“No. I’m not feeling harassed, Dr. Whitman, but you know quite well that you shouldn’t have done what you did. It was unprofessional, and you have to promise to never do that in front of a patient again.”
“So I can do it when we’re alone?” he said, and she realized he’d fooled her. He wasn’t upset at all. It had been a fake-out. Was this guy utterly shameless?
“No,” she said, and turned to leave.
“One date, Sage. That’s all I’m asking. If you’re repulsed by me I’ll stop, but if you’re just scared, that’s not a good enough reason to say no.” He beat her to the door and blocked her exit.
“I’m repulsed by you,” she lied, not looking him in the eyes.
“You make me crazy,” he said as he ran a finger down her cheek, causing fire to race through her.
“Well, maybe there’s a pill I can prescribe for your condition,” she said, her voice much more breathless than she would have liked for it to be.
“You’re my drug, Sage, and you’re all I need,” he said, trapping her against the wall.
“Then you’re going to have to get used to going through withdrawal.”
“Come with me to the party.”
“I can’t. I have a date already.” Her knees were practically shaking, because she had no doubt that date or no date, she was still liable to fall into Spence’s arms if the lighting was low and she had too much eggnog again. And if he was close by, she had a feeling she’d need a lot of eggnog to get her through the night.
“Cancel. You won’t have nearly as much fun with whoever you’ve chosen to go with,” he said, clearly confident that she’d do just that.
“Sorry. Can’t. Don’t want to, either. Now if you’ll just move away, I want to head home. I have a date to get ready for.”
His brow furrowed but he took a step back.
“Good-bye, Dr. Whitman,” she said as she opened the door.
“Who’s your date?” he asked, stopping her again.
Wow, if she were more of a fool, she might actually believe he was jealous. No. There was absolutely no way.
“His name is None of Your Business,” she said before turning to exit again.
“I don’t like that answer, Sage. I don’t like it at all. I don’t think this date of yours can in any way satisfy you. I think, as a matter of fact, that I’m the only man capable of bringing you to the heights of pleasure you so desperately deserve to be brought to.” He boxed her in again.
“Really? Because you failed once.”
She’d obviously left him speechless because she finally managed to get away. Without another word, she left the exam room and waited until she was in the women’s locker room before taking in a decent breath of air.
Her last words to him had been meant to hurt, and now she was worried that she’d indeed hurt him. What was wrong with her? Oh, she hoped this night wasn’t an utter disaster. As she looked in the mirror and felt the pounding of her heart, she had a feeling that’s exactly what it was going to be.
Spence sped down the long drive that led to his childhood home. He had his own place now, but he found himself spending a lot of his time back on the ranch, as did his brothers.
This was home, the place he’d received a second chance. This was security. No matter how many years he’d aged, no matter how much success he had, there was always going to be a small part of him that was the frightened boy nobody wanted.
The snow continued to fall as he pulled up to the large ranch house with the inviting wraparound porch, now all decked out in lights that he and his brothers had hung. Yes, there were plenty of Whitman employees who could have done the work, but it was something the four of them took pride in doing each year.
It was time to get some advice from his dad, because he sure couldn’t seem to figure anything out on his own. He suddenly felt the insecurities of that young teenage boy who didn’t have a thing to his name.
He was falling for Sage and he didn’t understand it. This wasn’t the right time. His life was mapped out already. He’d planned on finding the perfect wife when he reached forty, and he was only thirty-four, then they’d have two kids—a boy and a girl, of course—and they’d live a picture-perfect life. The emotions he was feeling now were far from perfect. They were erratic and confusing and they didn’t mesh at all with his future plans.
For one thing, Sage looked like she’d rather hit him than make love to him. For another, she constantly refused when he asked her out. Was it too much to ask that she return his affection? He was trying to make up for his mistake here. He didn’t even know why he still was. There were a slew of women who would jump to go out with him. He’d never had a problem obtaining a date.
So why didn’t he just cut his losses and move on? That was why he’d come home today. His dad would have the answers. Spence would walk away from this visit knowing whether he should transfer back to Seattle full-time or if he should throw Sage over his shoulder and take her to some deep, dark cave where he could ravish her repeatedly until she admitted she was attracted to him.
He liked option number two better. A big smile parted his lips as he pushed open the front door and ran straight into Eileen and Bethel. Damn!
With Bethel there, he could hardly talk to his father about ravishing her granddaughter. The woman was likely to hit him over the head with a frying pan, and she’d be smart to do just that.
“I thought I heard a car pull up,” Bethel said, and she wrapped Spence up in a hug.