Paging Dr. Hot (21 page)

Devon hands La Dragona
his business card. “Please call to set up a personal consultation. It would do you a world of good,” he assures her.

“How…how dare you!” she sputters, flinging the business card back at him. I fully expect to see a blaze of fire roar from La Dragona’s toxic beak.

“It’s my area of expertise and I take pride in it. There is nothing to be ashamed of. I assure you, your problems are curable,” Devon replies blithely, dodging the flying card. “Good evening, Madame, and may Venus, the goddess of sex, smile down upon you,” he calls out as she scurries away. “That is, if she can find a willing partner,” he quips to me out of the side of his mouth.

“
Canalla!”
La Dragona yells over her shoulder, calling him a dirty scoundrel in Spanish.

The elderly man swoops down and picks up Devon’s card from where it’s fallen on the floor. His wife grabs it and stuffs it in her purse. “I’m calling him tomorrow,” she says decisively.

Devon turns to the elderly lady with a winning smile. “Perhaps you’d like to purchase my current release,” he says, giving her a wink laden with double-entendre.
“
It’s called
Orgasmic Secrets Revealed.”

“Fascinating. I will look for it,” the tiny woman whispers, staring at Devon with open admiration.

“Excellent,” Devon returns with a beaming smile. He gallantly offers me the crook of his arm. “Shall we go, darling?”

“I’d be delighted,” I reply, linking my arm with his.

Devon winks at me and moments later, I’m basking on the luxurious leather seat of Devon’s convertible, allowing the balmy night air to soothe my flushed face as we cruise down US 1 with the top down.

“What a night,” I groan.

“Not one of your best?”

“That’s putting it mildly. Mrs. Escobar is a witch,” I mutter.

“I’ve already diagnosed what’s wrong with her,” he says with a wicked chuckle.

“Yeah, I heard it already.” I laugh in spite of myself.

Devon glances at me. “Now that your host has bailed on you, I’d be happy to chair your charity bowling event. When is it?”

I flounder for a few helpless moments, trying to find the right words to turn Devon down. It’s awfully nice of him to offer, but there’s no way I can justify a sex therapist hosting Bowled Over (even though Antoinette would probably crow with delight).

“It’s a week from next Saturday. I appreciate your offer immensely, Devon,” I say diplomatically, “It’s generous of you, but I’m afraid I can’t take you up on it.”

He takes his eyes off the road and gives me a mystified look. “Why not?”

“Because you’re not a heart doctor.”

“Oh, but I am. Women have two hearts, darling. Would you like to know where the second one is?” His eyes twinkle eloquently.

He is incorrigible. “No, thanks. I already guessed,” I say dryly.

Devon beams. “Excellent, then we’re on the same page. I am well versed in the second heart, but I also went to medical school and I have a PhD. I can easily lecture about heart health for women,” he assures me.

“I don’t know…” I say, weakening. Dr. Hamme is no Dr. Oz, but he is a celebrity and would draw an audience. Maybe I can get him to tone down the sex and only talk about the first heart, not the second one he’s so fond of. “Do you charge a fee?”

Devon looks affronted. “Of course not. What do you take me for? Isn’t this a charity?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that Dr. Escobar was initially planning on charging a fee.”

Devon shakes his head. “That’s him, not me.”

“But…”

“No buts, unless they’re of the lovely female variety,” he says, grinning. He pulls into the driveway in front of my building. “I believe I have a book signing that Saturday morning. Otherwise, I’m free all evening. Email me the information and I’ll be in touch with you this week.”

Did I just agree to have an outrageous sexpert chair my bowling event? Am I drunk? I open the car door in a daze and get out. As I come around to Devon’s side to give him a friendly parting kiss on the cheek, I see Harrison arrive with Scout on a leash.

“I’ll do that, Devon. Thank you,” I say darting back from Devon. I hope Harrison didn’t see me.

“Good-bye, darling. Glad I was able to finally please you.” Devon’s Aussie accent booms in the dark night, causing Harrison to fix his gaze on us. Scout barks and pulls on the leash to greet me.

Devon’s convertible roars away, leaving me in front of the building, feeling awkward and at a loss for words. Harrison’s strong alpha presence always puts me on the defensive when I’m with another man.

“Hi.” I nod to Harrison and lean forward to pet Scout.

“Nice dress,” Harrison says, holding the door for me.

“Thanks.” I follow him to the elevator and we get inside together. “I was working.”

“At Tantra?” he asks in a wry tone.

”No, on assignment,” I say quickly.

Harrison’s jaw tightens as he arches a caustic eyebrow. His fierce green gaze anchors me before him and my stomach flip-flops. “Right,” he grunts.

Romeo: Where are Scout and Harrison? Francesca just came in smelling of them, but she’s alone. She looks totally frazzled and she’s calling Fizzy. This spells trouble…

Listen, lady, I miss my peeps. I wanna hang with Scout and Dr. Awesome. Why are you avoiding them? Why do you always have to complicate things? I’m not thrilled with you and I need to vent my frustrations. Where are your new sandals?

Grrr.

Chapter Nineteen

“Fizzy, you are
not
going to believe what happened tonight,” I say into the phone. I can’t believe it myself.

“What?” I imagine Fizzy’s blue eyes bright with curiosity.

“I’d rather tell you in person. Wanna come over?”

She hesitates. “Uh…it’s not a good time.”

This doesn’t sound like her. The bubbly Fizzy Pop I know would have said, “Sure, I’ll be right over. This calls for a bottle of wine.”

“Why? Is Santiago there?” I ask.

“No. Actually, Harrison’s here with Scout.” After an awkward pause, she says, “Why don’t you come over?”

“No way. I just ran into him. He saw me get out of Devon’s car.”

“Oh,” she says, sounding surprised. “Why were you with Devon?”

“Don’t say his name out loud. It’s a long story. I’d rather tell you in person,” I say for the second time.

“Then come over.”

“I can’t tell you in front of Harrison, silly!”
Why doesn’t Fizzy get it?
“It was too tense in the elevator when I rode up with him just now,” I whisper.

“Why? Can you speak a little louder? It sounds like you’re whispering.”

Why is she acting so dense? I raise my voice a notch. “Harrison commented on my dress and then made a curt comment about Tantra. He looked kinda pissed and said ‘bye’ when he got off on his floor. Nothing more.”

“Oh,” is all she says.
Weird.

“It was so uncomfortable,” I add, hoping she’ll say more, but she remains silent.

Fizzy, what’s going on?
“I’ll give you a buzz later,” I say. Maybe Harrison is beside her.

“Okay.”

I hang up feeling as if I’ve been kicked to the curb. Fizzy sounds strange and distant. I suddenly feel awful. Where’s my confidante? Have I lost Fizzy to Harrison? Have I lost Harrison to Fizzy
,
my closest friend here? God, I hope not! I hate the sharp twinge of jealousy, but it’s there and it stings badly enough for me to consider an Epi shot.

I dial Chloe’s number. I can always count on my best friend to listen to me. I love Chloe and I would have called her first, but I didn’t want to get into what happened with Harrison.

Two rings later, Chloe answers.

“Hey, I was just thinking of you,” she says. The smile in her voice calms me down a bit. “Where have you been all weekend? I hate playing phone tag like this.”

“Me too. I miss you,” I say honestly.

“Miss you too. So, what’s up?”

“Everything. I don’t know where to begin…so much has happened. But first, how are you? Lately I seem to always be talking about me.”

“Lately your life is more interesting than mine,” she replies with a sigh. “Go on. Tell me, I have all night. Start at the beginning.”

When I finish telling her about Elise and Alex, Chloe responds in her usual direct manner.

“What a jerk! Elise is better off without him. But how are you going to save her job? Sounds like he wants to make a big name for himself on TV.”

“Yeah, that’s what we’re afraid of. I’m going to see Elise tomorrow and we’ll have to come up with something. I can’t think straight right now. I’m too drained. La Dragona acted like a real bitch toward me tonight.”

“La what?”

“Alex’s mother. I call her La Dragona which means dragon lady in Spanish.”

“Oh. Well, good thing you found out about Alex now and not later. You might have fallen in love with him,” Chloe points out tactfully.

“The truth is, even though he was perfect on paper, in person we had no connection. The more I got to know Alex, the less I liked him and the less I respected him. I can’t marry a guy I don’t respect, even if he is a brilliant doctor.”

“Speaking of brilliant doctors…what’s happened with Harrison?” Chloe asks.

“I’ve kinda been avoiding him,” I say, feeling like a fool.

Chloe sighs. “Yeah, I heard.”

“Has he said something to you?” I ask, surprised.

“Normally he never talks about girls, but I got worried when I couldn’t reach you. So I called him and asked how you were. His reply was, ‘Ask her two doctor boyfriends’.”

“He
said
that?” Gosh.

“Yep. He also said it’s obvious you’re not interested in him and that he’s tired of chasing after you.”

Chloe’s words rattle me. Harrison said he was chasing after me? I thought he was only being friendly. Except for his kisses. They weren’t exactly friendly—they were breathtaking, toe-curling, addictive, bone-melting…

“Well. I had no idea he was
chasing
me,” I say in a small voice.

“You sound upset,” Chloe observes.

I feel blood rush to my head when I remember he’s visiting Fizzy right now. So he gave up on me and now he’s after Fizzy? The idea makes me miserable. They’re both special to me and I somehow feel betrayed. I don’t want them to be a couple. It’s selfish and it shouldn’t bother me, but it does and I can’t help it.

“I’m not juggling two doctors at the same time. Unfortunately, Harrison saw Devon drop me off tonight, so he got the wrong idea.”

“Oh,” Chloe says, sounding puzzled.

“There’s nothing going on between us, Chloe. Devon was just giving me a ride home.”

“How is Harrison supposed to know that? He keeps seeing you with both doctors.”

“I know. I’m exasperated with the whole situation. Amazingly, Devon wasn’t up to his usual moves. He was actually nice. He stood up for me in front of La Dragona and then he offered to chair Bowled Over because Alex bailed out on me.”

“Well, that
is
nice.”

“Yeah, underneath his outrageous sexual persona and overblown ego, Devon’s a decent guy. He was a total gentleman and he went out of his way to defend me.”

“Sounds like you’re interested in him.”

“No way. The minute I saw Harrison, I got that fluttery feeling in my stomach again and I got all tongue-tied. I miss him a lot,” I admit.
And I miss his hot kisses and the way he…

“Tell
him
, not me,” Chloe says, interrupting my fantasy. “Last I heard, you’d thrown him out of your apartment. You need to patch things up.”

“I told you why, Chloe. I was mad at him for barging in and ruining my date with Alex.” I groan. “I have to admit, Harrison was right about Alex all along.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know. I’m so confused. I like Harrison, but…”

“But what? Stop being so indecisive,” she snaps. “Harrison isn’t going to be single for long.”

I feel a stab of alarm. “What do you mean by that?”

“The other day when I called, Harrison sounded really happy.” She pauses. “I heard a girl giggling in the background.”

That could have been Fizzy! She is entertaining Harrison at her place. Now I’m worried and I hate the jealous feeling that’s creeping into my heart.

“Has he mentioned Fizzy to you?” I ask, dreading Chloe’s answer.

“Yeah.”

“What did he say about her?”

“That she’s a fun-loving redhead.”

“
Great.
Harrison thinks Fizzy is ‘fun-loving’ and we already know he thinks I’m ‘nutty’.”

Chloe laughs. “He’s planning on offering her a part-time job on Saturdays.”

“He is?” I ask, wincing at another stab of jealousy.

“Yeah. She’s looking for a little extra income and Harrison needs to hire more employees. His practice is thriving.”

“Oh, that’s…wonderful,” I say, trying to summon enthusiasm, even though my heart is sinking like cement in water. Maybe this is why Fizzy wasn’t acting herself on the phone—she’s wants Harrison for herself!