Page 12 of Boyfriend of the Hour

“You find me sitting in your room, andthat’swhat surprises you?” I had to laugh. “You know, I should have guessed you’re a doctor. Now that I think about it, you said you worked at the hospital once. But I probably thought you were a custodian.”

The frown turned into a delicious scowl that made his glasses ride up his long, almost-straight nose. “I look like a custodian?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Do I look like a bartender?”

He stared at me for a long moment but didn’t answer.

So much for jokes.

Of course, I already knew Dr. Hunt wasn’t much of a joker. In all the weeks he’d come to Opal, he’d never once laughed at one of my punch lines. Notone.

Didn’t stop me from coming up with others, though.

I sighed, making my big red hoops swing back and forth over my shoulders. “Joni is a nickname. Short for Giovanna. I, um, couldn’t actually pronounce my own name until I was almost seven, so the version Icouldsay was the one that stuck.”

I honestly didn’t know why I told him that embarrassing tidbit other than the fact that I generally had a hard time not saying the first thing to pop into my head anyway. This was why Nonna was forever telling me to think before I speak.

“It’s all right,” Dr. Hunt said almost absently. “I didn’t speak at all until I was almost four.”

I brightened. “Really?”

It seemed unlikely. Smart guy like this—I assumed he had to be smart if he was a freaking surgeon—and he didn’t talk until he was four?

Huh.

“Nathaniel was difficult for me until my palate formed completely.” He nodded but didn’t meet my eye as he flipped through my chart. Looking for what? Inconsistencies? Credit Scores? My personal dating history in case he wanted to ask me out?

In my dreams. Guys like this didn’t fall for girls like me. They took us home for a night and forgot our names the very next day.

“Nathaniel?” I tested the name on my tongue. It tasted like the deepest, darkest chocolate. My insides warmed. “I could see that being tough for a toddler too. But I like it.”

Dr. Hunt looked up, his dark eyes softened a bit. I wondered if he might smile, but he didn’t. “Thanks. I like Giovanna too. I like the way it feels on my tongue.”

His gaze flickered to my mouth. We stared at each other like it was completely normal for a doctor and patient to pronounce each other’s names like they were the dirtiest words in the dictionary. As if I wasn’t sitting here in nothing but a paper sheet, imagining exactly how this physician might growl the name while doing something a whole lot dirtier than reading it off a chart.

What was wrong with me?

Oh, right.

Desperate, remember?

Dr. Hunt sat on his stool and turned toward the desk to finish reviewing my chart like I wasn’t a quivering mess on his exam table. Obviously, he wasn’t affected by this odd tension. Something was very, very wrong with me.

“I should have known Nathaniel Hunt was you when I came in here,” I babbled on, because I honestly could not deal withsilence. “Should have remembered it from your credit card. I mean, how many Nathaniel Hunts are there in New York? Twenty? I doubt even that. But it’s not something I would ever pay attention to, which my family absolutely can’t stand. They always say I’m a dumb blonde without the hair color. I don’t even have more than two cents to rub together.”

Dr. Hunt turned back with another frown. “I don’t think you’re dumb. There’s no logical reason you would know what I do for a living, since I never told you.”

I smiled at the joke. But when he didn’t return my smile, I realized he wasn’t actually making one. Just pointing out a fact.

“Well, thanks,” I said. “Maybe it’s a good thing that my plastic surgeon is also kind of my friend.”

For some reason, the doctor stiffened when I mentioned his profession.

He cleared his throat roughly. “So, a breast augmentation? Why don’t you tell me more about what you want?”

I nodded, then hooked my ankles together to keep them from jiggling. I was having an even harder time keeping still than usual. “I—I think it will, um, suit me. Improve things, maybe.”

Dr. Hunt remained as still as a statue while he listened. “I don’t—all right. Let’s talk about what you’re looking for in terms of size and shape.”