Amanda had thought that rather odd, and had even tried to follow up on it herself, but to no avail. Now, to have this stranger asking questions about her...
“Why are the Wentworths looking for her?” Amanda asked evenly. The last thing she wanted was to give away the fact that she knew Sabrina as a patient. To her way of thinking, she saw nothing in Sam Arquette that made that information any of his business.
“Look, all I need to know is her whereabouts.”
Amanda frowned. “Is she in some kind of trouble?”
“To be honest with you,” Sam said, running his fingers through his hair, “the Wentworths don’t know. That’s why they’re trying to find her.”
“But I don’t understand,” Amanda said. “Why are they having such a problem finding her in the first place?”
Sam frowned to himself. He wasn’t accustomed to being questioned like this. As a soldier, he had been the interrogator. Now, suddenly, he found himself at the other end of the spectrum, and, frankly, it wasn’t any fun. In fact, his patience with the good doctor was wearing awfully thin. “It seems,” he said, “she’s disappeared.”
“I see. What do they think happened to her?” Amanda asked warily.
He shrugged. “That’s just it. They don’t know. But I can tell you this much—the Wentworths are truly concerned about her.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you with this matter.”
“You can’t—or you won’t?” Sam replied, gazing at her intently.
Amanda had turned to leave the room, but she stopped short. She’d had about all she was going to take from this...this imposing man. Just who did he think he was? Wasn’t it enough that he had her guts all tied up in knots to the point where she doubted if they would ever relax again? “Look, Mr. Arquette,” she said, giving him another one of her hard glares. “Even if I knew where the woman was—which I don’t—but even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“So, in essence,” Sam began cockily, “you would deliberately hide her whereabouts from me even if you knew them.”
Determined to keep her cool, Amanda breathed deeply. “In essence, yes. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mr. Arquette, I have nothing more to say to you.”
Frustrated that he wasn’t getting anywhere with her, Sam felt his temper flare. More than anything in that moment he wanted to shake some sense into her. For heaven’s sake, couldn’t she see he was only trying to help out a friend?
Sexy voice or not, Amanda Lucas had pushed him just about as far as he wanted to go. Her icy manner was becoming nothing but a pain in the behind. Frankly, it stunk. She was an iceberg, all right, through and through. He had thought he could thaw her without much effort, but he had been wrong. No doubt, one glance from her could have sunk the Titanic. In fact, nothing in that moment—short of kissing her senseless—would have given him greater pleasure than to have found a way to melt her down to size. His size. And then maybe she wouldn’t have been so sassy.
Except for her voice. Heaven help him, but he didn’t want to change a thing about her voice. It was sexy and alluring and the only thing about her that sizzled hot. In many ways, it was more than enough. He was completely and utterly enthralled with it—with the woman he suspected was hiding somewhere in that deep freeze surrounding her. But, dammit, he hated having to admit it.
“Look,” he said. “The Wentworths are good people. I hope that once you think this over, you’ll reconsider giving me the information they need.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Arquette, but I won’t be changing my mind. Now if you’ll excuse me...”
Despite Amanda’s best intentions to just turn and march away, she found herself practically standing toe-to-toe with the source of her irritation. The audacity of the man. Just who did he think he was, anyway, coming into her office like this and disrupting her day? Making her feel breathless. She wasn’t obligated to help him, even though he seemed to think she was.
Actually, it didn’t surprise her at all that she was already at odds with him. From the moment her eyes had locked with his, she had known that he was going to be trouble. Big-time trouble. The kind of trouble she had purposely avoided for years now. Handsome. Intelligent. Cocky. He had the makings of a good old-fashioned heartbreaker. Thanks, but no thanks. Once in a lifetime was more than plenty for her. She had a purpose in life now...a reason for being. She had her patients and they needed her. And she needed them. They were her joy, her life. Perhaps, she would never totally come to terms with the way her life had turned out. Undoubtedly, she would never forget the hurt she had suffered at the hands of her ex-fiancé. But there were some things she simply had to accept.
Suddenly, Amanda realized what she was doing to herself and returned her attention to the present. “I have to get back to my patients now, Mr. Arquette. Good day.”
Then she made a mental note to look into the matter of Sabrina Jensen once again. If, indeed, Sabrina was hiding out, then she was probably alone and frightened. She might even be in need of food and medical attention. But no matter the difficulties Sabrina was having to endure, Amanda would have gladly traded places with her. It had to be a wonderful feeling to be carrying the baby of the man you loved. Unfortunately, she would never know.
Once again, Amanda turned to leave the room. Just as she did, she came face-to-face with her receptionist. The young woman looked frantic. “What is it, Kathy?” Amanda asked.
“Doc Lucas,” she said excitedly. “You’d better come quick. It’s Lucy Foreman. She says her baby is coming—and I think she’s right.”
“Is she on the phone?”
“No, she’s in the waiting room.”
Oh, good Lord, Amanda thought. Just what she needed right now. An emergency delivery—and at her office, no less.
She hurried down the hall toward the waiting room. “Is her husband with her?”
“No,” Kathy said, following alongside her. “She’s alone.”
“Great,” Amanda muttered.
Stopping short, Amanda spun around and glared at Sam Arquette who had been following behind at a distance. “Don’t leave just yet, Mr. Arquette,” she said. “I may be needing your assistance. More than likely, someone is going to have to help me move my patient to an examining room.”
“You’re joking, right?” he replied, halting in his tracks to gape at her.
“No,” Amanda said. “I’m afraid not.”
Sam frowned. “I presume I have a choice in this matter.”
“Of course,” she answered, squaring her shoulders as if to say, if that was how he felt, she didn’t really need him, after all.
But Sam figured it was costing her a lot to ask him for his help. If there was one thing he had already come to realize about Dr. Amanda Lucas, she wasn’t a woman who liked having to depend on a man for anything. Well, hey, that wasn’t his problem.
“Okay, Doc,” he said. “I’m in.”
In
