Page 31 of Off Plan

“You didn’t seem to mind being this close when we were in the car earlier and you were all up inmybusiness, inserting yourself where you didn’t belong. Not fun, is it?”

“Whatexactly are you doing here, Fenn? Are you going to hit me? Or are you trying to intimidate me because you know I hate enclosed spaces? Or are you trying to fuck with me because I’m straight and you’re gay? If it’s the third, let me just say, that’s probably one of the most insulting things anyone’s ever done to me, so congratulations on that. What iswrongwith you?”

Fenn blinked. He frowned. He swallowed. He looked vaguely stunned. Then he immediately stepped back.

“Fenn Fisher Reardon.” Rafe Goodman’s voice boomed from the doorway. “What in the holy hell are you doing without your shirt, boy?”

“I… I was, ah…” Fenn drew a deep breath and looked at his feet. His cheeks were pink, and his bad eye was still livid and swollen. He seemed absolutely miserable.

And heought to, I reminded myself. There was no excuse for trying to intimidate someone the way he had been. And for what? What did he dislike about me so much?

But nearly as incomprehensible was my overwhelming urge to protect the idiot.

“Medical question,” I lied. “Mr. Reardon was asking for my professional opinion on something.”

Fenn looked up at me in surprise, his eyes searching mine.

“Fenn did?” Rafe frowned, looking between us. “Why? What’s wrong with him?”

“Doctor-patient confidentiality,” I lied again. “But not to worry. I was just assuring him that he seems to be in good health. Isn’t that right, Fenn?”

“Yeah,” Fenn confirmed gruffly. “That’s what you said.”

I nodded briskly and turned my attention to his uncle, trying not to notice that Fenn was still half-naked and radiating heat like my own personal sun. “Now, Mr. Goodman. You and I have several things to discuss.”

Rafe crossed from the door to the rolling chair on the far side of the mahogany table and dropped into it heavily. “I suppose we do. Have you seen your room yet?” He looked from me to Fenn and back again. “I had Gloria go out and buy you a whole new bedding set—new pillows, sheets, bedcover thingy. The works!”

“I haven’t seen it. I’m sure it’s lovely. But the larger issue, Mr. Goodman—”

“Oh!” Rafe snapped his fingers. “Towels, too. Fenn, here, was always bitching about the towels when he first came to Whispering Key. Weren’t you, Fenn?”

Fenn reached down, snatched his shirt up off the floor, and pulled it over his head. He didn’t answer.

Rafe sighed. “That’s my nephew for you. Never happy, that one. Living here on God’s own island, at one with nature, blessed with the most beautiful views on this entire planet, and he complains about scratchy towels.”

A muscle in Fenn’s jaw ticked.

“You led me to believe that conditions on this island were far different than they actually are,” I said, getting the conversation back on track before Fenn could reply. “For example, you said the majority of my patients would be guests, and there are none. You provided a list of amenities that don’t exist. You…”

“Those things don’t existyet.” Rafe leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers over his stomach, supremely unconcerned. “They will.”

You were played, Loafers.

I clenched my hands into fists. “You lied, Mr. Goodman.”

“Ianticipated, Dr. Bloom. Your contract is for three years. By the end of those three years, this island will be turning people away.” He nodded once, firmly. “And you can take that to the bank.”

“And the grant I was offered to pay off my student loans? Was that something you anticipated, too?”

The man looked vaguely insulted. “Of course not! I have an investor who fronted the money for that. And your three years’ salary, too. I’d never lie about that.”

“No, just about everything else.” Fenn shook his head and glared at the ceiling. “You never stop, do you?”

It was a rhetorical question, but Rafe leaned forward, making the chair’s springs squeak in protest. “No, Fenn. I never do, and I never will. Not when it comes to improving the lives of the people on this island. To making things better formy family.” He sat back in his chair and turned his attention to me. “Youunderstand how the world works, Dr. Bloom. This island is a bit of a fixer-upper. A diamond in the rough. But for a man who can look past all the surface flaws, the rewards will beunlimited. I need to know… are you that man?”

Rafe’s eyes were alight with the zeal of a true believer, and for a second, I was caught. Hypnotized. “I…”

“Stop! You’re selling Loafers a pile of horseshit, Rafe, and I won’t have it,” Fenn insisted.