The Playboy's Proposal (Sorensen Family) (12 page)

Any other time, he’d probably have accepted Lela’s offer for company right then, having a long night of solitude ahead for himself anyhow. But for some reason, hanging out with the woman, no matter how beautiful she was, had no appeal. She would inevitably ply him with questions, lay the compliments on thick, and probably have him in her bed before they could finish the first bottle of wine.

It was…predictable.

Something that he certainly couldn’t say about spending time with Benny Sorensen.

With panache, he tossed the card like a Frisbee, scoring a point as it hit and fell into the wastebasket. He felt lighter already, although why wasn’t something he was ready to analyze.

Instead, he savored his bourbon, the music, the view before him, and the memory of someone’s unbridled and joyful laugh as the wind whipped her hair while they’d cruised down the interstate.

Chapter Twelve

“That’s the fourth case of hand, foot, and mouth I’ve seen this week,” Benny said to Roz the following morning, watching two twin boys sucking on Popsicles follow their mother out of the office. “Once it takes hold at a place like a day care or summer camp, it just spreads like crazy.”

“You have an ear infection in exam room four and well checks and vaccinations with the three Johnson kids in two.”

Benny nodded and finished noting the chart as Roz left to get the vaccinations ordered and prepared.

“Good morning, Dr. Sorensen.” Her heart skipped a beat as she glanced to her right to see none other than Luke Seeley bearing down on her, an easy smile on his face. “How did your weekend go?”

Right. The weekend with the mystery man who was not anyone serious. Although the mystery man might have been invented, the time with Henry was not. And that had been, strangely enough…fun.

She returned his smile. “Pretty well. Can’t complain,” she said vaguely, noticing the way he studied her with certain interest. “And yours?”

“To tell you the truth, I was kind of thinking of you. Enough so that I thought if you weren’t doing anything, maybe you’d like to catch dinner with me tonight. There’s a new sushi restaurant I heard about that I thought we might check out.”

A date?

Benny clenched her fists at her side to stop the near overpowering impulse to fist bump the air or wave them around in victory.

Wait. Sushi? An image of cold, raw, gelatinous fish passing her mouth brought a wave of nausea. Sure, there were an infinite variety of choices of sushi and sashimi that were available and she’d tried many of them, but it seemed pointless to go somewhere where the only way she could consume such concoctions was by slathering them in soy sauce and wasabi until her nasal passages burned so she couldn’t taste it in the first place.

Fortunately, she was supposed to play coy here, if Henry were to be believed. And he’d been right so far…

She looked down at her chart, pretending to consider it before answering apologetically. “I’m afraid I can’t tonight.”

“Okay. What about Wednesday? And before you decline, I know for a fact that Wednesdays you usually pick up a pizza from around the corner and head home.”

“Really? Are you stalking me, Dr. Seeley?”

“Just paying attention.”

And he was right. Wednesdays the restaurant offered free cheesy bread with any size pizza and Benny always grabbed a pepperoni-and-olive pizza and sat in for a night alone of television and gluttony. Kind of like every night, actually. Although of late, she’d been less alone than usual, thanks to the company of her neighbor, whose witty banter and observations were remarkably…enjoyable.

She pretended to consider it again before slowly nodding. “Okay. I think I’m open.”

His smile widened, and he backed away. “Good. I’m going to hold you to it, and in the meantime, I’ll get out of your way before you remember you have other plans.”

He turned and headed down the hall, and for a minute, Benny fought the outrageous giggle that wanted to burst out.

She’d done it.

No tee time on the greens with Luke and his golf buddies. No, she had a real, honest-to-goodness date with Luke Seeley.

Dinner. Dim light, raw fish—no, she pushed that image away, and instead imagined the two of them laughing and talking in hushed whispers, of him taking her hand in his or maybe even dropping his hand to her knee as a shiver of excitement ran through her. Of Luke leaning forward until she could feel his breath on her face, the touch of his lips—

“Dr. Sorensen?” Roz’s gravelly voice pulled her out of her daydream. “Ear infection exam room four?” she reminded her.

“Right, Roz. Thanks.” Biting her lip to stop the ridiculous smile that wanted to burst out, she hurried to the exam room, determined to push away thoughts of kisses and hand-holding—at least until she was in the privacy of her office.

Henry was not going to believe it.

…

“You know, you’ve been in there for ten minutes already. If you want my opinion, you’re going to have to come out at some point.” It was after eight on Tuesday night, the night before the big date, and at Benny’s request, Henry had stopped by to help her decide what to wear.

“I know, I know. I’ll be out in a minute. Just remember, we’re only going to dinner, so I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard, but at the same time, I want to look…unforgettable.”

“Understood,” he said patiently. When Benny had texted him yesterday afternoon with the news that she’d scored an actual dinner date with Luke, he couldn’t say he’d necessarily been surprised. Not after he’d seen her in action himself at the country club on Sunday. And from what Benny had reported, the good doctor had been showing definite interest in her, bringing her coffee and seeking her out for conversation, so it was only a matter of time.

Yet despite not being surprised by the invitation, Henry was feeling a bit out of sorts the past couple of days, and he couldn’t exactly place why. This was the goal, the reason he was helping his pesky neighbor. To get her out and dating Luke Seeley so she’d get off his back and drop her complaint with the HOA. And it looked like not only were they accomplishing that goal, but in a surprising turn of events, he’d also made a new friend.

So why did the fact that things were coming together make him so damn…annoyed?

He returned his attention to the television where Benny had put on some legal show that starred that woman from ER. The episode was actually more interesting than he’d like to admit and he turned it up as he waited for Benny to get the guts to come out of her bedroom.

“So?” she asked finally, just as the jury was coming back with their verdict.

He paused the show, ready to give her his complete attention, determined to say whatever was necessary to give her the confidence she’d need to make the night a success.

Instead he was struck silent, stunned by the way the wispy blue dress patterned with bright red flowers settled so softly and enticingly around her curvy figure. The way the sexy red-heeled sandals enhanced her strong, shapely calves and legs, and the colors opened up her already pretty face, barely touched by makeup and a cranberry color to her lips. Her hair was down, the first time he’d seen it that way, and it was dark and thick and would make any man want to run his fingers through the wavy mass. Her eyes—framed so perfectly under the fringe of bangs—glowed as she watched his reaction, in equal parts excitement and nervousness.

He cleared his throat. “You’ve nailed it. Luke won’t be able to take his eyes off you.” Henry knew
he
couldn’t. Not with the shy, sexy appeal that Benny exuded.

She looked down, frowning as she did so. “You don’t think it’s a little too low cut? I don’t want to be shoving these things in his face.”

Luke would only be so lucky, but Henry managed a smile. There was only a delectable hint of cleavage, nothing Pamela Anderson-ish, but for Benny—who, now that he thought about it, preferred higher necklines and minimal cleavage—it might seem immodest. Even if it was far from it. He did a mental headshake as he stopped any further thoughts of Benny’s breasts. Which was harder than he expected.

She walked to the kitchen, the hem of the skirt flipping as she did, and uncorked a bottle of red. “Did you want a glass?”

He shook his head. Best to keep all his faculties about him. “I’m good.”

She nodded and filled her own and came over to sit on the couch next to him. From his angle, he was seeing a lot more of that cleavage than he’d first observed, and he realized that Luke Seeley was going to have the same view tomorrow night—something that irritated Henry.

“You think you might want to go change? Wouldn’t want you spill anything on it before you even make it to your date.”

“No. I think I need to get used to showing this much skin. It might make me less self-conscious tomorrow.”

Great.
It took every ounce of his self-control to pull his gaze from Benny and back to the television. He unpaused it, hoping for any distraction. “I’m surprised you’re into legal dramas. I would think you’d be watching medical shows like
Grey’s Anatomy
.”

She grimaced. “Only if I want to end up slamming my head against a wall or yelling rabidly at the television screen before counting every medical error and calling Daisy to vent. She’s pretty much forbidden me from ever watching them again, or at least from calling her after.”

He chuckled. “I can’t blame you there. Television and movies never depict an ad agency correctly, either. Don’t even get me started on
Bewitched
. My head will spin.”

“I love that show.”

“I’m sure you do. Let’s just say their depiction of the guy’s job was as fictional as the wife who only twitches her nose to practice magic.”

She laughed, a nice, unabashed sound. “I’ll keep that in mind next time I catch an episode. Congratulations, by the way. I looked up your agency the other night.”

She had looked him up? He glanced back at her, keeping his attention on those blue eyes. Not trusting himself to look farther south. “Now who’s stalking me?”

“What that woman said in the elevator the other night, about your firm and the awards it’s received, made me curious. All your bragging about being able to sell anything, spin anything, wasn’t too far off the mark, I see. You’re…good. I can personally attest to that,” she said, making a sweeping motion toward herself.

“You didn’t need as much spin as you think. And thank you.”

His job and the work he did there was a source of great pride for him. At one point in his life, he hadn’t thought he’d ever be able to shake the family moniker and he’d go down as one of those spoiled rich kids who rested on their family laurels rather than ever accomplishing anything for themselves. He had been the Brighton heir for so long and it had taken him all of his adult life to finally gain recognition for anything outside that.

Getting that nomination was the consummation of that goal.

“She mentioned that your agency was nominated for best campaign?”

He nodded. “They announced the finalists a couple of weeks ago, the winners will be announced at the end of the annual conference at a big awards dinner. But even if we don’t take the number-one spot, just being nominated is a huge honor.”

“You’ve done well for yourself, Henry. And…I owe you an apology. When I first moved in, I made presumptions about you. That you were a shallow, spoiled, entitled playboy who had no true ambition.”

“You wouldn’t be the first,” he said wryly.

“Well, I was wrong. You’ve surprised me. You’re a whole lot more than I expected.” She looked at him in earnest, her eyes wide and sincere. The effect of that gaze shaking him more than he liked. “So…I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted. What about you? What made you want to go into medicine?”

She took a sip of her wine and smiled at some memory. “When I was a kid, they showed these pictures in school from Doctors Without Borders about all these children in third-world countries who were born with physical deformities, like cleft palates. They talked about how these poor kids didn’t have basic medical care, let alone the medical technology to correct these often life-threatening things. I came home crying, and with my mom’s help, held a yard sale that same week, earning a whopping seventy-eight dollars that I then donated to the cause. Daisy still hasn’t forgiven me for selling her new Easy-Bake Oven.”

“Naturally,” he said and chuckled at the image of a determined young Benny trying to save the world, even then.

“I knew then that I wanted to be able to do something as brave and meaningful. By the time I was in medical school, though, I realized surgery didn’t have the same appeal as much as the day-to-day care of those patients, of being a caring face and voice to keep kids safe and healthy. I still plan on doing a stint in Doctors Without Borders, though. In five years. I just need to get on top of my student loans, and then I’m going to take a year off and try to give a little back.”

A bleeding heart was what she was. But Henry couldn’t help but admire her ambition and philanthropic spirit. “And how do you think this will fit in with your plan to date and—I imagine—marry the great Luke Seeley? Wouldn’t a year apart be kind of difficult, especially if you two had any…kids.” He nearly choked saying it out loud. Not because he had a problem with kids, but because the thought of Benny having them with Luke didn’t sit well.

“I imagine, should the two of us be so entwined in the future,” she said coyly, swirling the wine in her glass, “that he’ll be perfectly fine coming with me. He actually served two years in Sudan with Doctors Without Borders.”

Of course he did. Saint freaking Luke Seeley.

The episode ended, and Benny grabbed the remote sitting between them and flipped the television off before setting her wine on the coffee table. She reached down to undo the clasp on her shoes, giving him a dangerous glimpse of her full breasts pushed up against the delicate fabric of her dress.

Good God. This was too much.

He jumped to his feet. “I think I’ll have a glass of that wine after all.”

“Help yourself,” Benny said, preoccupied with the other shoe now.

By the time he’d returned, both shoes were resting on the floor and Benny’s feet were tucked beneath her while she sipped from her glass. “Here,” he offered, topping off her drink, having brought the bottle with him. He took a seat on the other end of the couch, needing to ensure the maximum amount of space between them.

Benny seemed to be mulling over something as she stared into her glass. “Henry? Can I ask you something?”

He took a taste of the wine, nodding at her to continue.

“And I need you to be one hundred percent honest with me—no holding back. How much attention do men give to a woman’s…experience? In bed, I mean.”

He nearly spewed his mouthful of wine out. Henry hadn’t known what question Benny had been about to ask him, but a discussion about sex was the absolute last thing he’d expected.

“What are we talking about here, Benny? Are you meaning…sex?” Good God almighty. She wasn’t saying she was a virgin, was she? Trying to keep the shock from his tone, he asked her, “You’ve had sex before, haven’t you?”