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The doctor sighed and shook his head. “Fuck.”
“I’m sorry, sir?” The young woman frowned.
“Not you.”
Her gaze lit on Seth. “I see your party is here. Right this way.”
Before either of them could object, the hostess disappeared into the restaurant once more, the door swinging closed behind her.
Beck snapped a stare in his direction.
Seth raised a brow back. “You going to buy me dinner?”
“If that’s what it takes for us to get a few things straight and for you to leave my girlfriend alone, why the hell not?”
“Girlfriend? Well, Heavenly is a girl. And last time I heard, she was your friend. How sweet.”
Beck snorted. “Since you and your wounded pride went home for the holidays, Heavenly is definitely more than a friend now.”
“So you’ve kissed her?” Seth taunted because he already knew better. Heavenly was confiding in Raine…who’d been more than happy to share her insider secrets.
The doctor’s eyes narrowed. “You want a free meal? Get your ass inside.”
Without looking back, Beck stomped into the restaurant. Chuckling, Seth followed, taking in the muted candlelight barely illuminating the intimate shadows around the room. The hostess led them to a table against the window, overlooking the Pacific. The poor woman was a little unsure whose chair to hold out and who to hand the wine menu to.
“I’ll take that,” Beck grumbled as he grabbed the wine list and sat himself with a glower.
Seth nodded at the hostess and settled into the seat directly across from Beck. “So, darling, how do the wines look?”
The doctor glanced up with a distinct fuck you on his face as a busboy poured them each a glass of water. Then Beck leaned in to whisper, “I’d only buy a bottle of wine for someone I want to blow me. Looks like you’re stuck with H2O.”
Seth smirked. “If you want oral for vino, man, I’d absolutely rather have water.”
“Hi,” chirped a perky waitress. “Welcome. Happy Valentine’s Day! Free roses for all our couples.” She reached into the basket dangling from her arm, looked between the two of them, then laid the stem across the middle of the table. “Enjoy! Now what can I get you lovebirds to drink?”
“Grey Goose martini, straight up. Make it a double.”
“Iced tea.” Seth picked up the rose and sniffed it. “You relax with your cocktail, honey. I’ll drive home.”
Beck looked ready to come across the table and punch him, but the waitress chimed in. “Great. I’ll get your drinks, come back with some bread, and take your order.”
When she walked away, her utilitarian braid swaying across her back, Beck turned to him with a scowl. “What the hell are you doing? Honey?”
“Would you prefer baby?”
“I prefer you to shut the fuck up and go away. I get why you came back from New York. Hammer needs you. Hell, Raine could clearly use your help, too. We have to figure out if River has an agenda and keep her out of danger.”
Yes, especially since River had already once tried to kidnap her in the name of “saving” her from Hammer and Liam. “But?”
“Heavenly is off-limits.”
“I’ll see what she says. I don’t take direction from you.”
“You blew your chance with your late-night vanishing act. You’re not getting the chance to upset her again. Don’t visit her at the hospital. Don’t follow us on our dates. Don’t call, text, or stalk her. She’s moved on.”
“Nice speech.” Seth braced his elbow on the table. “But you’re out of luck. See, at Christmas, she texted me and told me that she was going to miss me. I’m rolling with that.”
Surprise widened Beck’s eyes for a split second before he banked it. “And have you talked to her since?” When Seth hesitated, Beck smiled. “I didn’t think so. Look, that was then, and I’m keeping her more than occupied now.”
“We’ll see. You know, Raine has a very different opinion of this situation.”
Beck scoffed. “Well, Raine is wrong. And don’t think I’m sharing Heavenly with you, either. So if you’re into that—”
“No. God no. I don’t want to get that close to you. The swinging junk thing with Liam once awhile back cured me. What about you? You like knocking nuts with another guy when you have a woman between you?”
“I don’t share, period.”
“Well, there’s one thing we have in common. A first.” He lifted his water glass in a mocking salute. “And I guess we have Heavenly in common…for now.”
Apparently, Beck wasn’t in the mood to raise his glass. “You’re wrong. You had your chance and you ran away when she hurt your little feewings.”
Before Seth could reply, the waitress brought their drinks, took their dinner order, and left with a cheery smile. He wasn’t keen about sitting across from the taciturn doctor for another hour, but if he wanted Heavenly, he had to deal. At least until he could figure out how to make Beck go away.
