Chapter 5
LUKE
Luke glanced at the beautiful woman sitting beside him. Bella. She wore jeans, a plain dark blue blouse, and no jewelry beyond small diamond studs in her ears. Her long brown hair was pulled back neatly with two clips, leaving not a single strand out of place, and her green eyes sparkled.
Normally, Luke didn’t talk to people when he didn’t have to, particularly when he was tired and in a bad mood. And he definitely didn’t talk to strangers who kept tapping one finger against their glass as though they were filled with a nervous energy they couldn’t quite let out, like Bella was.
Something about Bella drew him in, though. He wasn’t sure if it was her perfume, which smelled somehow like dessert, or her bright smile, or the way she talked. He only knew that he wasn’t ready to stop talking to her yet.
“I have a question,” Bella said, crushing the top of her straw between two fingers before lifting it to her pink lips for another sip.
“All right,” Luke said.
She glanced at him, mischief glinting in those emerald eyes. “What’s the weirdest thing you heard a doctor say tonight?”
Luke chuckled. He swept his gaze over the room, as though seeing one of the doctors might spark something, then grinned.
“One guy asked a question after my talk,” he said. “He wanted to know about the role of good nutrition in emergency medicine.”
“Good nutrition?” Bella’s brow furrowed. “As in, doctors in emergency medicine should eat balanced diets or something?”
“No, as in whether patients in critical condition should be fed some healthy food in the ER,” Luke said. He shook his head. “The doctor asking was a nutritionist, and I guess he just wanted to feel included.”
Bella giggled. “I don’t know if this is better or worse, but I heard a doctor say that the columns on the ceiling looked like blood vessels.”
Luke shook his head. “They don’t.”
“I know!” Bella laughed, and they both shook their heads.
“Why did you become a doctor, anyway?” Bella asked. “You don’t seem to like them all that much.”
“I became a doctor for the usual reasons, I suppose.” Luke shrugged. “I wanted to save lives, and I found the human body amazing.”
“Amazing how?” Bella sat up a little, and Luke was glad that she’d taken the less personal route. He didn’t want to talk about why being a doctor was so important to him, because that would make the conversation too personal. It was better to keep some things to himself.
“Let me see.” Luke considered a good fact for her. “Do you know how many bones a human adult has?”
“Oh, no.” Bella’s eyes widened in joking horror. “I didn’t know this was going to be a test. Two hundred and seven?”
“Two hundred and six,” Luke corrected. “But do you know how many bones a human baby has?”
Bella leaned forward gamely. “How many?”
“Three hundred.” Luke raised his eyebrows at her, and Bella’s eyes narrowed.
“Really? Are you messing with me? I know babies have some extra bones in their skulls and stuff, but almost a hundred more seems like too much.”
“Nope.” Luke held up a hand. “Honest truth.”
“Tell me another one.” Bella leaned forward, elbows resting on the counter.
“Did you know that your gut has its own nervous system?” Luke asked.
He suddenly realized that this wasn’t exactly a good flirtatious topic, but it was too late now.
“It has its own neurons and is even called a second brain. And it can function even if it’s cut off from the brain, like if the vagus nerve is severed. ”
“That gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘gut feeling,’” Bella said, wiggling her eyebrows. Luke let out a laugh. It seemed she didn’t mind his lame attempt at flirting.
If Luke were being honest, it was hard to believe he was even trying to flirt.
It had been years since he had, and when he’d sat down at the bar tonight, talking to a pretty woman had been the furthest thing from his mind.
Yet since Bella had sat down, his bad mood had dissipated, and he no longer felt quite so tired.
“True.”
“So, do you think it’s true that your stomach can tell you what’s going to happen?” Bella asked, her tone lowering a little. She leaned closer as though they were sharing a secret, and even though it was silly, Luke grinned.
“Maybe.” He shrugged. “Not in such an obvious way as telling the future, probably, but maybe ‘gut feelings’ really do mean something.”
Bella sat back, looking thoughtful now. She smoothed her hair absently with one hand and reached for her drink.
“Interesting.”
“Do you get a lot of gut feelings?” Luke asked.
“Not really.” Bella shrugged. “But when I do, I try to listen to them.”
“I don’t,” Luke admitted. “Years of college and medical school and residency have taught me to believe only in the things that can be proven through tests and scans.”
“That seems like a sad way to live.” Bella bit her lip. “I get it, though. It’s much easier to work with facts than feelings.”
“It is. And it’s not sad.”
Bella met his eyes. “Really? Because you’re drinking alone in this bar.”
“You would have been, too, if I weren’t here,” Luke said, though he didn’t really know if that were true.
Maybe she’d have found someone else to talk to.
In fact, a beautiful woman like her definitely would have found someone else to talk to if she’d wanted to.
He didn’t like the thought of her flirting with someone else.
“Maybe,” Bella said. “But the point is, you don’t strike me as the kind of guy who really embraces the fun in life. You don’t listen to your gut feelings, and you’d never tried a mojito.”
“I do plenty of fun things,” Luke said, half-teasing, half-defensive. “You just don’t know me very well yet.”
“Fair enough. Tell me about some of the fun things you do.” Bella propped her elbows on the counter again and looked at him expectantly.
“I…” Luke trailed off. In truth, he mostly worked.
During his rare free time, he slept, exercised, and ate, more out of necessity than anything else.
The most fun thing he did was saving lives, but he didn’t get the feeling that was the answer she was looking for.
Unable to find a good answer, he turned the question back on Bella.
“Are you a really spontaneous person who finds the fun in life?”
“No.” Bella winked. “But we’re not talking about me right now.”
“That doesn’t seem fair.”
She shrugged. “I don’t make the rules.”
“You’re literally making the rules right now.” They both grinned at each other. Talking to her, Luke felt freer than he had in a long time. The conversation flowed easily, and he found himself able to admit something he hadn’t in years. “You might be right. Maybe I don’t seize the moment enough.”
“Me neither.” Bella sighed. “Talking to you tonight was about as far as I go with ‘seizing the moment.’ I’m usually just too busy.”
Luke wanted to ask what it was that took up all Bella’s time and stopped her from seizing the moment, but he didn’t.
He didn’t want to get too personal and ruin the easy connection they were building.
He got the feeling that if they told each other too much personal information, it would ruin things.
After all, he didn’t want to admit that he was a widower, a workaholic, and a sometimes-rude surgeon.
“What does your gut tell you we should do now?” Luke asked. “Maybe we can seize the moment tonight.”
Bella seemed to consider. “My gut tells me we should do something fun. Something spontaneous.”
“More spontaneous than a long conversation with a stranger about guts?” Luke asked.
Bella laughed. “Yes, more than that. Doesn’t this place have a pool?” She stood, taking her drink with her. Luke hesitated.
“Really?”
“Really.” She lifted one eyebrow. “If you aren’t too scared.”
Luke picked up his own drink. “Lead the way.”
They wove through the groups of networking doctors and into one of the hallways with rooms. At the end of the hall, signs led them up to the pool, which was on a covered terrace. Bella stepped outside, tilting her head back.
“I don’t have my swimsuit,” she admitted, glancing back at Luke.
“Me neither.” He followed her onto the terrace. Far below, the lights of Portland twinkled, the dark swath of Willamette River cutting through the middle. “A really spontaneous person would still jump in,” he teased.
“And a medium spontaneous person would just put their feet in.” Bella slipped off her shoes, rolled up the legs of her pants, and sat on the edge of the pool, dangling her feet in the water.
After a moment, Luke followed suit. They were sitting close enough together that he could feel the warmth of her hand just inches from his and hear her soft breath over the whirr of the pool filter.
Far below, he could make out traffic noises, too.
“What do you think?” Bella asked. “Do you think we’ve seized the moment?”
“Absolutely.” Luke nudged her with his shoulder. “There’s nothing better than sitting with our feet in a pool, smelling chlorine.”
“Hey!” Bella nudged him back. “I’m having a lovely time.”
“Me too.”
“Then what does your gut tell you we should do next?” Bella continued.
“Sit here for a bit.”
She gave him a suspicious look, and Luke chuckled.
“Hey, guts can want calm, normal things, too.”
“Fine.” Bella smiled at him and trailed her feet through the water. They were alone on the terrace — everyone from the event was busy networking and uninterested in a swim. It was surprisingly peaceful.
“I do have to admit,” Luke said, “this is kind of fun.”
“It is.” Bella reached up and took the clips out of her hair, then tilted her head back. Her hair fell along her back, and Luke resisted the urge to reach out and run his hand through it. Maybe he’d had more to drink than he’d thought. He’d just met this woman, after all.
“So, Bella,” he said. “Tell me more about you.”
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “What do you want to know? My job? Where I live? My birthday? How many siblings I have?”