Lie of My Life

7 The Doctor

I shut the door and set the box on the counter. The return address looked vaguely familiar but I did not recognize it immediately. I opened the box to find a card on top of some tissue paper. I lifted the card and read:

Saw this and thought of you. - B

B? Brad? I lifted the tissue paper and gasped, stepping away quickly.

"Ava?" Carter asked, setting down the bowl in his hands with a look of concern. I looked up at him, hands covering my mouth. He took a step forward and lifted the tissue paper and his jaw clenched immediately. Laying there, wrapped neatly in a bow, was a set of extremely racy teal lingerie. Carter's mouth set in an angry line as he growled. "Is this from him?"

He took my silence as affirmation. More furious than I had ever seen him, he stormed out of the kitchen, heading for the door. Fearing he would do something foolish in his rage, I ran after him.

"Carter! No! Stop!"

He wasn't listening. He simply stomped toward the door with terrifying purpose. I threw myself in front of him, placing my hands on his chest to stop him.

"Carter, listen to me. I can handle it. I'm going to drop him as a client, okay? Today. I promise. And then it'll be over. I won't see him again."

But I noticed that he was no longer looking beyond me to the door as he had been in his furious state. He had gone entirely still and his eyes had drifted downward. I looked down to see that, in my haste, my robe had come somewhat untied and visible beneath was my bare leg and a little scrap of lacy silk against my upper thigh. I looked back into his eyes and saw the heat there as they bore, now, into my own. But it was no longer rage he was feeling. His gaze lingered until my whole body burned and I tightened my robe around me. Then he blinked, as if coming out of a trance, and took a step back away from me. He appeared flustered, something that Carter Holden never was, and he ran a hand through his hair as his eyes darted around to every part of the apartment that wasn't me.

"I-uh-I shouldn't," he stumbled, seemingly just as surprised and confused by his reaction as I was. "I need to get to work."

With that, he pushed past me and out the door, closing it tightly behind him. I started after him for a moment, confused and wondering if I had imagined that strange look he had given me, that odd change in the air around us. But then I saw the box on my counter and my anger returned. I whipped out my cell phone and pulled up Brad's contact information before shooting him a text.

We need to talk. Can you meet me at the coffee shop on Elm?

In a matter of seconds, I received an eager yes and I rolled my eyes and got dressed before getting into my car and driving to meet him. He was already there when I arrived, leaning back in his chair with a calm, confident smile on his face. I approached him and threw the box down in front of him.

"This is unacceptable," I snapped, feeling all the rage I'd held inside for him bubbling to the surface.

"You didn't like my gift?" he asked flirtatiously as if he were truly unaware of how inappropriate his actions were. "I think it would look amazing on you."

"The harassment needs to stop. I have told you, time and time again, that I am not interested. What you're doing now is stalking. If you make another advance on me or send another package to my house, I will call the police on you."

"Whoa, whoa, calm down baby."

"Don't call me baby."

"Listen, you don't want to say something you'll regret. You wouldn't want me taking my business elsewhere."

"If you cannot conduct your business in a professional manner and separate it from your feelings for me, then I don't think we should be doing business together anyway."