“Yeah. If you're ready to accept that you really like this woman by then, you can invite her to the house after all is done with her father. We’d like to meet her.”
The rest of the table nodded in agreement with him.
“Yeah, not happening,” I answered. “Not bringing her over to you assholes who are planning to philander around and take a pick of every chick you see that night.”
“Afraid her eyes might drift off you when she sees more worthy men?” Carl asked with a mocking grin. “Perhaps we might also use this as a challenge to see if she’s the one to tame our wild Dr. Pierce.”
It must have been the effect of the third scotch, because I was wanting to take these douches up on their stupid challenge.
We stood up to go to the games corner and play some pool. My mind was barely on the game as I thought about bringing Ella up to the beach house and hanging around snobs and celebrities. I wondered if she'd find it more uncomfortable than the night she and I had spent on the terrace in New York.
Why the hell was I planning a date with a woman I wasn’t even sure would giving me a second thought right now? I wanted her, but I’d messed up my first shot with her. Either I needed a plan to win her over after that disaster, or damn! I needed to get laid and get her out of my mind. That was a definite fact.
No woman had really caught my fancy in a while. It might be because I’d been so busy recently, but it was also true that no one had captured my interest the same way Ella had.
My job had been keeping me very busy anyway, and it wasn’t like me to go long without having sex.
Maybe if I had another scotch, I’d be able to find a romp to cure myself of this woman by getting laid tonight.
My cock twitched at the thought, and I eyed the women in the bar. Many looked for their perfect fit. I thought of finding a woman who would be up for a one-night romp fuck without dealing with any drama the day after.
I needed to get Ella out of my system. I couldn’t take any risk in relationships as I would just end up screwing it up in the end. The hours I worked were too much to be able to split them with having a woman in my life anyway. I needed to get a grip and just continue to focus on keeping life as simple as it was, my friends’ challenge be damned.
Satisfying my desires with one-night stands was definitely the simplest way to go.
CHAPTER 6
- ELLA -
I hadn’t seen Armand since the afternoon I’d come into town. He always seemed to come see dad when I was on shower or bathroom breaks, grabbing something from the cafeteria, or had dozed off in dad’s bedside comfortable chair.
We just never seemed to be able to connect since my arrival. I wondered if he was avoiding me intentionally, but I couldn't know for sure. I sincerely wished I would meet him because I wanted to thank him for what he was doing for my dad. I'd been skeptical at first that he was trying to keep my dad as his patient so he could pass advances to me, but that had turned out dead wrong.
I regretted judging him too harshly. He had proven himself to be a dedicated professional that took good care of my father. Maybe that one night of passion we'd shared can be put in the past now. He hadn’t acted like that had really happened after the first day we met. I couldn’t help but wonder… did it not mean much to him? We never made it all the way, after all…
I, however, could still recall every bit of passion from that night. He'd made me feel special. Yet although after being in the hospital for a few days, I was hearing what nurses gossiped about him. The female intern doctors couldn’t seem to stop gushing over how gorgeous he was and they constantly talked about him.
It seemed that I wasn’t the only woman he’d been having romantic entanglements with in recent times. Hell, I'd even heard the staff gossip about some gorgeous woman in his life — she who must not be named. Half the female staff clearly had an intense crush on him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of the ladies who worked here had gone even further and screwed the gorgeous doctor.
The man was certainly slick. A bit of a player even. Yet so attentive with his patients; he was like a completely different man when it came to caring for them. Well, at least according to what Dad told me. I hadn’t even seen him in passing. I would do better by sticking to being with my dad and helping him get back on his feet.
I sipped on my coffee and thought about what a whirlwind the last week had been. I had left the the business hanging back in New York, but thanks to Maia, it could still run. She said she’d handle the fashion shop while I was caring for my father. Not that there was much to handle anyway, as our finances were in shambles and on the brink of collapse. But knowing Maia was there helped me focus on my dad.
I'd spent most of the last thirty-six hours in the hospital, waiting in hopes that Dr. Pierce and his staff could ensure that dad was okay. X-rays, heart screening, and breathing exercises were thorough and regular to ensure Dad would be perfectly fit to be released from hospital and sent home.
They had taken him off the machine they'd installed to help him breathe easier. Dad told me the night before that when Dr. Pierce had come to do his nightly round, he had seen his lungs progressing well, and that he might soon be ready to go home. Dad said he'd asked after me too. It did make me feel warm and fuzzy inside that he had done so, yet I also had many open questions about my father’s health that I hoped he’d be able to answer those first.
“Ella,” my dad's hoarse voice called. I rushed over to him. He'd been in and out of sleep since they’d taken the breathing machine off him. His brown eyes blinked open and close as he tried to focus on my face.
“Well, good morning, sleepy head,” I said with a grin. “You okay?”
“I'd say not so good, but you look crappier than I feel.” A lazy smile accompanied his words.
“Thanks for the compliment.” I chuckled, running my hand to smoothen the hair that was pulled into a tight bun and still wet from letting it air dry.
“Well, I guess I'm alive since this doesn't look like heaven?”
“Uh, dad. You mean you’re not staring at an angel?”