Dressed casually in a gray sweater that accented his broad shoulders and navy pants that emphasized his lean hips, Nick looked more like a GQ model than a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. It was easy to see why he’d been named one of St. Louis’s top ten most eligible bachelors.
Though Grace acknowledged his good looks, she wasn’t impressed. She didn’t like handsome men. It had been her experience that attractive men tended to be arrogant and proud instead of praising God for the blessing of physical beauty. From what she’d seen of Nick Tucci, he fit the mold.
“What can I do for you, Doctor?” Grace used her most professional voice.
He shot her a smile and the dimple in his cheek flashed. “You can start by calling me Nick.”
“O-kay.” Despite her resolve to keep him at arm’s length, she found herself wanting to smile back. Instead she lifted a brow. “What can I do for you, Nick?”
Nick hesitated, and for a moment a hint of uncertainty crept in his gaze. But then the dimple flashed in his cheek once again and he gestured to the chair next to her desk. “Mind if I sit?”
“Of course not.” Grace grabbed the pile of charts off the seat and set them on top of the stack on her desk. “Have a seat.”
This time she made her tone more approachable. After all, part of her job as director of the free clinic was to keep the physician volunteers happy. It wasn’t always easy to find doctors willing to lengthen their already-overextended workday by several hours. Specialists were especially hard to find. Most tried it a couple of times and never came back. But Dr. Nick had been volunteering once a month at the specialty clinic for almost a year.
Though Grace had been the clinic director for the entire time, she couldn’t say she really knew him. Unlike Larry Fowler and some of the other doctors who’d hang around after clinic hours to talk, Nick Tucci always arrived right before his shift began and left immediately after seeing the last patient.
Once, when he’d raced by her yet again without even a hello, she casually mentioned his aloofness to Larry. Of course, Larry stood up for his colleague, mumbling something about Nick hating to keep patients waiting. Grace didn’t buy that phony excuse for a minute. She knew if she looked like Cindy Crawford, he’d have found time to stop and talk. But a skinny redheaded thirty-year-old didn’t rate a second glance.
“Busy evening,” he said conversationally, his broad hands folded loosely in his lap.
Grace nodded. Every appointment slot had been filled this evening and most had been double-booked to cover the no-shows. Unfortunately every patient had shown up, which meant the staff were all getting out a lot later than usual.
Though Nick had never complained about working late before, she’d overheard him tell one of the nurses he’d been in surgery all morning. Her blood ran cold.
What if he wants to quit? What if that was why he’d stopped to talk?
“I’m sorry about the patient volume, but there’s so much need in this neighborhood.” Grace leaned forward, fear making the words tumble out one after the other. “You’re doing a great job. And we appreciate it. I don’t ever want you to think we take you for granted.”
He sat back in his chair and stared at her for a long moment. Grace realized for the first time that his eyes weren’t hazel as she’d thought, but a mesmerizing blue-green color with flecks of gold. Feeling the need for some air, Grace took a deep breath and inhaled the spicy scent of his cologne.
“…giving back.”
Grace widened her eyes and realized that while she’d been staring at him, he’d been talking. Heat rose up her neck and she mentally kicked herself. No wonder handsome guys were arrogant, with women like her hanging on their every word. Or in her case, too busy gawking to hear anything at all. It was almost laughable. She, who’d always insisted she didn’t like handsome men, was acting like a hormone-charged sixteen-year-old. Her lips twitched.
“You find that amusing?”
“Yes,” she said. “I mean no.”
Grace groaned to herself. Could she come across as any more of a blithering idiot than she did at this very moment? It hardly seemed possible. She brushed a piece of hair back from her face and tried to regain her composure.
Grace forced the disturbing images from her thoughts.
“I hear you’re looking for a boyfriend.”
She tilted her head, sure she’d misunderstood. “What did you say?”
“Larry told me you need a date for Thanksgiving weekend,” he said. “Is that true?”
By now Grace’s head was spinning. The doctor’s ability to change the subject had her totally perplexed. “That’s right. What about it?”
“Have you found anyone yet?”
She shook her head. Last month when she’d decided to bite the bullet and go home for the holiday, she’d started looking for a date. At the time she didn’t think she’d have any trouble finding someone. After all, she had a lot of guy friends and she didn’t care who came with her.
Unfortunately, one by one, the men she’d had in mind turned her down. Oh, they’d all had good reasons, but the fact was she was stuck. She’d told her family she’d be bringing her new boyfriend. How could she say she was coming alone? Again.
Turning thirty was bad enough. But to show up all by herself when her little sister, Holly, would be there with her husband and new baby? No way.
Grace knew she was being silly and immature. She had so many things to be grateful for: good health, good friends and a rewarding job. Not having a boyfriend was such a minor thing in the grand scheme of life. So many people had so much less. She saw it at her job every day.
But still, all she’d ever wanted was to be a wife and mother. And she couldn’t understand how her sister had ended up with her dream life. It was as if God had gotten the two sisters’ prayers mixed up. Holly had been determined to have a career. But she’d fallen in love while she was still in college and married shortly after graduation. Anna had been born on Holly’s fifth wedding anniversary.
Grace, meanwhile, had a career, but no husband or family. And last month she’d hit the big three-oh with no Mr. Right in sight.
“Grace?”
Once again the deep voice beckoned her back to the present.
“I apologize,” she said, rapidly collecting her thoughts. “Where were we?”
“I asked if you’d found someone to go home with you for Thanksgiving,” he said with an indulgent smile. “You said you hadn’t.”
Grace raised a brow.
“The point is, I’ve found someone to go with you,” he said.
Grace tried to still her excitement. Thanksgiving was only two days away and she’d almost given up hope. Grace leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table. “Who is he?”
“Me.” Nick sat back and smiled. “I’ll go with you.”
Grace’s cheeks burned like she’d just been slapped. Hard. She tried to stem her embarrassment, but when she spoke, humiliation made her voice harsh and tight. “What kind of game are you playing? Did Larry put you up to this?”
Nick met her gaze with a puzzled look. “I’m not playing any game.”
“You want to go with me?” Grace shook her head. “I don’t get it.”