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My blood pressure is ticking up as I watch him lay it on thick with an exaggerated smile and a laugh at whatever Bree says.
Annoyance skittles down my spine, knowing he’ll become infatuated with her. Of course he will. Only Bree doesn’t see herself for the beauty she is.
Another older physician I vaguely recognize approaches them, greeting Dr. Ellison, and then Bree a little too warmly by stepping into her personal space.
“Is she just your nanny?” Geri asks, but I ignore her as I watch Bree as I take a sip of my drink.
It’s infuriating how the other men fawn over her, but I can’t blame them. With her glossy red curls cascading down her back and a sun-kissed tan, Bree looks absolutely radiant in the dress, which hugs her curves before flaring out just below her hips.
“Her name is Bree, and she is my nanny, but it doesn’t define her,” I finally respond. “Just like being a doctor doesn’t define you or make you any better than her.”
Geri smiles weakly. “Sorry, I’ll apologize to her when she gets back to the table.” She glances at Bree. “If she gets back. It looks like she has found someone closer to her age.”
I force myself to look away, grabbing another drink from a passing server.
I sip on my drink as I try to focus on making small talk with Geri, but no matter how hard I try, my gaze keeps drifting back across the room.
Bree turns and watches as Geri talks about her latest travels. I’m not really listening because Bree’s smile falters as she watches us. Her back straightens before she says something to Doctor Ellison and turns away.
I push out my chair while watching the direction Bree disappears in. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
I rush in the same direction, seeing Bree as strides down a corridor. When I reach her, I pull her to one side. “What’s wrong? Why didn’t you come back to the table?”
“I’m not sitting around listening to a stranger talking about me in a derogatory way. Do you know how that makes me feel? Knowing she only knows me as the nanny.”
“Sorry. I was trying to get away from her that day. She asked to be my date, and I panicked and saying you were my date was a slip of the tongue.”
She swallows. “Oh God. It gets worse.”
I hold her biceps to make her look at me. “I wanted you here as my date. But yes, I never planned it.” Honesty is always the best policy, right?
She shrugs, trying to release herself from my grasp. “I just want to get the hell out of this stuffy event.”
I hate the way her body sags under my touch.
“I want you here,” I say, sounding more desperate than I want to.
“Oh.” Bree slams her hand over her mouth. “Is she the women you dated a few weeks ago when you never came home?”
“Fuck no.” I hate she thinks I slept out because I was with another woman.
Anger drips off me. I’m sure I’m about to explode, but need to calm whatever is going on in her mind. I take her hand and lead her out of the event room into the hotel foyer, before marching down a corridor and into an open room. Kicking my foot up against the door, slamming it shut. “I never had sex with her or anyone.”
She raises her palm to my face. “Stop! You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
“For fuck’s sake, Breanna,” I hiss.
She gasps, taken aback that I’ve used her full first name for the first time.
“I feel like I’m being chastised by my mother.”
I take her hand in mine. Electricity zips down my spine. I pause for a moment and shrug off the sensation.
“Now listen to me. I never touched her. I was with seven other doctors having dinner with medical reps. And she was one of those in my company. We’re always being wined and dined. It goes with the territory. That night, I had too many whiskeys and decided not to drive home. But I’ve touched no one, not her, nor anyone else.”
“Why are you telling me this?” She shivers and goosebumps erupt over her skin. She wraps her arms around herself.
“Why do you think?” I stroke my thumb over her cheek, looking in her eyes while resisting the resist the urge to look at her plump mouth.
