really am quite capable,” she said firmly.
“I don’t doubt it for a moment,” he said.
“And I’m neat as a pin.”
A smile curved his lips. Lora could sense him considering her suggestion.
“I go to bed early,” Dr. Reed said. “It would be boring for you.”
“Mom says only boring people get bored,” she said, hoping to impress him with her mother’s pithy insights. “I can provide references—”
“Not necessary,” he said with a wave of his hand.
“What’s not necessary?” a voice said from the doorway.
Lora recognized the voice and turned in time to find Jon Woods striding across the linoleum. He blinked rapidly when he saw her face.
He wasn’t the only one blinking. Out of his office, with a tailored jacket thrown over his form-fitting black shirt and no stethoscope looped around his neck, he looked suave, sophisticated and harder than ever to resist.
Why had she bunched her hair into a ponytail before coming to the hospital? Why hadn’t she taken off the lousy green sweater and replaced it with—anything else!
This yin and yang of her current position concerning men was disconcerting. Wanting and rejecting. Thinking maybe and then slamming the door.
Staring into her eyes, he said, “This is a coincidence, isn’t it? I didn’t expect to see you here.”
His gaze made her damn near breathless but his arrival embarrassed the heck out of her. She’d not expected to see him again either, especially in the hospital room of a man she’d admitted she’d never met. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was the lunch hour—great planning on her part. This could get dicey. “I’m delivering flowers,” she said.
“You two know each other?” Dr. Reed asked pleasantly.
Jon released Lora from his gaze. “We met today when she brought her cat in for a checkup. She was disappointed when I showed up instead of you, Victor.”
Jon’s remark was met with a wince from Lora and raised eyebrows from Dr. Reed who said, “I don’t believe you’ve ever been to the clinic before, have you Lora? Don’t tell me my memory is that bad.”
Hadn’t her mother told her to never lie? She’d used a lifetime’s quota that day and now she was going to pay for it. Or maybe not. Looking at Dr. Reed, she said, “I heard all about you from my friend, Peg Ho. You’re Cerise’s vet.” This was the truth and Lora felt suitably virtuous.
Dr. Reed chuckled. “Peg’s Irish Setter is a dynamo.”
Jon said, “If you enjoy animals with personalities, wait until you meet Lora’s cat.”
“Boggle tends to be a little antisocial,” Lora said and added, “In fact, I’m thinking of letting my neighbor have him. She adores cats.” Anxious to get the topic of conversation off of her pretend pet, she said, “I’m glad we ran into each other, Dr. Woods. I wanted to thank you for not charging me to examine Boggle.”
“I asked you to call me Jon.”
“Jon.” Lora felt a sigh build in her throat and squelched it, but sometimes her new lifestyle choice was hard, and never more so than now. It didn’t take even a good imagination—and hers was excellent—to picture herself wrapped in his powerful arms, held against his rock-hard chest, stroked with his gentle hands…
“Beautiful flowers,” Jon said, admiring the arrangement.
“Lora’s a florist,” Dr. Reed said, his gaze traveling from Jon to Lora.
Jon smiled at her in such a way that her knees felt a little weak. She’d always been a sucker for a good smiler.
“Your work is original,” he said.
“Thanks.” She needed to get out of this room for more than one reason!
Jon looked over her head. “Victor, is there anything I can bring you this evening when I come back to visit? Magazines? A portable radio? Illicit milkshakes?”
“I’ll be long gone by this evening,” Dr. Reed said. “Jess and her husband are picking me up this afternoon.”
“That’s great news.”
Lora saw her chance. “I’ll leave you guys alone now,” she said, and started to shuffle off. She and Dr. Reed hadn’t firmed up anything concerning her wily plan to nurse him back on his feet and into her mother’s heart; no doubt Jon’s arrival had nixed the whole idea.
Jon gestured at her arms. “Aren’t you going to leave the flowers?”
“Lora is bringing them to the house tonight,” Dr. Reed said. “Not that these aren’t appreciated, Jon, but really, you guys down at the clinic shouldn’t have sent me any more flowers.”
Jon’s brow creased. “I don’t think we did,” he said.
“’Course you did,” Dr. Reed said, handing Jon the card. “It says so right here.”
Jon read the card.
“Maybe one of the assistants arranged it,” Lora mumbled. She was going straight to hell for all these lies!
“Those girls are always going overboard,” Dr. Reed said fondly.
Jon still looked skeptical.
“Fact is, this little lady is going to be my nighttime nurse for the next couple of weeks,” Dr. Reed added with a wink at Lora, who grinned with pleasure.
Jon looked up from the card. “I thought you refused to have strangers in the house at night.”
“Well, Lora isn’t a stranger. I knew her father once upon a time.”
“You knew her father?” His eyebrows inched up his forehead again as Lora tried to recall their earlier conversation at the clinic. No use; it was a blur. Jon said, “Victor, I would have been happy to help you out. You did so much for my dad.”
“And now you’re covering for me at the clinic. The debt is more than paid. Besides, you don’t have time to play nursemaid and Lora is prettier than you are.”
Both men stared at Lora who felt a red tide wash up her neck. “I can’t argue that point,” Jon said at last.
“And she’ll let me pay her for her time, won’t you, Lora?”
“Of course,” she said breezily, thinking of a timing belt for the van.
“And now that I know Lora has a cat at home, I feel even better about my decision.” Dr. Reed turned to Lora and added, “I’m glad you came in here and talked me into taking your help. You’re very persuasive.”
Lora smiled wanly as a sudden cold front engulfed Jon’s inherent warmth. She could imagine what he
