Page 275 of The Doctors Will See You Now

“See?” Scott questioned with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “Everything always works out in the end.”

“Not with any help from you,” Nicole muttered, but her eyes seemed welded to my father.

Holy moly, what was going on with these two? The last time I’d ever seen my dad look at a woman like this, I was five and he was still married to my mother—and I’d caught him with a Playboy in the bathroom.

Don’t worry. His pants were on, and all of his parts were covered. Trust me, trauma like that and we’d probably be having a different conversation right now.

“Well.” Scott glanced at me and then at our parents, who appeared to be having some sort of silent conversation no one else was privy to. “I think you should join us for a drink afterward.”

He was talking to my dad, but at the same time, he wasn’t talking to my dad. The sneaky bastard.

“That’s a fantastic idea,” Nicole agreed, squeezing my father’s arm playfully. “Are you free to join us? We could exchange notes on the show. And maybe you could tell me a few of your favorite parts?”

“I’d love that.” Bill nodded, all too eager to agree, and then glanced at me. I had one foot in the direction of the exit, but then he had to go and ruin it. “Doesn’t that sound nice, Low?”

Fuck. Don’t remind everyone that I’m here, Dad.

Just act natural and smile, I coached myself.

“Sounds like a great idea.”

“Okay,” Bill agreed with a proud smile. “We’d love to join you.”

We? Hold the motherfucking train…

Hadn’t Scott said you, meaning one, meaning just my father?

“Wait…uh?” I blurted out, eager to derail this sucker, but unsure what in the hell I was going to say to get out of spending more time with Scott. “I think—I might have plans—”

“You might have plans?” Scott asked with that cocky fucking grin of his. He knew exactly what he’d just done, and instead of being a gentleman and giving me an out, he sat patiently, waiting for me to say, explicitly and without assistance, that I did not want to hang out with a total asshole and his sweet mother for the evening.

His mom’s big brown eyes looked dejected, almost tawny with disappointment. My father questioned, “I thought you said you wanted to go, Low?” His voice was soft, but the line of his body was firm. Bill Paige’s version of what the hell is going on, young lady?

“I meant…you should go…and you still should,” I stuttered. “But I think I might’ve already made plans with Amanda…” I tossed out and then instantly realized my mistake as his keen eyebrows danced into a suspicious tilt.

Obviously, I’d made a critical error. My best friend wasn’t even in the country. And she wouldn’t be in the States for the next month because she’d be busy traveling through Europe on a goddamn PR tour with her soon-to-be Spanish lover.

Fucking hell. I wish I were in Europe right now with my soon-to-be Spanish lover.

Wait. I don’t want a lover. Boy toy? Yeah, that’s much better.

“Didn’t she just leave on that business trip?” my father questioned. “I thought Jean-Pierre had helped her book the hotels in France?”

Goddamn it. Was it hot in here? Bright? Had we teleported into a fucking interrogation room?

Scott quirked a brow. “Did you maybe get the dates confused, Harlow?”

Ugh. Fuck you, Scott Shepard.

“Hold on… Let me double-check my calendar…” I held up one finger and pretended to go through the calendar on my phone. Really, I was just scrolling back and forth from one end of my apps to the other. I didn’t even keep a fucking calendar. Believe me, I’d tried numerous times to keep up with my schedule, but I always forgot to track dates after about a week of pretending to be organized. “Oh! It looks like I got the months confused,” I lied with a relieved smile. “It’s not until next month. I’m completely free tonight.”

“Boy,” Scott chimed in with an amused smirk, his body nearly quaking with unspent laughter. “That’s a relief.”

“I know, right?” I said in the fakest voice that had ever left my lips. Splenda had nothing on this shit. “It’s like the stars have aligned tonight.” To make my life a living hell…

“They definitely have. This really has turned out to be a fantastic night,” my father said with a smile in Nicole’s direction.

And, no surprise, she was smiling, too. And when I glanced at Scott in my periphery, he was also smiling. Most likely at my discomfort, but still, every-fucking-body was smiling.