One Night with the Doctor. Cindy Kirk

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      Chapter Two

      Poppy ignored him the rest of the evening.

      From across the room Benedict watched the pretty brunette laughing with Lexi Delacourt, a fellow social worker. Even though Poppy had a clear line of vision to him, she didn’t once glance in his direction.

      Benedict rocked back on his heels and blew out a breath.

      “Perfect Poppy is hot.” Tripp Randall, the CEO of Jackson Hole Hospital, spoke over Benedict’s left shoulder.

      “Perfect Poppy?” Benedict raised a brow.

      “That’s what everyone called her back in high school.”

      “Why?”

      “Always looked perfect, I guess.” Tripp shrugged. “You should go after her.”

      “Save your breath, Randall.” The smile he sent the administrator showed a lot of teeth. “I don’t need a matchmaker.”

      Still, Benedict understood the hopeful undertone. Tripp obviously found it encouraging that he was showing interest in Poppy, rather than Tripp’s younger sister, Hailey. The fact that he and Hailey had gone out on several dates in the past six months hadn’t sat well with the hospital administrator.

      Though Tripp considered him a friend, heck they even played on the same basketball league, he was protective of Hailey and believed that, at twenty-six, she was much too young for him.

      Benedict didn’t agree with that assessment but he didn’t care enough to argue the point.

      “That was some kiss you shared under the mistletoe,” Tripp continued in an offhand tone that Benedict guessed was anything but casual.

      “So good—” Benedict pulled his gaze from Poppy and frowned “—she hasn’t spoken to me since.”

      He had to resist the urge to turn back to Poppy, to keep her in sight. But that would make him look desperate, which he most certainly had never been and wasn’t now.

      “How odd.” Tripp brought a glass of champagne to his lips. “From where I stood earlier it appeared she enjoyed locking lips with you.”

      Benedict lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug and studied the dark burgundy liquid in his glass. Poppy’s reaction after the kiss puzzled him, as well. He was positive, or almost positive, he hadn’t misread the interested signals she’d been giving off.

      It wasn’t as if they’d been strangers. He’d originally met Poppy last fall at another of Travis Fisher’s parties. Benedict had enjoyed their brief conversation that night. Enjoyed it so much he found himself hoping their paths would cross again at one of the parties over the holidays. She hadn’t shown her face at any of the events. Until tonight.

      Although he’d arrived late, the moment he spotted Poppy he was glad he’d come. It had been going well until he’d stolen a quick kiss with all the finesse of a schoolboy in the throes of a first crush.

      Benedict raked a hand through his hair and expelled a harsh breath. He had no one to blame for the current situation but himself.

      “Why don’t you ask her to dance again?”

      “Why don’t you mind your own damn business?” Benedict shot back, frustration twisting his gut into a knot.

      “Okay, okay.” Tripp raised his hands, palms out.

      The sound of feminine laughter rang out and Benedict slanted a quick glance in Poppy’s direction. God, she was beautiful. The red dress hugged her body like a second skin.

      “Want to hit the Flying Crane with me?”

      Benedict jerked his attention back to Tripp.

      “On the fourteenth.” The hospital administrator’s eyes took on a hopeful gleam.

      “That’s Valentine’s Day,” Benedict reminded him. “I’m pretty sure you don’t want to spend the evening with me when you could be with her.”

      He gestured with his head to where Tripp’s bride stood speaking with the hostess. Adrianna, or Anna as she’d recently instructed him to call her, was lean and voluptuous with thick dark hair and a face that belonged on a cover of a fashion magazine. She was also a well-respected midwife.

      Tripp shifted his gaze and Benedict experienced a stab of envy at the pride and love in the newly married man’s eyes.

      “Anna СКАЧАТЬ