One Night with a Tempting Playboy: From Playboy to Papa! / The Legendary Playboy Surgeon / Unwrapping the Playboy

As they headed to the dock, he spotted Maddie waiting. “Damn,” he muttered. “Haven’t been gone twenty-four hours.”

“What’s wrong?” Nicole asked, coming from behind him.

“Maddie,” he said. “That usually means there’s something that needs my attention. Immediately,” he added, surprised at his disappointment. He’d been planning a quiet evening with Joel and Nicole.

“She doesn’t really look dressed for work,” Nicole said.

Rafe noticed his assistant’s black dress and shrugged. “Maybe she has a party.”

Maddie waved as the pilot parked the boat. A member of the staff lowered the gang plank steps and she immediately boarded the yacht. “Welcome back. I thought I should wait until you returned to tell you that the Crawford deal is in jeopardy. He’s in Fort Lauderdale this weekend for that charity event you helped sponsor, so you’ll be able to take a quick trip up there and smooth the waters. I can drive you if you like.”

He shook his head, mentally planning how to shorten the trip. “Nah, that’s okay. I’ll either drive myself or get Dan to take me. Is that the event for veterans?”

“Yes, it is,” she said, appearing disappointed. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you? It’s no problem.”

“No,” he said. “Veterans,” he repeated and glanced at Nicole. “Any chance you want to go?”

Nicole blinked in surprise. “What kind of event is it?”

“It’s an event put on by a yacht club in Fort Lauderdale to raise money for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. You know who’s speaking?” he asked Maddie.

She paused, then sighed. “Gerard something,” she said.

“Gerard Thomas,” Nicole said, smiling. “I’ve worked with him before. He’s a terrific speaker.”

“Then join me,” he said, meeting her gaze.

Nicole glanced in Maddie’s direction then back at him. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“What about Joel?” Maddie asked. “I mean, do you think he’ll be uncomfortable being left at home without Nicole?”

“I think that one’s headed for an early bedtime, and this occasion is one of the reasons we have a mother’s helper.” He brushed his hands together. “Decision made. Nicole’s coming with me.”

“I think Maddie was disappointed that you chose not to take her tonight,” Nicole said as Dan, Rafe’s chauffeur, drove Rafe’s limo toward Fort Lauderdale. She and Rafe had quickly changed clothes at Rafe’s house before they left.

“Why?” he asked, unbuttoning his jacket. “It meant she had a night off. Besides, this gives me yet another opportunity to show off the advantages of southern Florida.”

Nicole wondered again about Rafe’s relationship with his assistant, but didn’t want to pry. “If you’re trying to sell me on it,” she began.

“Yeah?” he prompted.

“Today was very nice,” she said.

“Very nice,” he gently mocked. “The temperature in Atlanta was thirty-nine with drizzle.”

“Okay, you’ve got Atlanta beat in the weather department—except during hurricane season.”

“If a hurricane hits, we can visit my brother in Atlanta or my other brother in Las Vegas. Or Aspen. I have a place there. If you really want to get out of Dodge, we can go to Italy. Damien worked out some kind of arrangement for a chateau where my ancestors lived.”

“That sounds interesting,” she said, remembering the life of luxury she’d led when she’d lived with her father. “How long ago did your family live there?”

“About two hundred and fifty years before my grandfather made a bad business arrangement and was swindled out of the family home.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Yes, it was, but it forced my father to come to America, which meant I was born here. I’m glad for that. Your ancestry goes back pretty far, too, doesn’t it? Bet you’re a member of a few exclusive ladies’ societies,” he said.

Nicole had never focused much on her so-called pedigree. There were too many more important things. “I guess, but my membership has probably lapsed. Oh, darn,” she said in a mocking voice.

He smiled at her. “I would have sworn you never missed a meeting.”

“Then you would have been wrong. Not that there’s anything wrong with the organization. They do some wonderful things, grant scholarships, perform charitable work…”

“How many meetings did you attend?”

“A few during breaks from college. My mother and father made it compulsory.”

“When did you stop going?”

“The second after I moved out on my own for good.”

“You did that in one year,” he remembered.

“You’re quoting the résumé you got from your P.I.,” she said, feeling a twinge of guilt that she hadn’t told Rafe about the report she’d received about him.

“Yeah,” he said. “You pretty much flipped the bird at your parents as soon as you got out. How did you manage to buy your house so quickly?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t get that information, too,” she said. “My grandfather on my mother’s side left me a small trust. I quickly learned the joys of economizing.”

“You and I have more in common than you think. I learned the so-called joys of economizing early. You learned them later. I bet that wasn’t easy.”

“I actually had to read a few books on the subject,” she confessed. “Need versus want. I learned to budget.” She laughed. “Tabitha considered the word budget profane.”

“I can see that. I went shopping with her in South Beach a few times.”

“You went shopping with my sister?” Nicole said in surprise. It was hard for her to imagine Rafe indulging her sister to such a degree.

“Jewelry shopping,” he said. “She wanted diamonds, but never in the form of a ring.”

“Oh,” Nicole said, and actually felt embarrassed for her sister’s greedy behavior. “Sorry.”

“You live and learn. At one time, I would have said it was part of her charm.”

“And now?”

“Tabitha was a taker.”