The Dating Game. Sandra Field
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Название: The Dating Game
Автор: Sandra Field
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
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‘Is she speaking from personal experience?’
Teal gave a choked laugh. ‘It’s not like you to be bitchy.’
‘You have no idea what I’m like.’
The question forced itself past his lips. ‘Are you going to bed with him, Julie?’
‘Really, Teal, what kind of a question is that?’
‘A fairly straightforward one, I would have thought.’
‘You’re not in court—this is no place for a cross-examination,’ she said, and her lips—very kissable lips—compressed in a way that made his hands tighten their hold. ‘Don’t grab me,’ she added crossly.
‘Why not? Because I’m not a brilliant neurosurgeon, just a lawyer, and they’re a dime a dozen?’
‘Boy, you’re sure spoiling for a fight, aren’t you? Not that I’m surprised. Three hours of Dr Reid would put a saint in a bad mood.’
‘She’s an intelligent and attractive woman.’
‘So are you going to bed with her, Teal?’ she parried nastily.
‘No,’ he announced. ‘Why was she so rude to you?’
‘On my last shift she yelled at me in front of several interns and two other doctors for a mistake I hadn’t made. When I pointed out her error, she declined to apologize.’ Julie sniffed. ‘She treats patients like collections of removable organs and nurses like dirt.’
Somehow Teal had no trouble believing every word Julie had just said. ‘Then we agree about something,’ he remarked.
‘What’s that?’ she asked suspiciously.
‘Neither of us likes the other’s choice of a date.’
‘You have no reason to dislike Nick,’ she flashed.
He remembered the hand sliding down her hip and said curtly, ‘Danny deserves better of you than someone like Nick.’
‘Danny’s got nothing to do with it!’
‘So you don’t take your men home when you go to bed with them? How discreet of you,’ he sneered, recognizing with a distant part of his brain that he was behaving reprehensibly.
‘What have you got against me, Teal?’ Julie demanded. ‘You’ve disliked me from the minute we met.’
You’re beautiful and full of life and you’re driving me crazy...
For a horrible moment Teal thought he had spoken the words out loud. ‘Just don’t expose my son to your love life—that’s an order,’ he said coldly. ‘He likes you and I wouldn’t want him thinking promiscuity is acceptable adult behavior.’
‘I promise that when I stand on a street corner soliciting it won’t be your street,’ she snapped. ‘It’s beyond me how you have such a nice son! Since—like most men—you’re totally wrapped up in your job, I can only presume that your wife brought Scott up.’
She felt Teal’s instant response through her fingers: a tightening of his shoulder muscles, a rigidity in his spine. ‘Leave my wife out of this,’ he grated. ‘She’s none of your business and never will be. And now I’d better hand you back to Nick, hadn’t I? I wouldn’t want the two of you to waste any time.’
As the saxophone whispered its last chords and the dancers clapped he led her toward the other couple. ‘Yours, I believe,’ he said to Nick, and smiled rather more warmly than he had intended at Deirdre. ‘Why don’t we take a break and get a drink?’ he suggested, and without a backward look threaded his way off the dance-floor.
There were two other couples that Teal knew at the bar, and they got into a ribald discussion on senate reform. An hour later when he and Deirdre went back to the ballroom, there was no sign of Nick and Julie.
They’ve gone to his place, Teal thought viciously, and wondered why in God’s name it mattered to him. Almost as though she’d read his mind Deirdre said, ‘Why don’t we go to my apartment for a nightcap, Teal? I’ve just about had enough of this.’ So he wouldn’t mistake her meaning, she traced his lower lip with her finger, her eyes a mingling of mockery and seduction.
He removed her hand. ‘I’m not into casual sex, Deirdre.’
‘It’s the only kind worth having.’
‘Not for me...sorry.’
‘I could change your mind.’
He gave her a smile every bit as mocking as her own. ‘Haven’t you heard that no means no?’
‘What a liberated man you are, Teal,’ she responded, with no intent to flatter. ‘Tell the truth—if I were Julie Ferris, no would mean yes. Because you’d rather be standing in Nick’s shoes than your own right now. Not that I can imagine Nick’s still wearing his shoes.’
Teal felt a surge of pure fury. Battling it down, he said, ‘I’ll take you home.’ And I won’t go out with you again, he thought. Thank you very much.
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