weather was absolutely perfect. There were just enough clouds to put pink, purple and gold in the sky.”
“You just love torturing me, don’t you?” Chloe sighed. “I guess my questions need to be more specific. How did Ryleigh look?”
“If she weren’t my best friend, I could really dislike that woman. She couldn’t look bad after mud wrestling a pig. But a pregnant bride? In a word? Awesome.” Avery smiled at the memory. “She was completely stunning in a simple, strapless, satin floor-length gown. I thought Nick was going to swallow his tongue when he first saw her. And Spencer said—”
Now she’d done it. Opened a can of worms. The last thing she wanted to talk about was him, but she knew that gleam in Chloe’s dark eyes. Fat chance her assistant had missed the slip, let alone allow her to slam that particular door shut. Although in a very committed relationship, she had a notorious crush on the hospital’s exceptional heart surgeon.
“What did Doctor Hottie say?” she prompted. “Spill it, girl.”
Avery sighed. “He said he’d never seen Ryleigh look more beautiful.”
“And?”
“How do you know there’s an ‘and’?”
“I can tell by the way your mouth is all pinchy and tight.” Chloe folded her arms over an impressive bosom. “Your body language couldn’t be more closed if you were wearing a straightjacket.”
The downside of this woman’s intelligence and friendship was that she didn’t miss anything and wasn’t afraid to ask about what you’d left out. Avery met her gaze. “He told her that all brides should be pregnant.”
“Oh. My. God.” Chloe’s expression was rapturous as she made each individual word a complete sentence. “Silver tongue devil. How sweet is that?”
Avery couldn’t agree more, but didn’t allow the envy she felt for her friend to get in the way of wanting more than anything for her to be happy. Spencer’s lovely words had crossed her mind more than once during Ryleigh and Nick’s reception. Avery had been pregnant once and thought she was going to be a bride, but Fate stepped in and said, not so fast.
“Ryleigh ate it up,” she said to her assistant.
“Of course she did. What woman overflowing with estrogen wouldn’t?”
Avery resisted the urge to raise her hand. Spencer Stone definitely had a way with words, but talk was cheap. Actions spoke louder and nothing he’d done had changed her mind about him being a scalpel-wielding, stethoscope-wearing Lothario.
“So …” She looked at her assistant. “Nick and Ryleigh are married again. Now we have work—”
Chloe held up a hand. “That pathetically small amount of information didn’t even begin to take the edge off my curiosity.”
That’s what Avery was afraid of. It was too much to hope she’d get off that easily. Chloe wasn’t the only one fascinated with him. Most of the female population at Mercy Medical Center acted like twits when the heartthrob heart doctor sashayed down the hall. Avery was the only exception as far as she knew, but maybe she was the only one who’d been so profoundly and personally burned in the past by someone she’d trusted.
Someone just like Spencer.
“What else do you want to know?” Her assistant wouldn’t give up until all the pertinent facts were out there. It was best to know what facts she considered pertinent and keep the rest to herself.
“Tell me about your dress.”
She smiled, cutting through her tension. “It’s gorgeous. Lavender with the most feminine skirt that swirled like silk heaven when I walked. The sleeves and bodice are sheer and—”
“What?” Chloe said eagerly.
“Nothing. Just that I found a pair of four-inch heels that matched perfectly.”
There was no point in sharing that Spencer had looked her up and down as if he liked what he saw. His gaze had lingered for a while on her chest and there was a shade of curiosity in his expression as he’d studied her. At that moment she’d been dying to know what was going through his mind, then reality reasserted itself and she let the question go. The saying that curiosity killed the cat was a saying for a reason.
“Tell me what the doc was wearing.”
“Nick had on a dark suit and—”
“Not that doc. He’s spoken for.” Chloe rolled her eyes. “The other doc.”
“Also a dark suit. Crisp cream-colored dress shirt and matching satin tie.”
Chloe fluttered her hand in front of her chest. “Be still my heart.”
No kidding. Avery had seen him in scrubs, jeans and slacks with sports shirt. The wedding was the first time she’d ever seen him in a suit and tie. It was memorable, and that was an understatement. If he wasn’t so good at what he did, a career in modeling wasn’t out of the question. That was a sentiment Avery would take to her grave and now it was time to change the subject.
“Pretty is as pretty does,” she said.
“I don’t even know what that means.”
“Just that it’s not smart to judge a book by its cover.”
One of Chloe’s dark eyebrows lifted questioningly. “You’re just full of clichés today. That man is fine and friendly.”
“Does your boyfriend know you have a crush on Dr. Stone?”
“Admiring a good-looking man is not cheating. My heart belongs to Sean, but I’m not blind.”
“So he doesn’t know your secret?”
“No. And speaking of secrets, I want to know how Dr. Stone somehow manages to stay friends with all of his exes.”
“You think that’s an admirable quality?”
“Yes. You don’t?” Chloe shook her head. “Why do you dislike him, Avery?”
“Think about what you just said. All his exes being the key phrase. Doesn’t the sheer quantity of women give you any pause at all?”
“Not when a man is that charming,” Chloe said. “You could take lessons from him.”
Spencer had implied as much when he’d asked why she disliked him. That wasn’t a detail she chose to share—or the fact that he’d wanted to clear the air between them. What was that about? Or asking her to meet his family in Dallas? And what was the point? She’d all but told him he was barking up the wrong tree. A personal relationship wasn’t a prerequisite for working together.
She looked at her assistant. “Charming is as charming does.”
“I cannot even believe you said that to me.” Chloe sighed dramatically. “How about this? One picture is worth a thousand words. Throw me a bone here. Tell me you’ve got at least one.”
“Okay.
