Lana:

John is not happy. “Where the hell have you been?” he yells into the phone. “You’re not answering your emails, you’re not returning my phone calls. What the hell, Lana?”

“What are you talking about?” I retort. “I sent you an email on Monday. The Clinic of Love isn’t open Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I explained all of that in my email and told you I was taking three vacation days. You know, the ones I’ve been trying to take since January.”

He ignores every word of my speech. As usual. “What do you have for me on the doctors?”

I heave a sigh. “I’m going to drop in at the Clinic tonight,” I tell him. “I’m going to see if I can sweet-talk my way into an appointment.”

The eagerness in his voice is impossible to miss. “You’ll be taping it, right? You have a hidden camera?”

“Yes, I’ll be recording the doctors.” John’s blatant greed shouldn’t really come as a surprise. He’s been fantasizing about the click-bait headlines ever since he sent me here. I’m positive that no matter what I discover, John’s going to spin it in the most lurid light.

Sex and scandal sell. When I first started out, The Torch did serious reporting, but lately, I’ve had to fight to write meaningful features. It’s been one sensationalist headline after another.

I’ve been really happy the last three days, and it’s not just the amazing sex I’ve been having. Blake and Declan are great company. Declan’s more serious, and Blake’s more lighthearted, but both men have amazing senses of humor. They’ve both been attentive, kind and genuinely interested in getting to know me better.

I’m reluctant to investigate the sleazy doctors for obvious reasons. Once I’m done with my story, I’ll have no reason to stay in Goat, Oregon. It’ll be back to Portland, with nothing other than my dead cactus for company.

You’re being dramatic, Lana. Nothing’s stopping you from starting to date again in Portland.

Except I don’t want to date other men.

I’m falling in love with Blake and Declan. Which is crazy. I can’t fall in love with two guys. I can’t be in such a strange relationship, can I?

Say Yes instead of No, Lana.

Elvira Grantham had offered to introduce me to Connor Perkins on Sunday, but we hadn’t run into him at the fair. The more I think about working at a small-town paper, the more I’m tempted by the thought. Could I do it? Could I stay in this town and have the courage to tell Declan and Blake that I want more than a vacation fling?

My pulse starts to race. Sweat beads on my forehead. I’ve never actually told a guy I liked him, let alone two. It’s a terrifying thought.

Say Yes instead of No, Lana.

“Perfect.” John’s voice jerks me back to our phone conversation. I can picture him rubbing his hands together in satisfaction. “Give me a call tonight to tell me how it went.”

“I’ll give you a call tomorrow,” I reply firmly. If he protests, I’m going to quit.

But John knows when to push and when to back away. He’s got what he wants; I’m going to see the doctors tonight. “No problem, Lana,” he says cooperatively. “Get your story tonight. Call me in the morning.”

* * *

Blake:

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Rhonda, the red-haired office assistant, is spitting mad. She glares at the two of us, her hands on her hips, outrage emanating from every pore.

Declan’s lips curl into a smile. “I have a phone call to make,” he says. “Why don’t you talk to Blake?” He retreats into one of the examination rooms.

I bite back my own grin. I threw him under the bus the other day when Lettie Herman showed up determined to score, and this is his revenge. Turning to Rhonda, I raise an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“You two are spreading the word around town that George and Ted aren’t coming back,” she accuses. “Now you have new furniture being delivered, and I hear you’re making an offer on the building. What’s next? Renaming the clinic?”

“That’s a good point,” I say calmly. “We definitely need to rename the clinic. Clinic of Love sounds like a seventies porn flick.” I give the assistant a steady look. “Rhonda, be honest with yourself. The clock’s ticking on this little operation. What’s the longest the two doctors have ever lasted in a town?”

A look of reluctant resignation flashes across her face. “Eighteen months,” she admits. “This was our longest stint, and it was only because they stayed on the straight and the narrow for the first six months.”

“Exactly. You’re obviously in touch with Dr. Swanson and Dr. Rhodes. Talk to them. The offer Declan and I made for the building is more than generous. We’re also willing to refund any clients that have prepaid for their special services. It’s a good deal. Tell them to accept it. It’s time to move on.”

She looks uncertain. Just then, Lettie Herman walks in, a frown on her face. The moment Rhonda catches sight of her, her spine stiffens. “You,” she spits out. “What do you want?”

“I asked Mrs. Herman to drop by.” I incline my head at the blonde woman. “If you’ll follow me,” I say, pointing to one of the examination rooms.

I need privacy for this conversation.

No matter what Declan might say, I know he’s still bothered by what his brother did. He’s spent most of the last decade working in some of the poorest parts of the world, torn apart by war, famine, and strife as a form of atonement.

Everyone in Goat knows that the two of us have nothing to do with the Clinic of Love, but if the smutty clinic becomes public knowledge, our reputations are going to be damaged.

I can withstand that, but I don’t want it to happen to Declan. I invited him to Goat. I was the one that wanted to set up a clinic in this small town, and because of that, I accepted Ted Swanson and George Rhodes’ offer without investigating it fully.

This mess is my fault.

Then there’s Lana. I’m completely certain that if there’s any scandal, I don’t want Lana dragged into it. I can see the headlines now. Doctors In A Threesome Run Sex Clinic in Oregon. Journalists can be brutal in their search for a story, and I want to protect Lana. I like her far too much. She deserves better than that.

Most of the patients who received special services from the doctors are single women, women who are just as interested as I am in keeping this clinic out of the spotlight. There’s only one wild card.

Lettie Herman’s estranged husband Michael.

“What do you want?” Lettie’s voice is hostile as I shut the door to the examination room. “If you’re going to lecture me about my sins like that fucking bitch Rhonda, I’m not interested.”

I sit down on one of the chairs. “No lectures, I promise,” I tell her. “You said you prepaid for the Clinic of Love’s special services. I’d like to offer you a refund.”

“Oh.” She sits down as well. “That’s good, I guess.”

I survey Lettie Herman covertly. She doesn’t look happy to get her money back. She just looks miserable.

“Mrs. Herman,” I say gently, “I’m not your doctor, and this is none of my business. Is everything okay? If your husband is hurting you in any way, we can help you.”

“Hurting me?” Her head snaps up in shock. “No, of course not. You have it all wrong. Michael would never hurt me.”

I can tell she’s struggling to decide if she should confide in me or not. I wait as patiently as I can. Finally, she seems to come to a decision. “We can’t have children,” she says bleakly. “I’m barren. Michael has always said it doesn’t matter to him, but I know it does. Then his niece Janet gave birth to a little boy, and when I saw Michael’s face when he held the baby, I knew I had to do something drastic.”

Understanding dawns over me. “You thought that if Michael found out about your visit to the clinic, he’d divorce you.”

She nods. “I paid for the sessions with our credit card. I didn’t try to keep it a secret. I wanted my husband to find out.”

“That’s really dumb,” I say bluntly. “Sure, your husband might have given you a divorce, but he might have also come after the two doctors with a shotgun. Did you think about that?”

“He’s not the violent sort,” she argues. “He wouldn’t hurt a fly. I know him.”

I take a deep breath. “Mrs. Herman, Dr. Wilde and I are interested in setting up a real clinic. We don’t want to create a scene, and we don’t want to get drawn into anything sordid. We’re just here to practice medicine.”

She’s quiet for a few minutes. “You’re right,” she says at last. “I shouldn’t have involved anyone in my private life. I’ll talk to Michael and tell him everything.”

I don’t agree with what she did, but her actions were motivated by love, not hatred. I hope for her sake that everything works out.

She gets to her feet, and I open the door. “Thank you for your help, Doctor,” she’s saying as she walks into the lobby. “I feel so much better now.”

I’m not looking at her. I’m looking at the dark-haired woman who’s just walked into the clinic, one who’s staring at me with betrayal in her eyes. Lana.

“It’s you,” she says, a tremble in her voice. Declan chooses that moment to walk into the waiting room, and her head snaps from me to him. “It’s both of you. You’re the doctors that get women off.”

“Lana, we can explain,” Declan starts to say.

She cuts us off with a sweeping gesture of her hand. “No,” she says. “Please don’t. For almost two weeks, the two of you have avoided every question about what you do for a living. It all makes sense now.”

She pivots on her heels and rushes out.

Fuck.