12 ~ Noah

Next morning I find a note from Steffi in the kitchen, saying she’s gone for a bike ride. Tonight we’re going to dinner with Cam and some of the medical center investors, so Steffi won’t be able to get a training ride in after work. At least, that’s her excuse for not being at breakfast. I really hope it’s nothing to do with our sexting last night.

Eating my toast, I read back through Steffi’s and my message thread on my phone. I know I should delete it and suggest she does the same. I also know I should never have started it in the first place, but my only regret is not rushing downstairs and joining her in her bed.

Her brother’s back in town, and I need to get my shit together. I recall years ago one of our friends remarking that Steffi was going to grow into a hot woman if she lost the tomboy attitude. I agreed, and Cam went ballistic, telling us he’d drown us in the lake if we even so much as thought things like that about his sister.

We’ve reached the age of thirty, so you’d hope that he’d got over that, but Cam visited me a couple of times in the US and when I inquired after Steffi his response was always laced with suspicion.

“Why do you want to know?” he’d ask.

“Because I pretty much lived in your house for five years. You’re all like family to me.”

“Just remember that,” he’d warn.

I guess a guy never sees his little sister as a grown-up. Until I returned to Queenstown and became reacquainted with Steffi, his big brother protector act was kind of admirable. Now, it’s a pain in the ass.

Work is busy as hell and I don’t get the chance for even a quick coffee with Steffi. Any time I’m in her company, there’s always another member of staff around, and for much of the day she’s over at the new medical center with Cam.

When I’ve seen my last patient and caught up on all the forms the government insists I complete these days, I stop by Steffi’s office and find she’s back.

“Hey, you nearly done?” I ask.

Her smile is brilliant, and I’m so happy to see there’s not a hint of awkwardness about last night.

“Just packing up. Give me a minute and I’ll walk back to the house with you.”

She’s stuffing files into her bag and papers are spilling everywhere.

“Slow down, there’s no rush,” I say, helping her with the zipper on her laptop bag which she’s jammed with a sheet of paper.

She brushes a strand of hair from her face. “I tell you, Cam’s like the energizer bunny. I thought I was good at keeping up, god knows, I’ve had a lifetime of practice, but the closer we get to opening, the more turbo-charged he becomes.”

We pause as we pass reception to wish everyone a good weekend. There’s the usual round of “you too” replies, but as we reach the door I hear something that sends a chill down my spine.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, Doctor O.”

Kate. What the hell does she know?

Steffi’s head snaps around so fast I’m surprised she doesn’t get whiplash.

“It’s Doctor Osbourne, or Noah, Kate,” she says tersely.

“I’m sorry,” Kate says. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, Doctor Osbourne.”

I know my reaction is from my guilty conscience. The likelihood of Kate being an O-Zone member is ridiculous. And, even if she was, how would she have connected Dr. O with me. I take a deep breath and usher Steffi out the door.

“Kate has no freaking filter,” Steffi mutters.

“It’s fine,” I say.

“Calling you Doctor O is not fine. She calls Dad Doctor Paxton, not Doctor P.”

“That would be kind of funny if he was a urologist,” I remark, trying to shift the conversation along.

“Well, what do you think the O stands for?”

Looks like the conversation isn’t moving at all. “Osbourne,” I say.

“Orgasm. The Big O,” Steffi says back. “She was calling you Doctor Orgasm.”

“Rubbish. You’ve got orgasms on the brain. You’ve unleashed your sexual powers and you don’t know how to switch them off. You’re like the young witch who can’t control her newly found magical forces. I can help you with that, if you like. Another twenty or so orgasms should settle you down.”

We’ve reached the door to her apartment, and I take the keys from her hand and open it for her.

“That might work,” she says, grinning. “I’d invite you in to test this twenty-orgasm theory but the cab will be here in half an hour to take us to Cam’s. I need to shower without distractions.”

“Are you sure about that?”

She presses her lips together hiding a grin. “I’m almost certain.”

Once I’ve showered and dressed I return to Steffi’s apartment. She opens the door just as I’m about to knock. She looks stunning. Although the black dress she’s wearing is a mid-thigh modest length, with a high neck and three-quarter sleeves, it hugs every damned curve. Her hair’s been transformed into loose ringlets, eyes smoky, lips painted red. The other red thing is her shoes which have a heel length that could turn walking in them into an adventure sport.

“Wow,” I say.

“Wow, yourself,” she says, giving me a long head-to-toe appraisal.

“You look beautiful, Steffi.”

Our cab pulls up and I hold out my arm for her. She strides down the path with me, the shoes giving her not the slightest bit of bother.

“I’m impressed with how you handle those shoes.”

“Everyone thinks I’m a trainer and hiking boot kind of girl. I like to surprise them.”

“Consider me surprised.”

“As surprised as I expect you were last night.”

“Don’t make me think about that. Arriving at Cam’s house with a boner will not be cool.”

Fifteen minutes later we’re through Harebrook Station’s impressive gates and winding up the private road to Cam’s house. He bought into Harebrook early, but since then land prices have skyrocketed. Recent landowners are mega-wealthy, right through to billionaire status.

“We’re rubbing shoulders with the upper echelons of Queenstown society tonight,” Steffi says.

“Pfft. They’re no better than us,” I tell her, even though back here in my old home town, there still seems to be a light dusting of disrepute coating me. More than one patient has shown surprise when they discover how I’ve turned my life around.

We pull up at Cam’s house. Like many homes in Central Otago, it’s built from the flaky schist rock endemic to the area, and a lot of glass. Cam has a breathtaking view from up here, of the mountain ranges and the lake, and his house is designed to make the most of it.

He meets us at the door and we give each other a long, back-slapping, brotherly hug.

“It’s good to see you. How are you settling in?” he asks.

“Like I never left. Town’s grown a hell of a lot. You said there’d been new housing and hotels put in, but this is development on steroids.”

“That’s why we need you and this medical center. As far as I’m concerned, you’re boss. You just need to charm this crowd, and you’re in.” He turns to Steffi. “Hey, sis, you’ve scrubbed up nicely. Come in and meet everyone.”

Cam’s in full work mode. This medical center was his idea. After a lot of consultation he worked out what the area needed, found the funding and pulled the whole thing together. The package he’s offered me is impressive, but there’s a group of people here tonight who also get a vote on who the head doctor will be.

We follow him through to the formal lounge room where the other guests are having drinks. It’s a mixed bag of people complete with a guy wearing jeans, cowboy boots and a freaking Stetson.

His name is Bill, and he looks to be around seventy, and, yes, he claims he actually was a cowboy in his youth.

Steffi leans in to my ear. “He’s the richest guy in the room, by a long shot. That’s how he gets away with the unusual dinner attire. I think he has seven copies of that outfit because it’s all I’ve seen him wear.”

“Gotcha,” I say. “Don’t upset Buffalo Bill.”

Steffi snorts. “Jesus, don’t call him that.”

“We’ll see how it goes,” I say.

The other guests are Neville, a cosmetic surgeon, and his heavily altered wife, Jodie. Both also Americans. Neville no longer wields a scalpel, but he has taken a suite of rooms in the center.

“People go to Thailand on breast augmentation vacations, but they’re a bunch of cowboys up there—no offense, Bill,” Neville explains.

Bill chuckles, saying, “None taken.”

“I’ve got a couple of damned fine surgeons coming to work for me,” Neville says “And I’ve taken a set of suites at that new five-star hotel in town. Clients can come and have a discreet tweak, tug and tuck, recover in luxury and return home, and not one of their friends will be any the wiser.”

Unless they end up looking like Jodie, whose face is frozen in a permanent state of surprise.

I leave Steffi to talk with Bill about horses and continue around the room with Cam.

“This is Simone.”

I shake hands with a striking woman who appears to be in her mid-forties, though it’s hard to tell with any sort of surety. Sleek black hair, flawless skin that’s been well cared for, and dripping in diamonds.

“So you’re the temporary doctor in town,” Simone says. I can’t quite pick her accent and it turns out she’s Australian, but has lived all over the world.

“That’s right.”

“And an investor in the center, too?”

“Yes, I am.” Cam handles my investments and we agreed at the start that some shares in the center would be wise whether I finished up working there or not. It’s never going to lose money.

She regards me for a moment. “Interesting. Campbell tells me you’ve been working in an emergency department at some hospital in Dallas for the last few years. I’m surprised they paid you the sort of salary that would give you spare cash for a venture like this.”

Bitch. There are so many things I could say, but I hold it all in and give her my best smile. “Surprising people is what I do best.”

“I see.”

Her husband appears at her side. He’s short, and full of himself. “Ah, so this is our bad-boy doctor.”

“That’s right, Robert. We’ve lured the infamous Noah Osbourne back to town,” Cam says.

I shoot Cam a dark look. “Sounds like I have some reputation to live up to.” There’s a little rumble of forced laughter and I excuse myself to join Steffi, who seems to be having a lot more fun with Buffalo Bill.

Bill excuses himself when I appear. “I’ve just spotted my dogs outside. They must have escaped. I’ll call someone to come and pick them up.”

“How soon can we leave?” I say to Steffi, once Bill’s out of earshot

“Simone and Robert are the worst, and they’ll be gone before dessert is served. Simone will say she has a headache and ask to be taken home. Watch her, she drinks like a fish and eats nothing.”

“I’d rather watch you,” I say. “You look stunning in that dress.”

“Thank you. Just so you’re aware, Cam’s got his eye on us. He’s also invited a guy he wants me to meet. See the one over there beside the fireplace. The guy with the beard.”

“He’s too old for you.” I want to tell Cam that even if Steffi was in the market, she’s perfectly capable of finding her own date.

“I agree. Perhaps you can explain that to my stupid brother. Apparently, that man, Kennedy Stark, is very wealthy, so I’m supposed to overlook the obvious age difference, and the fact that I find him wholly unattractive, and be grateful for the introduction.”

“Maybe he’ll get a headache and leave early, too.”

“No chance. He’s Cam’s house guest.”

I slip my arm around Steffi’s waist. “Lucky you’re coming home with me then,” I say.

Cam approaches Kennedy and the two men turn towards us, giving me just enough time to drop my hold on Steffi before they join us. There’s no point in antagonizing the investors.

The only common thread in this room is wealth. It stinks of money in here, but apart from that, the gathering is eclectic. I shouldn’t be worried about Steffi, but Cam’s matchmaking attempt has raised something protective in me. She’s perfectly capable in this situation, she’s not in any danger, and her brother is watching out for her. Nevertheless, I’m certainly not handing Steffi over to the wholly unattractive Kennedy.