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At her use of his first name the woman’s head jerked up and her eyes filled with interest. The receptionist looked her over as if she’d never really given her any thought the other times they’d met. Once again, she seemed to dismiss her as unimportant. Apparently she didn’t see Cynthia as competition material.
Raising her nose slightly, the woman said, “Dr. Donavon is with a patient.”
Disappointment filled Cynthia but this trip wasn’t about her cow-eyed crush on Sean. Cynthia handed the packet of reports to the woman. “I understand. I don’t need to disturb him. Please make sure he gets these reports right away.”
The woman nodded and went back to what she had been doing.
Cynthia refused to look down the hallway in the direction of Sean’s office as she made her way out of the lobby. She was in her car buckling in when there was a rap on the driver’s side window. Her heart jumped in her chest as she jerked around. Sean stood there.
He indicated for her to roll the window down. When she did he said as if disappointed, “You weren’t going to say hi?”
Her pulse raced from her excitement at seeing him. “I was told you were seeing a patient.”
“You could have waited.” He sounded disappointed. Leaning down so his face was in the window, he said, “Are you hungry?”
He was close. So very close. What would he say if she traced his lips with her finger? “Hungry?” Absorbed in thinking about his lips, she wasn’t really listening.
“Yes. Hungry. You know, food, stomach making noises. Five o’clock somewhere.”
Cynthia blinked and came back to the real world. The man had put a spell on her, turning her brain to mush whenever he was around. “I know what it is. I just wasn’t sure why you were asking.”
He grinned. One of those “nice guys in wolf’s clothing” kind. The type where a girl should run but couldn’t because she was afraid that she might regret it. “I wanted to see if you’d like to grab some dinner with me. I missed lunch. My surgery case went longer than expected.”
Cynthia tingled all over. Sean was asking her to dinner. “I guess I could be interested in dinner.”
He chuckled. “You’re not going to dare act as if you might like me, are you?”
Cynthia gave him a syrupy smile. She had to play it cool. Not let on how keen she was on the idea. That was the problem: she liked him too well. So much so, she could be swept away by him. “I have a feeling that if you had the upper hand you’d take advantage of it. Then I’d be in big trouble.”
Sean leaned in closer. His face inches from hers. “You know, Cynthia, sometimes it’s fun to live dangerously. You do believe in fun, don’t you?”
She did. Danger she wasn’t so sure about. Her heart wasn’t something she played with. And she had no idea where all of this was going. It took her a moment to answer. “I do. But I also need to know I won’t get hurt while I’m having fun.”
“It’s just supper, not a long-term contract,” he said softly.
Cynthia took a moment to give that some thought. She wanted to go so why was she holding back? There hadn’t been a man in her life in a long time and now a nice one wanted to take her out. Why wouldn’t she take a chance? “I guess I could. I’d have to sit in traffic at this hour to get home anyway.”
He straightened a little, just missing the top of the door. “So what you’re saying is that sharing a meal with me is just a step better than sitting in traffic.”
She smiled. “Now you’re trying to put words in my mouth.”
“So what’ll it be? Me or the traffic?” His eyes dared her to agree.
Truthfully it wasn’t a hard decision. Sean would win every time. “I’ll have supper with you.”
He grinned and gave the door a thump with his palm. “Great. Come on back inside and we’ll go in my car. I’ll drop you back here when we’re done.”
Sean waited while she rolled up the window, got out and locked the car. Together they walked back to his office building.
For once Cynthia wished she’d taken more time with her appearance. It had been so long since she’d been on a date the idea seemed almost foreign. Still, she could hardly contain the anticipation bubbling up because Sean had gone to the effort to catch her before she’d left the parking lot.
His receptionist’s eyes widened then narrowed as they walked past her. Cynthia was tempted to give her a gloating smile but didn’t.
In his office Sean went behind his desk and removed his lab coat, draping it over the back of his chair.
“I don’t think your receptionist likes me. I just got the evil eye. Methinks there’s a story there.” Cynthia studied him. She wouldn’t appreciate being a part of Sean’s harem.
Sean glanced up from the papers he was putting into a stack on his desk. “Nothing you should be worried about.”
“I don’t need to step in the middle of something.” She had enough complications in her life. Didn’t need to get involved with a womanizer. Her heart had been broken once and she had no interest in having that repeated.
Sean stopped what he was doing and came around the desk. “To put your mind at ease we went out a couple of times. As friends.”
Cynthia angled her head at an angle and gave him a skeptical look.
He quirked his mouth. “Okay. I thought friends. She wanted more.”
“So what do you want from me?” Cynthia was rethinking going to dinner. Maybe they should just remain employee and employer. She needed this job, no heartache. He already had the ability to give her that. Was she willing to take that chance? To have him disrupt her ordered life?
Sean moved closer, not into her personal space but near enough to take one of her hands. “Friends, at least. More, I hope. Look, I’ve already discussed and explained more in order to get you to go out to dinner with me than I have with any other woman. Trust me. Let’s just get to know each other and see what happens.”
Maybe it was time for her to stop worrying all the time and have some fun for a change. After all, she was the one who believed in it. “Okay.”
“Great. Let’s go.” He smiled and let her step out of the door ahead of him.
* * *
Sean directed her down the hall to the back of the building. As they passed his nurse he said good night and asked her to see that the office was secure.
Running through a slow but steady rain, they quickly climbed into his car. Cynthia laughed and pushed at her hair as if trying to put it into some sort of order. He rather liked her less polished look. The tight-skirt, glossy-lipped, shiny-jewelry-adorned women paled in comparison to Cynthia’s fresh-faced, meet-life-head-on personality. It had an appeal that pulled at him. “There’s a nice place not far from here where we can get a good meal.”
“Sounds perfect. You know your car isn’t at all what I pictured you driving,” Cynthia said as she buckled up.
He gave her a questioning look. “How’s that?”
“I don’t know. I always pictured you as a sports car kind of guy.”
She had been imagining him? “Where did you get that idea?”
“Your voice.” She looked out of the windshield instead of at him as if she’d said more than she had intended to.
“My voice? I didn’t know you could tell what kind of car a person would buy by their voice. Is that a new medical discovery?” He started the car.
Cynthia looked at him. “No. More like dream therapy.”
Sean gave that a thoughtful nod. This conversation was getting interesting. “Been dreaming about me, have you?”
She vigorously shook her head, her hair covering her face. “No, just my overactive imagination, which had put surgeon, good practice and bachelor into an equation and come out with hot red sports car. You can tell math is not my strongest subject.”
He backed out of
the parking spot. “So you had me figured as a cliché. All your information may be true but you also forgot to figure in loans for medical school. And not every doctor feels the need to live extravagantly.”
“I guess they don’t. But I wasn’t thinking that practically.”
“Are you disappointed?” He waited with anticipation for her answer. For some reason it would hurt if she was.
“No. I’m not so shallow as to base my friendship with someone on the type of car he drives.”
“That’s encouraging to know.” Sean pulled out into the street, a sense of relief washing over him. He wouldn’t be interested in any woman who was only concerned about how much was in his wallet. As far as he was concerned that was another get rich scheme. More than one woman had thought he was their way to the good life. The latest being his receptionist.
“I know what you mean.”
He glanced at her. “That sounds like there’s a little bitterness in that statement.”
