“You don’t know him.”
“Rose.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, lips pressed in a thin line. Finally—“Josh Davis.”
There have been few times in my life that I’d been genuinely shocked. This one, though, took the cake. And that’s saying something. My jaw literally dropped open—wasn’t proud of that, but that was the least of my worries. Her eyes rounded, too, perhaps realizing, for the first time, that it was a good bet that two former Marines did know each other. Yeah, I knew Josh Davis. My arch-nemesis and the asshole who was responsible for spreading my medical information all over fucking town.
I couldn’t even repeat his name. “Are youkiddingme?”
“No, I’m notkiddingyou.”
I’d stepped into my own twilight zone.
“Where is he?” My gaze darted around the cabin as if I’d expected him to materialize out of thin air. Trust me, I wished he would have.
She threw up her arms. “What does it matter?”
“He’s an entitled, spoiled, ass-kissing douchebag. Who, by the way, is more than capable of breaking into your house and setting up his own personal peep show.” My pulse roared in my ears. “Where is he? I want to talk to him.Now.”
“You’re not going to talk to him. You need to calm down.”
“What did the card say?”
“That’s none of your business, Phoenix.”
I jabbed my fingers through my hair and began pacing.
“Why do you hate him so much?” There was less anger in her voice now.
“We served together in Afghanistan,” I snarled.
“And?”
“And what? That kid is the poorest excuse for a soldier and deserves to rot in hell.” Flashbacks popped in my head like little explosions, along with shooting pains against my temples. I blinked, willing the lightning to subside.
“I can’t believe you dated him. What the hell were you thinking,doctor?”
Her eyes rounded and nose flared. “Howdareyou talk to me like that?”
“How dare you date someone like that? You’re too good for that piece of shit. And why are you so sure he didn’t plant a camera in your bedroom? Are you whipped by his bank account like everyone else?”Stop, Phoenix, stop,the little voice in my head said. But I didn’t. In fact, I followed that little doozy up with, “I figured someone who considers themselves adoctorwould have more sense than that.”
Her cheeks flooded with color as her hands curled to fists.
Rose had fight in her.
She stepped toe-to-toe with me. And dammit, I respected that.
“Because, Phoenix…” The sneer in her tone was as cold as ice. “Josh doesn’t need to put a camera in my bedroom. He’s already seen every inch of my naked body.”
The fury—the possessiveness—that rose through me actually wavered my vision.
With that final bomb, she spun on her heel, stormed past me and yanked open the front door. Rain whippedinside, spinning her hair around an expression that told me I’d just sealed the deal on making sure Dr. Floris saw me as nothing more than a total asshole.
My time was up. I was being kicked out of her house, her life.
Well, at least I was going out with a bang.
I breezed past her, the slamming door missing my ass by a half-inch.
