“Why didn’t you tell me? All this time I’ve been trying to find a way in and you haven’t said a word about knowing him.”
Stuart at least had the decency to look ashamed before offering an explanation. “It’s not like the two of us are friends. Honestly, I can’t stand the man. He has a violent temper. I’ve even heard he often takes it out on the women he dates. That’s why I told you to be careful with him.”
The room spun around us as I tried to process what he was saying.
“Stuart, what the hell are you talking about?”
“The guy has been known to rough up the women he goes out with. Especially when he doesn’t get what he wants. He has always been that way. Started when he was a teenager and hasn’t changed since. You’re looking at me like you don’t believe me.” Stuart huffed.
I didn’t believe him. Not one word of what he was spitting out and yet thinking over what I knew about the doctor I could kind of see it. The articles about Dr. Bennett’s attitude issues were out there, but Stuart made it sound like he had shown his temper towards women. I couldn’t see how that was even possible? Nothing that serious had come up online when I searched his name.
“Ciaran, I wouldn’t lie to you. You need to trust me when I tell you to keep your distance from him. He is dangerous. Complete your assignment and wipe your hands of the man.”
Freaking unbelievable.
I fiddled with the flatware in front of me and risked a look at Dr. Bennett.
“Ciaran,” Stuart called me, smiling when my eyes flicked back to his as if he hadn’t just detonated a bomb in my world. “Why don’t we change the subject to nicer things? I’m more interested in hearing about you than discussing work. I’ve noticed you never speak about your family. Do you have any in the area?”
I frowned at Stuart while I fought the urge to climb over the table, grab him by the collar and demand answers about the information he had just dropped in my lap. Finishing the wine in my glass, I glanced at him.
“It’s just Melany and I.”
“Melany is your sister?”
“No. Unfortunately, she gave birth to me,” I responded dryly.
“Wait. You call your mother by her first name. Isn’t that disrespectful?”
Rolling my eyes, I snatched a piece of bread from the basket in the center of the table and shoved it into my mouth. As I chewed, I looked back over at Dr. Bennett’s table. His date was leaning into him as she spoke but the doctor didn’t appear to be listening because he was watching me with the intensity of a hawk. Picking up that he was distracted, the woman lifted a manicured hand and traced it along his square jaw.
“Are you feeling okay? You look a little flushed,” Stuart asked, his expression flat.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Nothing. It wasn’t important. Ciaran, I want to talk about us. I really like you.”
“Yeah, that’s nice,” I replied, not paying an ounce of attention. I was still zoned in on Dr. Bennett, who had finally stopped staring at me and was speaking directly into his woman’s ear. She erupted into a fit of giggles.
The sudden need for more wine had me aggressively yanking the wine bottle out of the ice bucket. I filled my glass to the brim and downed half of it in a single gulp before taking in Stuart’s hurt expression.
Done swallowing, I apologized. “Yes, sorry. I’m fine. Just thinking about work.”
“Yes, I can see that,” he replied as he glanced over his shoulder.
“The wine is delicious. Do you know a lot about vintages?” I asked, hoping to smooth over the tension.
Stuart’s entire face lit up and his posture lifted. “Yes, actually I do. I consider myself a wine connoisseur…”
Excited about the subject, he prattled on but I couldn’t stop my gaze from returning to the other table which proved to be a huge mistake because Dr. Bennett and his date were locked in kiss. A kiss that hypnotized me the second I laid eyes on the couple. His hand was wrapped around the back of his date’s head while he pressed against her mouth. Observing every detail, I absentmindedly licked my lips and barely noticed when his other hand dropped to her lap behind the white table cloth. It wasn’t until the woman pulled back an inch from his mouth and hers opened in a slight “o” that I understood what was happening.
That bastard of a doctor was touching her somewhere highly inappropriate for a public restaurant.
Appalled by his lewd behavior, I sucked in a breath. I was disgusted. Outraged. Hot. Extremely hot.
And then from across the table, Dr. Bennett met my gaze with a knowing look.
Holy shit. He was fucking with me while fucking her under the table. My blood rose to a boil as every part of my body including my face flushed.
I ripped the napkin off my lap and threw it by my wine glass as I stood.
Stuart paused mid-sentence and looked alarmed. “Ciaran, what’s wrong?”
“I need to use the ladies room,” was all I said before snatching my clutch and briskly walking away.
I headed in the direction of where I had seen a passage along the side wall of the restaurant. I was so flustered it took several steps down the dim lit hallway before I discovered it wasn’t where the ladies room was located. I let out a rueful laugh as I looked at the only two doors available. One was unmarked while the other had a sign with the French word entretien, meaning maintenance, attached to the outside.
I heaved a sigh, spun around and crashed straight into a solid wall that had instantly appeared. As I was trying to get my bearings, a hand wrapped around my arm and tugged me into the room with the French sign on the door.
A light clicked on.
Bathed in a dull, yellow hue, the menacing expression on Dr. Bennett’s face was extremely close to mine. It caused Stuart’s earlier warning to go off like a pistol in my head. I opened my mouth to scream but was thwarted when his hand slapped over it. With his other hand, he shoved me back against the metal supply shelves that lined the walls.
“Ms. Thompson, I’m going to remove my hand and if you scream I swear to god I will make every inch of you sorry we ever met. Do I make myself clear?”
I quickly nodded.
Slowly peeling away his hand, he placed it on the rack next to my head, caging me in.
“What the fuck are you doing here with Stuart Whitman?” he growled.
I couldn’t answer. He was standing too close for me to think. I was dizzy and hot and panting. Why was I panting? And why the hell was it so hot in this restaurant? As I felt his body brush against mine, I tried to get control over my breathing.
“Ms. Thompson, I’m waiting for an answer.”
“Please don’t hurt me,” I finally gasped.
Dr. Bennett’s glare shifted to my lips for a moment before moving back to my eyes. “Then answer my question. How do you and Stuart Whitman know each other? Are you two dating? Are the two of you stalking me?”
The stalking reference snapped me out of my daze.
“We are not stalking you or dating. Stuart and I work together at the magazine. I didn’t know you would be eating at the same restaurant.”
“You expect me to fucking believe you? First the café, then the gym. When that didn’t work, you lied your way into my office. Now you’re conveniently at the same restaurant, and with Stuart Whitman, no less.”
My eyes widened as I gaped at him.
I wasn’t sure how he had made the connection that I had originally been following him, but he had. I was going to end up in a lake, or with a towel shoved down my throat and left to die. Based on what Stuart had said, the doctor had no qualms about taking out a woman.
Fear tore through me as I pushed against his chest and tried to get him to move back but he stepped even closer, using his hard body to keep my soft one pinned. I could feel the outline of his thick dick pressed against my hip.
I swallowed a moan. “You fucking bastard, let me go.”
“It’s Kean, but I’ll allow you to leave the fucking in there because I have a fondness for the word. You need to stay away from Whitman. He’s not a good guy.”
“Oh, that’s rich coming from a man who finger fucks a woman at a dinner table in a restaurant full of people.”