Tempted By Hollywood's Top Doc

James gave an uncharacteristic frown. ‘But it’s a roster. We all do our share. It’s part of your contract.’

‘Yes, I know. But now I’m doing Kim’s stint too.’

‘So we’ll rearrange it so you don’t get to do it again in a hurry. Fine?’

Not fine. Jake did not want to go back there and exchange heated looks with a redheaded English rose who only had one speed: hyperdrive. He wanted to stay here and work his heart out making people better, the way he knew how. He wanted to focus on his job. This job, here, the one he’d worked so hard to get, and the one he wanted to keep. And not think about pretty little angry stomps or waste his time on non-emergencies and actresses who wanted to keep secrets. ‘I’d prefer it if someone else could go.’

‘And I’d prefer it if you go. I’m just off the phone with Alfredo. He’s very impressed after hearing the rave review Cameron Fontaine gave you this afternoon. He’s requested that you accompany them on a location shoot. To keep her happy, mainly. In fact, she’s insisting on it.’

Jake felt frustration well up in his gut. ‘What? A location shoot? No way. That’s out of the question. What about my patients? You know, the brain-injured ones?’

His boss’s palm rose. ‘Jake, I’m not arguing about this. We can rearrange your schedule. It’s only for a few days—mainly over the weekend, so it won’t take you away from your patients here. I can give you time off in lieu. It’s in the Bahamas. That should appeal, right?’

The Bahamas? What the hell...? What did that have to do with a desiccated space-odyssey landscape? The world had gone mad.

Sun. Sea. And...well, at least the fiery redhead wouldn’t be there. Surely? That wasn’t the kind of thing assistants did, was it? Accompany their bosses on location shoots? ‘I don’t know, James. I don’t see how I’m the best fit for this. Send someone else.’

‘You don’t have any surgery booked until Tuesday. I can’t see a problem,’ James said, as he tapped on his laptop and looked at what Jake imagined was the OR schedule. The atmosphere became charged a little as his boss sat forward, suddenly serious. ‘See, the way it works is this: the studio heads contract to the clinic. We’re the best in California and everyone knows it, so they want to be associated with us. And it’s very lucrative, very prestigious. My point is, Alfredo plays golf with some of the studio guys...we don’t want word getting out that we renege on our contracts, do we? That our staff are unhelpful? Way too negative for us. We need you to keep them sweet.’

‘When you put it like that...’ It was clear this was a battle he couldn’t fight. James was right, he could rearrange his outpatient clinics, he didn’t have any scheduled surgery for a few days. Jake had made his feelings clear, but was big enough to accept that sometimes there were things he couldn’t change.

‘Plus, this kind of exposure to celebrities really helps with promoting the Bright Hope Clinic and the work Mila does there. Celebs love being involved with charities, and having our staff involved at all levels helps bring in donations. It’s great leverage.’

There was a strange mist in James’s eyes as he spoke of the Bright Hope Clinic. But Jake doubted whether it had as much to do with the pro bono work they were all going to do there with underprivileged kids as it had to do with the charity head, Mila Brightman. Every time James and Mila were in the same room there was a strange buzz in the air. It bordered on animosity—but there was something else there too. Fireworks, mainly.

Jake gave his friend a quick smile to show his agreement. He would not put his own needs first when kids’ futures were on the line. And, yeah, he was also big enough to admit that, despite what he thought about the airhead celebrity culture, they had big hearts and deep pockets and did a lot of good...and now he was starting to go soft. ‘Okay, okay, I’m packing already.’

‘Great. See? Not too hard, was it? A free trip to the Bahamas? I wouldn’t grumble. So, how’s everything else going? How’s the wonderful Cameron? Alfredo said she’s had a few issues. I’ve heard she can be a huge pain in the—’ James was interrupted by a soft tap at the door. ‘Yes? Come in.’

It was Mila. As she walked in Jake saw her cheeks flush a little. She focused solely on the man in front of her. ‘Hi, James. I’m so sorry to interrupt you.’

‘Mila, no problem, not at all.’ His boss stood immediately, suddenly looking like a lost boy rather than the accomplished professional he was. Jake hadn’t been working here very long, so he didn’t know what, if any, past these two had, but he smiled to himself. Whatever the hell was going on was so damned obvious to everyone—if not to them. The air had become charged in a completely different way, and Jake figured now was a good time to leave. Three was a crowd after all...

He stood to go. ‘Hi, Mila. Bye, Mila. Sorry, just leaving.’

‘Oh.’ She whirled round, her voice a little more high-pitched than he remembered it to be. ‘I didn’t see you there. Hi, Jake. How’s things?’

James cut in. ‘Poor guy’s got a difficult weekend coming up. A few days in Nassau with Cameron Fontaine.’

‘Oh? Exciting.’ Mila smiled, her long brown ponytail swishing as she turned her head. ‘Must be hard, being you.’

‘Tough job, right?’ And for a split second he found himself looking forward to the break, imagining a beach at sunset, the last dying rays of sun shimmering on a mass of red curls... Damn it... He needed to get out more. What the hell was wrong with him? Thirty minutes. That’s all he’d spent with Lola Bennett. Why she kept stomping into his head he didn’t know. But he wished she would stop it. ‘Look, I’ve got to get back to the studio. I’ll see you two later.’

But, already lost in their own tense conversation, he doubted they’d heard him. As he ambled to the door he caught snippets, James sounding a little stilted. ‘Sure, Mila, I’ve got the number right here.’

Mila’s breathy response was, ‘Great. I was just passing, and thought it’d be easier to ask in person than phone. I need a number and a quick chat about her work, character, commitment, really, whether you think she’d be a good fit for Bright Hope. But I can’t stay long, I’ve got to meet someone in an hour.’

‘Oh? Tyler?’ James’s voice was more of a growl at the mention of Mila’s boyfriend. Jake wished he could hear this out but he didn’t do gossip, no matter how tempting. And yet he still couldn’t bring himself to leave just yet. He paused to fasten his bag.

Mila shook her head. ‘No. It’s with the cleaning company manager. We have a couple of issues with their contract.’ There was a pause. ‘Actually, Tyler and I split.’

‘Oh? I’m sorry to hear that.’ Was that interest in James’s voice? No. It couldn’t be. Really?

She gave a bitter laugh. ‘I’m not. Now...the number for that paediatric cardiologist?’

‘Yes. Right here. You don’t seem too cut up about it.’

And as Jake tried to close the door without disturbing them, he heard her voice harden. ‘It wasn’t working, and I’d prefer not to talk about it. I don’t like to get my personal life embroiled in my professional. And I’m certainly not going to discuss it with you.’

‘Yes. No. Of course.’ James sounded wrong-footed. Surprised by her reaction. And so was Jake, a little. Normally she was a warm-hearted woman, professional, capable and very caring. Devoted to her patients. But she did sound a little bitter right now.

And Jake really did need to go. Eavesdropping was definitely not part of his contract. Plus, he was running late for a date with a very demanding leading lady...and her very jolly English assistant.

* * *

Lola sat in the trailer, trying to focus on editing her script, but failing, badly. Usually she welcomed moments like this where she could spend some time on herself and her own work, but she was feeling restless, fidgety. Kept looking towards the door and wishing it would open.

That damned doctor. He’d been the first person to pay attention to her—to Lola Bennett—rather than her employer or her contacts, or her usefulness. Plus he’d been quite amiable in the end—once she’d set him straight on manners.

Really.

He needn’t have been so nice to her. She was growing used to being in the background, which was a far cry from being a big fish in the small sea at Oxford University. But it was nothing more than she’d expected. LA was a big city after all, and everyone wanted a piece of the action.

And, well, she needed to focus on her work and the less she thought about Jake’s body the better.

But it was so...so hot. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought she’d find a stroppy neurosurgeon attractive. She’d always imagined she’d get embroiled with the creative, arty type. But her cheeks burned just thinking about him.

Which was stupid.

And, besides, he’d shown no interest in her...in that way. She was just a little bit lonely. And therefore vulnerable.

No. She would never be vulnerable. She was hard-working, focused and intent. Most of the time.

A knock on the door had her heart racing. ‘Come in!’

‘Hey, Lola Bennett.’ Jake stepped into the trailer and gave her a smile. A little uncomfortable, wary maybe, but there it was. ‘I’ve come back to check on Cameron. But I didn’t see her on set and she’s not here?’

‘She’s gone home. They’re working on a different scene now—after you’d gone she did very well and they managed to catch up, but she was tired so she’s gone for an early night. I called the clinic and told them she was okay and not to worry you, but you’d already set off. Don’t you have your cell phone? They said they’d text you.’ What was it about him that made her ramble on so much?

‘I keep it on silent because it keeps ringing and disturbing me.’ He dragged it from his suit jacket pocket and showed her. The strange and yet nice thing about Dr Lewis was that he wasn’t the least bit affected. He was straight up. Honest. Had no pretensions or cocky swagger. And yet he was so damned hot to look at he could have been in any one of her boss’s recent movies, or on the cover of a magazine. He just didn’t seem to realise it. ‘Oh, yes. There is a message.’

‘So you’ve wasted your time. I’m sorry.’ Liar. She was actually a bit pleased that he was here. Well, she would have been had her heart not started a funny little rhythm that felt like she was being kicked in the chest every few minutes. She was pleased, but judging by his frown he wasn’t. ‘I waited here in case you turned up. I didn’t want you to think we’d all abandoned you.’ The added bonus was that she could use the electricity here for free and snack on the leftover food in Cameron’s refrigerator. Plus, the thought of going home to her empty, shabby apartment left her cold.

‘Well, at least someone cares whether my time’s wasted.’ He nodded at the pile of paper on the table. ‘That your script? You never got round to telling me what it’s about. Please don’t tell me it’s another space disaster movie. I think the world has more than enough of them.’

She laughed. ‘How can you say that? The world can never have enough space desert warrior princesses. With AK47s. And very bad dialogue. Make more, I say. Lots of them. With terrible sequels.’

‘No. Not sequels too. Please don’t encourage them.’ The irritation broken, he finally laughed, his eyes shining in the dim light of the trailer lamps. When he relaxed he was pretty damned gorgeous. ‘So what kind of movies do you like, Lola?’

‘Anything with a good story, really. I love characters I can identify with, with guts and emotions. I’m not big on action thrillers and definitely not horrors—unless there’s a real character growth arc... Sorry, am I getting too technical? I’m doing an online course on writing screenplays and learning so much about story development. But the trouble with dissecting movies is that now I can’t see one without analysing it. I’m spoilt for ever.’

‘That sucks.’ He picked up the front sheet of her script. ‘Can I see?’

‘No. Please, no.’ She snatched it back, trying hard not to sound too crazy. Her screenplay was her baby and she wasn’t sure it was good enough yet. ‘I just don’t think it’s ready. My eyes only, and all that.’

‘Sure, I understand.’ At her wary frown he sat down on the sofa opposite. ‘I’m a perfectionist too. I hate doing anything less than stellar.’

‘That’s why you’re so good at your job.’

His eyebrows rose. ‘You wouldn’t know. You’ve hardly seen me at my best.’

‘Well, you were very good with Cameron.’

‘Not at first. You’d have been more impressed if you’d seen me manipulating a probe in her motor cortex...that’s part of the brain...while she was still awake.’ He waved his fingers in the air like a conductor and it was so out of character that she laughed.

‘Believe me, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t even be in the same room as you. Good God, that sounds hideous.’ Although she imagined him all scrubbed up, those strong arms working on a patient. Sweat beading his furrowed brow, his gaze catching hers across a crowded operating theatre... And now she was thinking like a bad romance novel. ‘Do you really do operations while your patients are still awake?’

‘Sometimes it works better that way as we can assess the patient as we go, see how they’re reacting to what we’re doing. It’s important to make sure we’re not affecting certain processes—like speech and movement. It doesn’t hurt—the brain doesn’t have any pain receptors.’

‘Eugh.’ Even so, how could he do that? ‘I wonder if I could put that in my movie?’

‘Why not? Although if it’s a kids’ film, you might have a few complaints. You’d have to have a rider: Do not do this at home.’

And he had a sense of humour that was refreshing. ‘Surely it’s not too hard? A few chopsticks and a handy pocket knife?’

‘Sure, that’s all there is to it. Easy. Plus fifteen years’ training, one or two pesky exams. Oh, and a steady hand is a must. Otherwise...well...’ He made a slicing motion at his throat.

‘Hmm. Good job you have steady hands, then.’ She reached out and took his hands in hers and held them straight out to see if they shook. It was just a joke. A funny little gesture, that was all. It didn’t mean anything.

But the strangest thing happened when she touched him. It was like a force, a shock or a shudder shivering through her. Her stomach began to fizz in an odd way and heat spread through her, from her core to the tips of her fingers and toes.

She looked up at him to see if he’d felt the same thing and he was looking at her in a funny way. Kind of surprised, yet irritated and bemused. And his eyes were still shining, but now in a really, really good way; the blue was dark with intent and she had an urge to lean forward across the table and kiss him. Right there. As if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

But her throat was dry and her heart was hammering, and he still had a frown and, yet, a small smile. And she couldn’t kiss him. How could she kiss him? He’d think she was completely mad. And he’d be right. She was completely mad to want to kiss him. She hardly knew him. And he might not want to kiss her back.

She dragged her eyes away from his heated face and saw her script next to his arm. That was why she was here. Not for a man. Not for a kiss with a strange doctor. Who wasn’t strange at all and was actually very sexy. But too distracting. She was here for her career. Just as he was. And she was a perfectionist, just like him. But he was a lot further down the track than she was. He was already hugely successful and she was just a fledgling wannabe. She had a lot of work to do.

So she let his hands go and stood up, even though her legs were wobbly, because there was something about him that made her feel off balance. ‘I...er...I think I’m going to call it a day now. No doubt Cameron will be buzzing me early in the morning. It’s a five a.m. call.’

‘Okay. Great idea.’ He stood too, and they both tried to get out of the booth at the same time and brushed against each other. His chest was hard and strong, his breath whispered over her neck, and for a few seconds she didn’t know what to do. If she moved forward she’d be in his arms. Which suddenly didn’t seem such a bad idea...except...it was.

He stepped back and gestured for her to go first. ‘Sorry. After you.’

‘Thanks.’ She winced in embarrassment as she stepped out of the trailer and down the steps, wrapped her arms around her chest and started to walk towards the car lot.

He was next to her all the way. No talking. No...anything. Just walking in a strange awkward silence while her heart thump-thump-thumped and she clenched her fists tight. And she knew that nothing happening was a good thing. A very good thing. But a small part of her still clung to the fizz that bubbled in her stomach and the jerky heartbeat that made her cough a little.

When she reached her car she stopped. ‘Okay, well, thanks again, Jake. I’ll see you...? Actually, I’m not sure when that’ll be because Cameron’s going on location in a couple of days so...’

‘I don’t suppose you’re hungry?’ He’d lost that perplexed look and was back to being completely in control again. If that banquette blunder had affected him at all he didn’t show it. Which made her feel as if she was going slightly mad. He gave her smile. ‘I need to eat and I guess you do too. I know a great Thai place that does amazing noodles. You want to eat?’

Yes! ‘No. I don’t think—I...er...’ Yes. Yes. Yes.

Absolutely not.

He shook his head quite vehemently. ‘I don’t mean...not a date or anything. I can’t do that.’

His words made her step back. ‘Why? Are you married or something?’ That would be a good thing. A very good thing. A very good out-of-bounds, hands-off and definitely-no-kissing kind of good thing.

But he kept on shaking his head. ‘No. God, me married? No way. Really, no. But I’m always open to making new friends and would like some company for dinner. I can apologise again for being an idiot earlier. You can tell me about your story. Then I can show you how to manipulate chopsticks for awake brain surgery research. And you can B-I-T-C-H about your boss in safety, because I’m absolutely bound by confidentiality, and if you told me anything you’d have to kill me or sue me.’

‘Oh...I wouldn’t do that. Kill you, I mean. Well, not immediately. And everyone needs a friend, right?’ And it was all in the name of research and nothing else, so why not? ‘That’s an offer I definitely can’t refuse. To be honest, I’m starving. Lead on.’

So she got into her car and followed the lights of his expensive-looking sedan. Followed him from the dark studio warehouses back to the bright lights of the city, then through a maze of back streets that she knew she would never find her way out of on her own. And for the first time in a long time she felt as if things were looking up. It would be good to have a new friend in this strange but wonderful place.

If only she could stop thinking about kissing him.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE RESTAURANT WAS nothing like she’d imagined. It had basic melamine tables, white plastic chairs that she’d seen in her local two-dollar shop, and a fog of steam fragranced with seriously delicious smells of garlic and sesame oil and fish sauce.

Multicoloured paper lanterns hung from the ceiling, giving off a rosy red-orange glow, and squished in at each table were crowds of people Lola thought must be Thai nationals all chattering and laughing away in a language she didn’t understand. An oddly incongruous but perfectly quirky soundtrack of heavy rock pierced the air. Who’d have imagined a place like this? It was like being back in Bangkok.

‘Like it? This place is like a second home to me now,’ Jake said, as he squashed in next to her at a shared table. There was no room for embarrassment here, it was a case of either sitting close or closer. And she wasn’t sure if it was the cloying heat in the room or just being next to him, but she needed a cooling drink. Fast. He ran a finger down the pictures on the menu. ‘I recommend the Pad Thai or the house cashew chicken. Perfection. The best Thai food on the West Coast. Fancy a beer? Wine?’ He beckoned to a male server who came over, smiled and welcomed him like an old friend.

‘Mr Jake. Nice to see you again. Your usual?’

‘Hi, Panit, yes, please. And some...?’ He looked over at Lola.

Her mouth watering, she scoured the menu for her favourite. ‘Oh, yes. A beer, pork larb and a green papaya salad, please.’

Jake leaned back and looked at her, laughing. ‘There was me thinking I was going to wow you with unusual flavours and yet you know more about it than me.’

‘I travelled around Asia in my uni holidays...vacations. Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.’ It had taken her days to convince her parents to let her take time off. They’d had jobs lined up for her, but she didn’t do them. Her first strike for freedom. ‘It was brilliant. Madly busy but brilliant. And I learnt so much about the food. We even had cooking lessons over there. I came back ten pounds heavier.’ She patted her hips where the noodles and rice still clung in lumps and bumps. Her dad had gone mad about that too. You can never be too thin, he always said.

‘You look great to me.’ Jake’s eyes wandered to her hands, then slowly up her body until blood rushed to her cheeks just at the moment his gaze hit hers, and there it lingered for just long enough that she felt unsettled. There was something happening—and she knew it wasn’t the magical lighting or the steamy atmosphere, and it certainly wasn’t the beer because she hadn’t had any yet—but there was definitely something scary and weird happening inside her. And if it was just happening to her then she was going to feel like an idiot if it continued.

Jake took a slug of the beer that Panit brought over and broke the connection. ‘I’d love to travel more. I just haven’t gotten round to anywhere that far away.’

‘You’ve been focusing on work?’

‘You bet. My plan is to get to the top of my field and then take a little time to smell the roses... But, first, no rest for the wicked, right? You’ve got to push, push, push. I get the feeling you’ve got the same kind of drive.’ Confidence oozed from him, particularly in his smile. She wondered how it would be if this were a real date rather than a non-date. How it would feel to have those hands touch her... And suddenly she wanted them on her.

Was this chemistry real?

No. It couldn’t be. She shoved such fanciful ideas to the back of her mind. He’d made his intentions very clear and she was perfectly fine with that. She didn’t have time in her life for anything more intimate than this sort of dinner.

The food arrived so quickly she was surprised when the server returned with steaming plates of mains and bowls of rice. Jake picked up his two chopsticks, and one of hers, and held them aloft in front of him. ‘So, here we go...brain surgery one-oh-one. Basically you need one head, three probes...’

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