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“I changed my mind.” She pulled her elbow out of his hand, and he missed the feel of her skin the moment she was gone.
“Why, Margo?” he asked again.
“It is none of your business, but I can see you won’t let this go.”
“Damn right.” He had an overwhelming feeling he’d missed something very important ten years ago, something that caused her to change all their plans.
“My father hit a financial snag my last year of college at Georgetown, so I agreed to attend a local school to save on the cost of out-of-state medical school. Then George Mason offered half-off tuition to any doctors willing to commit ten years in emergency.”
“How big of a financial snag?” he asked.
“Big enough to make that offer too good to pass up.”
“And that’s why you didn’t want to go to UCLA?”
“I couldn’t afford it. They will only give a twenty-year-old so much in loans. The scholarships, cost of living, books, it didn’t add up. Of course, I wanted to go to UCLA. Who in their right mind would pass up attending one of the most prestigious medical programs in the country?” She turned to head back into the ballroom, but he captured her hand and threaded his fingers with hers.
“Maybe someone who felt trapped in a relationship they didn’t want to be in anymore?” he asked.
Her scowl faded, and her mouth pursed. “I never felt trapped with you. I don’t understand why you would have thought that.”
One of the doors swung open, and the head of the hospital events zeroed in on him. “I thought I saw you duck out here, Dr. Maguire. Some of the ladies would like an impromptu consultation with the hottest plastic surgeon in the emergency department, Dr. Maguire.”
Margo slipped by her and melted into the crowd. He didn’t have another chance to speak with her the rest of the night. But he felt like he’d found a puzzle piece he didn’t know was missing from the story of their breakup. All this time, he’d thought she’d fallen out of love with him and was no longer interested, but this proved there had been other reasons for her not to go to UCLA, and maybe other reasons not to be with him.
But was there a reason they couldn’t be together now?
Chapter Eleven
Margo
One week closer to Christmas, three different hospital donor events, and Margo was deeply regretting her plan to volunteer to get face time with the board. All the board members were focused on the donors, and Drake had attended all the same events. It was as if he’d seen her name on the calendar and signed up for any event she was attending. So she was stuck schmoozing donors while watching women flirt, fawn, and throw themselves at him. If she had to watch one more woman pass her number to him, she was going to spaz out. The only thing that made it bearable was the amount of attention she was also getting tonight from all the handsome Navy doctors at the Walter Reed Center Holiday Extravaganza. Mercy partnered with the military hospital to provide expert consultations on cases for the veterans, and this was the liveliest donor event so far.
“Monroe, don’t dance with those SEALs. They all have wives and one thing on their minds,” Dalton said, pulling her into his side. “Besides, if you’re looking for a military man, I’m right here,” he teased.
She didn’t miss Drake’s eyes from across the room, squinting at the two of them standing so close together. They had all been given the lecture not to congregate in one place and to be social with any donor that wanted to talk to them.
“I almost feel bad for Dr. Raj, stuck in the ER while we’re both here,” Margo said.
“Oh, don’t feel bad for him. Feel bad for Drake. He’s on his fifth consultation with the wives of all these SEALs, and I would wager he’s terrified one of their husbands will kill him.”
Margo laughed but also felt murderous when one of the women took his hand and placed it on her obviously fake breast.
“Oh crap,” Dalton said, making his way over to Drake before the woman’s husband could.
Instead of following Dalton and making a fool of herself by staking an imaginary claim on Drake, Margo walked up to the table of SEALs and decided to play with fire.
“Do any of you gentlemen know how to dance?” she asked as the military band began to play a lively salsa tune.
“Oh well now, aren’t you the brave one?” A man with a shaved head, polished beard, and Southern drawl stood, reaching to grip her hand and walk her out to the dance floor.
“Is your wife in this crowd?” she asked.
“No, ma’am. Although I’m known to be a daredevil, I’ve managed to stay single so far,” he said in his enticing twang.
“How have you managed that? You’re too handsome and too good of a dancer to be a wallflower.”
“Well, deploying every six months helps, and I make sure to only fall in love with women that are in love with someone else,” he said.
