Page 165 of The Doctors Will See You Now

I nodded. I knew that’s what she wanted.

“Of course, you ruined it anyway.” She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes to emphasize how unhappy with me she was.

“Mom, I had to tell Linda we were bringing people. Don’t you want our dates to have chairs to sit in? That’d be kind of awkward, wouldn’t it?”

She clamped her mouth shut and shot lasers out of her eyes—her standard move for knowing I was right but not wanting to admit it. Obviously, I came by my stubbornness naturally.

“But if it makes you feel any better, the additions were so last-minute, the venue is probably making them pay out the nose. They like to have a head count further in advance than this,” I consoled, hoping to diffuse the situation rather than escalate it.

She shrugged. “That does make me feel slightly better, thank you.”

I laughed. “You’re welcome.”

I lifted my eyes from my mother to the door, and all laughter cut off abruptly as the air left my lungs.

Holy shit. Struggling to compose myself, I patted at the button of my suit coat and then lifted my hands to straighten my already straight tie. My mom noticed my fumbling and turned to look.

With soft curled hair, tucked behind one ear, and plum-red lips, Harlow was stunning. Her eyes skated up from the ground to meet mine and caught.

I didn’t know exactly what I looked like, but I knew it wasn’t collected. Transfixed, maybe. The sleek, tanned skin of a stiletto-tipped leg winked at me from the thigh-high split in her long black dress, and the deep V in the front went nearly to her navel. And still, somehow, I’d never seen a more classically beautiful woman. She didn’t look cheap or like she was trying too hard.

She looked goddamn breathtaking.

I watched, immobile, as she crossed the room to me like she was floating. She was graceful and composed, and Christ, I felt like we were the only two people in the room.

“Hi, Harlow,” I greeted softly when she made it to me.

“Hi, Scott,” she whispered back.

Like it had a mind of its own, my hand started to move, toward her arm, her shoulder, something—just anything to feel my skin on her skin.

“Your beard looks like it’s eating your face alive. I thought you’d at least shave for a fancy shindig like this,” she commented, and thank God, really. The derisive note in her voice was the only thing that made room for my sanity to return. I shook off my episode of fascination and focused on what we did best—laying carefully concealed barbs within normal conversation and amusing one another.

“It’s a Beards for Babies thing that Will Cummings is doing.”

“Will Cummings? You mean, Dr. Obscene?”

I shook my head as a bark of laughter escaped my throat. “You know, he’d just love to know you’re more familiar with his nickname than his real name. Truly, he’d be honored.”

“I take it he doesn’t covet the celeb life quite as much as you, Dr. Erotic?”

“No, he doesn’t.” My eyes narrowed. “That’s why you’re going to keep him out of the limelight, right?”

“Hey, I’m just—”

“An opportunist.”

With a perfectly manicured hand to her chest, she feigned discomfort. “You wound me.”

“Bullshit. You’re not offended in the slightest. And you shouldn’t be. I, for one, find it blindingly attractive.”

She rolled her eyes.

“But keep the stories to me, okay? Leave the other two alone.”

“Ohh,” she cooed, her eyes lighting up. “I’d almost forgotten about the third. What’s his name? What’s his deal? When do his episodes air?”

“Harlow.”