Page 34 of Dr. Scandal Claus

"Yeah, buddy, that's weird." I felt numb and a bit sick to my stomach again. "Nick," I said again, nervously. I noticed the woman was approaching us and Nick seemed to get more bothered by the second. He ran a hand through his hair; then he sat a bit straighter. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought he was trying to look better, puff his chest out. I hated feeling insecure like this.

I looked at the woman, whose name I now remembered was Fiona. Even her name was prettier than mine. She wasn't thick like me either; her frame was spindly with curves exactly where they were supposed to be. I never thought of my body as unattractive or not sexy. I always had confidence in my thick curves and full chest. But I knew what a lot of men liked. Fiona was it.

"Nicky!" she squealed happily. She acted like she'd only just seen him but it was all fake. I'd seen her staring at him from across the beach too.

Only when I heard a low growl rumble up out of Nick's chest did I start to relax. "Fiona."

"Oh, don't play. You call me, Fifi," she joked, and I gritted my teeth.

"Sounds like a dog's name," Ethan said, and I had to hide my snicker behind my hand. Kids were brutally honest.

Fiona scowled and huffed, then turned to Nick with an even wider fake smile. "It's so funny that you're here. I had no idea we'd run into each other." She plumped her tits, readjusting the skimpy bathing suit top. She was clearly trying to get Nick to look at her chest, and his eyes stayed fixed on her face, which made me more relieved.

"Yes, well I'm sure your father told you where I'd be. I had to turn down his invitation for dinner. I'm here with my amazingly beautiful girlfriend, Scarlett, and my son, Ethan." Nick's hand reached out and rested on my knee and I had never felt more confident in my life. It banished every trace of insecurity. She might have had a figure for a magazine cover, but I had Nick's heart.

"Hmm," she hummed, and her eyes did a scan of my body and lingered on Ethan for a moment. "Well isn't that nice." I was shocked at how her tone shifted on a dime and the ricochet expression I got was hateful. "I was hoping we could chat."

"Sorry, Fiona…I'm quite busy. But anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Scarlett…" He turned to Ethan. "Buddy, do you want to go run and play?"

"No, I want Mommy. But Fifi can go play." Again my son made me chuckle and I pictured Fiona playing fetch on the beach like a good little girl.

"It was nice to meet you, Fiona," I said and she huffed again. Her scowl as she walked away was priceless and only then did Ethan stand up. He kissed me on the cheek and straightened.

"I'll be right back. I want to rinse my hands." He wiggled his fingers in front of me and ran off, and seconds later, Nick was pulling me against his body for a kiss.

"Did I detect a hint of jealousy in your eyes, Ms. Moore?" His kiss was greedy and hungry.

"Did you really call her Fifi?" I burst out laughing so hard it ruined the kiss and Nick started tickling me.

"You've never done anything dumb when you were young and foolish?" he asked, pinning me down. I wrestled away from him, still laughing, and got to my feet.

"Last one in the water's a rotten egg!" I called, and I tossed my hat on the blanket before racing off toward the shore.

Things between me and Nick were going to work out. I had such a good feeling about it. What I didn't feel good about was why this woman had suddenly decided she had to have Nick and how she could so brazenly flirt with him right in front of me and Ethan. That part scared me.

26

NICK

The car bumped along the road. I was running late, which wasn't something normal for me. Scarlett and Ethan—and Ethan's friend Ryan—were waiting for me. Our campsite had been booked for Labor Day and all I needed was the jacket I just bought for the trip. I'd left it draped over the back of my chair at the office by accident and now I was racing to get there and get back to pick up my family.

When I pulled into the office parking lot, I thought this would be a very fast in and out. I got out of the car; left it running even, and raced to the building with my key in hand, but I never got my key in the lock. The back door had been jimmied, the lock broken. It stood ajar and the metal around the lock mechanism was bent and mangled. I looked through the crack for a second, but my gut told me not to enter.

Instead, I dialed 911 and backed away from the building. Whatever was going on had me a bit rattled. Throughout the entire time that scandal was going on years ago I never once had to worry about someone breaking into my house or office. A few people painted horrible words on my garage door, but no one had tried to steal from me.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Uh, yeah, I need to report a break-in. I'm at my office…" I spat out the details to the dispatcher and in less than ten minutes, I heard sirens in the distance. She asked if I wanted to stay on the line with her, but I let her go. I didn't feel like I was in any immediate danger. I didn't hear any noises inside, and I had my car right here, which I shut off.

When the police arrived, they went into the building with their guns at the ready. I hovered by my car and waited, and when they came back out with guns holstered, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Dr. Edwards, there is no one inside. We need you to go through things and see if anything is missing or tampered with." One officer, who according to his nameplate was Sergeant Jetty, shook my hand and nodded at the building.

At this point I was on autopilot. I didn't know who would want to break into my office for any reason. We didn't keep any drugs here except samples of new heart medications. It wasn't like addicts should even target the building. We had no narcotics.

"Sure … I'll walk through."

I sighed, realizing I wasn't going to get to Scarlett on time now, and I sent her a quick text saying I'd be late. Then I walked into the office and turned on the lights. I knew if Emily was here, or my receptionist for that matter, either one of them would be able to tell me if something was out of place. I looked around the office and nothing appeared to be missing. I checked the drug safe, and it was locked. I opened it, but our samples were all there.