Deliver Me (14 page)

“One of the downtown hotels, the Sheraton. I can’t be sure, but I think
it’s reopened since the storm.”

“Well, I had something a little different in mind.”

He closed the menu and folded his hands. “Do tell, doctor,” he said, his
eyes glistening with interest.

“Okay, don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like...
that
.
 
It looks as if we’re discussing more than
business.”

“It really bothers you to be seen with me, doesn’t it? I
think I’m crushed.” His mouth drooped in an affronted pout before curving into
a sexy smile.

Monica glared at him before explaining, “I just don’t want people getting
the wrong impression.”

“We’re two adults having a conversation over lunch. Exactly what
impression do you think people can glean from that? Besides,” he continued, not
giving her a chance to answer, “we
are
a couple now, or have you already forgotten our deal?”

“We’re a couple around your family.”

“No, we are a couple all the time,” he said slowly, his forehead creasing
with his frown.

“But—”

“We can’t pretend to date only part-time. It’s too risky.”

“You are the one with the strict policy about not dating doctors.”

A speculative eyebrow lifted. “You’ve mentioned that an awful lot.”

“Is it true?”

He sat back in his chair and folded his arm over his chest. The motion
caused his shirt to pull taut over his sculpted shoulders. Monica tried not to
stare.

“Would it bother you if it were?” Eli asked.

“No,” Monica lied. She didn’t know why this was such a
burning issue with her, but it was. The fact that he summarily wrote a woman
off just because she happened to be a doctor had needled at her more than
Monica cared to admit.

But if he held firm to this all-important rule, why was he laying on the
heavy charm? Was it just an act? Monica wasn’t sure she even wanted to know the
answer to
that
question. The
implications were more than she could handle right now.

“I thought the playacting was for the sake of your family only,” Monica
argued, going back to the original subject.

“I never said that.”

“Then it looks as if we need to revisit the specifics of our deal, but
now is not the time. Let’s just get back to discussing the banquet.”

In an effort to return to the matter at hand, Monica pulled out a
brochure from her purse and laid it out on the table. She quickly pulled back
her trembling hand. The thought of having to pretend she was Eli’s girlfriend in
front of her colleagues had her a little on edge.
 

“Instead of the usual hotel ballroom, why don’t we hold this year’s
banquet at one of the old plantation homes? I’ve been visiting them on the
weekends.”

Eli picked up the brochure and perused the glossy, accordion style photo
spread.

“Why a plantation?” he asked.

“Why not? They meet all the requirements we need. They’re large, and many
of them have both indoor and outdoor facilities. We could have the meal inside
and hold dancing and the auction on the grounds. It would be different.”

His unreadable expression was unnerving.

“So?” Monica asked.

He folded the brochure and placed it in the middle of the
table. “I like it,” he said with a shrug.

“That’s it? You like it?” Monica replied, imitating his shrug.

“Like you said, it’s different. I don’t know how renting out an entire
plantation home compares in price to a ballroom, but if we can pull it off, I
say we go for it.”

“I had not anticipated it being this easy, Dr. Holmes.”

“I don’t make a habit out of being difficult, unlike some people.” That
was a direct shot. “And would you please call me Eli?”

Okay, maybe she deserved that. He had not done anything to warrant her
caustic behavior. Monica thought for a minute. Was it possible the impact of
Patrick’s deception had clouded her judgment when it came to men?

Eli wasn’t so bad. In fact, he wasn’t bad at all. Despite his obvious
playboy appeal, and his refusal to include female doctors in his pool of dating
candidates, he was a nice guy. Well...for the most part. It would take her a
long time to forget that encounter over the preeclampsia patient.

“Do you have a particular site in mind?” he asked, causing Monica to lose
her train of thought. “A plantation home? Do you know which one you want?” he
continued.

“Not really, I figured I’d visit a few more this weekend.”

“That sounds good. Do you mind if I tag along?”

“You want to spend your Saturday looking at plantations?” She had a hard
enough time not feeling like a nervous schoolgirl around him while at the hospital.
Monica wasn’t sure she was ready to handle Eli outside of the safe confines of
their workplace.

“What’s wrong with that? It’s what you’ll be doing.”

“I just thought a guy like you would have more to do with his weekend.”

“Your image of me is so wrong. Although, you’re right, I do have
something to do this weekend, and I was hoping you could join me.”

“What’s that?” Monica asked, already feeling uncomfortable.

Eli wiped at the corners of his mouth with a napkin, bunched it up and
threw it over his nearly cleared plate.

“My niece has a birthday party Saturday afternoon. Alex is throwing a
small get together at the house. It’ll be the perfect chance to introduce you
to my family.”

“Oh, God. You mean I’m already meeting the parents?”

“That’s the point of this, right? And it’s just my mother. My dad died
nearly twenty years ago.”

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Thanks,” he said with another shrug. “There are a few things you should
know about Mama. Even though she looks as if she could be a resident of
Munchkin Land in the
Wizard of Oz
,
she can be a little intimidating at times. Whatever you do, show no fear.”

“She sounds scary.”

“She’s going to love you.”

Monica gave him a skeptical look. “What makes you so sure?”

“You’re female and you’re breathing,” he answered. “The fact that you’re
talented and beautiful will have her ready to break out into song.”

He had just referred to her as talented and beautiful.

With anyone else, Monica would have latched onto the praise of her
talent, but for some reason, the fact that Elijah Holmes found her attractive
meant a hundred times more. The strangeness of it scared her. His thoughts of
her beauty should not mean anything to her. But it did. Flutters of giddy
excitement continued to dance around in her stomach.

“So, when do you want to meet?” Monica asked.

“Is eleven okay? I’m covering part of Dr. Langois’s shift, so I’ll be
getting in pretty late Friday night and I’m hooking up with my brother for our
weekly basketball game Saturday morning. I can handle leaving out a little earlier,
but I know you want me fresh and alert for tours,” he finished with a grin.

“What time does the party start?”

“Three, I think. I’ll have to check with Alex. We can get there around
four or so. That should give us enough time to check out some of the closer
plantation homes.”

“Are you sure about this?” Monica asked. She would have never guessed he
would get involved in the actual banquet planning. If Monica had known
mentioning the plantation idea would place her alone in a car with Elijah
Holmes, she would have kept her mouth shut.

“Of course, I’m sure,” Eli answered.

“Okay, then. Eleven it is. Do you want to meet at the hospital?”

“I can pick you up at your place.”

“Ah...um, well, okay.” Did she really want Eli knowing where she lived?
Monica looked across the table at his cocoa brown face and mellow,
copper-colored eyes. Oh, he was dangerous all right.

Before Eli could comment further, Monica rose from the table. “I need to
get back to the ER,” she explained as she fidgeted with the clasp on her purse.

He rose from his seat, retrieved his wallet from his back pocket and
threw a twenty on the table. “I’ve got you covered.”

Oh, no, he was not footing the bill. Not with half the hospital trying to
inconspicuously examine every move they made.

“I’ll pay for my own lunch, Dr. Holmes.”

“Would you stop calling me that?” His snappish response took Monica by
surprise. He lowered his voice an octave, but it did nothing to conceal his
agitation. “You don’t want anything other than a professional relationship when
we’re not around my family? Fine. I get it. But even strictly professional
colleagues share enough camaraderie to exist on a first name basis.”

“Does this really bother you that much?” she asked, dumbfounded.

“As a matter of fact, it does. In front of patients we should stick to
doctor, but at lunch?”

“If it’s that much of an issue, I’ll call you Elijah from now on.”

“Eli.”

“I’ll agree to Elijah,” Monica said. “Let me work my way to Eli.”

He smiled.

Her knees went weak.

Methodist Memorial’s Psychiatry department needed to take a Polaroid of
that smile and pass it to patients suffering from Major Depression. How could
anyone’s spirits not be lifted by that man’s gorgeous smile?

Monica handed him a ten-dollar bill to cover her half of lunch. He
stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“I told you I could take care of my own lunch,” she said.

He lifted one shoulder with a half-hearted shrug, “Why should you if I’ve
already paid for it?”

“Because I don’t want you paying for it.”

“Are you this difficult all the time?”

“When it comes to stuff like this? Yes.”

“Why? You want to show the world that you’re your own woman, that you don’t
need a man buying you lunch?”

Monica was a second away from putting her hands on her hips and going off
on him.

“That’s fine,” Eli held up his hands. “Be independent. But don’t turn
down a free lunch, because, you see, since I paid today, I’ll be expecting you
to pay for lunch on Saturday. And I can guarantee it will be more expensive
than a plate of red beans and rice from Ethel’s.”

“So, this is your way of getting off cheap?”

“Got that right. I know how to take advantage of a good deal when I see
one. There’s more to me than just a handsome face,” he said with a wink.

Okay, Psychiatry could use both the smile and wink in their therapy. The
combination could quite possibly cure every case of depression in America.

They started toward the exit. Patty gave her a sly smile as Monica walked
past her table. She would have to start devising a plausible explanation for
this lunch right now. As innocent as it was, there’s no way the truth would fly
with Patty.

“I’ll pay for lunch on Saturday. I’m sure we can find a McDonald’s.”

“I’ve got a strict policy that prevents me from eating at any
establishment with a drive-thru window,” Eli answered. He held the door open
for her.

“Then something tells me you are going to be pretty hungry come Saturday,”
Monica answered.

“Well, if you feed me McDonalds for lunch, that just means I’ll have to
take you somewhere proper for dinner.”

She looked up at him. The ten inches he had on her made him just the
right height. Monica desperately needed to find a credible flaw, because as of
now, Elijah Holmes seemed perfect. And who in their right mind would say no to
the perfect man?

Monica turned fully around in the opened door. She crossed her arms over
her chest and said, “You just won’t stop until you get me to accept a dinner
invitation, will you?”

“Now you’re getting the picture,” he answered with that smile she was
starting to anticipate. Monica had come to accept the fact that few things on
this Earth were as startling as Eli’s smile.

Yet the question remained: why was he so persistent? She agreed to meet
his family on Saturday, which fulfilled part of the obligation of their deal.
Why did he insist on dinner Saturday night?

The conflicting stories were starting to confuse her. Either every nurse
in the ER was wrong, or Elijah Holmes was throwing everything he’d held strong
out the window. But would he really do that just for the chance to have dinner
with her?

The thought was too delicious to contemplate.

Just as she was about to walk out the door, Eli caught her by the arm and
turned her to face him.

“So,” he asked.

Feminine ego won out over common sense.

“Fine,” Monica said. “On Saturday, I pick the lunch venue and you pick
where we go for dinner.”

The corners of Eli’s eyes crinkled with his smile. “Hmm, maybe I won’t be
lying to Mama, after all. It sounds to me like we’re officially dating, Doctor.”