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“You don’t have to rub it in,” he said.
“I wasn’t rubbing anything in, you delicate little snowflake. Besides, you never wanted to go into medicine.”
“You’re right. Blood.” He grimaced and gave an exaggerated shiver.
“Anyway,” London continued, trying her hardest not to laugh. “For months, the administration at my hospital has been hinting at going the privatization route, but one of my colleagues just texted me a bit of inside scoop that makes me think that they’ve decided against the sale. She said the board is calling a meeting on Monday and they’re going to make an announcement.”
He paused for a moment before asking, “Why are you against the hospital being sold? I know several firms that broker those types of deals. It’s not always a bad thing.”
“Spoken like someone strictly interested in the money end of such deals,” London said. “I’m concerned about the medicine. I’m in the final year of a five-year residency at this hospital, and I think I know better than you what’s best for it. And it is definitelynota sale to the highest bidder.”
“A person can be concerned about the medicine and the money,” Drew said.
“And, as usual, we disagree. Good to know some things never change.” London slipped a glass of sparkling wine from a passing waiter’s tray. “But, you know what? I’m so happy right now that I don’t even mind trading barbs with you.”
“How about dancing with me?” he asked.
London drew up short. Narrowing her eyes at him, she asked, “What’sreallygoing on here?”
“What? Everyone else is dancing.”
“Yeah, but I don’t trust you,” she said. “Never have.”
“I’m just trying to get my hardworking classmate to have a little fun at the reunion she worked so hard to plan,” he said. “Is there something wrong with that?”
London picked up a strawberry from the fruit platter.
“I’ll pass on the dance,” she told him. “But, to my surprise, it actually wasn’t all that bad to see you again, Drew. Let’s do this again in another fifteen years.”
She slipped the strawberry in her mouth and left him standing at the dessert table.
2
Drew stood next to a horseshoe-shaped archway, like those he’d seen on his recent trip to Marrakesh. He shifted his attention between his phone, the projector screen that featured a slideshow of snapshots from high school, and a group of his former basketball teammates he now regretted approaching.
As he listened to them, Drew was reminded why he rarely kept in touch with anyone from this crew. Most of them hadn’t matured past their high school days. Still cracking the same lame jokes and jockeying for position as the big man on campus.
He remained quiet. His success spoke for itself; he didn’t have anything to prove to these guys. Then again, he had never been one to seek validation from anyone other than his mother or uncle. And London Kelley.
Drew looked to where he’d last seen her, fussing with the four-foot-tall Moroccan-inspired lantern being used as one of the photo props. She was easy to spot. Unlike some women who resented the fact that they were tall, London had always embraced her height. Those sexy-as-hell heels she wore made her even more imposing.
She wasstunning.
Her once gangly frame had filled out in all the best ways. She was now svelte and graceful, with the barest suggestion of curves underneath the flowing fabric of that fire-red jumpsuit that only London could pull off. Even though it was now streaked with chocolate.
His lips tipped up in a grin as he thought back to their conversation a little while ago. Drew could have spent the rest of the evening going back and forth with her, but after discovering her opposition to the changes happening at Travis County Hospital, he decided it would be best if he kept his distance. For a moment, he’d contemplated telling her that the board meeting she’d gotten the scoop on was to announce an audit of the hospital pending its potential acquisition. An audit performed by Trident Health Management Systems.Hiscompany.
But then he’d thought better of it. Why spoil their night with talk about work? She would find out soon enough.
A heated debate about this year’s NBA playoffs broke out among the basketball crew, signaling Drew’s cue to leave. He returned to the dessert table. Not because he was overly fond of cream puffs, but because it provided the best vantage point to view the entire ballroom.
He sought London out again, his heart rate accelerating as he spotted her heading straight toward him.
“Back so soon?” Drew asked casually as she approached.
“What can I say, I just couldn’t stay away from you,” she deadpanned. She snagged a melon ball from the fruit display. “I meant to ask earlier. Who does the apartment in that magazine belong to?”
“What do you mean? It’s my apartment.”
