No way was she meeting him anywhere. Hands trembling, she picked up the receiver and dialled the number before her nerve gave out.
He answered on the second ring as though he’d been waiting for her. “Cherry.” The way that same deep tone sounded saying her name slipped through her senses and made her heart do crazy things. Cripes, she was going to have a heart attack any minute, but business first.
“Dr Reed, we have nothing to discuss. Forget the other night. I don’t want to talk about it. Don’t ring me again.” Dropping the receiver back in the cradle, she bounded out of bed, fled to the kitchen, pulled out a can of Diet Coke, popped the tab, and gulped down the fizzing liquid.
Sitting down at the table, she let out a long, unlady-like burp, and stared at the curtain-draped window. She felt numb. The man was ringing her to discuss the other night, she was so embarrassed she could just die, and how the hell had everything gone arse up?
“Susie.” It was her best friend’s fault, her and her cockamie idea of hiring a man for sex. “Bloody Susie.”
Grabbing a bag of chips from the cupboard, she ripped the top open, strode into the lounge, plunked down on the sofa and turned on the television. No way could she sleep now, and she needed to eat something nice and take her mind off Rick.
It did no good. She practically inhaled the chips, barely tasted them, and drank her Diet Coke. By the time midnight arrived, she’d finished the bag of chips and three Diet Cokes, and she still couldn’t get the image of Rick Reed’s handsome face and green eyes from her mind. For once she wished she was a drinking woman, but alcohol had never been her choice of drink. Damn it. She could certainly do to get blotto right now, only then God knew what she’d do. She’d seen Susie and Maxie do some crazy things when they’d had too much to drink. She’d probably ring Rick and arrange a rendezvous, only to meet him and rip his clothes off his muscular body and ride him until the cows came home.
Blood hell! Where had that thought come from?
Forcing the disturbing – though admittedly delicious - thought from her mind, she took a deep breath and focused on the movie just starting. Good, it was a horror movie, just what she needed to take her mind off Dr Rick Reed. Right now, she’d take ghosts and vampires over him.
Lying down on the sofa, she grunted when Sugar jumped onto her belly, and shifted over to make room for Frizz, who was demanding his share of attention. Watching the movie, she managed to push all disturbing thoughts to the back of her mind.
~*~
Rick knocked on the door then stood back and waited. He cast his eyes back down the garden path. The small yard was neat and tidy. Mainly some lawn, paving, and simple roses. Some pot plants on the veranda that were rather plain but flowering. Obviously Cherry Williams wasn’t a huge gardening fan, but she liked everything nice. The veranda boasted a swing chair and he imagined it would be pleasant to sit there on a summers evening. He had to remember to get himself a swing chair.
Turning back to the door, he frowned a little. The stubborn chit wasn’t answering. He knew she was home, a peek through the small window of the garage revealed her car parked inside. Faint music came from somewhere inside the house. A cat meowed closer.
He knocked louder.
“Cripes, Maxie, it’s only eight in the morning and my day off to boot.” The door was jerked open. “If it was Susie, she’d just use my spare key to get in. You need to get a key.”
Bemused, Rick gazed after Cherry as she walked back down the hall. The woman had opened the door while rubbing her eyes and pushing a wealth of thick hair off her face, and without looking to ensure who it was, she had turned away and gone back inside, leaving the door open and a tabby cat gazing up at him in equal bemusement.
“Meow,” said the big tabby.
Raising his eyebrows at the cat, Rick walked inside and shut the door behind him.
“What brings you out so early, anyway?” Cherry called from the room into which she’d gone. “I thought you’d be bonking Ben’s brains out, seeing as he’s home this weekend.”
Walking down the hall, Rick drawled, “I’m here to talk.”
There was a crash, a foul word, and then Cherry dodged back out into the hallway, her eyes wide and her cupid lips parted in shock. And not pleasant shock, either, which was a little unsettling, seeing as how every woman in his life had always been happy to see him.
Dressed in a nightgown that came down to mid-thigh only, her impressive bosom pushing out the lace around the low neckline most interestingly, she was a bewitching sight with her shiny brown hair tumbling around her shoulders and her blue eyes no longer sleepy. Cherry was enticing, all curves and softness, and he had a sudden desire to taste her again.