in Tampa, and the Uber Mr. James sent picked me up and delivered me back at the office just in time to catch Amy before she left work. Her flight, three hours earlier than mine, dropped her back in time to finish work and be out the door on time for once, just in time to meet her husband for his birthday dinner. My later flight, however, promised a long night of work ahead of me.
I no more than sat down when Amy popped her head into my cubicle and said, “So how’d it go?” She had her purse and keys in hand, ready to step out the door.
The heat was already creeping back into my cheeks as I looked up at her and glanced around to make sure there weren’t any random passers-by who could hear me. I didn’t need office gossip going around about me. It was bad enough that my coworkers knew how the boss treated me. I just wanted to blend in and be normal around here, not have any special attention paid to me unless it was for my performance at work being excellent.
“Well, it went okay.” I swallowed hard and focused on her face, but my hands fidgeted with my purse strap the same way they had while sitting on that exam table. “He, uh… Well, he agreed to an interview, I think.”
“What do you mean, you think?” she asked, leaning in. She, too, glanced around, understanding my obvious nerves about the situation.
“My God he’s so hot, Amy,” I practically squealed. “And holy cow when he touched me, my body was literally on fire. I think tonight is a night for a little privacy, if you know what I mean.” Amy was very open about her sex life with her husband and had advised me more than once to “rub one off” so I could feel less tense. We were close enough I didn’t mind letting her in on my desire to indulge in a little fantasy.
She snickered and walked farther into my cubicle and sat on the corner of my desk. “Tell me what happened.”
Taking a deep breath, I dove into the details. “So he had to do this exam, and I was so nervous about the entire thing I just let him. And then when I finally got the guts to blurt it out, his hands were like”—I pointed at my chest —“on me, and I swear my panties were soaked.” I felt so embarrassed telling her the story, but I knew she would keep it between us. “Anyway we had a little back and forth. I could tell he was grumpy about the way I went about things, but he gave me this card to give to his receptionist and then told me to watch for a time and place and not be late.”
Amy’s face lit up and she crossed her arms over her chest, squirming a little with excited energy. “It’s so good to see you happy and excited about something. Maybe this hot doctor will be just what you need to get your mind off of the ex. That jerk has been holding you back.”
Tim Fraizure, ex-boyfriend from hell if you ask me, had definitely been holding me back. I’d been way too hung up on him and the situation, hoping somehow he’d change his mind and take me back, but it was time to move on. Dr. Hartman, however, probably wasn’t going to be the man I moved on with. He was way out of my league and probably had zero interest in someone my age. I enjoyed the smolder of an older man, but not all older men liked their women this young.
“Yeah, well at least I know I can be interested in someone else again. I really cared about Tim, but the more time that passes, the more I realize he’s not the one.” Leaning back in my chair, I set my purse on my desk. The giddy energy I felt coursing through me was nothing more than a crush. I had to put that away to focus on my job of getting the interview with Dr. Hartman and writing the exposé Mr. James wanted. I couldn’t afford to be flustered and giddy every time I was in the room with him, so I had to discourage Amy from goading my fantasy about sleeping with an older man. “This is serious though. My job here may depend on it, and while I’m green and still learning the ropes, I want to do a good job. This isn’t my forever job, but if I don’t perform well, I may never find the place of my dreams.”
“You can lecture me on the job front anytime, honey. Just don’t shut down a possibility if it springs up. Love strikes in the weirdest situations. Just look at how I met Reese. If I ignored those scoops of delicious ice cream he added to my order at the drive-up window that afternoon, I’d still be single.” She winked at me as she stood and straightened her blouse. “Keep me posted.”
“You’re incorrigible.” I chuckled as she walked away then turned to my computer to wake it up. I didn’t doubt that love came in the strangest packages and sometimes when we least expected it, but Dr. Hartman was not the love of my life. He was just the person at the center of my human interest piece and would hopefully nail me a spot on the front page of a slow news day. And he was hot. My God, was he hot. But I could be around good-looking people without being worked up by it. I was a professional.