Page 332 of The Doctors Will See You Now

Down in front of me, Pam sat with a smile on her face and applause echoing off of her hands as she looked at me and only me. I looked away as quickly as possible.

Brent squeezed my hand meaningfully.

I cleared my throat. “Uh, thank you,” I managed.

His smile deepened, the asshole.

I tried to step away, but he clasped a hand on my shoulder and turned me back.

“Hold on, Scott. Before you run off to save more lives,” he said, laying it on thick, “I’d like to take this opportunity to brag a little bit.”

Oh, wow. Something new.

“Scott and I have actually already been working together on something that is really close to my heart. I’ve followed the policy of health and public safety in this city closely for years, and in an effort to make this city even better, stronger, safer, I’ve appointed Scott as the head of my team for reworking the policies that need work and scrapping the ones that are lacking completely.”

Following closely? Appointed me? I approached him!

“I’m looking forward to working together, Scott,” he said as the crowd broke out in applause.

Goddamn, he was good. He’d trapped me, and now, thanks to the lives of innocent people being at stake and all, I had no choice but to agree.

“Can’t fucking wait.”

“Knock. Knock!”

Scott’s voice echoed off of the walls of my entryway even though the door still separated us. The bastard could definitely boom like no other. I hopped off the couch and headed toward the door to let him in. Just before turning the knob, I caught sight of my nearly blinding smile in the reflection of the large mirror my mother had insisted on placing near the door. I sighed. Boy, I guess I really did like him, huh?

“Hello? Frances?” he teased, impatient as ever, and I rolled my eyes.

Fucking Frances. It would only be thirty-five more years or so before my given name was age-appropriate.

Without humoring him with a response, I took the time to peek at the smartass through my peephole. The longer I spied, the more enjoyment I got. It wasn’t until I’d sat motionless for nearly thirty seconds, entranced by the thrumming vein in his corded neck, that I realized what a creeper I was being.

A totally smitten creeper…

Yeah. Even I couldn’t deny I was pretty damn smitten over Scott Shepard. The fact that his presence outside my door urged my stupid smile to grow to record-breaking lengths was proof of that.

Damn, he looks good. As handsome as ever, Scott was dressed down in jeans and a white Henley shirt with the perfect amount of scruff covering his strong jaw—the now-growing beard making a much-approved reappearance. And with a pizza from Boca’s in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other, he came bearing gifts. Obviously, he wasn’t just a pretty face. The man was intelligent to boot. The full fucking package.

After one more impatient rap of his knuckles, I put him out of his misery and opened the door.

“Well, hello.” Scott smirked, not bothering to hide his blatant perusal of my body. I was dressed less than casual in a tank top sans bra—because fuck bras—and a pair of little sleep shorts, but I didn’t miss the little glint of approval shining from his brown eyes.

His hungry gaze ran the circuit from my legs to my face twice, and when he started round three, an amused smile kissed my lips.

“Do you want to come in or just stand there and gawk at me?” I asked and leaned against the doorframe. Never mind that I’d just spent the better part of three minutes doing the same through a half-inch-diameter hole.

He grinned. “I’m quite enjoying my gawk.”

“Okay, then,” I said and kicked the door shut a second later. “Just knock again when you want to come inside,” I called through the door, and he laughed.

“Let me in, Frances,” he demanded, but his voice was more amused than anything else. “I promise I’ll behave.”

“Stop calling me Frances, and you’re a total liar.” I hope. Scott’s version of misbehaving generally ended in orgasms for me. Lots and lots of orgasms, mind you.

“Let me in or else I won’t share the pizza.”

“Pepperoni?” I asked with skepticism in my voice.