The Doctor's Not-So-Little Secret (10 page)

“It takes two to tango,” Kate muttered under her breath.

“Pardon?”

“I understand what you’re saying and I see your point,” Kate said in a normal tone of voice. She had her opinion but she wasn’t sure if this was her business.

“But?”

“I didn’t say ‘but.’”

“Maybe not aloud,” Joel said. “Yet I heard it clear as day. Please, Kate, you’re Chloe’s doctor. I’d appreciate your input.”

If Joel wanted
Dr. McNeal’s
opinion, she was happy to give it.

“As I’ve mentioned before, I didn’t have an easy time growing up. I was a little older than Chloe when a friend I’d met at band camp asked me to go with her family to their time-share in Florida over Christmas.”

“Christmas?” Joel’s brows furrowed. “Your parents let you go?”

“They said no at first. My grandmother got them to reconsider.” Her parents hadn’t been easy to convince, but her grandmother had held firm. “She alone understood what a miserable time I’d been having at school.”

Kate’s lips lifted in a little smile. “I can’t tell you how nice it was to hang out with a friend my age who liked me. One who thought I was funny and smart, all those things the kids at school couldn’t see. I had a fabulous Christmas. Somehow, having such a great time made returning to school after the holidays easier.”

“You’re saying to let her go.”

“I think you should at least consider it.”

“You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

“Chloe is a good kid,” Kate said. “You said yourself that losing her mom and this move has been hard on both of you. I think we all need to do a better job of embracing pleasure where we can find it.”

Kate settled her gaze on Joel. On his broad shoulders. On his firm, sensual lips. She remembered how his mouth had burned against hers. The electricity that had coursed through her at his touch.

Yes, it was too bad being intimate with him wasn’t a possibility. Because if the way Joel kissed was any indication, making love with the handsome contractor was practically guaranteed to bring a whole boatload of pleasure her way.

Chapter Ten

T
he following Wednesday Joel left work early to make Chloe’s favorite dinner: macaroni and cheese, peas and carrots and watermelon. He might not be the greatest cook, but this was one meal he could manage.

They talked during dinner, or rather his daughter entertained him by recounting all the adventures she and Savannah had enjoyed in the past. Then she moved on to speculating about all the fun she’d be having when she joined her friend in Montana.

After they’d finished eating, instead of helping him clear the table, he sent Chloe upstairs to change her clothes. Once the dishwasher was loaded, they were headed to the rink for a couple of hours of ice skating. Joel wasn’t particularly excited about it, but Chloe had squealed when he told her of the plan.

“I’m almost done,” he said, when she appeared in the kitchen doorway in her skating dress.

Chloe ground the toe of one shoe into the floor tile. “I was wondering if maybe Dr. Kate could come with us tonight?”

“Honey, I don’t think—”

“Please, Daddy, please,” Chloe pleaded.

“This is our last night together before we head to Billings.” Letting Chloe visit her friend Savannah for two weeks had been a difficult decision. But it was the right one. His daughter hadn’t been this happy since before her mother died. “I thought we’d spend it together, just the two of us.”

The closer the time had come for her to leave, the more Joel realized just how much he was going to miss his little girl.

“I thought you liked Dr. Kate. Why don’t you want to see her again?”

The truth was Joel yearned for Kate with an intensity that concerned him. Although it had been almost a week, he hadn’t been able to get their conversation at Virginia’s out of his mind.

Between consenting adults. Embracing pleasure where you can find it.
Those two phrases she’d uttered were stuck on a revolving platter in his head. Could Kate have been hinting that she’d be open to a no-strings-attached affair?

His mouth went dry.

“Dr. Kate loves to skate.” Chloe tugged at his sleeve. “Her friend said so.”

He glanced down to find his daughter staring up at him.

“Will you, Daddy?” Chloe’s dark eyes never wavered from his face. “Will you ask her?”

Ask Kate if she’d be interesting in sleeping with him? He’d always believed making love belonged in the context of a committed relationship. But that was long ago when life still made sense. And he and Kate were two consenting adults…

“Daddy,” Chloe said. “Please ask her.”

“Uh, ask her what, princess?”

“To go skating.” His little girl might be only nine but she had eye rolling down to an art form. “What else?”

* * *

If Mitzi hadn’t been called to the hospital, Kate probably would have turned down Joel’s last-minute offer. She veered off the highway toward the ice rink and chuckled. Who was she kidding? The second she’d heard that Chloe had specifically asked for her to go skating with them, wild horses couldn’t have kept her away.

Seeing Joel again, now that was another story. The kiss in the swing had changed the dynamics of their acquaintance. Even though lunch had ended quite amiably, when Joel had walked her out to the parking lot and reached around her to open the car door, she’d been this close to kissing him.

The look in his eyes had told her she wasn’t the only one tempted. Unfortunately, er, fortunately, they’d both acted as mature individuals. He’d shaken her hand and said he appreciated the advice on Chloe. She’d politely thanked him for the lunch, and that was that…until she saw his name on her phone’s readout tonight.

Joel had offered to pick her up, but Kate told him she’d meet them. She pulled her car into the near-empty parking lot and swept the lot with her gaze. Joel’s truck was nowhere to be seen.

Because the night was warm, Kate had worn her skating outfit to the rink so she wouldn’t have to change. Once inside the large metal structure, she hauled the bag containing her skates to a bench, sat down and slipped off her flats.

She’d just finished lacing up her skates when Joel and Chloe arrived. A big smile split Chloe’s face and Joel lifted one hand in greeting. Kate’s heart fluttered like tiny hummingbird wings.

While Joel was handsome as ever in jeans and a salmon-colored shirt, Chloe looked absolutely darling in her royal-blue skating dress. Her black eye had faded to a dull yellow and the cut on her forehead was barely noticeable. “You look especially pretty tonight, Chloe.”

“So do you,” the child said, then blushed and ducked her head.

Kate couldn’t remember a nicer compliment. By the look of heat in his eyes, Joel found her black georgette wrap skirt and form-fitting silvery top very much to his liking.

While the two put on their skates, Chloe told Kate all about her upcoming trip to Montana.

“You’re going to have so much fun,” Kate told the child, smiling at Joel. She couldn’t believe he’d taken her advice.

“I’m so happy you came tonight,” Chloe said with an excited little wiggle. “You can help me with my camel spin.”

“Chloe.” Joel’s voice was stern. “If you’d like Dr. Kate to help you with your camel spins, you
ask,
not
tell
her.”

“I’m sorry.” The tips of Chloe’s ears turned bright red and she shifted her gaze to her feet.

“I love doing spins,” Kate said. “I’d be happy to help you.”

Chloe lifted her head. “You would?”

Kate nodded. “And if your dad is interested, I can teach him how to do Michael Jackson’s moonwalk. It’s supereasy on skates.”

Chloe pulled her brows together and cocked her head. “Who’s Michael Jackson?”

Joel met her gaze and smiled. Kate wondered if he was aware that when he smiled, even his eyes lit up. This guy was the real deal. What you saw was what you got. No phony posturing. No “I’m so important” swagger.

“He was a popular singer who also danced really well,” Kate said when she found her voice. “He did this dance step called the moonwalk, only not on ice, of course. Shall I show you both how to do it?”

“Thank you, Kate. That’s nice of you,” Joel said, though the look of apprehension in his eyes told her he wasn’t completely sold on the idea.

“Sounds like fun,” Chloe said with enthusiasm, apparently not sharing Joel’s reservations.

Kate led the father and daughter to a corner of the ice when Sarabeth Brown skated up. Her dress was the same style as Chloe’s, except in hot-pink. “I didn’t know you skated.”

It was hard to tell who the child was speaking to, but when Chloe remained mute, Kate smiled at the girl. “Sarabeth, how nice to see you again. Is your mom here?”

“Mommy is having a purse party,” Sarabeth informed her. “My sister is here, but she’s too busy texting her friends to skate with me.”

“Dr. Kate is going to show me and my dad how to do a moonwalk. It’s this old-time dance thing,” Chloe said, apparently finding her voice. “Do you want her to show you, too?”

Kate heard the hesitation in Chloe’s voice but was proud of the child for having the courage to make the offer.

“Sure,” Sarabeth said immediately. “That’d be cool.”

The smile on Chloe’s face could have lit up the entire building.

With a lighter heart, Kate skated farther out on the ice, then spun around to face the threesome. “Place one skate’s toe pick slightly behind the heel of the other skate, then lift up the heel.”

Kate continued to illustrate while teaching them the technique.

Chloe and Sarabeth caught on right away.

Joel tried. And tried. And tried.

Chloe hadn’t been lying when she’d said her dad wasn’t good on the ice. After he’d fallen for the third—or was it the fourth time?—Sarabeth had clearly had enough.

“Let’s go practice our spins,” she said to Chloe. “You can do spins, right?”

Chloe snorted. “I’ve been doing them for-ev-er. Since I was like…four years old.”

Somehow Kate managed to keep from smiling.

Beside her, Joel hid his laughter behind a cough.

“Awesome,” Sarabeth said, clearly impressed. “None of our other friends can do ’em.”

Our
friends? Joel nudged Kate, telling her he’d caught the nuance, too.

Chloe’s lips lifted and her eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “Do you want to do a haircutter spin first?”

Sarabeth’s eyes widened. “You can do a haircutter?”

“They’re supereasy.” Chloe held out her hand. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

The two girls set off hand in hand for the area in the middle of the ice reserved for practicing specific moves. Because it was a slow night, they had the entire area to themselves.

“Looks like Chloe’s making progress in the friend department.” The sound of giggles from the two girls brought a smile to Kate’s lips.

“Yep.” Joel grinned. “Which means you’re stuck with me.”

He looked inordinately pleased at the prospect.

“How about we skate for a while?” Even though she was standing still, Kate suddenly felt out of breath. “Build your confidence up a bit.”

“Sounds good.” Joel took her hand and slipped it through the crook in his arm as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

For a second his gaze settled on his daughter as she spun around and around, her head back, her right leg pulled to her head.

Once she was done, Sarabeth applauded.

Joel smiled proudly.

“She’s pretty good,” Kate said.

“Yes, she is, but she’s not what I want to talk about right now.” Joel’s gaze met hers. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said last week at Virginia’s.”

Kate lifted a shoulder in a careless shrug, even as her heart pounded like a bass drum in her chest. “I said a lot of things.”

“About us being consenting adults and there being no shame in embracing pleasure where we can find it,” he reminded her.

Shame?
Kate couldn’t remember using that word.

Joel leaned close, his breath warm against her ear. “I’m attracted to you, Kate. I have the feeling the attraction isn’t all one-sided. Am I right?”

Her breath caught, then began again. Dear God, were they really going to have this conversation in a skating rink?

“Well, um,” she stammered, “yes, I admit I do find you, uh, incredibly sexy.”

Incredibly sexy?
He’d simply asked if she was attracted to him. Yet, she’d skipped all the way to sexy? Kate stifled a groan.

Joel didn’t seem to mind the jump. His smile broadened. “Sexy, huh?”

“A little sexy.”

“Little isn’t a word a man normally wants to hear.” A light danced in his eyes. “Besides, I believe your exact words were ‘
incredibly
sexy.’”

He was having way too much fun at her expense.

Heat crawled up Kate’s neck. “I’m prone to exaggeration.”

“Well, I’m not,” Joel said as they completed another circle of the rink. “And may I say that I find you incredibly sexy, too.”

Kate’s knees went weak. If he hadn’t been holding on to her, she’d have stumbled.

He tightened his grip and it felt as if he’d never let her go. But, of course, Kate knew that wasn’t true. He’d made that very clear at the diner.

“Any suggestions on how we, uh, deal with this attraction?” The second the words left Kate’s mouth, her entire body began to hum as she considered the possibilities.

“That’s a tough one,” he said, his expression suddenly serious.

“We could sleep together,” Kate said, as casually as if she was suggesting another turn around the rink. “See if that gets this out of our system. This heat between us may be simply the case of two young healthy people not having had sex in a long time.”

Joel was silent for a long moment, then cocked his head in an inquiring tilt. “Didn’t you just recently break up with Ryan?”

For a second Kate wasn’t sure what that had to do with this discussion. Then it hit her. Like almost everyone else in the world, Joel connected dating with sexual activity. While Ryan had made it clear he wanted to sleep with her, the desire had never been there for her.

“Ryan and I weren’t intimate,” she said simply.

“Apologies,” he said with a sheepish expression. “I shouldn’t have assumed that you and he were—”

“No worries,” Kate said. “It was a logical assumption.”

But Joel was no longer listening. His gaze had dropped and now lingered on the scooped neckline of her top. Her nipples stiffened, straining toward the remembered delight of his touch.

“I don’t think once will be enough to get you out of my system,” he murmured, stepping close and twining a strand of her hair loosely around his fingers. “But we can’t be sleeping together with Chloe around.”

It was strange, yet oddly reassuring, that they were discussing this with the same care they would give any other major decision. She had to appreciate his concern for the example he’d be setting for Chloe.

It was too bad she found it so difficult to concentrate. Her eyes, which seemed to suddenly develop a mind of their own, zeroed in on the area directly below his belt buckle. “She’ll be out of town for two weeks.”