3. Suzie
Suzie
A fter yesterday’s mustard debacle, I opted for a simple garden salad for lunch today. My ability to plan and organize, unfortunately, did not extend to my ability to meal plan or figure out the next day’s lunch ahead of time. As the senior executive in the facility, one of the most useful perks was a discount on cafeteria food, which was good since I ate nearly all of my lunches inside the four peach walls of the cafeteria.
Not today, though. The plan was to grab a salad and head back to my office to double check the schedules of each grouping of staff, make sure no department was close to exceeding their budget and to act as go between for department heads. It was my job to keep JRMC running like the well-oiled machine I’d honed it to be over the years. If everyone had what they needed to do their respective jobs, we could continue to be the premier medical center outside of major universities in the state. My next goal was to get us certified as a level one trauma center.
But first, I needed to replace several of the young nurses who’d fled to the city in search of nightlife and true love. I wished them well even though I firmly believed all four of them were on a fool’s errand.
If you couldn’t find what you wanted out of life where you were happiest, you wouldn’t likely find it anywhere. Would I like to meet a man to fall in love with and take the plunge, rounding out the photo with a picket fence and two-point-five kids? Absolutely. The problem was, I grew up in Jackson’s Ridge and spent most of my life outside of college in this small town, which meant I knew pretty much every man over the age of eighteen. I’d either dated them in school, babysat them, sold them cookies, or helped them get funding for some type of medical procedure. I absolutely did not blame the young nurses for leaving in search of the future they wanted—a girl had to do whatever she could to find her happy. But I also figured they’d be back here, at JRMC and Jackson’s Ridge, within a year.
“You’re thinking so hard, smoke is kicking up all around you.”
My mind and body froze at the sound of that voice. I knew that voice well—and I should, since it had been in my head for more than twenty years. Gavin Ross. I took a moment to steel myself against his beautiful face and raw sex appeal. The man was too potent for a frumpy girl like me, whose favorite wardrobe item was my collection of colorful eyeglasses. I didn’t need to let him see just how attractive I found him, so I kept my expression neutral and turned to face him. Dammit. I should have taken a few more seconds. I swear he’d gotten even more attractive since yesterday.
Gavin was gorgeous under the magic of Hollywood, and I knew that from hundreds of magazine covers, billboards, posters, and television interviews. But nothing in the whole world could have prepared me for just how beautiful he was in the flesh.
I cocked an eyebrow at his words and slid my tray down the line. “Scared of a woman who thinks, Gavin?”
He licked his lips and leaned in to bump our shoulders together. “Not as long as she’s thinking about me.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Sorry to say I was making sure the OR schedule was updated for the next couple days. Bummed out?”
“Nah, you seem like a very capable multi-tasker.”
I shrugged off his words that sounded like a compliment, but felt like a criticism. “Thanks?”
Gavin shook his head. “You save lives and run a whole hospital, but you can’t take a compliment. We’ll have to work on that.”
“Will we?” It was such an odd thing to hear from a man I had met less than twenty-fours ago.
Gavin’s laugh wasn’t full throttle, which only reminded me why he was at JRMC and in Jackson’s Ridge. “Absolutely. Stick with me and I’ll have you accepting words that aren’t even compliments as compliments.”
“Are you here for your appointment?”
“I can’t be here just to see you?”
My eyes rolled skyward at his attempt to flirt with me. At least, that was what I thought it was. “We both know I’m not the reason you’re here.”
“Then let’s just say we’re both right,” he shot back with a smile. “I’m here for my appointment, but I came in early to see you.”
I felt my brows pulled down into a vee of confusion. “Why?”
“I like you, Suzie Wright.”
Oh, how I wished that were true. I mean, sure he probably did like me, I was a perfectly likable woman. But that gleam in his forest green eyes wasn’t for me. “You mean, you like that I’m a fan. A huge fan.”
He nodded. “I do like that you’re a real fan who knows my stories and my songs, sure. But that pep talk you gave me the other day reminded me a lot of my granddaddy. He would use a few more colorful words than you did, but the gist was the same, and few people give it to me straight like that, even when I need it.”
“Strictly selfish,” I told him as we progressed toward the register.
Gavin shrugged at my words, almost oblivious or maybe immune to the stares, the attention he garnered. “And you’re modest, which I really dig.” When we made it to the cashier, Gavin pulled out a few bills and slid them across the counter. “For my friend Suzie’s lunch.”
“You don’t have to pay for my lunch,” I told him with a frown.
But I should have known he was an expert at getting his way, because he picked up an oversized banana nut muffin and held it up for the cashier to see. “And a snack for me.”
I grunted at his satisfied smile. “Cute, Gavin. Real cute.”
“I was hoping for sexy. I would have even taken seductive or manly, ruggedly handsome. But I’ll take cute because I know you meant it as a compliment, Suzie.”
I frowned and looked around at the smiling faces so intrigued by my interaction with Gavin. “I did not.”
“You did,” he retorted and winked at the dumbfounded cashier. “And it’s okay because I think you’re cute, too.” Gavin set his muffin on my tray and carried it to one of the tables near the wall, away from the windows. “You know, Suzie, I liked the pink glasses better than these blue ones.”
“Yeah? Why?” I prepared myself for any number of answers since men always seemed to think their opinions were necessary on all matters.
“Because the pink brought out the shades of green in your eyes.”
Holy shit, was Gavin Ross flirting with me ? It was impossible. No, I wouldn’t let myself believe in those kinds of fantasies because that would be madness. It wasn’t possible. He was feeling vulnerable and I was a friendly face, and the only one who knew why he was hanging around town. Yep, that was it.
“Thank you.” I was glad he’d taken a seat in the cafeteria because there was no way I could be closed up in my office with the scent of that expensive, masculine cologne all around me.
Gavin reached for the muffin and slowly peeled the wrapper away. “Why aren’t you doing my exam today?”
“Because I am not an ENT or a medical doctor.” It was a common mistake and, given that I worked in a hospital, I shrugged it off.
Gavin’s blond brows rose in surprise. “Ph.D.?” I nodded and he whistled. “Beautiful, a fan and accomplished. Color me impressed.”
“I was always good at school.”
“Do you mind if I ask how come you didn’t become a doctor, or are you sick of that question?”
I shrugged. “No, it’s a fair question. I’m better at running things and organizing them, keeping everyone on track, than I am at practicing medicine, or at least how I imagine I might be at practicing medicine.” I had given it a lot of thought, but medicine just wasn’t my passion. “Planning. Organizing. Budgeting. Those were the things I excelled at in high school and college. And grad school. When this job opened up right here in my hometown, I knew it was the one I’d been looking for.”
“And what were you doing before this place opened up?”
“You really want to know?”
He gave a short nod, his overgrown blond hair falling into his eyes. “I really do.”
“I worked for the mayor, helping to streamline city services, coming up with ways to make the tax dollars go further.” It had been interesting, but it wasn’t running a hospital.
Gavin stared at me for a long time, as if trying to figure me out. “I went to school too, you know. Got a degree in business management.”
I did not know that, and I knew a lot about this man. “Now who’s the impressive one?”
He shrugged off my compliment and I noticed a small circle of red on each of his cheeks. “It was kind of a necessity to avoid getting scammed by unscrupulous agents, managers, and record execs. I was in my mid-twenties by the time I started making real money and that’s when I truly learned to value my degree. It makes it difficult to screw me over when I know everything they do.”
I finished my salad with a sigh, staring at the man across from me who, in a few short words, had gone from gorgeous rock star to a man of substance. “Thank you for sharing that with me, I promise to keep your secret accomplishment to myself.”
He laughed. “I’m surprised a super fan like you didn’t know.”
“To be fair, I only know the things you choose to share with your adoring public.” I didn’t read the tabloids, but I did watch or record every interview he gave, soaking up all the information he was willing to share with his fans.
“Dr. Wright, you’re needed in Pediatrics. Dr. Wright, Pediatrics.”
I ignored the pang of disappointment that shot through me at the sound of Melanie’s voice and smiled at Gavin. “Duty calls.”
He sat back with a smile and a wave. “See you soon, Dr. Wright.”
Soon? That was just something people said, right? Probably. I walked away on wobbly legs, feeling a rush of something new, something exciting, something different that previous interactions with men. Was it just because he was a rock star and gorgeous? Or was it just that it had been too long since I’d spent time in the company of a good-looking, interesting man?
More importantly, did it matter?
No. Gavin would be here just long enough to get his diagnosis and he would likely run back to Hollywood, where a TV doctor would treat him and where he could recover surrounded by servants and beautiful women.
Two weeks, I told myself. Gavin Ross would be gone in two weeks.
Or less.