GORGEOUS WITH A SIDE OF DESIRE J.D. BLACKROSE 1 melia placed her hands on her hips and gave Lissa the beady eyeball. "You're thinking about Mike again, A aren't you? You could have anybody if you put your‐ self out there, but you squirrel yourself away in a corner office. There has to be more to life than work and your cat." "And my dad." "And your father," Amelia conceded. "But I don't understand why you're hiding. You're beautiful and smart. You're the head of Fall City Hospital's entire Communications and Public Relations department, and a confident, professional woman, but one man looks at your big blue eyes and lovely blonde hair with interest and you flinch. Why?" “You forget that love fades quickly, Amelia.” She kept her voice mild. "Bullshit, if you'll pardon my bluntness. Mike left to pursue his passion, and he was always honest with you about that. He’s embedded in some military unit reporting under fire and that’s all he ever wanted. Besides, it would have been cruel to marry you and then take off for months and years as a combat reporter. You’d spend all your time worrying.” “You’re right, but…” “Arizona.” 1 J.D. BLACKROSE Lissa dropped her head to stare at her desk. “Arizona.” She and Mike had shared an experience in Arizona that she still couldn’t explain to this day, but she’d hoped that it had been enough to keep him stateside, with her. She’d been a fool. It had been a good kick in the pants, she thought now, for the millionth time. She’d learned to be self-sufficient, fought and earned a great job and paid her own bills. Being used and discarded was not on her to-do list. "You meet lots of nice guys who want to date you, Lissa. You just turn them all away," Amelia's voice was kinder this time, understanding that her friend didn't see how beautiful she was, or how attractive to men. "It's just that I don't want "nice." I want exciting. I want a main course of gorgeous with a side of molten desire." "Whoosh. That's hot. Let's add, "And a dessert that smolders all night long." Lissa grinned. "Now, that's what I'm talking about." Besides, how could she get involved with someone, go to bed with them, and then wake up screaming? That would scare them off for certain even if they attracted to a curvy woman who worked all the time. The dream was always the same. The swirling vortex of red and black that sent whispers to her mind, murmurs of words she couldn’t understand no matter how hard she listened. She'd had this dream as long as she could remember. It was as if the words were just out of earshot and if she could get closer, she might be able to make the words out, but something always held her back. Call it instinct, call it intuition, but when she shifted closer, her gut roiled, and her subconscious screamed "Danger!" Lissa tossed her Montblanc pen on the desk and rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands, tired from her restless, dream- filled sleep. She swiveled her desk chair to face the windows of her office on the fiftieth floor of the Cromwell Tower, the tallest building in Fall City. “What are you going blind over now?” Amelia asked as she finished fixing a steaming mug of coffee which she put on her boss’ desk before she flopped down in one of the cushy chairs in 2 GORGEOUS WITH A SIDE OF DESIRE the office. Amelia crossed her arms and waited for Lissa to turn back around. “Is there anything I can do? Office assistant and all, remember? It’s my job to help.” Still facing the window, Lissa said, “It’s the budget again. Things have gotten so busy here that we need to hire a media relations director, but we don’t have the funding for it yet. It’s hard to prove the return on investment from, good media rela‐ tions but convincing the Board that I can’t do everything by myself is a challenge.” “But the Board won’t hesitate to point out the damage a negative story brings,” remarked Amelia, crossing one long leg over the other. Lissa swirled back around, smiling when she saw the coffee. “That’s exactly my point.” “What are you going to do about it?” Lissa admired Amelia’s hair, which her friend wore short and natural because it showed off her dark eyes and exquisite cheek‐ bones. At six-feet tall Amelia intimidated a lot of men, but Amelia used her height to wean out the keepers from the losers. If you couldn’t handle a tall woman, then step out of line, and there was always a line where Amelia was concerned. Not for the first time, Lissa wondered about her friend. No doubt about it, Amelia was beautiful, kind, intelligent, and yet… Amelia had secrets. Also not for the first time, Lissa dismissed the thought, believing that if Amelia wanted to share, she would. Lissa sipped her coffee, grateful Amelia knew how she liked it, with heavy whipped cream and two sugars. Sweet and calo‐ rie-filled. She knew she shouldn’t drink it this way, her hips being a little too wide and her bosom a little too buxom, but she worked hard, dammit, and if she wanted sweet coffee, she was going to have it. Besides, there was always hot yoga. She’d sweat it off. “Nothing, now. I’ll go before the Board again next month and hopefully have some more data to back-up my requests.” Lissa inhaled the coffee’s deep aroma and sighed in happiness. Amelia lifted an eyebrow at Lissa. “In God we trust. All others bring data?” 3 J.D. BLACKROSE “You got it. Especially at a research hospital. Data is king.” “You’ve been working yourself too hard. Let’s go out and get some drinks tonight. I heard that new club down on Sixth Street is pretty happening.” Lissa rolled her eyes at her friend. “On a Wednesday? You know I have my standing meeting with Joe on Thursdays.” Amelia shuddered. “I can’t believe you have to meet with that bald, misogynistic egotistical maniac every single week. He doesn’t force the other department heads to do that. You don’t see Clarence meeting with him every week and you would think Finance would be Joe’s top worry.” “Joe Thomas may be a pain in the ass…” Amelia interrupted. “Joe S. Thomas, you mean.” Lissa acknowledged the correction with a slight tip of her chin and a rueful smile. “Joe S. Thomas may be a pain in the ass, but he is the administrator of this hospital and I report to him. He’s second only to the CEO. I just have to bear it.” Amelia grimaced. “He gives me the creepy crawlies. I don’t know how you stand him.” Lissa closed her eyes again. “I try hard to make sure there’s at least one seat between us at all times. His hands are known to wander.” “Yeesh. Does he still have those long nails?” “Yup, and they’re just as disgusting as the first time you saw them.” “Come on. There’s nothing more you can do here tonight. Let’s go get a drink at that new bar.” Amelia rose and grabbed Lissa’s rain jacket. Lissa sighed at her friend. She didn’t feel like partying especially with the meeting she had the next day, but she knew Amelia wouldn’t take no for an answer and would stand over her like a mother hen if she didn’t at least go for an hour. “One hour,” she intoned, holding up her index finger. “One hour,” Amelia agreed, crossing her fingers behind her back. They left the office, taking the stairs to get those extra steps in and walked out the side door near the Emergency Room. 4 GORGEOUS WITH A SIDE OF DESIRE “Wow, the ER is busy this evening,” noted Amelia, as she pressed her back against the wall to avoid an oncoming stretcher carrying a young woman. Two medics pushed the stretcher inside and the doors closed. “You’re right, it is busy, especially for a weekday,” Lissa said, stepping off the curb. She stopped suddenly as another ambu‐ lance came roaring in. “Do you see who that is over there?” Lissa pointed to three people rushing in the hospital, two men, both running so fast their ties were flying and a woman who wore a skirt with sneakers, moving just as fast. “Is that Dr. Steele, Dr. Mercer and Dr. Hoffman?” “Yeah, they don’t usually work nights, given their seniority and administrative duties. I wonder what’s got them riled up.” Lissa chewed her lip. “I hope there isn’t a crisis.” “It’s a hospital,” said Amelia. “There’s always a crisis. Let’s go.” Amelia tugged on Lissa’s sleeve. Lissa allowed herself to be pulled to the parking lot but her mind was preoccupied with the hubbub at the hospital. Her spidey-sense was tingling. “Maybe I should go back and see what is going on,” Lissa said. She hesitated at the entrance to the parking garage. “Do they have your cell phone?” Amelia said, sighing in exas‐ peration. “Of course.” “Then, forget about it.