Charlie's Last Stand Read online

  “My date for tonight?”

  “Your brother mentioned it.” He took her measure before reaching for the doorknob. “I hate to give you fashion advice, Charlie, but that dress might be a little too revealing for work.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Now that we've decided that you don't like my dress, can we move on with our day?”

  What kind of ass am I? He had five minutes between patients to apologize for the funeral comment and he'd ended up insulting her even further on the dress. The sight of her chest and those perfect breasts had turned his mind to mush.

  “It's not that I don't like your dress.” It's just that he wanted it off her. Preferably on his bedroom floor. He let his gaze roam over her tight little body again. He couldn't work like this, examining his patients and wondering what Charlie looked like under her clothes. “I only meant that it wasn't exactly suited for the office or for the weather. You did look cold when you walked in today.”

  “How dare you? One day out of the year I wear a dress to work and you have the nerve to tell me that you think it's unprofessional.”

  “Umm.” He took a few steps back as she stalked towards him. “It's a nice dress. A very nice dress.”

  “Then why are you getting on me about it?”

  He sighed. He couldn't tell her that he was ticked off that she already had a date for the night. That she was ready to dip her toe back into the dating pool and he wasn't the one joining her. He'd had enough time, sitting on the sidelines. No way was he going to do it again. “I don't know. It's just not you.”

  She looked down and smoothed her hands over the dress. “It's not me?”

  Her eyes met his and he felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. His effervescent Charlie looked beaten down. He had to fix this. “You usually go for the cute, comfortable look, not...” the sexy, driving Chris to distraction look.

  She tilted her head. “You think I'm cute.”

  “Sure.”

  “Cute as a kitten?” Her voice went higher as she settled her hands on her hips.

  Warning bells were going off in his head. Clearly he'd said something wrong but he failed to find the right words to make things okay with her. “In a good way.”

  “Is there a good way to that?” She crossed her arms below her chest, only plumping those beauties up more for his eyes. “I can be sexy. I can be very sexy.”

  He could fix this. This was Charlie. His best friend's sister. The one that used to bring him coffee and ice cream during his late nights studying through med school. For the last year and a half, she'd helped him open his own practice and run it. They spent more time together than most married couples. “You're completely right. You can do sexy. You are sexy.”

  Her eyes locked on his. “You're pacifying me. Did my brother put you up to this?” She tapped a finger on her arm, her head shaking back and forth before she seemed to settle on a decision. “Well, someone thinks I'm sexy. I am going on a date tonight, right? He must think I have something to offer”

  “No one said you didn't have something to offer, Charlie. How did we even end up talking about this?”

  “Oh, you insulted my dress, asked me if I was going to a funeral and then told me I was unprofessional. To round it out, you called me cute.” She bit off the last word.

  “I did not call you unprofessional and what's wrong with cute?”

  Cute meant cuddling. Cute meant enjoying the little things, like how Charlie snorted when she laughed or had to eat her M&Ms in rainbow order.

  “Cute is not sexy. It's comfortable. It's that awful sweatshirt you wear on Saturdays for college football. It's your best friend's little sister, not the...”

  He held his breath and waited for her to finish. This was it. He could tell her that he hadn't thought of her as Will's little sister in a long time. That he'd been so busy getting through med school and then his residency after, he'd thought he'd have all the time in the world to start something romantic with her. That he'd gotten numbingly drunk twice in his life, the night she announced her engagement and the night of her wedding.

  He imagined planting a kiss on her pink lips, running his hands over her and demanding she ditch whoever she planned to go out with that night. She had to give him the chance he'd been waiting on because he knew that it was all he needed to convince her that they were perfect for each other. “Charlie...”

  “See, that's it. Charlie is cute. Charlie is comfortable, but I'm Charlotte too.”

  He couldn't wrap his head around her logic. Of course, she was Charlotte but Charlie was his friend. Charlie was...Charlie.

  A sharp knock against the door took any chance of disclosure away. Diane called through the door. “Doc, you've got patients waiting for you in one, three, and four. Get to it.”

  He turned away from Charlie and walked out into the hallway. Diane narrowed her eyes at him before she spoke. “We're double booking you.” The phone rang down the hall and she blew out a breath. “Looks like you're going to be one busy doctor today. We've had a few walk-ins this morning but the phone has been off the hook with people complaining of stomach cramps. I've called Dr. Harris to cancel your lunch but she hasn't picked up so I left a message.”

  He cringed. He'd totally forgotten about Celeste. “Thanks.”

  Awesome. The stomach virus was making its way through his patients while he was going through a personal crisis and he still hadn't found a way to apologize to Charlie for his comments about her dress.

  ****

  What happened to all of her grand plans? She hadn't really thought beyond getting his attention with her dress and then going from there. Listening to his fashion commentating had her realizing that he still wasn't seeing her as a woman but the little sister of one of his oldest friends.

  She had no doubt that the only one seeing her lacy underwear tonight would be herself if she didn't resort to Plan B. She pulled out the take out menu from Silviano's and placed it on her desk. She planned on ordering Chris's favorite dishes for lunch, setting up as romantic of a spot as possible in a busy doctor's office, and bringing him around to her way of thinking.

  She took one deep breath and dug in to her normal morning routine. She prided herself on running a smooth office for Chris. Nothing would get in the way of that, even personal problems.

  Chris had believed in her, had given her the motivation to move on when her divorce was still a fresh wound. When the real estate market crashed, her job as a real estate agent had tanked along with it. It was just another reason to sulk and stay on her brother's couch for days eating one carton of Haagen Daaz after another.

  Chris pulled her out of it by giving her a mission. He told her he needed someone at the helm of his private practice that he could trust. He paid for her classes in medical billing and had her out searching for office space and then ordering carpets and paint colors, waiting room chairs and medical equipment.

  He'd awakened every one of the feelings she’d pushed away. Years ago she’d given up on him and tried to move on. It hadn’t worked out so well. She wouldn't think about how hard it would be to let him go again and move on if today was a failure.

  By tonight, she'd have her man. She couldn't think about any other outcome.

  She stepped to the front to speak to Diane when she was finally hit by how busy the office was. The waiting room was filled with people, every exam room occupied. Each door had a file in the pocket indicating that Chris still hadn't seen the patient inside. The phone was ringing non-stop and she entered the reception area to see that Di and their office assistant were both on the other lines.

  She answered the phone but put the patient on hold when they asked for a sick appointment. The nurse’s line was busy, as was every other line in the office. Di spun around to look at her when she hung up the phone.

  “What is going on here?”

  “Charlie, we're booked. I've filled every slot for the entire day and some. Dr. Chris is a little too popular for his own good. It seems like all of
Bristol is sick and he's the only doctor.”

  “Is it all the same complaints? Stomach stuff?”

  Diane nodded and picked up the phone. She offered the caller a six-thirty appointment. Charlie startled at the time. Chris was supposed to be out of the office by three for the holiday.

  Di got off the phone and shook her head. “They've opted for the walk-in clinic. I have a feeling they're going to wish they waited to come in here this evening. The wait there is going to be miserable.”

  “Did Chris agree to stay late tonight?”

  “He did. What a way to end the year. Not many people are going to be watching the ball drop tonight.” She turned all the way around so waiting patients couldn't see her. “They look like death. You might want to grab a can of disinfectant to clear your path.”

  Charlie looked into the waiting room and saw that Di was right. Their patients were pale, sweaty and miserable. Hopefully this bug would pass her by. The way the day was going, she wouldn't put it past her luck though. It would just round out her plans if she ended up sick as a dog by midnight.

  She returned to her office but slapped her hand against the door frame. If today was about winning Chris, every opportunity to be near him had to be seized. She headed for the small alcove he used to jot notes and type up prescriptions. She hopped up on his stool and waited.

  He walked in a few minutes later, dropped a file on the counter, and started rifling through drawers. He leaned down and opened the bottom cabinet, giving her a view of his ass. She had to restrain herself from reaching out for what was so tantalizingly close to her.

  She swallowed. There were sick people all around them. This was no time for her libido to be acting up. “What are you looking for?”

  “Mint, gum, anything that I can put in my mouth.”

  She sucked in a breath. The innuendo too obvious to ignore. “I might have something for you to put in your mouth.”

  He hit his head on the cabinet before straightening and staring at her. His eyes narrowed in on her cleavage and she froze as if his gaze was a physical touch. “What did you just say?”

  “I...” she stumbled over the rest of her words.

  He reached out to put the back of his hand on her forehead. “You really are getting sick. You look flushed.”

  His cool hand only set her heart racing. She couldn't answer him so she shook her head.

  He flipped his hand over and cupped her cheek, tipping her head up to look him straight on. “Are you sure?”

  She cleared her throat. “Healthy as a horse.”

  “Good.” He dropped his hand and turned back to the file on the counter. “I wouldn't want you to miss your date tonight.”

  At the mention of her date, she tensed. If he was thinking of her as more than just a friend, more than just a co-worker, wouldn't he want anything and everything to get in the way of her date?

  ****

  He didn’t want Charlie sick but at this point, anything that would cancel her date was welcome. The patient file in front of him failed to garner his attention. He had at least five other people waiting on him at that very moment. There was no time to imagine how Charlie's skin felt under his hand or how badly he wanted her. Hell, he was even starting to hear things. He had almost convinced himself that Charlie had offered him something to put in his mouth and not in the breath mint or gum kind of way. At least he’d won against the urge to follow her back to her office and demand that she cancel her date.

  He took care of a few prescriptions, wrote some notes in his last patient's file, and dropped it on his nurse's work station. He moved through five more patient exams, four with the same stomach complaints he'd been fielding all morning and one woman that thought she could wrangle a date in between having him examine her for panic attacks. He referred and deferred the last one. He hated when they were that obvious. The low cut shirt, the lingering fingers rubbing the spot above her heart, dipping lower until she was almost indecently rubbing herself. And all the while he was wondering about Charlie and her neckline and where that little black sweater had disappeared to.

  “Doc.” Diane caught him as he was about to enter into one of the exam rooms.

  He called out one second to the patient inside and closed the door softly behind him. “What's up?”

  “We haven't received a response from Dr Harris yet. We called her office but she’s not open today. Maybe you can reach her on her cell?” Diane gave him that look that spoke volumes without saying a word. She was too busy to be dealing with his lunch plans.

  “It's fine. If she shows up, I'll just cancel in person. She's a doctor, she'll understand.”

  “Right. Well, I've sent Julie to lunch. Charlie's pitching in to help with the phones.” She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something more. He could see her make the decision to hold back and she huffed before turning around.

  “Di, hold up.”

  She came back to him. He backed up until they were in the corner of the hall. “Is everything okay with Charlie?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “She hasn’t been herself for weeks and then today...I don't know. She just seems unhappy.”

  Diane rolled her eyes at him. “Have you asked her?”

  “No, not exactly.” He'd been too busy offending her in every possible way.

  “I think you need to ask her directly, Doc. If something's bothering her, you know she's not the type to come out with it. Maybe ask her out to dinner tonight?”

  He nodded and she gave him a small smile before going back to the reception area.

  He couldn't stand the idea that Charlie might not be happy working for him any longer. His practice's success rested solely on her shoulders. At the time, the idea of branching out on his own had only been a small glimmer. But Charlie had been floundering and when her brother mentioned that he was going to have to sandblast his sister from the couch if he was ever going to catch another Patriots game, the idea exploded.

  He'd managed her. Dropping little hints and then finally leading her to offer to help him. He paid for the classes she needed and she used her free time to learn how to run his office and to make the decisions he had no interest in. From checking out office space to finding deals on second-hand furniture, she organized it all. What if she realized that this wasn't something she was interested in after all? What if he managed her in to doing something she hated?

  He forced thoughts of Charlie away and continued working his way through patient appointments until she stopped him in the hallway. “You need a break.”

  He looked at his watch. He hadn't even realized the morning had passed. “I can't. I have people waiting for me.”

  “I had Diane stagger the next few appointments. You're not doing anyone favors by running on empty, Chris.”

  He nodded. How many patients had he already seen? Ten, twenty. Not being able to tell was never a good sign. He looked down the hallway and saw that he had two rooms with patients waiting. “I'll clear these two out and then take a short breather. Okay, boss?”

  He was relieved to see Charlie smile. No awkwardness between them, just the same bossy Charlie telling him what to do. “Can you come see me in my office as soon as you're done? I have something for you.”

  “I'll be there in ten minutes.”

  She swung her cute little ass around. He watched it all the way down the hallway until she slipped into her office.

  Diane cleared her throat behind him. “Doctor Harris is here. She's waiting in your office.” She gestured to the other end of the hallway with her head.

  “She didn't get the message?”

  Diane wrinkled her nose. “She apparently did but she came anyway.”

  “That's fine. I've been ordered to take a short break anyway.”

  Diane shrugged and turned around to return to reception. He thought he heard her say, “I don't think that's what Charlie had in mind,” but he didn't question her.

  He'd have to see what Charlie had for him after he deal
t with Celeste. She was damn persistent but he had to hear what she was proposing. It might be the key to fixing things between him and Charlie.

  He ran through the next two appointments and went straight to his office, his stomach hungry despite feeling dodgy. It was never fun to hear about other people’s gastrointestinal symptoms. Celeste was standing, looking over his pictures and bookshelves. She turned and smiled at him as he stood in the doorway. “Looks like you are a man in demand today. I brought you lunch. Hope you don't mind. I knew you'd skip if I didn't bring it to you.”

  Charlie's voice called out from behind him. “Did you already forget...”

  She stopped when she saw Celeste in the office. “Oh, Dr. Harris. I'm sorry I interrupted.” Her eyes narrowed on the bag of food sitting on his desk before she abruptly turned and walked away.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Wow, this manicotti is to die for.” Di took another bite, moaning as she chewed.

  Charlie couldn't even taste the food she had already shoveled in. All she could think about was Chris and his lunch date. Celeste Harris would be a perfect girlfriend for him. A doctor herself, she had it all, brains, beauty, and a thriving practice. Polished and accomplished, she was the total package in high heels.

  Everything Charlie was not.

  As he’d already pointed out, she wasn’t really the high heel wearing type. She couldn’t believe he had a freaking date on their day. Even if he didn't know that it was supposed to be their day, she blamed him for the whole mess. At least, he hadn't come to her office first to see the lunch she had already ordered for him. When she looked down at her desk and the foil containers, she felt that much more pathetic. It's how Di ended up eating Chris's favorite dish.

  She closed her eyes and sat back. There was no point in eating if she couldn't even enjoy it. She was glad that Di was pleased with her choices for Chris. She'd gone with soup, in case he wasn't interested in eating anything too heavy, manicotti, and a piece of cheesecake they were meant to share.

  She looked around her office as the four walls began to close in on her. Failure was not an option. It was a momentary setback and it wasn't like Chris hadn't had meals with other doctors before. She'd even gone with him to her share of charity events and networking ordeals. This didn't have to mean anything.