Page 41 of Doctor Daddy Dilemma

“You know what? Fine,” she snapped, and she spun around and opened the door, but she had more to say. “The only reason I ran off anyway was because everything told me you were cheating on me. And maybe you were, maybe you weren’t. Maybe you were just you and I never knew it. I came here thinking even if you had, I could live with that. I just wanted you to hear me out.” Everything she said was wrong, but it smacked me like a ton of bricks when the door slammed shut. She was gone, and I was shocked.

I sat down on the stool and stared at the floor where she just stood. She ran off because she believed I was cheating, and I’d given her every reason to believe that. I was late at times; I ran off during our evenings to meet other women. And I’d seen the footage from that disaster on the bridge and the pictures of me in Myra’s car. Charlie was hurt so badly by those stupid tabloids that she ran off and never looked back, and this whole time I had no clue.

I covered my face and rubbed, realizing what a fool I’d been. If only I’d taken time to reassure her, to cut back my client list and tell my patients no to evening and weekend visits. It was her mistake, the assumptions she made, but I hadn’t helped anything. And I had every right to be upset, but now I couldn’t be. Not when I realized the communication problem and why we lost two years of our lives over this.

God I was a fool. I thought she was running off like every other woman, and she just never explained.

Now I needed to make it right even though I’d done nothing wrong. I had to. For my son’s sake. Even if I had just ruined it forever.

31

CHARLIE

Iwas lying on the bed in my hotel room on the north side of the city when someone knocked on my door. No one knew I was in Miami except Amy and my parents, though they’d never have flown in to be with me for this moment. They all knew I needed privacy to talk with Lex. And I had no other contacts in this city, not even any former sources or interview subjects I still kept in touch with. For all intents and purposes, I was a ghost here.

Pushing myself off the bed, I grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom and wiped my face and blew my nose. I was positive that I looked messed up. The last time I even looked at my face my eyes were puffy and had huge bags. I hadn’t slept in days, each night fraught with nightmares about Lex and I having arguments that led to him taking Sebastian away from me. While I was gaining popularity to the point of semi-celebrity status, I didn’t have the resources to fight a billionaire in court.

I peeked through the peephole and saw a man wearing a black suit. He stood looking up the hallway toward the elevators, but I didn’t know him. And hotel staff wore blue polo shirts with golden name tags. This man must have been lost or was knocking on the wrong door. I, however, didn’t want to lie in bed listening to him knock more and disrupt my self-loathing time. So, I opened the door.

“Can I help you?” I asked as I stuttered out a few breaths. He turned toward me with a serious expression and raised his eyebrows.

“Ms. Charlotte Martinez?” he asked and suddenly I felt put on the spot. So he was here for me, but why? And that meant only one thing. He had to have been sent by Lex. If Amy or my parents were involved, they’d have just called my cell phone. That was a number Lex didn’t have, since I changed everything about myself the instant I left Tampa.

“Uh, yeah. That’s me…” I waited as he reached into the inner breast pocket of his suit coat.

“This is a letter from Dr. Alexander Hartman. He asked me to deliver this to you and to remain here in case you wanted transportation.” The man held out a piece of paper, folded in thirds and taped shut with an address label. I stared at it for a second and felt angry.

Lex had the nerve to somehow look me up and send me a letter, but when I was right there in his office ready to talk to him he’d gone off on me, treating me like a monster. I didn’t want that letter. And while I didn’t want to leave town until something was figured out, I honestly didn’t want to talk to him at all right now. I was upset and confused.

“I’m sorry, sir. I don’t think I can take that.” I started to back away into my room to shut the door, but he held the paper out farther.

“He’d like you to join him on his yacht. I can take you if you’re willing.” This man was persistent, but I didn’t feel threatened by him. His demeanor was gentle and his voice was calm. Still, I had no clue how Lex had found me. And if it was that easy to find me here in Miami, how had he never looked me up this whole time?

“How did he find me?” I snapped, then grabbed the letter from his hand.

“I’m not sure, ma’am. He has his ways.”

“Well, you can leave. I don’t want a ride.” I wanted to crumple the letter and throw it away, but I didn’t. Instead, I shut the door and locked it, and when I checked the peephole the man was gone.

The letter burned my hand like fire, urging me to tear it to shreds and throw it away. Then it shifted and my heart screamed at me for being so unmerciful. This was how it went down before; I made assumptions and left town without communicating. That psychologist’s words were haunting me. I had to read the dang thing.

So I sat down on the sofa and carefully peeled the address label back. It was Lex’s address and his monogram. And the writing on the letter was his handwriting too. Unmistakably so. I forced myself to read it.

Charlie,

I apologize for snapping at you when you came to my office to speak with me. You’re right. We have a few things to discuss. Please join me this evening on my yacht so we can have a much-needed conversation.

Yours,

Lex

I couldn’t believe the nerve of this man. He insulted me when I tried to apologize and discuss things rationally, and now he wanted me to show up on his boat to talk about it? I wasn’t stupid. All that would happen would be another argument. I crumpled up the paper and threw it across the room. I was so mad I almost screamed.

Instead of sitting here letting myself get so angry, I packed up and left, I decided to call Amy to check on Bash. She had been gracious enough to keep him for a few days so I could make this trip, and I missed my little boy’s cuddles so much, even after having only left him this morning.

Amy picked up on the third ring. “Chuck! My gosh, I have baby fever so badly. Thank you so much for letting me keep Bash. I am loving this.” Her giddy tone made me smile and started to take the sting out of Lex’s behavior.

“I was just calling to check on him, but it sounds like everything is going well.”

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