find him too sexy and attractive, that’s all, and my life is devoted to my work now.
“Well, he’s a little overbearing, don’t you think? And arrogant.”
And unbearably hot.
“I think it’s confidence more than arrogance,” Freya said with a smile. “But you don’t have to be best friends with him, or even particularly like him, to attend the ball with him, Gabby. The purpose of the fundraiser is to raise awareness and money for the Bright Hope Clinic. When one of our own obstetricians, temporary or not, who happens to also be a prince attends the ball, that’s news. Like it or not, that’s the way the world works. Rafael pointed out to me that if the head midwife at the hospital is the prince’s date for the night, that’s even bigger news, and exactly the kind of public relations opportunity I’m always looking for.”
How weird was it that Freya’s words sent Gabby’s stomach sinking in dread at the same time her chest lifted in excitement and her darned subconscious immediately imagined what kind of dress she should wear to such an event? Clearly Rafael Moreno’s arrival at The Hollywood Hills Clinic had sent her sanity a little off-kilter, since she really should be annoyed that he’d gotten Freya involved, using that kind of manipulation to get her to attend with him. Another example of the man’s colossal ego!
But even if her entire body had been filled with dread instead of that peculiar mixture of emotions, it wasn’t like she could say no. She believed in what the Bright Hope Clinic was doing, and if she could contribute in any way, big or small, she wanted to.
“Fine. I’ll go.” She hoped Freya didn’t notice that her gruffly sighed answer was charged with anticipation too. After all, what woman in her right mind—or even confused one—wouldn’t want to be Cinderella for just one night, attending a ball with a handsome prince?
She’d just have to be sure to leave her glass slippers buried deep in her closet at home.
* * *
When Gabby had decided to install a new top-to-bottom door mirror in her closet, she’d never dreamed that she’d be needing it to look at herself in a long gown. A gown she’d be wearing to attend a ball with a handsome prince. Gabby snorted and shook her head at herself, wondering how a grown woman could feel so wrapped up in thinking about a party and what she’d be wearing, like a teenager going to the prom. Ridiculous.
She studied the lines of her dress. Turned side to side, looked at the back, then the front again. And sighed. Because she knew full well that the majority of women attending the ball tonight would be wearing designer dresses that cost more than her month’s rent, not to mention that there wouldn’t be a single one there who’d made her own gown.
Filled with jitters of doubt now, she worried that maybe she shouldn’t have done that. Why had she been so convinced she shouldn’t just buy one off the rack? The answer was because she knew anything she could afford would be made from substandard fabrics, compared to the glamorous, designer dresses the rich and famous would be wearing tonight. And she knew how to sew, didn’t she?
Her strong, female ancestors had not only studied midwifery and spent their lives helping others, they’d been talented seamstresses. Hadn’t learning at her grandmother and mother’s knees given her the skills to pull this off? Staring at her dress now, she wasn’t so sure. The ring of her doorbell...a loud, silly horse whinny the previous avid horseracing fan tenants had installed...made her jump. Then laugh out loud. Clearly Cinderella’s carriage had arrived, except the prince was already on board, not waiting at the ball.
Resisting the urge to wipe her suddenly sweaty hands down the emerald-green fabric of her gown, she opened the front door. Then stared, her breath hitching.
She’d thought Dr. Rafael Moreno had been attractive in the scrubs that showed his strong physique? In a dress shirt and pants at the clinic, and when they’d gone to dinner? Those Rafael Morenos had nothing on this one, who exuded royal arrogance from head to toe in a tuxedo that fitted him so perfectly she knew it had to have been tailor-made for him. His shirt was so white it was practically blinding, his classic black bow tie perfectly placed beneath his strong, tanned throat. The late evening sun gleamed on his dark, glossy hair and sculpted jawline, and a slow smile curved his lips.
She gulped. There was one perfect way to describe how her body was reacting to his mouthwatering beauty.
Tuxedo libido.
She fought down a nervous giggle. How had the room gotten so warm? Clearly, May in Los Angeles meant it was time to adjust the thermostat.
“Hi,” she said, knowing she sounded a little breathless, but since she was breathless it was the best she could do. “I’m ready. I just need to grab my purse.”
“I’m relieved, I have to say.”
“That I’m ready? Is that another comment about what you think of my organizational skills?”
“No. As I drove here, I wasn’t sure what to expect, having several scenarios that came to mind. In the first, I was afraid you’d open the door wearing sweatpants, planning to ditch me to lounge at home instead, since you hadn’t wanted to come with me tonight.”
“I wouldn’t ditch you, even though you’d have deserved it if I did, since it was pretty sneaky of you to get Freya involved as your date planner. However, I always honor my commitments. Though I admit that lounging in sweatpants holds a certain appeal.”
“To me as well. You would look very sexy in sweatpants.”
“Uh-huh. Pretty sure sexy and sweatpants are mutually exclusive.”
“Not true. I’m picturing you in them right now.” Something about the way he was looking at her had her wondering exactly what he was picturing, and her breath hitched all over again. “The other, even worse scenario I envisioned was you wearing a more casual dress because you were planning to go on a date with someone else. In which case, I’d have to fight him when he came to pick you up, and my parents rarely appreciate that kind of scene.”
Despite the absurd words, there was something serious in the gleam of his eyes that had her laughing in surprise. “I can’t see you fighting over a woman. There are too many fish in the sea who’d fall at your feet for a date, because they don’t know what a shark you are.”
“But you’re willing to risk a date with a shark for a good cause, hmm? And there’s only one woman as beautiful and interesting as you are. That dress is exquisite on you, by the way. My mother would be impressed with your designer.”
She laughed. and at the same time a bubble of satisfaction and relief that she didn’t look ridiculous filled her chest. “Don’t tell anyone, but the designer is someone who works for a dress-pattern company, and I made it myself.”
“You made it yourself?” The astonishment on his face was comical. “That’s incredible! Beautiful, compassionate, and talented as well. Every man at the ball tonight will envy my good fortune to have you on my arm.”
It was a line, she knew, but her stomach flipped inside out anyway. “They’ll probably envy you for a lot of other reasons, like that whole prince thing that makes you think you can do whatever you want whenever you want.” Okay, she didn’t really think he was an overbearing jerk anymore, but it was probably a good idea to keep up that charade.
She also wouldn’t add all the other reasons men would envy him. Like his incredible good looks and confidence
