Reading Online Novel

The Doctor's Secret Bride(70)



This dance was over. Erik came to a screeching halt, and with his hand resting against her lower back, he practically shoved Bridget off the crowed floor and into an empty corner of the room. It was one thing when he was single, but he was a married man now, and even though Bridget didn’t know of his changed status, her unwanted advances, and her diatribes about Michelle were grating heavily on his nerves. The time had come to end it.

He looked her squarely in the eyes. “There’s no need to be jealous, Bridget, because, quite simply, there’s nothing going on between you and me,” he said as gently as he could. “We’re friends. Great friends. That’s all it ever was, would ever be. You have to stop chasing me. I don’t want to be caught by you.” He spread his hands and squared his shoulders. “I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is, and if you can’t accept that, then perhaps we shouldn’t even be friends.”

She looked up at him, disappointment and hurt in her eyes. “It doesn’t have to be that way, Erik. I’ve never hidden the way I feel about you. If you’d only give us a chance, I can change your mind. I—”

“Erik.”

Erik’s heart missed a fast beat at the low sultry sound of his name. Only Michelle could say his name with such husky tenderness. He turned around and gave her a dashing grin. “Michelle, I was just about to come find you,” he said, his ire dissipating at the enchanting sight of her. She stood confident and proud under the low lights of the overhead chandeliers, her brown skin glowing like amber against the soft material of her dress.

“Good, because we’ve only had two dances, and after all, I’m your date.” Michelle eyed her blue-eyed rival with objectivity. She had noticed her flirting shamelessly with Erik all evening. And just a few minutes ago, she’d noticed the tension in Erik’s body as he began to dance with Bridget, and then just a moment ago, when he’d brought it to a sudden stop, she knew something was wrong, so she’d cut her dance short and come to her husband’s rescue.

No woman, no matter how alluring she looked, was taking Erik away from her, especially not tonight. She hadn’t brought him back to life for Dr. Ashley to weasel him out from under her nose. Erik was hers, even if she couldn’t shout it from the rooftop. And what was hers, she kept.

“Erik and I were in the middle of an important conversation about medical issues, Michelle,” Bridget said. “Things you won’t understand,” she added with a hint of superiority in her voice. “So if you could spare him for a couple more minutes, I would be so grateful.”

“Your medical issue will have to wait, Dr. Ashley. Erik’s not here to talk medicine. He’s here to have fun. And the look on his face says he isn’t having any at the moment.” She leaned possessively against Erik’s arm, and her black eyes flashed mischievously and seductively at him. “I just made a request for us, Erik. I would love to dance with you.”

“Sorry, Bridget. The lady does have a point. She is my… my… date, and I’m here to have fun.”#p#分页标题#e#

Both amused and flattered by Michelle’s blatant possessiveness, Erik bowed graciously to a pup-faced Bridget, took his wife by the waist, and waltzed her into the slow, seductive rhythm of ‘We’ve Got Tonight’.

“I think she’s scared of you,” he whispered as he drew into the circle of his arms.

“She should be,” she threw back, lacing her arms around his neck. “I grew up in a tough neighborhood. I fight for what’s mine. And you’re mine.”

“Sweet Lord.” Erik chuckled. The Moonlight fragrance of her skin filtered through his nostrils, into his brain, until all he could feel, think, and smell was Michelle.

* * *

The beating of her heart echoed loudly in Michelle’s ears as she slowly shed her clothes. The excitement and confidence she’d felt two days ago when Erik suggested this romantic evening had gone, and she was now a tight bundle of nerves.

This was the second man she would be intimate with. She chuckled skittishly as she walked into the bathroom and began cleaning off her makeup. Her only sexual experiences had been awkward ones with an immature boy who’d caused her more frustration than pleasure.

Erik was a man, a very experienced one. He specialized in women’s bodies, and for that specific reason she feared she would disappoint him.

She took a quick shower then applied a lightly scented Moonlight lotion to her damp body, then after donning one of the sexy lingerie sets she’d purchased from Victoria’s Secret, she stared at her reflection in the mirror.