Heath (Wild Boys After Dark, #2)(16)

Heath debated making up an excuse, but he wasn’t a liar, and his mother had a way of seeing right through her sons’ lies.

“I have a date.”

“Oh. A date.” She smiled, and Heath shook his head. “Well, that’s different, isn’t it?”

“Very,” Heath answered.

“Well, then, she must be special. Maybe one day your great-grandmother’s ring will be put to good use.” She patted his hand and turned as Jackson came into the room.

The mention of his great-grandmother’s ring surprised him. His father had given the ring to his mother when he’d proposed. On their fifteenth anniversary, he had bought her a new ring, and he’d told Heath that one day he’d find the woman he wanted to marry, and that as the eldest, he could give her that ring. Heath had forgotten about the conversation until just now.

“Who’s the lucky lady? Anyone I know?” Jackson slid into the recliner.

“God, I hope not,” Heath teased.

“Nice,” Jackson said. “Seriously, who is she?”

“Sweetie, leave your brother be.” Mary Lou used endearments like first names. Baby, lovey, sweetie. They answered to all of them. “If Heath wants to share that information, he will do so without you poking your nose into his business.”

“It’s fine, Mom.” Heath knew his brother wouldn’t know Ally. She lived in a whole different world from Jackson’s life surrounded by the rich and famous. Hell, didn’t they all?

“She works at the hospital.”

Jackson nodded. “Is that smart? Isn’t there something wrong with dating a woman who works in the same place as you?”

Heath rose to leave. “Says the man who dates the models and actresses he photographs. And actually, no, there’s not. I do rounds at the hospital, but it’s not like I’m in a position of authority over her. She’s a lab tech.”

“Cool. But you don’t really date.” Jackson cocked his head to the side and looked at Heath out of the corner of his eye. “She must be a knockout.”

Heath leaned down and kissed his mother’s cheek. “Have a nice evening, Mom. I’ll see you in a few days.” He held a hand up for Jackson to smack as he walked by. “See ya, Jackson.”

“Should I take that brush-off to mean she’s a dog or you’re not sharing?”

Heath laughed. “Take it however you want. Oh, and, Jackson, I talked to Brett Bad today. He said to tell you that he’d do the calendar, whatever that means.”

Jackson did a fist pump. “Coop and I were hired to shoot next years’ charity calendar, featuring the hottest models and local firemen. I thought Brett would want to be one of the firemen. What did you call him for?”

“He hooked me up with the guy who runs the Central Park Zoo. For my date.”

“You’re taking your date to a zoo? No wonder you don’t date often. Hey, I’m meeting Logan and Coop Thursday night for drinks at NightCaps. Join us?”

“Sure.”

As Heath walked out, he could hear his mother telling Jackson that he should be so lucky as to find a nice girl to go out with.

He texted Ally before driving home.

Running a little late. He looked at his watch and cringed. He was supposed to pick her up at six thirty and it was already six twenty. He was running more than a little late. I need to run home and shower. Is seven thirty okay? He deleted the text and called instead, fully expecting her to give him shit for messing up their first real date.

“Hello, Dr. Wild.”

He heard a smile in her voice, and it did funny things to his stomach.

“Hi, Ally. I’m really sorry, but I’m running late. Would you mind if I picked you up at seven thirty?”

“No, not at all. I stopped at the library on my way home, so I’m running a little late, too.”

The library. He wondered what type of books she liked to read. Another thought that was so strange it opened his eyes to how she was getting under his skin.

“Great. I’m just going to run home and shower. I’ll be there shortly.”

“Sounds good, wild boy.”

The way she said wild boy, full of innuendo, made his body ache with desire.

“Everything you do and say kills me.”

“Kills you in a good way or a bad way?” she asked with a raspy voice.

“In a very good way,” Heath answered. “You’d better be careful or I’m going to stop behaving myself and we’ll both need a cold shower before we even go out.”

He spent the next forty minutes wondering how he was going to make it through the night without tearing her clothes off.





Chapter Seven


“LET ME GET this straight. You have no idea where he’s taking you or anything? Just that he’s a doctor. Dr. Heath Wild. I’m Googling him now,” Mandy said.

“Would you stop? Please?”

“You’re my sister. I have to make sure this—oh. Hey, sis, he’s noted as one of the best sports medicine ortho docs in the city.”

“He is? Wait, don’t tell me anything else.” Ally paced, holding Fifi in one hand and the phone in the other. “I don’t want anything like that in my head. It’s better if I just think of him as Heath, the guy I met at the conference.”