Priceless (13 page)

A pout on her full lips, she turned and sashayed off, her skimpy skirt barely covering her extraordinary derriere. Richard and Ben stared after her, then turned back to Mack, their eyes filled with amusement.

“It must be hell to be you,” Richard said.

“The women, the attention, the media.” Ben shook his head pityingly. “A curse. A definite curse.”

Mack glowered at them, then lifted his glass. “You know, you two, I could drink at home and get a whole lot less attitude.”

“But why would you want to?” Richard asked, grinning. “This way you get brotherly love, Chinese food and an excellent floor show.”

“One woman stopping by the table does not constitute a floor show,” Mack protested.

“Then how about three?” Ben asked, nodding in the direction of two more women heading their way. “Damn, but this is fun.”

Mack scowled fiercely at the women and they turned
away. At least those two were strangers who wouldn’t go away pouting, their feelings hurt.

Mack loved his brothers. He even appreciated that this evening was meant to cheer him up, but he’d had all he could take. He should have taken Beth up on her offer of dinner or a movie. Maybe it wasn’t too late. Maybe he could get Beth to send Melanie over here to her traitorous husband. Then he could meet Beth at her place.

Great plan, he concluded, but little chance of success. Beth wasn’t like him. She wouldn’t dump the person she was with to be with someone else. That didn’t mean he had to stick around.

He pushed back his chair and stood up. “Guys, I love you both and I appreciate that you came here to cheer me up, but I’ve gotta go.”

“Go where?” Richard demanded.

“Anyplace besides this hotbed of women on the prowl,” he said bluntly.

Both men stared at him in shock.

“He really is in love,” Ben concluded.

“Seems that way to me,” Richard agreed sagely.

“Bite me,” Mack said again.

Only when he’d made his escape did he stop long enough to admit to himself that his brothers had gotten it exactly right. He was in love with Beth. He waited after making the admission, expecting real panic to set in, but all he felt was this amazing sense of relief that he’d finally recognized the emotion for what it really was. He grinned as he got behind the wheel.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said as he headed for home. Maybe Destiny had gotten it right after all. But
given how irritated he was with her at the moment, it would take a stack of snowballs in hell before he told her that.

Mack was still sound asleep when the phone beside the bed jarred him awake. “Yeah, what?” he growled.

“What on earth were you thinking?” Destiny demanded, snapping him awake with the genuine dismay in her voice.

“What?” he asked, sitting up in bed.

“You haven’t seen the morning paper?”

“You woke me out of a sound sleep. What do you think?” he retorted more sharply than he should have. He might be irritated with his aunt, but she didn’t deserve rudeness.

“Get your paper and call me back after you’ve read Pete Forsythe’s column,” she said, and hung up on him.

Mack stared at the phone, then finally returned it to its cradle. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d heard his aunt so furious. Nor could he imagine anything he might have done to set her off.

Yanking on a pair of jeans, he went to the front door and picked up the paper, turning immediately to the gossip column.

“Mack’s back!” screamed the headline, as if he’d been recovered from space aliens.

His heart thudding dully he began to read.

“Maybe reports of Mighty Mack Carlton’s fascination with a prominent lady doctor were premature,” Forsythe had written. “Just last night Mack was spotted by our photographer out on the town with an old flame, supermodel Cassandra Wells.”

Mack stared at the photo accompanying the article. Sure enough, there he was with Cassandra draped all
over him. The photographer had managed to shoot from an angle that completely blocked out his brothers. He finally understood Destiny’s indignation. He was pretty damn livid himself, especially since he knew what had gone on last night…and what hadn’t.

He picked up the phone and dialed Destiny. “It’s not what it looks like,” he said at once.

“They doctored the photo?” she asked in a scathing tone. “Please, Mack, don’t even try to suggest such a thing.”

“No, but they managed to take the picture or crop it so that Richard and Ben weren’t in it,” he told her.

She paused then. “Your brothers were there?” she asked in a tone that sounded slightly less irate.

“Yes.”

Instead of sounding relieved, Destiny muttered, “I think I’d better speak to both of them about appropriate behavior in a public place.”

If she hadn’t sounded so serious, Mack might have laughed. “Destiny, I think we’re all a little too old for that particular lecture.”

“Obviously not,” she huffed. “How are you going to explain this to Beth? She must be devastated. You’ve publicly humiliated her. Just yesterday—”

Mack cut her off. “Destiny, you really don’t want to go there. If anyone is responsible for Beth being humiliated, I think we can agree that it’s you. Pete Forsythe wouldn’t know about her at all, if you hadn’t tipped him off.”

She sighed heavily. “You’re right,” she said, giving up the fight gracefully. “It was probably a mistake to try that particular tactic.”

“Probably? It
was
a mistake,” Mack said emphatically.

“Darling, I’ll ask you again, then. Why are you still seeing her? I was so hopeful that it was getting serious and here you are running around with an old flame.”

“Didn’t you hear a word I just said? I wasn’t running around. Cassandra was at my table for less than a minute, long enough to plant that kiss and get her picture snapped. It had nothing to do with Beth,” Mack insisted. “Though after this debacle, I’ll be lucky if she ever speaks to me again.”

“Can I help?”

“No. I think you’ve done quite enough. I’ll handle this.”

“Mack, before you see Beth, really think about what you want. It’s not fair to lead her on, if you don’t intend to truly open your heart and let her in. She’d be better off if you simply let her go now.”

“You want me to break up with her?”

“No, of course that’s not what I want, but it might be for the best. As for this business last night, I’m sorry if I jumped to the wrong conclusion,” Destiny apologized. “It just made me so angry to see you taking up with that little nobody when you could have a woman of substance like Beth in your life. In the end, though, it is your decision.”

Mack grinned at the dismissal of Cassandra as a “little nobody.” She was on the cover of half the high-fashion magazines in the world.

“I appreciate your concern,” Mack told his aunt. “But maybe you should let me handle this from here on out, okay?”

“Whatever you think is best,” she said meekly.

“Thank you,” Mack said, figuring that submissiveness would last for no more than twenty-four hours. “Love you.”

“Love you, too, darling.”

As soon as he’d hung up from speaking to Destiny, he called a florist and ordered a dozen white roses to be sent to Beth at the hospital. It might not be much, but as peace offerings went he figured it was a decent start.

Of course, there was always the slim possibility that Beth hadn’t even seen this morning’s paper and would have no idea why he felt the need to apologize in the first place. In that case, those roses might even buy him enough points to get another night in her bed, rather than the crack of a vase over his head.

B
eth returned to her office from morning rounds to find a huge bouquet of perfect white roses in a crystal vase on her desk and Jason sitting in her chair with his feet propped up and a grim look on his face.

Jason’s expression was somber enough, and his mere presence at this hour was sufficient to distract her momentarily from the flowers.

“What’s wrong? Nothing’s happened to one of the kids, has it? I just finished seeing most of them. Everyone seemed to be stable.”

He shook his head. “I’m not here about the kids.”

“What then?”

“I think you should sit down.”

She lifted a brow and pointedly stared at him. When he didn’t get the hint, she told him, “You’re in my chair.”

He guiltily scrambled up and moved out of her way.
As he settled on the edge of the spare seat next to her desk, he cast a sour look at the flowers.

“Okay, now I’m sitting,” Beth said, studying him and trying to make sense of his odd mood. “What’s going on, Jason? It’s not like you to be so mysterious.”

“I think we need to talk about Mack,” he said, regarding her seriously.

The announcement was so unexpected, so totally unlike Jason, that Beth merely stared. “You want to talk about Mack?” she repeated slowly. “Is this about those tickets you’re so hot to get?”

“Forget about the damn tickets!” he said heatedly. “I think you should stop seeing him.”

Beth couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d announced a desire to marry her himself. “Why do you suddenly care if I continue to see Mack? In fact, I thought that was exactly what you wanted. The other day you all but begged me not to break up with him, at least not until after football season.”

In the way of most males who took a contradictory position five seconds after battling over something, he shrugged. “I changed my mind.”

“Are you going to tell me why?”

Like a kid being forced to tattle, he made a face. “Do I have to?”

“Yes, Jason,” she said patiently. “If you want me to stop seeing Mack, you need to tell me why. Obviously you have a reason. What’s the agenda here?”

“He’s no good for you. You’re a decent person, Beth. A great person, in fact. He’s…” He seemed stuck for a suitable word. “Okay, he’s a playboy, a scoundrel and…what’s that other word? A rogue. That’s what he is, a rogue.”

Beth chuckled. “That’s hardly news. I thought we
were all well aware of that before he ever set foot in this hospital.”

“I mean he’s
still
a playboy,” Jason said, looking miserable. “Even though he supposedly has something going on with you.”

Her heartbeat seemed to slow down as Jason’s message finally sank in. Mack was still playing around, despite how close she thought they’d gotten, despite the fact that she had feelings for him and he claimed to have feelings for her. In fact, most likely, it was precisely because he was starting to care for her that he’d started running around with another woman…assuming Jason was to be believed.

“And you know this because?” she asked.

He pulled a folded-up section of the newspaper from his pocket and handed it to her. “Something tells me this explains the flowers,” he said quietly.

Beth stared at the photo, apparently taken the night before, when she’d assumed Mack was with his brothers. Apparently, he’d found a far more effective way to cheer himself up. She felt sick inside at the sight of the buxom woman draped all over him.

To cover her reaction, she immediately balled up the paper and tossed it in the trash, then regarded Jason with a bland expression. Pride demanded that she put on a very convincing act, even with this man who was a good friend.

“So?” she said, managing what she considered to be a respectably nonchalant tone.

“You don’t care that he was out with some model?” Jason asked incredulously.

“He hasn’t made any kind of commitment to me,” she replied reasonably, even though her heart was
breaking into little pieces. “Besides, there could be some perfectly innocent explanation.”

“Then why send flowers? That’s guilt talking, Beth. I know how men think.”

She frowned at the bouquet. They
were
tantamount to an admission of some kind, no question about it. If Jason hadn’t been here, she might have tossed them across the room just to hear the satisfying crash of that expensive crystal vase. Then again, it might be nice to keep it whole until she could use it on Mack’s hard head.

Before she could come up with a less demonstrative response, her cell phone rang. She glanced at the display and immediately recognized Mack’s number. Taking the call right now, with Jason watching her worriedly, was not an option.

“Aren’t you going to get that?” Jason asked.

“No.”

“It’s Mack, isn’t it?”

She saw little point in denying it. It was obvious if it had been another physician or a parent, she would have taken it at once. “Yes.”

“Avoiding him won’t help,” Jason told her.

“Then what do you suggest?” she asked angrily. “That I take the call and tell him he’s low-down, no-good scum, without even giving him a chance to explain? That’s about the only thing I could say with you sitting here listening to every word. Anything else and you’d lose respect for me.”

Jason looked shocked. “No, I wouldn’t. I’m your friend, no matter what you decide to do. I hate this, in fact, because for a few weeks now you’ve seemed happier than I’ve ever seen you before. Even though you being with Mack caught me by surprise after the way
things went that first day, I wanted it to work out for you.”

Beth managed a shrug. “Yes, well, we all knew I wasn’t exactly Mack’s usual type. The fact that we had a few lovely weeks together is probably something of a miracle, but they had to end sooner or later. Unsuitable people are often drawn together during a crisis. It rarely lasts.”

If only she hadn’t been so sure that this would last, Beth thought wearily. She’d been so certain—especially after everything Melanie Carlton had said to her the night before—that she and Mack were starting something special.

“Can you really be that calm and accepting about this?” Jason asked skeptically.

She gave him a tired smile and the only truthful answer she could offer. “I have to be, don’t I?” Killing the man would be highly unprofessional.

Mack was chomping at the bit with frustration. Beth wasn’t taking his calls, which meant she’d seen the photo and that even after getting his peace offering, she was still absolutely livid. He couldn’t blame her, but not being able to get away from the office to get over there and talk things out was making him a little crazy. If the attorney and agent seated across from him hadn’t been there to finalize terms for a much-needed defensive player for the team, he’d have cut the meeting short and excused himself. Thankfully, they were finally down to the last few sticking points.

He glanced across the table, then looked down at the figures on the paper in front of him. He could probably bargain the numbers down a few thousand here and
there, but right at this moment, he didn’t care enough to bother.

Looking up, he met the agent’s gaze. “Gentlemen, I think we have a deal.”

Both men looked momentarily startled, then exuberant.

“Damn, I thought you were going to fight us for every penny,” celebrity sports agent Lawrence Miller told him. “Nice to have you on the other side of the table. You bring a pro-player perspective to the negotiations.”

“In other words, I let you put the screws to me,” Mack said, chuckling. “Don’t worry. It won’t happen again. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have someplace I need to be.”

“A pleasure doing business with you,” attorney Jerry Warren said. “You just got yourself one hell of a ballplayer.”

“Don’t think I don’t recognize that,” Mack told him. He winked at the agent. “In fact, before you start gloating too badly, you should know I was prepared to offer another million as a signing bonus.”

Before they could react, he walked from the room and headed straight for the elevator. It was almost four. If he hurried, he could probably catch up with Beth in Tony’s room, where she’d be unlikely to ask for his head on a platter.

Beth glanced up from her examination of Tony’s vital signs to see Mack standing in the doorway. Her heart did a little hop, skip and jump, even though she’d been firmly telling herself all day that he’d never really mattered to her.

“You’ll have to come back later,” she told him stiffly.

“Aw, Dr. Beth, don’t send Mack away,” Tony protested weakly. “I’ve been waiting all day for him to get here.”

“I’ll be right outside,” Mack promised. “I’ll come in the second Doc gives me the all-clear.”

Beth heard the message intended for her, as well. She wasn’t going to get rid of him so easily, especially not after ducking his calls all day.

“Oh, come on in,” she said grudgingly. “I’m almost finished anyway.”

“Are you sure?” Mack asked, studying her intently.

“Sure, why not?” she said, hoping she sounded totally unconcerned about his presence.

The minute he stepped inside, though, her pulse rate escalated predictably. He looked so darn good. He was dressed in one of those light-gray perfectly tailored custom suits of his with a silk-blend shirt with monogrammed cuffs and a tie in a slightly darker tone of the same dusky blue. He was the epitome of the successful businessman with the well-honed body of a trained athlete. She’d never realized before meeting Mack just how incredibly sexy that combination could be. She almost sighed with regret that he was no longer hers.

Not that he’d ever been, she reminded herself sharply. That was something she shouldn’t forget. Recent weeks, all that time they’d spent together, had been no more solid than an illusion.

She finished up her quick examination of Tony, made a few notes in his chart and turned to leave. Mack stood directly in her path.

“Did you get the flowers?” he asked.

“You sent flowers to Dr. Beth?” Tony asked, his
eyes bright with excitement. “That is so awesome. How come you didn’t tell me, Dr. Beth?”

Mack grinned at him. “Maybe she thought her personal business was none of
your
business,” Mack teased.

“Or maybe I didn’t think it was any big deal,” she said, gazing directly into Mack’s eyes.

She saw that he immediately got the message. Guilt and regret darkened his eyes.

“We need to talk,” he said in a lowered voice.

“I don’t think there’s anything left to say,” she replied.

“Beth, don’t do this,” he said with surprising urgency. “You owe me a chance to explain.”

She regarded him quizzically. “I
owe
you a chance to explain?”

“Yes. You owe it to both of us. How about if I come over in an hour or so? I’ll bring dinner. We can talk privately and get this settled, before the whole ridiculous thing gets out of hand.”

Beth wanted to turn him down flat. She wanted to protect what was left of her tattered pride, but fairness dictated that she needed to hear him out, even if she couldn’t imagine that he had anything to say worth hearing.

“Forget dinner, but you can come by,” she said eventually. “I don’t expect it to change anything, though.”

“Maybe not, but I have to try.” Mack tucked a finger under her chin and met her gaze. “This is important, Beth. Really important.”

Her skin tingled at the innocent touch, proving that even as hurt and angry as she was, he still had the power to get to her. She should have told him no,
should have protected her heart better. The only problem with that was that it was already way too late.

Mack had been talking nonstop since he walked through the door. Beth had heard every word he said, but she was trying so damn hard to fight the desire to give in and accept his apology. It didn’t help that he kept touching her—casual, innocent touches it was impossible to protest but that managed to inflame.

“Is any of this getting through to you?” he asked eventually. “What happened last night was totally innocent. I was not out with Cassandra. She was barely at the table more than a minute, and Ben and Richard were right there. They’ll back me up.”

“You’ve explained that,” she said, trying not to take too much comfort from it. “But it’s going to happen again, Mack. This Cassandra person is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to your past. I’m not sure I can live with that kind of attention. I don’t want to wake up every morning and wonder what I’m going to see in some newspaper gossip column.”

He nodded slowly. “I can understand how that would get old,” he admitted. “Even if it’s not through any wrongdoing on my part.” He regarded her with obvious misery. “Maybe Destiny was right.”

“About?”

“I spoke to her earlier today after she saw that picture. She was furious. She knew you would be upset. As a result there’s been an unexpected shift in her position.”

“Regarding?”

“Us.”

“What kind of shift?” Beth asked, feeling a faint chill stir inside her. Destiny had been the staunchest
supporter of their relationship. Heck, she’d been the primary instigator behind that first meeting. If she’d had second thoughts, then there really was little hope. No one knew Mack better than Destiny did, not even Beth.

“Basically she reminded me that I shouldn’t be playing games with you, that you’re not like the other women I’ve dated, all things she’d said before,” Mack said. “But this time she seems genuinely concerned that I’m going to break your heart. She doesn’t want that to happen. Obviously, she’s concluded that I’m a bad risk in the romance department, after all.”

Beth’s muscles grew even tighter, despite Mack’s deft touch. She was less interested in Destiny’s concern for her than she was in Mack’s intentions now that his aunt had shifted positions on their relationship. She met his gaze directly. “Leaving the incident last night aside, what do you think? Have you been playing games? I thought we’d clarified that, but maybe something’s changed.”

He abandoned the massage to come around and hunker down in front of her, taking her hands in his, his expression serious. “I honestly don’t think so, but I probably need to make my position really clear in case I haven’t done that before. I don’t do the long haul, Beth. I can’t. Not even for you, and, believe me, I am tempted to try.”