Page 18 of What the Doctor Ordered

K iley

My heart stopped when I heard my name fall from the stranger’s mouth. I took a step back and my body started to go into a panic, my mind racing with questions. Who was this guy? How did he know my name? And what did he want with me?

The panic dissipated quickly as I studied the man in front of me, though. My instincts told me that he wasn’t dangerous. He was well-dressed and while he was staring at me with interest, it was more curiosity than malice.

“Yes,” I finally managed to answer. “I’m Kiley.”

I debated lying and saying that he had the wrong person, but something stopped me from deceiving him.

It might have been the expression in his warm eyes.

There was something a little more intense than curiosity in them, but it still didn’t seem like he intended me any harm. Still, I warned myself to be cautious.

I relaxed when the man gave me a gentle smile. “I thought so,” he said, holding his hand out to me. “I’m sorry for startling you. I just recognized you from afar and knew I should come say hello. My name is Theo. Theo Raines. I’m a friend of Simon Vale.”

I felt surprise color my features. I took his hand and shook it. “Oh,” I said, my scintillating intelligence on display. I shook my head hard to clear it. “Nice to meet you, Theo. I’m Kiley.”

Theo’s lips twitched. “Yes, we’ve established that, I believe.”

Embarrassment immediately filled me, and I winced. “Right,” I muttered. “Sorry. I was a little distracted when you approached me. I guess I was just startled out of my thoughts.”

Theo looked concerned all of a sudden. “You don’t have to apologize,” he said. “Anyway, I’m pleased to meet you as well. I’ve heard quite a bit about you.”

That got my attention, and I gaped up at him like a fish. “Really?” I asked in amazement. “Has Simon really talked about me?” Oh no, now I sounded like a teenager with a crush. Psst, does he like me?

It was hard for me to imagine Simon talking about me to his friends for some reason.

I was under the impression that he was keeping our relationship on the downlow from those he knew well.

If he talked about me with his close friend, maybe that meant he thought about me outside of when we were together.

Theo nodded and then looked around, scanning the busy downtown street for a moment. “If you have some time, I would be delighted if you would join me for a coffee,” he said, a friendly, honest tone in his voice.

That took me off guard and some of the panic from earlier returned.

I waved my hands in front of my face. “Oh, I don’t think I should do that,” I said, cutting myself off as I realized how that sounded.

I grappled for something else to say. “Simon and I, we’re…

” I trailed off, not knowing how to put it.

I wanted to say that Simon and I were involved but after the awkward date we had tonight, I wasn’t sure what to call us. My throat felt as if it was tightening and I shut my mouth, pressing my lips together. Lord, please don’t cry, Kiley!

Theo was watching me in confusion and then his eyes widened. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he hurried to say. “I didn’t mean to imply anything like that. Of course, I didn’t mean it as a way of pursuing you. Simon would probably castrate me if he thought I would ever try anything with you.”

That caused relief to flood me and I gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to imply that you were implying anything. I just wanted to make sure you understood.”

“Yes, I definitely do understand,” Theo said hastily.

“I should be better at communicating than this. Let me try again. I would like to treat you to coffee as a way of getting to know you a little bit. And I might be morbidly curious about you as well. It isn’t every day that Simon meets a woman who completely changes his outlook on life.

So, what do you say? If you happen to be free right now, of course. ”

My ears perked up at his words. How could I possibly say no to that when I just learned that Simon doesn’t just talk about me, but that I might be making more of a difference to him than I previously thought.

I smiled shyly at him. “I would like that,” I said. “Thank you.”

Theo was quite the gentleman. He was much gentler than Simon, even the way he held the door open for me to the little vintage-style coffee shop was soft in a way.

He was careful when he pulled my chair out for me and then asked what I wanted so that he could go up to the counter himself to grab it for me.

“Thank you for agreeing to join me tonight,” he said as he slipped into the seat across from me.

“I was happy to,” I said honestly. I smirked a bit and gave him a teasing look. “You were curious about me, but I’m pretty curious about you, too. I was beginning to think Simon didn’t have any friends.”

Theo blinked before he threw his head back as he laughed. “Yes, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by that,” he said. “Simon can come off as rather distant and hard, but you’ve probably learned by now that he is a good guy.”

“Yes,” I said, growing a little emotional as I talked about it. “He has been very kind to me since we met.”

Theo’s eyes softened. “I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “You seem like a kind person. I might have to do something about it if I learned he wasn’t treating you well.” He winked at me, and his eyes were light.

There was something comforting about this guy.

I could see why he and Simon were friends.

Simon was much more intense than Theo but that didn’t make him less kind.

My face flushed as I thought about Simon.

I tried not to get discouraged thinking about him.

I fell for him so suddenly, but I also fell hard.

It felt like I had a longer way to fall.

I hesitated before taking a sip of my coffee, allowing the warmth to soothe some of my nerves. It gave me just enough courage to ask the question. “So, what exactly did Simon say about me?”

I was aware that I was making my heart very vulnerable by asking but I had to know.

Theo set his coffee mug down. “It isn’t so much what he has said about you that made me realize how good you are for him,” he said, surprising me.

I looked down shyly, but I was pleased by his statement. “Sometimes I feel like I’m good for him,” I admitted. “But there are other times I’m very uncertain about that.”

“You are definitely good for him,” Theo said with certainty.

“I’ve known Simon since college. We studied medicine together so trust me when I say that he has become kind of a cynical bastard over the last several years.

This is the first time since our college days that I have witnessed him genuinely happy. ”

I could feel my eyes widen. “That has to be an exaggeration,” I breathed.

Theo shook his head. “Not really,” he said.

“I think that when his father’s health declined a few years ago, his happiness went right along with it.

His father was sick for a long time, and it affected Simon even more than I would have expected.

He became a shell of his former self, burying himself in his work and refusing to engage in any kind of fun. ”

“That’s so sad,” I replied with genuine emotion. “I know he loved and admired his father very much. The loss of him must have been devastating.”

I had known that Simon’s father passed away of course but I didn’t realize how deeply he was still hurting from the event. It sounded like his pain started well before his father’s death too.

“It was tough watching him deal with it,” Theo said with a nod but then his eyes lit up. “That’s why I was excited when he met you and things developed. I knew something significant had changed for him because I was seeing some of his old self come back.”

I waved my hands in front of my face. “It might seem like a good thing but it’s a bit more complicated than that,” I hastened to explain. “You probably heard about the business arrangement we made.”

“Yes,” Theo said. “I did, but I don’t think that really matters now.”

I looked up. “What do you mean?”

“Simon wouldn’t be this cheered up by your initial arrangement alone,” he pointed out. “That’s why I’m certain that he really cares about you, more than he has cared about anyone else.”

I wanted to believe Theo, more than I had wanted to believe anything else in my life, but it was undoubtedly difficult, especially after the awkward date Simon and I just had. I looked down at the table, feeling dejected.

“Hey, please don’t look like that,” Theo said, and I heard the unmistakable sound of a chair creaking as it slid across the wooden floor. “Kiley?”

I looked up and was surprised to find that Theo had slid his chair so that he was sitting right next to me. He looked around before bending his head toward mine so that only I could hear what he had to say.

“I know that Simon can be difficult, especially as you play the part of his fake fiancée, but believe me when I say that he is happier now and it’s because of you.”

He kept his voice low, his head right by mine.

I could almost feel the heat coming off his skin at this proximity.

There was clearly no attraction here though.

He looked more concerned that someone could overhear us more than anything else.

I appreciated his subtlety. It would be bad if anyone learned that Simon and I weren’t actually engaged.

“What the hell is going on here?”

The familiar voice was dark and full of rage.

Theo pulled away first and looked up in horror to meet the eyes of his absolutely livid best friend.

Raising my eyes to him, I found Simon angrier than I had ever seen him.

His normally light-colored eyes were dark and hooded, his mouth turned down on the sides in a menacing frown.

His fists were clenched at his sides, and they were practically trembling.

It took me far too many seconds to understand why he was so angry until I recalled just what position Theo and I had just been in and how it must have looked to any passerby. I felt my face flame. Theo’s mouth had basically been touching my ear, our heads ducked close together.

I jumped up from the table, putting my hands out toward Simon, only vaguely aware that everyone in the coffee shop was staring at us.

“Simon, this isn’t what it looks like!”

Simon had been glowering at his friend but now his thinly slitted eyes were on me. I almost shrank away from the withering look, but I held my ground. I couldn’t fold up. I needed to show my confidence now more than ever. I needed him to understand.

Simon studied me for a long moment, and I saw a rush of emotions cross his face. All I could see at first was anger, but it quickly morphed to one of hurt and betrayal that had my chest constricting painfully.

“Oh, I think I know exactly what is going on here,” he said through his teeth.

Before I could react, he was stalking out of the coffee shop with Theo and I staring after him in disbelief.