Chapter Six

A n hour and a half later, Lexi had four gold fillings and was fitted with a glob of wax for an inlay.

"This will take a few days; let me book you for—"

"I'm not leaving," Lexi said, matter-of-factly. She couldn't go back with a third of a tooth missing. She had to be whole again before she faced either her parents or Mrs. Dove-Lyon.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'm not leaving without all my fillings."

"You have all the fillings." He handed her a mirror to hold in her hand and put a little one on her teeth. "I'll show you." Odd, he knew more about her mouth than she did. "Here, this one is tiny. This one, too." She saw two dots of gold, shiny and barely noticeable on the insides of her teeth, where her tongue would naturally block them from view. "This one is on an occlusal surface. Narrow but deep. It won't go further with the tight seal I placed with the gold foil," he explained.

Her first molar on the top right had a spot of gold now, like an eye. She darted her tongue to the spot, and it was smooth as if it had healed. The sensitivity was gone; she barely remembered the pain now. But the dentist's gentle hand on her chin remained firmly in place and suddenly warmed her insides.

He approached her mouth with the little mirror on the stick again, and she opened it willingly. This time, she didn't close her eyes but examined his expression as he poked around her mouth. She welcomed his nearness. She'd arrived fearing the worst pain she'd ever experienced, yet he made it all disappear for good in just two hours. He'd taken not only her pain, Lexi thought, but repaired something deeper. Somehow, with his golden touch, she didn't need to be perfect, but she could be happy.

He scraped on the large carved tooth, which had been black. It was now all white, sculpted in an odd shape like the terraces of vineyards but in miniature. "This is where the inlay goes."

"But this is not tooth-shaped!"

"That's sealed off for now, but I must use the wax model and cast an inlay for you. It'll fit like a puzzle piece, absolutely precisely. Nobody will ever know it's there; it's in the far back."

"Except for you." For some inexplicable reason, she no longer cared if the world knew of her imperfection. She was only concerned about him, the handsome young man whose scent enveloped her with a delicious aroma. Now that she wasn't focused on the scratching of the tools on her teeth, she reveled in his heat, and it made her tremble deep down. For him, she realized with a sinking heart, she wished to be perfect.

"I'll keep your secret." He winked at her, and her heart began to flutter. "But it will take me a while to make the inlay. See you in a few days?" His question sounded more like an invitation than an appointment. And Lexi wondered if he'd felt as she had. He couldn't have been privy to her daydreams, yet she had a lingering sense he knew something about them.

"Thank you, Doctor." She accepted his gentle hand and rose from the chair.

He only took one step back and when Lexi straightened her back, she could look right into his eyes. At that moment, she lost the ability to speak.

"Come back tomorrow; it's the fastest it can be ready."

What?

"Tomorrow? Impossible!" I'm not going anywhere until I'm whole again. Please make me whole.

His eyebrows rose high, and his perfectly even forehead fell into horizontal worry lines. He was truly handsome, and his intelligent gaze wreaked havoc with Lexi's stomach. She didn't want to leave him and return as a patient to be fitted with this puzzle piece of gold, she wanted to spend more time with him, and she needed to feel healed.

"What if I help you?" She spoke as the thought formed and brought a hand to her belly. There was no pain in her mouth, but her lips were dry. She was parched. Not for water, though, for the prince-dentist.

"Help me?"

She shrugged. "Why not?"

"You want to know how I make an inlay?"

"You said it's such a novel method. Can I see?"

Dustin had never had such a strange case in all these years of training. It wasn't so much the medical part; that was straightforward. A few direct gold foil fillings and an inlay. But the case overall, the patient… She'd confounded him with her concern for the state of her teeth and irritated him with her beauty. He'd never had such a hard time focusing on the simple treatment sequence until now. She'd watched his every movement, and he'd tried very hard not to make eye contact with her, for he knew he couldn't hide his attraction. So close to such a stunning woman, meeting her gaze would have sent sparks flying and that was taboo. A doctor must never betray the patient's trust. Or share intimacies.

It was as she'd said; he'd left marks on her mouth. Rational minds would argue that the conservative little gold fillings were medical treatment. But for any man of blood and flesh, touching such a lovely mouth, seeing such perfect curves of her smile line, and resting his fingers on such lush lips was as easy to ignore as an earthquake that parted the ground under his feet.

Yet, a burning desire between his legs made it difficult to maintain his composure. No such thing had ever happened to him before. He'd never been attracted to a patient. And he'd never felt such an allure by a woman. She was like a mythological kelpie who enchanted him to go into deep water. Deeper than he could swim.

Dustin chastised himself for even thinking it, for pursuing a girl from the ton was like setting himself up for drowning. And allowing himself to have inappropriate contact with a patient would sink his career. She was forbidden in both ways. He mustn't act on his feelings, no matter how overpowering, for even a fling with anyone from the ton could get him discovered. And a liaison with a patient would cost him his reputation and any chance to get a respectable position in Maryland. Plus, an affair with a virgin wasn't without consequence, especially not a well-bred diamond of the first water like Lexi. He should have never said what he did.

If nobody has kissed you by that time and you still don't believe you are one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen, come back, and I'll do it .

"I'll help you," she said, smacking her lips and folding the napkin he'd put on her chest.

Her cleavage was more visible now and burned into Dustin's mind as if it were on fire, except he was burning in places that were not his eyes. And yet, he couldn't look away.

She took the handheld mirror and raised her eyebrows. "Oh dear, my hair!"

Dustin suppressed a chuckle at her outburst of vanity. He always thought it was an amusing fascination of girls and mirrors, as if the ladies couldn't pass up their own reflection, even if it was only to ensure their appearance was in order. And the beauty before him was most certainly in order.

"Here, let me help you," Dustin breathed as he tucked a stray curl behind her ear, unable to stop himself from touching her despite his self-admonishment. The moment his fingers brushed over the soft skin of her ear, he chastised himself in his mind, for it was wildly inappropriate. She was a patient and he shouldn't cross such a line, not even if it were as harmless as a strand of hair that had fallen out of her coiffure.

She averted her gaze from his, removed a pin from the bun that had been flattened from leaning her head on the chair, and then tilted her head to re-pin the strand that he'd tucked away. Another long oak-brown strand fell onto her clavicle. Dustin froze. His fantasies took over, and he imagined pulling each lock away and wrapping it around his fingers as he replaced the spot the silky strands had touched with tender kisses.

No, no, no.

He pinched his eyes shut.

Absolutely not.

And yet, he couldn't look away. With another thin metal pin between her lips, she inclined her head to see in the handheld mirror she'd placed between her knees. It slipped on the silky fabric of her dress, and Dustin caught it.

"Here," he said, holding up the small mirror so she could rein in her hair even though he wished he could drive his hands through it and muss it instead. As a dentist, he was merely holding a mirror up for his patient as he often did after treatment. But as a man, Dustin needed all his self-control not to devour the gorgeous woman with his eyes, for she was sinfully tempting.

And he held the mirror up, hiding behind it to stare at her, removing pins from her bun and trying to fasten her coiffure. His breath caught in his throat.

She had rich blue eyes with hues of purple. The white was so crisp and the lashes so dark he was reminded of…

"Did you line your eyes?"

She took the pins from her mouth and dropped them in her lap. Each made a tiny pinging sound, like little nails being hammered into his metaphorical coffin. He knew he'd need a coffin as her coiffure fell apart, and a mane of brown seduction draped over her. Dustin remained still, but it felt like he'd been punched in his gut.

"I beg your pardon?" She blinked.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked—"

"How did you know?" Instead of the insult he'd expected, she responded with sincerity. The fact he was her doctor meant the rind of the aristocracy's lies had been peeled off. He'd never spoken to a debutante with such honesty.

"I've seen it in India. Many women did it there."

"Princess Leela did, so I tried it." Her voice wobbled with hesitation but Dustin admired her honesty.

"Who's Princess Leela?"

She turned crimson. "The girl in my book."

"Oh, you mentioned it, yes. It must be a fascinating book about the customs in India then?" He tried to sound encouraging; she appeared embarrassed and he wondered why.

She shook her head. "A treatise on geography?" She shook her head again. Dustin felt a grin building, and his stomach flip-flopped. "A romance?"

Her eyes darted to his.

"The one with a kiss?"

"How did you know?" Her shyness turned to surprise.

Good. "It's my job to deduce what a patient won't say."

"Oh." Their eyes met. The word kiss seemed to hover in the air between them. No, he reminded himself and for a brief moment he was sorry to be a dentist and not a lord. But not sorry enough.

He picked the mirror back up and held it for her. She understood and resumed twirling her hair into strands which she coiled and pinned into place. Dustin's insides curled as she twisted each strand of hair into an elaborate style. Never had a patient had such an effect on him. Never had a girl touched his heart like the one before him.

Was it like in Princess Leela's romance that she wished to be kissed? Dustin did not feel safe to ask from his perch hiding behind the mirror, not that it was a perch, nor was he hidden. But the question had burned in his mind.