frowned, struggling to understand. “As your doctor?”
She winced, wriggling in her seat, exposing another three inches of thigh. “As my boyfriend.”
Two
Ariel groaned inwardly. That could have gone better. She’d tipped her hand clumsily and far too soon. But there was something about Jacob Wolff that threw her off balance.
For one thing, he was nothing like she had imagined. She’d been expecting a fortysomething, lab-coat-clad father figure wearing gold-rimmed glasses. Someone she could pour her heart out to in comfort.
Jacob Wolff was young, seriously hot and made her nervous as hell. His gray-eyed gaze was X-ray-like, exposing her in ways that made auditioning for a part seem like a walk in the park.
His short-cropped black hair was styled in a no-nonsense fashion, as was the plain but expensive hand-tailored shirt he wore. Broad shoulders strained the seams of the garment. It was tucked into dark slacks that showcased his flat belly and hard thighs.
Ariel spent her days surrounded by handsome men. Men who made their living with the help of six-pack abs honed in a gym. But Jacob Wolff was real in a way unmatched by most males of her acquaintance. His calm confidence and unsmiling intensity were sexy and appealing.
At the moment, he could not have been less encouraging. His brows drew together in a fierce scowl, and his body language signaled his wish to end what was proving to be an embarrassing interlude.
He cleared his throat. “Forgive me if I don’t understand. Your boyfriend?”
His incredulity made heat rise from her throat to her cheeks. “I realize that boyfriend is a fairly juvenile term. You’re a mature man.”
A trace of pique flittered across his face. “As in old? Trust me, Ariel. I’m well aware that I’m facing down thirty while you are a mere child.”
“Don’t patronize me,” she snapped. “I’m no innocent. They eat babies for lunch in Hollywood. I had to grow up fast.”
“You look about sixteen.”
“Well, I’m not. No one would second-guess us as a couple. My mother says I’m an old soul.”
“We’re wandering away from the point. Again. Why do you need a boyfriend? Aren’t you dating that rapper?”
“It was a publicity photo. I’m surprised you saw it.” She was also intrigued.
“I may live like a hermit, but even decrepit men like me have moved beyond rotary phones and dial-up internet. You’re in the news every other day. Haven’t you noticed?”
His quick, wry smile made her stomach flip. “I don’t read the entertainment news.”
“Shocking, Ms. Dane. Shocking.” He leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands over his trim waist. “It’s a good thing I don’t charge by the hour. You’re not very good at this doctor/patient thing.”
“Well, you suck at being a boyfriend.”
He shrugged. “You’re dumping me already?” A long, exaggerated sigh made his chest rise and fall. “Story of my life.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t imagine any woman dumping you. Surely you’ve had your share of serious relationships?”
His face closed up, every nuance of expression wiped away. The quick but conspicuous glance at his watch was designed to put her in her place. “Either be honest with me, Ariel, or leave.”
I have more important things to do. The unspoken subtext made her skin flame with color a second time. “I’m ill,” she said quietly, knowing beyond a doubt that she had wasted a trip. Jacob Wolff was not the kind of man to be manipulated by feminine wiles.
He went still, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. “Is this a joke? I feel like we’re in a play and you forgot to give me my lines.”
She picked at a spot of lint on her skirt. “You’re rather intimidating, you know. Aren’t doctors supposed to have good bedside manners?”
Again, a flash of that sexy smile. Its rarity made it even more compelling. “We’re not in bed, Ariel. Keep talking,” he insisted. “You’re on a roll.”
“It’s true,” she whispered, her throat tight. The way he said the word bed made her all shivery inside. “I’m sick. That’s why I need you to be my boyfriend.”
Perhaps he realized how close she was to breaking down, because his voice gentled. “Start at the beginning. I won’t judge and I won’t interrupt. I promise. I want to help you, Ariel. You can trust me.”
The room seemed far too silent suddenly. And annoyingly stuffy. Ariel wanted to throw open the windows and let in fresh air along with the sounds of the forest. But the room wasn’t hers to command. So she resisted. Barely.
She lifted her shoulders in a careless shrug. If he wanted to begin with Act One, who was she to complain? “I took my mother to the Amazon a few months ago. She’s been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, and I wanted us to go on one last trip while she was still able to manage it.”
Jacob’s gaze was watchful. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Ariel waved a careless hand, feeling anew the pinch of grief. “She’s made her peace with dying.”
“And what about you?”
Her throat closed up painfully, making it impossible to speak for several long seconds. “I’m getting there. It’s been just the two of us for most of my life, so you’ll understand when I say that I can’t imagine my world without her.”
“I’ve read somewhere that she was responsible for putting you in commercials when you were little. Is that true?”
“Yes. Most people assume it was for the money … since my father walked out on us.”
“But you disagree?”
“The money helped. I know that. But I think it was her way of giving me options. She had very few financial resources. But one of her cousins was a talent scout, and she asked him to help her get me started in the industry.”
“Did you ever resent her for that?”
Ariel laughed, caught off guard by his assumption. “Oh, God no. I was a ham from the very beginning. I loved the limelight, the applause, the crowds. Acting gave me validation.”
“But you never went to college, right? You’ve worked straight through?”
Was that criticism she heard in his voice? Or was she being way too sensitive? “I’ve done two movies a year since I turned fourteen, sometimes three. So no, my education ended rather abruptly with a high school diploma. Besides, I wasn’t that good a student anyway, so it was no great loss. And I make plenty of money as it is. Getting a degree would have been a waste of time.”
“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” he asked quietly.
Stunned
