Doctor's Delight(79)

Cherry laughed.

~*~

Chewing her bottom lip, Cherry gazed out at the night beyond the curtains. Rain pattered lightly on the pane, and she watched the rivulets run down the window.

“Everything all right, love?”

She turned from the window and smiled at the man leaning back against the pillows in her - their - bed, a book in his lap. Rick watched her with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

Frizz and Sugar slept soundly at the end of the bed. Her cats had accepted him, being won over by his spoiling of them. There was a definite attachment between them all now. She smiled as she crossed to the bed and crawled in beside him.

Immediately his arm came around her. “Want to talk about anything?”

“No.”

“Work okay?”

“Work’s fine. Everything’s fine, Rick.” Picking up her own book, she kissed his cheek and rested her head on his arm. Opening the book, she started to read.

Or tried to, but the niggling problem bugging her affected her concentration.

“You’re sighing,” he said.

“Am I? Sorry.” After she’d stared at the same page for at least five minutes while internally wrestling with her problem, Rick flipped his book shut and did the same to hers. Startled, she looked at him.

Calmly folding his arms, Rick arched a brow at her. “Spill.”

“Pardon?”

“Something’s bothering you. Tell me.”

“It’s nothing. It’s just…nothing.” When he continued to simply gaze steadily at her, she turned in the bed to face him and knelt on her knees. Grabbing the cover between her fingers, she started to wring it nervously. She couldn’t keep the damned secret any longer. “Promise you won’t be mad.”

“Sounds ominous.”

“It’s not good, what I’m about to tell you.”

“Really?”

Heart sinking, she nodded. Damn this bloody secret. Damn Susie. “I’m going to tell you something that’s going to piss you off, I just know it.”

“No point beating about the bush then. Tell me, I’ll be pissed off, then we can get back to normal almost immediately. Because I really want to boink you right now.” He grinned wickedly. “I can wait a few minutes to calm down.”

“This is no joking matter, Rick.”

“I might get mad, Cherry, but I won’t stop loving you. And I won’t stop wanting to boink you. So confess and let’s be done with it.” He arched that brow again. “And why the confession time, anyway?”

“We’re getting married next week. I don’t want this to come between us later.”

“Love, the only thing coming between us is these covers.”

“Rick.”

“Okay. ‘Fess up, Cherry, what did you do?”

She wrung the cover between her fingers. “Not really me. It was Susie, I swear.”

“Tattling on your friends?”

Exasperated, she glared at him.

Rick mimed zipping his mouth shut and throwing away the key. His eyes twinkled with amusement, but she had no doubt that amusement wasn’t going to last long.

“She had you investigated,” Cherry blurted in a rush, wanting the whole sordid confession finished. “To see if you liked big women.” She held her breath, waiting for the indignant fury.

“Is that all?” Rick drawled. “I knew that.”

“Huh?” She stared at him.

“Susie’s cousin is one of my friends. I knew as soon as she’d done it.”

“I feel like such a fool.” Cherry collapsed face forward on the bed and groaned into the cover. “I’m going to kill her.”

A big hand rubbed her back comfortingly. “Now, now, love. She had your best interests at heart.”

“How can you be so accepting of it?”

“Because I knew why she’d done it. It made sense when I saw how you were around me. Sure, initially I was pissed off, but my friend told me why she wanted me investigated and I admire her.”

“But he took photos of your family.” She peeked up at him.

Rick shrugged.

“You admire her?” She came up on her elbows. “Truly?”

“She’s a little weird, your Susie, a little overprotective of her friends, but I can live with that.” He waggled his brows at her. “Now you’ve made the confession, I get to give you the punishment.”

She rolled her eyes. “Paging Doctor Discipline, are we?”

He shoved the covers back. “I’ve a better idea.”

“Do tell?”

“Mmmm.” He rolled onto his side and grinned wickedly at her. “I’m the male escort and you’re the virgin.”

She blushed.

He patted the bed invitingly. “Now don’t be shy, miss, I’ll make sure your first time is enjoyable.” His eyes glittered. “For both of us.”