Instant Gratification

“As everywhere else, City Girl. Whatever you want. With Stone?”

“Yes.”

“Well, lucky you. He’s a hot one.”

Yeah. Yeah, he was. She opened her mouth to say something, she had no idea what, but the examination door opened. Spencer came out, his nose in her father’s chart.

Emma moved around the front desk and into the hallway, pulling him with her. “Well?”

“His latest EKG is good. We need to run labs to check liver function and cholesterol levels, but you already know that. He’s taking his beta blockers, Plavix and Niacin, and following your strict dietary restrictions. He’s also exercising. He reports no chest pain.” He smiled. “I see no signs of post infarction syndrome indicating either recurrent MI or heart failure. He’s good.”

“You see him going back to work?”

“He certainly wants to. He told me he’s planning on working here as much as he can.”

Relief had her leaning back against the wall. “Okay, then.”

“Which means you could fly home with me if you want.”

“No.” She needed a few more days to help her father close up.

No, that wasn’t true.

She needed her night with Stone. “I’ll wait until Friday.”

He smiled. “Used to be you couldn’t wait to get out of here.”

“Yeah.” She sighed. Now she suddenly wasn’t in a hurry. It didn’t take a genius to know why. It did take a genius to understand it. “Are you ready to head out in a few?”

“One thing left to do.” He waggled a brow suggestively. His favorite cue for “let’s have sex”.

“I thought we’d discussed that.”

He laughed. “I didn’t mean you, Em. We dumped each other, remember? I wanted to say good-bye to Serena is all.”

“Well then you’re in luck,” Serena purred, and with eyes only for Spencer, came close. “How about I drive you to the airport? It’ll give us extra good-bye time.”

“I don’t want you to go to any trouble.”

“It isn’t.” She turned to Emma. “Okay with you?”

“Sure. Thank you.”

Like a cat in cream, Serena smiled. “Oh, you are most welcome.”

Spencer gave Emma a kiss and a long, hard hug “Friday, babe.”

“Friday.” She went into the examination room to see her father.

Spencer watched her go, then turned to Serena. “I appreciate this. She had enough on her plate.”

“Don’t thank me yet.”

He laughed. “Should I be scared?”

“If you like.” She had a pretty black and white bag from her shop in one hand, and with her other, linked her fingers in his as she led him outside.

Spencer was very aware that she was watching him closely. “Something wrong?”

“Are you going to miss her?”

“I’ll see her soon enough. Is that really your question?”

“No. But I’ll get to it when I’m ready.”

“All right then. So what were you at the clinic for?”

She lifted the black and white bag. “Bringing you a good-bye present.”

“I hope it’s chocolate.”

“Oh, it’s better. It’s my chocolate.”

He dug into the bag as they got into her car, then moaned heartily at the fantastic fudge melting on his tongue. “My God.” He looked at her in a new light. A fellow foodie…” People should bow down to you in the streets.”

“Yes, they should.” She wore a skirt, longer than the other night, and pencil thin. Her top was white and fitted. She looked professional and untouchable.

And hot. So damn hot. It’d been almost impossible to resist her earlier, especially when she’d made it clear that she wanted to sleep with him, but for some reason he couldn’t have explained to save his life, he didn’t want to be just another guy she’d had.

“So you like chocolate.”

“I like good food.”

She was smiling at him, and he could have added that he especially liked her red lips, and was locked on those when she said unexpectedly, “I’m ready to ask you my question now.”

“Go for it.”

“Are you in love with Emma?”

She waited while he adjusted to the abrupt subject change, her gaze filled with a brutal, open honesty. “That’s a pretty personal question,” he finally said.

“I know. But it’s something I’d like to know before I take you home and pour chocolate all over your body, and then lick it off.”

He went from zero to sixty in less than two seconds. “I have a flight.”

“Yeah.” She looked out the windshield at the stark, blue, cloudless sky. “Not good flying weather. A storm’s moving in.”

He blinked, but the sky was still cloudless. He looked back into her steady, heated eyes and felt his blood stir. He didn’t know a man could resist this. Her. “So…”

“I’m thinking a delay would be a smart move.”

“Are you.”

“Actually, it depends on the answer to my question. Because I screwed up love once. I don’t do that anymore.”

Yeah, she had claws, sharp ones, but she also had heart. And big eyes. Eyes that weren’t nearly as tough as she pretended to be. “I love Emma,” he said quietly. “But I’m not in love with Emma. Does that count?”