She held out her hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Sky Colton.”
“I know,” he answered coolly.
“Shelby told me a lot about you.” Most of which she couldn’t remember.
“Interesting you associate your clients by pieces of jewelry.”
Sky didn’t much care for his tone. “I’ve seen enough medical dramas on TV to know that doctors identify their patients by symptoms or diagnosis. Frankly, my way is far more pleasant. Wouldn’t you agree?”
One corner of his mouth turned up, but that was her only indication that he was even the tiniest bit amused. “No.”
“My sincere and heartfelt congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Obviously you’re here because you’d like some changes on the rings. I can—”
“I’m here because there’s not going to be a wedding.”
Sky blinked up at him. “No wedding? But I don’t understand. Have you and Shelby postponed—”
“I believe the words were quite clear. But let me rephrase. The wedding is off. Permanently,” he added for emphasis. “I received a bill for wedding bands. And for groomsmen gifts in progress.”
Sky stared at him, mortified that she couldn’t stop herself from noticing how dangerously sexy he was. She sensed in him a leashed intensity that could change to passion in a heartbeat. If provoked. Or maybe she was overdue for an appointment with a shrink. For goodness’ sake, the poor man had just been dumped. Or had he? Maybe he’d called it off.
Studying the tension in his jaw and the stiff set of his shoulders, added to the angry gaze and sarcastic tone, she decided she’d been right the first time. Definitely dumped. And he wasn’t the least bit happy about it.
For good reason. He’d practically been married. But “almost” wasn’t a done deal. Why should that please her even a little bit? Good question, for which she had no answer. Since her own broken engagement, she’d managed to get on with her life by scrapping her girlish fantasies of marriage, husband, children. Now her goal was to build an already fast-growing business. It was counterproductive to be attracted to this man. Technically he might be available, but emotionally he was still attached to someone who was no longer attached to him. While Sky might think the woman shortsighted, or even blind, maybe mentally impaired if not downright stupid, the fact remained, he was hurt and angry.
But what in the world happened? From what little she could recall of her conversations with the bride-to-be, Sky had the impression that Dr. StoneHeart was perfection personified. What had made her change her mind? Why had Shelby blown him off? Then Sky recalled the words that had alerted her to his presence when he’d walked in the shop. You don’t look like a home wrecker. What had he meant by that?
“Dr. Rodriguez, I have the impression you hold me responsible for something.”
“I do.” He laughed, a harsh sound and completely without humor. “Guess I won’t be saying that anytime soon. At least not in a church in front of a priest and witnesses.”
She held up her hands. “Let’s back up for a minute. You said the wedding is off. Why? What happened?”
“Don’t play dumb, Miss Colton.”
“I’m not playing anything, Dr. Rodriguez. I have no idea what’s going on. Would you care to enlighten me?”
“I’d like nothing better. Because of things you said, Shelby refused to marry me.”
“What I said?” Sky pressed a hand to her chest. “Look, Doctor, when she was here, I was working. We engaged in idle chitchat, not a bare-your-soul, heart-to-heart kind of conversation. I can’t imagine what I said that made her change her mind.”
“Think.”
Sky did. “She told me about you. That you’re a plastic surgeon. You help people feel better about themselves. That she was honored someone in such a noble profession would be interested in her. She had a lot to live up to. But she left out—” Sky stopped. She couldn’t believe what she’d almost blurted out. Shelby had neglected to mention her intended was a bona fide hottie.
“What?” he asked.
“Never mind. It’s not important.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. What were you going to say?”
Wild stallions couldn’t make her tell him. But considering the blue blaze in his eyes, she should come up with a substitute statement.
“She also mentioned that she calls you Dr. StoneHeart. Although based on your behavior since walking into my shop a few minutes ago, I can’t imagine why.”
One of his dark eyebrows rose, the only clue that her sarcasm had been noted. “I’m here to settle the bill for your services—including unsolicited advice you gave my ex-fiancée. What else did she tell you?”
“She talked about someone named Reilly Donovan.”
“Did she?” he asked, a gleam in his eyes that said he knew the name.
“Yes, I believe he’s the chauffeur,” she said, her eyes widening as her voice dropped dramatically on the last word. Uh-oh.
Things were coming back to her. She remembered a little more now. Shelby had also done some talking about the man who’d driven her here. About her intense, overpowering and completely unexpected attraction to the driver. There had been at least four long trips to Black Arrow, Oklahoma, from Houston, Texas. That was a lot of hours in the car—a really big, luxurious car. Lots of time to fill, to talk, to get to know each other intimately, to flirt, to generate doubts. But why did Dr. Perfect blame her?
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” he said. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on the glass top of the case as his fingers laced together. “What about the chauffeur?”
Sky noticed his hands. Why in the world would she laser in on something like that when his voice was sharp enough to slice and dice an ice sculpture? But she couldn’t help it. He had nice hands, big with long, slender fingers. And strong-looking. And sensitive. The hands of a healer. And, she had a feeling, hands that would know a woman’s body and do all the right things in all the right places to elicit passion. The thought made her shiver.
Her only excuse for this behavior was that it had been a long time since Wes Keiler.
Sky met the doctor’s gaze, determined to maintain a cool, calm and collected facade even if it killed her. She’d bet the doctor knew some interesting mouth-to-mouth resuscitation techniques.
“Shelby said the chauffeur was handsome,” Sky volunteered.
“Now there’s a recommendation for a happy life together.”
“Don’t knock it. Sometimes appearance is our only means of forming an opinion.”
“It seems Shelby formed a really good one of Reilly Donovan. She ran off with him. Because of what you told her to do.”
“I already told you I didn’t tell her to do anything.”
Frantically,
