CHAPTER 3

          Genie was just beginning the second letter when she remembered the other letter, the one she'd forgotten to give to Phoenix. All the mail had been delivered extra late that day after Dr. Beaumont had started seeing patients. Not that he ever opened the mail himself, unless it was marked 'Confidential' or 'Private'.

          Such an occurrence was extremely rare. Most letters sent to the clinic were either cheques for unpaid accounts, general inquiries from other doctors, or advertising mail from various pharmaceutical and medical companies. But there was one letter that Friday which Genie thought the doctor might want to see personally.

          It was from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Los Angeles where the medical conference he and Nicky were arguing about was being held. It was a notice about a last-minute change of lecturer. It seemed that one of the surgeons listed to lecture was unavailable, and was being replaced by world-famous neurosurgeon Dr. Simon Webster.

          Genie esteemed that Phoenix probably wouldn't care less about it, now that he had decided not to go. But since she wasn't supposed to know about that, Genie thought she'd better mind her own business and take the letter to him.

          Sighing, she pressed pause on the tape recorder, picked up the envelope in question, and rose to make her way across the waiting room. She stopped in front of the closed door, glancing down to check that all the buttons on her white blouse were safely done-up before smoothing the pleated black skirt down over her hips.

          She didn't want a repeat of the unfortunate incident a couple of weeks back when, without her knowing, one of the small pearl buttons on her blouse had popped open, giving anyone who had looked at her chest at an angle an eyeful of lace-encased breasts.

“It seems one of your buttons has lost its battle against your feminine curves, Miss Mitchell.”

          Phoenix had pointed that out in a softly mocking voice as he'd bent to pick up his next patient's file from the tray beside her. Thinking about it now, Genie could feel the anger rising.

“Perhaps in the future, you might wanna buy blouses with larger buttons? And maybe you could buy also an even bigger sized blouse?”

          At that moment, Genie had been thankful that he had turned away before her embarrassment had time to blossom into a full-blown blush. Which it had… Her mortification increased by the way her breasts had immediately seemed to swell further, straining against her bra and her blouse, making her fumbling attempt to do up the tiny button all the more difficult.

          It was the only time Phoenix Beaumont had managed to get under her skin, sexually speaking. And, right then and there, after the embarrassment and the anger passed, Genie decided that such an awkward thing was never going to happen again. Not if she could help it.

          That episode still had a certain effect on her even now. So, Genie was disturbed to find that when she knocked on the door, her hand was shaking. There was also an instant gathering of butterflies in the pit of her stomach. Her scowl reflected her feelings. To have Phoenix reduce her to such a nervous state was irritating beyond belief.

“Do come in, Miss Mitchell,” came the laconic invitation.

          Gritting her teeth, Genie opened the door and went in, calmed by the knowledge that her private agitation was just that. Private. The man seated behind his desk would never guess from her calm demeanor and cool gaze that she was anything but totally indifferent, both to his person and his looks.

“What is it?” he asked imperatively giving her a bothered look.

          She stepped forward and placed the envelope on the leather-topped desk.

“This letter came for you, Doctor. It's from the people running the medical conference next week. They are letting you know about a last-minute lecturer change. I thought you might like to have a look at it. I’m so sorry, I forgot to give it to you earlier.”

          He picked up the envelope and tossed it straight into the waste-paper basket in the corner.

“It doesn’t matter. I've decided not to go to this conference,” he said abruptly.

          The movement of light and shadow across his face showed dark rings of exhaustion under his beautiful green eyes, and despite knowing that it was all self-inflicted, for a few moments, Genie felt sorry for the man.  

“Well… This is such a pity,” she said, deciding to do her bit to get the damned fool to go.

          Love him or hate him, he was a good doctor and he really did need a break. Nicole was usually a bit over the top, but in this case, she was absolutely right.

“They've been able to get Dr. Simon Webster to replace the doctor that had to be the lecturer,” she said encouragingly. “I would have thought you'd like to hear him talk. He is a very famous neurosurgeon, isn't he?”

          Genie was taken by surprise by Phoenix's response to her news. He remained frozen in his seat for several seconds, his normally phlegmatic green eyes betraying... what? Astonishment? Surely not shock! What was so shocking about what she'd just told him?

          She was even more surprised when any discomposure was swiftly replaced by an icy smile that sent an oddly, unexpected erotic shiver running down her spine.

“Well, well, well, this is quite the news of the day,” he drawled. “Who would have believed that? You're absolutely, one hundred percent right, Miss Mitchell. I certainly wouldn't like to miss the opportunity of hearing such a renowned neurosurgeon.”

          He swiveled around in his black leather chair, slid over to the corner, lifted the envelope back out of the basket then slid back again.

“Thank you so very much for bringing this precious detail to my attention. You have no idea how disappointed I would have been to have found out afterward he'd been there and I'd missed him.”

“So… you're going to the conference after all?” she asked hopefully, thinking how happy Nicole would be with her brother’s choice.

“Trust me, I wouldn't miss it for the world.”

          Genie smiled slightly and the joy she felt almost made her clap her hands.

“How about that?!” he exclaimed looking at her face. “Miss Mitchell, this is something new around here…” he said tilting his head.

          She gave him a bemused gaze, then she quickly looked down to see if everything was alright with her outfit. She sighed slowly. Every single button was done-up.

“I was referring at the fact that you were smiling, Miss Mitchell. And that was quite a smile… I take it you won't mind my being absent next Friday?”

          Was it his sardonic remark, or the intensity of his gaze on her mouth which rattled her? Whatever, her smile faded immediately, although her heart began pounding behind her ribs and she found herself staring back at his mouth and wondering how it would feel upon hers.

          Genie could hardly believe her train of thought. Was she absolutely out of her mind to think that? She didn't even like the man… Yet here she was, fantasizing about him making love to her, over and over and over again.

          Self-disgust made her stiffen inside. Genie straightened to her full five feet five inches and delivered a cool look across the desk. Her smile disappeared and her joy vanished into thin air. The cold-hearted robot didn’t deserve either of them. 

“It makes no difference to me, Dr. Beaumont, whether you're in the office or not.”

          His laugh was as cold as his gaze.

“No, I can see that. Which is just as well, I suppose. That way you'll be able to give the proposition I'm about to make a totally unbiased consideration.”

“Proposition? What kind of proposition, Dr. Beaumont?”

“Calm down, Miss Mitchell, don't look so alarmed. I promise that what I am about to ask you to do isn’t anything immoral or criminal. I am, however, in an awkward situation as far as this conference/holiday is concerned. It's for couples, you see, and the lady friend I was going to take can't make it.”

          Genie was left in complete awe by the smooth delivery of the lie. Which was somewhat funny, but also disappointing. As much as she didn't like Phoenix Beaumont, she'd never thought of him as a liar. It just showed that one should never underestimate the deviousness of men.

“That was the main reason I'd decided not to go,” he continued coolly, as she didn’t know what was really going on. “Because it would be embarrassing and awkward to show up alone. Actually, my sweet sister suggested I hire a professional escort instead, but I'm sure you can appreciate that's not the right choice for me. However, it occurred to me just now that perhaps I could persuade you to accompany me. For a price, of course,” he added before Genie could do more than blink her shock. “Listen, I don't expect you to do it for nothing. Nicole mentioned once that you work as a waitress on the weekend. I would naturally, compensate you for any lost wages, with quite a bonus thrown in. So, what do you say, Miss Mitchell? Do you think you might be interested in my proposal?”