Waiting for Lila by Billie Green

personable, and who happens to be very, very wealthy. Is that too much to ask?"
    They all laughed just as she had intended them to. "I told you all a long time ago that I became a doctor only so I could make lots of money," she said matter-of-factly, "and because as a doctor I would be thrown into the company of wealthy men, which meant I would stand a good chance of marrying a man who also makes a lot of money."
    Glory gave an inelegant snort. "Yes, that's what you told us, and that may be why you got into medicine initially, but it's not why you stayed with it. I've seen you with patients, remember? I would give my eye teeth to be even half as good a diagnostician as you are."
    Delilah ignored her. "I've managed to stake a claim for myself in Dallas, but you all know what it's like for new doctors. Does anyone want to talk about the cost of malpractice insurance?" For a second every face looked grim. "A doctor's income simply isn't as secure as it used to be. Which is why I'm looking for someone who has a healthy practice already established. And to be perfectly frank, I can't afford to waste any more time."
    As Delilah glanced around at her friends, she realized they couldn't possibly understand what was driving her. They were too secure, too normal to comprehend the desperation behind her decision. They couldn't know that the reason she so much envied Glory's integrity was that Delilah couldn't afford that particular luxury.
    "It was when I saw that a nonmedical man wouldn't work that I changed my mind about coming to the conference several days early like the rest of you. It's time for me to get serious."
    She paused, letting her gaze pass over each of them in turn, letting the suspense build until they were all looking at her expectantly.
    "At this conference I'm hunting," she said slowly, then smiled. "At this conference, my friends, I'm going to bag me a man."
    The silence in the room became electrified, and looking at her friends' stunned faces, Delilah had trouble maintaining her usual Madonna smile.
    After a few moments Booger cleared his throat noisily and rose to his feet. "For a friend, I'm prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice." He took Delilah's hand, then dropped to one knee. "Marry me, Delilah. Come with me to Kansas. Be the mother of my warped little children—twelve or thirteen would be nice. I'm not rich yet, but I'm my father's only heir. Dad will love you ... we can swear he's senile, stick him in a nursing home, and—"
    "Booger!"
    "Okay, okay. We'll kill him. Then we can live the good life until they catch us. What do you say?"
    Arching one brow, Delilah stared down at him for a long moment. "It sounds interesting, not to mention macabre, but in a word, no."
    "Okay," he said agreeably. "On to Plan Two. Someone help me up." When he was on his feet again, he glanced around at the others. "I propose—"
    Addie snorted loudly. "You propose too damn much. You propose to waitresses who refill your coffee cup and to women who buy chocolate-covered doughnuts and to anyone, no matter what their gender, who is wearing jogging shorts."
    "As I was saying," Booger continued, pointedly ignoring the interruption, "I propose that we help Dee find a husband by having a scavenger hunt."
    Now, as she heard the echoes of that conversation, Delilah was doubly glad she hadn't let Bill know what she and her friends were involved in, hadn't let him know that she was on a cold-blooded husband-hunt. She didn't want Bill in her life, not her real life. It wasn't the place for a man like him.
    She had made her plan and she would stick to it, come hell or high water. She would marry a man who could give her the security she so desperately craved; a man who wanted an intelligent, personable wife; a man who didn't expect or want the impossible from her; a man who didn't need her love. Because that was something she would never give away again.
    Straightening her back in determination, she walked into the bedroom she was sharing