wasn’t a virgin.
Noah inwardly groaned. Callie Matthews might not be a virgin in the sexual sense, but she was certainly very innocent because if she had any clue where his thoughts traveled when he thought of her, she’d be suing him for sexual harassment.
He refused to be so clichéd as to date his receptionist, but damn if he didn’t want to see her on more personal, intimate terms. He’d played with fire when he’d cornered her two days ago in the lounge. When he’d moved in closer to her, he’d noticed her bright green eyes widening, the way she kept nervously licking her lips…those sexy, naturally full lips that begged to be kissed. His female clients paid a small fortune for a mouth like Callie’s.
Noah eased back in his office chair. She’d be coming in any moment and he intended to keep their relationship professional. No more touching, no more getting pulled under by her hopeful eyes and childlike dreams.
If Callie had any idea what she was in for in this Hollywood wannabe-actress cycle, she’d run back to that cornfield she came from. It wasn’t all glitz and glamour. There was no way in hell he’d see another woman he cared about fall to the dark side of Hollywood.
The scars from his fiancée were still too fresh, too deep. And between the house they’d shared that he had to go home to every day and her ailing grandmother he cared for, Noah had a sickening feeling those wounds would never heal.
And Callie reminded him so much of Malinda sometimes it hurt to even think of the bright way his fiancée used to light up over her future career. Callie was Malinda all over again…only this time he refused to get attached.
He raked a hand through his hair, trying to rid himself of the nightmare that still plagued him.
His fiancée had meant everything to him. He’d have done anything in his power to save her. But he’d failed. He’d failed the one woman he’d loved with his whole heart, the one woman he’d wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Noah refused to ever let his heart become entangled again. He honestly didn’t think he could afford another crushing loss.
So there was no way he could talk to Olivia about this role for Callie. He was actually using the modeling as a way to keep her from slipping into a darker world that Callie had no clue about. If he could keep her satisfied with the money, the attention from modeling, perhaps she’d reach those stars in her eyes. Maybe she’d let go of this movie-star fetish.
He had to intervene and do something. And no, he didn’t care that he was being devious. He couldn’t stand by and watch another innocent woman fall victim to the ugly side of the industry.
Because he already had a nugget of worry where his beautiful, naive receptionist was concerned. He knew what he paid her, but he also knew she was always scraping by. Those few commercials she’d done surely hadn’t sucked her into the dark world he wanted to keep her from…had they?
Cynicism had never been part of his life until he’d lived with an addict, and he hated that negative vibe that always seemed to spread through him.
The back door to the office opened and shut. He heard heels click down the tiled hallway, then slow at his office. Noah smiled at the vision that stopped just outside his door.
“Everything okay?” Callie asked, clutching her purse to her shoulder and her lunch bag with the other hand.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
She gave him a sideways look and a half grin. “Because you’re never in the office before me.”
That vibrant blue dress hugged her body in a professional yet sexy way, and Noah had to force himself to keep on track and not think about what it would be like to peel that garment down her body…or to think of how she managed to fit anything beneath it. She either had on a thong or nothing. If she was going commando…God, he couldn’t go there.
“I had some things to do before my first client showed,” he told her, trying to stay professional. “There’s a little boy who was recently scarred due to a house fire and might be referred to me. I actually just hung up with a colleague about some options for this boy.”
“I remember that referral.” Callie smiled wider. “That’s what makes you an awesome doctor. I was so excited when you agreed to take on his case.”
Noah didn’t want her to look at him like some type of savior. And he sure as hell didn’t want to get emotionally involved with a child. Children were vulnerable creatures by nature and he worried that his heart simply couldn’t take that level of commitment again.
“The boy’s aunt is a good client and she asked if I’d look at him. That doesn’t mean I can make him perfect. I just have to wait a few weeks because his wounds are still fairly fresh.”
“You’re at least giving him a chance and hope,” Callie told him, still smiling and still looking at him as if he was more than just a doctor. “That in itself is so much, Noah. Don’t downplay your talents.”
“I’m not, but I’m going into this realistically. There may be nothing I can do, but I’ll do everything in my power to help.”
Most doctors had a God complex; Noah liked to think he was not one of them. He knew his abilities, his limitations. But he never backed away from a challenge, and he certainly wasn’t about to turn away a ten-year-old boy, no matter if the aunt was a client or not. Noah would try to help a burned child regardless of who called.
“You’re quiet,” he told her. “That means you’re thinking. Should I be nervous?”
A wide, vibrant smile spread across her face. “Well, I have news since we talked the other day about the audition.”
Oh, no. That smile could only mean one thing… .
“I got a call!” she shouted. She stepped farther into his office and dumped her items in the chair across from his desk. “Isn’t that awesome? My agent called me when I was on my way home yesterday and said she was able to get me an audition for this Monday.”
A dreaded sense of déjà vu spread through him.
“I’m happy for you,” he lied. “Make sure you call Marie to see if she can fill in for you.”
“I will.” She smiled, then looked down, brought her hands up to her face…and burst into tears.
What the hell?
“Callie?”
He moved around his desk to get closer to her. What had just happened? One second she was beaming with joy and the next she was sobbing into her hands.
“Callie?” he repeated softly. “You okay?”
She swiped her damp cheeks and shook her head. “I’m so sorry, Noah. It’s just…”
Those moist eyes turned to him, and even with the smudge of mascara, she was still amazingly stunning.
“You wouldn’t understand,” she told him.
Wouldn’t understand? Understand what?
“I’ve wanted a break and this is it,” she told him through a hiccup.
