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Lucas
Desperation was not an emotion I often found myself feeling, but by midweek after two brutal sixteen-hour days of picking up Meredith’s patients along with my own, I was at a breaking point. Not only was I exhausted, but Dr. Marshall was threatening to pull the plug on all house calls for pregnant women if we couldn’t get an OBGYN by next week. We’d lose all the momentum I’d worked so carefully to cultivate, not to mention my dream of heading the entire division.
Finally, unable to fight the obvious choice any longer, I looked up Dr. Brooke Morrison and found her information, passing it on to Phil in the hope she might be interested in the position.
Now on Thursday, aware she was in the conference room on the other side of the hallway door made my heart race. I was uncertain if I’d gone about this the right way and hoped she didn’t see this unexpected reunion as an ambush. Taking a deep breath, I rapped my knuckles on the wooden door and walked in.
Her beauty was like a kick in the stomach. Not that I could have forgotten how fucking stunning she was. With her parted lips and widened eyes staring at me now, it took everything I had to avoid a physical reaction to her.
“Hi,” I greeted. She was dressed conservatively in a black pant suit with a white shirt underneath and had her hair up. She appeared a far cry from the crazy girl who’d waded into the ocean last Saturday.
“Hello.”
I shoved my hands into the pockets of my slacks. “I bet you’re wondering what I’m doing here.”
“Yes, I am, especially since you don’t seem at all surprised to see me.”
I crossed over to take the seat in front of her. “No. I’m not. As I’m sure Dr. Marshall told you, we’re in a bind and desperately need someone for the next six weeks. And since I knew you’d recently quit your job, your name came to mind.”
She held silent, causing me to continue. “I didn’t let Dr. Marshall know we’d met before today. We would, of course, be colleagues only here. In fact, aside from two days of shadowing me and learning the ropes of home visits, we’d seldom see one another.”
So much for playing this cool. I was talking fast and verbally vomiting. Something I never did.
Unlike me, she remained calm. “We’ll save the question of how you tracked me down for later. Right now I’d love to know why you didn’t pick up the phone and call me yourself?”
“I was afraid it might be awkward.”
Her brow arched. “More awkward than having me come in for an interview, accept the job, and then have you walk through the door? More awkward than that?”
Although there was no heat to her words, she made a hell of a good point. I should’ve thought this through. Instead, I’d trapped her in an uncomfortable position. “I apologize. I thought by calling, I might inadvertently—” I stopped, realizing what I was about to say next might not land well.
“Give me the wrong idea?” she finished for me.
I huffed out a breath. “Look, this isn’t something I’d normally do. Mix business with, ah, you know. It’s just we’re desperate—” Forget rambling, now I was bumbling.
“It’s been mentioned. But here’s the question, Lucas.” She leaned forward, allowing me to witness the darkening of her violet eyes. “Why me?”
“Like I said, the practice is desper—”
She shook her head. “Try again. I don’t believe you’d ever call up a one-night stand unless you had a burning personal motivation. Could that purpose be to find me because you can’t quit thinking about me and wanted to pursue something romantic?”
Despite the heavy mirth in her eyes, I found myself sweating especially since she’d been top of mind lately. “Pursuing you romantically is the furthest thing from my mind.”
She switched tactics with another question. “How did you find me? We didn’t share last names.”
There was no easy way to say this. But in researching her, I’d confirmed the connection. “Funny coincidence. Turns out your brother was my divorce attorney, and Daisy has been a patient of mine. I looked up Brooke Morrison who’s an obstetrician in Orange County and found your contact information.”
Her mouth formed a perfect O, which made it hard not to stare at her lips. “You knew this on Saturday?”
Gripping the back of my neck, I hated the accusation in her voice. “There aren’t a lot of couples with the names of Caleb and Daisy living in LA, but I thought it better not to mention the possible connection. I didn’t confirm it until yesterday.”
Laughter bubbled up from her throat. “Which leads us back to the question of the day. Why would you go to so much trouble to bring me here when it’s clear you would’ve preferred never to see me again? Frankly, it’s obvious you’re freaking the fuck out about seeing me now.”
Time to level with her. “Introducing the concept of house calls was my idea. I started the model, built up my own clientele and talked Dr. Fitzpatrick, the OBGYN, into starting hybrid for her practice. My plan is to continue to grow the practice of full-service house calls. But other doctors are accustomed to their traditions, and Dr. Marshall is on the fence about the whole idea. With this unexpected snafu, he’s ready to throw in the towel and force Meredith’s patients to come into the office. It would set back my entire plan.”
She leaned back in her chair, absorbing my words.
“If you were to take this job, it would only be professional between us.”
