“That’s what I’m hoping.”
Gazing into Melissa’s eyes, Jason saw a flicker of something. What was it? Was she planning something on her own? How would that affect him?
Melissa never let him get too close or see too far inside. Now her hand settled on his chest then slipped lower, over his navel and inside the waistband of his trousers. “Maybe I do have ten minutes,” she murmured with a wide-eyed, sultry look that aroused him to a painful level.
Taking the foreplay out of her hands, he scooped her into his arms. She was wet and wild and hot.
“Ten minutes,” she warned him as he carried her into the bedroom.
He dropped her on the bed, let his trousers fall, pushed down his briefs and stretched out on top of her.
“It’ll take what it’s going to take, and your meeting be damned.”
When he saw the look of triumph in her eyes, he knew this was what she’d wanted all along. As she opened her legs to him and kissed him like there was no tomorrow, he had to wonder who really had the power here.
He was going to get it back…one way or another.
It was almost 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday when Peter finally got the chance to call Violet Fortune. Still in his scrubs, he used the phone in the doctor’s lounge. As her cell phone rang, he didn’t have to use many memory cells to conjure up her face. He’d been thinking about her too damn much since she’d left last night, and he didn’t like the invasion into his usually ordered thoughts.
There were several reasons why she should be off-limits for him. Number one—he no longer dated women whose career demands consumed their lives. He’d gone that route once before, and once in a lifetime down that particular road was enough. Number two—not only did Violet Fortune have a demanding career, but the career was in New York. In a few weeks, she’d return to New York City and pick up her life where she’d left it. Long-distance relationships didn’t work. His life, family and future were here in Red Rock. Number three—Violet Fortune rocked his world a little too much. He liked to be in control. Last night, being around her had thrown him off balance. It was an odd feeling that hadn’t happened to him before, not even with his ex-fiancée Sandra.
“Hello,” came a breathless voice after the fourth ring.
“Violet? It’s Peter Clark.”
“Oh, Peter. Hi.”
He heard the rustle of bags. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“No, this is fine. I was just setting down the groceries. I stopped at the store on the way back from the Double Crown.”
“You saw Ryan today?”
“Yes. I had brunch with him and Lily and the governor’s daughter. But we didn’t have a chance to talk. Lily’s so worried about him. She sees the stress he’s under. She and I went riding this afternoon and I’m afraid she’s imagining all kinds of things.”
“Hopefully, soon we can put both of their minds to rest. My colleague in Houston has made arrangements for Ryan’s MRI on Saturday. We have to be there by ten. Since our appointment with him for the results is later in the day, I’m wondering if we should stay in Houston overnight. Ryan might be tired. Can you talk to him about it and see how he feels? I can clear my schedule to drive back Sunday morning. One of my partners can cover for me.”
“With no questions asked?”
“With no questions asked.”
A multitude of questions raced through his head concerning Violet. He wondered what her life had been like growing up with Lacey and Patrick Fortune and four brothers. As the only daughter, had she been a tomboy? Somehow he doubted that.
“I’ll talk to Ryan,” Violet assured him. “He mentioned that he and Lily will be attending a fund-raiser for San Juan Hospital at the Madison Hotel on Friday night. He told me the money would be used for high-tech equipment in the pediatrics wing that’s a memorial to your mother.”
“Ryan and Lily have always been supportive of fund-raising attempts for the pediatrics wing. Lily was instrumental in helping me launch the first fund drive.”
Despite the good cause, this was one event Peter didn’t want to be reminded of, thanks to his sisters and that god-awful bachelor auction. In spite of himself, he couldn’t help asking, “Will you be attending the fund-raiser with them?”
“I’m thinking about it. My brother Miles is one of the bachelors being auctioned off.”
“I wonder who bribed him,” Peter grumbled.
“Uh-oh,” she said with a laugh. “Does that mean somebody bribed you?”
“No, with me it was blackmail. My sisters warned me that if I didn’t volunteer, they’d list my name in the personal ads on the Internet.”
When Violet began laughing again, he liked the sound of it. He didn’t feel at all as if she were laughing at him, but rather laughing with him.
Finally, she said, “Thank you, Peter. That felt good. I haven’t had much to smile about lately.”
“Because you’re worried about Ryan?”
“Yes.” She paused then went on, “I came to Red Rock to get away from my practice for a little while.”
“That burnout we discussed?”
There was more silence and he suddenly wondered if she’d confided in anyone about her real reasons for coming to Red Rock. Irrationally, he wanted her to confide in him.
“Yes.”
When she didn’t go on, he said, “Burnout happens.”
“I guess it does, but this time when I lost a patient, not only her husband questioned my judgment. I did, too.”
“You’re a perfectionist,” he said kindly, without criticism.
“Aren’t you?” she shot back. “Don’t we have to be?”
The first day they’d talked, he’d felt a bond with Violet because of Ryan. Now he realized they had another bond, too—their work. “We have to use our skill the best way we know how. We can be perfectionists but we’re not God.”
When she took a deep breath, he heard it. As doctors, they had power, but sometimes they didn’t realize their power was finite.
“You’re right, of course,” she murmured. “And usually I take what happens in stride. For the past couple of months I haven’t been able to do that. I took a cruise to get some perspective.”
“Did it help?”
“It was a distraction but no, it didn’t help.”
“Maybe once we know what’s going on with Ryan you’ll find perspective again.”
“Maybe.” She sounded doubtful.
Peter’s pager beeped. “I’m being paged,” he said to Violet. “Hold on a minute.”
Seeing the extension number, he knew he had to go. “I have to check on a patient, Violet.”
“I know the sound of a pager when I hear it,” she assured him with complete understanding. “I’ll talk to Ryan and one of us will be in contact with you.”
In spite of the conversation they’d just had, Peter hoped that person would be Ryan. Violet Fortune was simply too interesting, too intriguing and too beautiful for his peace of mind.
However, when he said goodbye, he wondered if she would be at the bachelor auction Friday night.
Whether she was or wasn’t didn’t matter. He was going to sleepwalk through it, get it over