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Lucas
After spending a full day with Brooke, I found myself both reluctant and relieved to leave her company. While most people accepted my anti-relationship stance at face value, she forced me to take a hard look at the pieces of me I wasn’t proud of. Forced me to self-reflect in a highly uncomfortable way.
It was easy to cast my ex-wife as the bad guy since she’d been the one to cheat. Much harder was to face the truth I hadn’t given her the emotional security to trust I believed in us as a forever relationship.
I climbed into my SUV and watched Brooke pull out of Meredith and Andy’s driveway first. While she’d hit my vulnerabilities, I’d apparently hit hers. It wasn’t news her mother was a piece of work, given the whole wedding and job situation, but I hadn’t realized quite how bad she was until given the glimpse into Brooke’s lonely childhood. Unfortunately, I understood. Hadn’t my mom abandoning me and my father’s incessant parade of women screwed me up too? Seemed we shared childhood traumas.
It was one more reason to avoid any further personal conversations. I had no desire to bond over shit from the past. Some wounds were better left untouched.
She was better off with someone like Tim. She could go on double dates with Andy and Meredith and have a half dozen nature-loving kids who played every sport imaginable.
The image of Brooke surrounded by a happy husband and six kids cooking s’mores outside a camping tent conjured up a kernel of jealousy. The Brooke I knew would rather knock back top-shelf liquor and eat hamburgers on a beach in five-hundred-dollar designer shoes.
Didn’t matter. After tomorrow we’d be done spending time together, and the attraction would wane. It always did.
While driving home, I grabbed a couple cookies from the bag Meredith had given me and scarfed them down. What could I say? Women of all ages loved baking for me. My patients, coworkers, and friends all enjoyed making me food. And being a bachelor who didn’t have the time or inclination to cook, I never turned it down.
The next morning I hit my home gym early before heading to the office with coffee in hand. Seeing Brooke’s car already in the parking lot caused my heart to beat faster. My reaction was annoying. Today I resolved to find a turnoff knowing it didn’t normally take much.
“Good morning,” I greeted Ramona.
She grinned. “Good morning, Dr. Lucas. I have that cobbler for you. Don’t worry, it’ll keep in the fridge if you can’t take it with you today.”
“Very sweet of you. I’ll swing back to drop off Dr. Morrison at the end of the day and be sure to take it home with me.” Ramona made incredible desserts.
“Oh, good. Speaking of Dr. Brooke, she’s already here. And so nice. Any chance she wants to stay around after Dr. Fitzgerald comes back? We could use a third obstetrician.”
My jaw clenched at the idea of her becoming permanent staff. Selfishly, I’d rather her assignment stay temporary, allowing me to separate my personal and professional life again. However, I had no idea where her interests lay. “Not sure.”
I found the object of my thoughts in the supply closet with Meredith’s large leather bag in hand. While she scanned the shelves, I had a moment to observe her. She wore a long black halter dress today which, despite its demure cut, hugged her curves in an incredible way. Her hair was down, reminding me of the way it had fanned my chest when she’d been riding me last Saturday. A flash of lust speared through me.
So much for this attraction fading. Instead, the whole hands-off forbidden fruit she represented now made her more appealing. Clearing my throat, I hoped I appeared more nonchalant than I felt. “Good morning.”
She whipped around with a smile which took the breath from my lungs. “Good morning. How are you?”
Not good. Not good at all if this woman was affecting me so. “Fine. You ready?” The sooner we got through this day, the better.
“Yeah. I can finish stocking up tonight.” She fell into step with me as we walked out to the parking lot.
“Getting anxious to be on your own?”
“Yeah. I started reviewing the patients I have lined up for next week. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly. Any word on when I’ll go onto the on-call schedule for deliveries? I didn’t notice any scheduled C-sections for the next few days.”
“Between Dr. Lewis and Dr. Simmons, they have the next few days covered, but they’ll be grateful to add you on call by next weekend.”
“Good. It’s the best part.”
“Being woken up in the middle of the night is the best part?”
She shrugged as she got into the passenger seat of my SUV. “It’s part of the job, but yeah. The delivery of the baby is what it’s all about. For me, for the parents, for the baby. For everyone.”
Made sense. “Before we get to the five pregnant ladies today, I have the regular appointment. It’s actually with two of my patients. This is their annual checkup, and since they’ll be out of the country for the next few weeks, I couldn’t reschedule them.”
“It’s fine. Tell me about them?”
She genuinely seemed interested. “They’re both in their seventies and live in Beverly Hills.” I watched as she took the iPad out of the cradle and scrolled through their charts. “Christina is anemic and has low blood pressure. Christopher deals with high cholesterol and high blood pressure.”
She chuckled. “Chris and Chris?”
