Page 124 of Dr. Bad Boy

By the time I get that hung up and find them in the kitchen, Lizzie has a drink and they are chatting like old friends.

I join Violet where she's leaning against the counter and I put my arm around her. Her question from the day before rang in my ears.Should I be jealous?

There hasn’t been another woman for me to even look at since the night I met Violet, but even before that, Lizzie had never been like that, not even when we were teenagers. And now there would never be anyone else, period. I only have eyes for one woman, and it was the one in my arms.

I kiss her temple. “What lies is Lizzie telling you about me?”

“She says you’re lonely,” Violet says, her lips curving into an amused smile.

Not anymore I’m not. I hold my love’s gaze. “Am I?”

“No,” she says slowly, shaking her head.

“Fine, I’m convinced,” my oldest, dearest, most smart-alecky friend says, and we both laugh and turn back to her. She beams at me. “I just needed to see this for myself.”

But there’s something a little too bright about her smile, and it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. I don’t let her get away with that. “Why’d you really come up here?”

She shrugs. “It was on my way to Toronto.”

“On your way by how many extra flights?”

“I had that warm coat to keep my company, it was fine.”

“Eliza.”

“Max.”

Violet laughs. “Can I get you a glass of wine? We were about to sit down for dinner.”

Lizzie waves her hand. “No, thank you, but I’d take filtered water if you have it, or green tea?”

“I’ll put on the kettle,” Violet says.

I plate up our dinner, knowing that Lizzie won’t mind if we eat while she works her way around to spilling whatever is on her mind. “What are you doing in Toronto?”

“We begin filming on a new project next week.” There’s an edge to what she says that makes me jerk my attention back to her.

“Not the Vince Jenkins thing.”

She swallows hard. “No, not that. I got out of that.”

“Good.”

“No, this is something else. It’ll be good.”

We sit at the table and she sips her tea as she tells us about this new project. She keeps mentioning one of the producers, a British guy who was supposed to be a silent investor, but he’s going to be on set and she seems frazzled by that new development.

But my earlier concern fades as she talks more. She’s on edge, definitely, but she’s not scared. And maybe what she needs is a little English distraction.

“Maybe we could come down to Toronto and visit you on set,” I say.

She beams. “I’d love that. I’m here for a bit, then I’ll be back in April, and again in August for some final shooting. It’s a weird schedule.”

I nod. “April should work. We’re busy in August.”

Violet blushes and Eliza looks back and forth between us. “Are you travelling?”

I laugh. “We’re having a baby, actually.”

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