Healing the Doctor (BWWM Interracial Romance) (2 page)

***

Greg busied himself mingling with the large group of doctors staying at the hotel. He chatted with them, dined with them, and then visited a local hospital on the request of the Chief of Surgery.

No matter what he did, he couldn’t get Hailey out of his mind.

Two days later, he packed his suitcase and dressed casually to have lunch with a friend down by the pool.

He’d rented a car and planned to leave for Seattle after lunch. It had been years since he’d taken a road trip, and he was looking forward to it.

He’d scoured through the entire crowd staying at the hotel in search of a head of long, flowing brown hair, but he hadn’t seen Hailey. Finally, he’d accepted the fact that she might’ve left already, and he would probably never see her again.

The poolside was fairly crowded when he sat down at the table his friend had already secured. The service wasn’t anything to write home about and when he glanced toward a waiter to ask about their meal, his heart missed a beat.

Right by the pool at the far end, Hailey was lounging in a pool chair. She was holding her sunglasses high to her forehead, and was squinting against the sun to stare at him.

He caught her gaze, and suddenly couldn’t hear what his friend was saying anymore. Hailey instantly dropped her sunglasses back and looked away, smiling as she turned to a group of other women by her side.

Greg scraped his chair back, stood up, and then belatedly realized that his friend was still talking to him. “Excuse me for a second, Thomas. I’ll be right back.”

He strode around the pool on long legs. Hailey inhaled sharply as Greg headed straight towards her, and sat up quickly, sliding her arms through the chiffon sundress she had brought along.

Within moments, he was standing right in front of her, his breath slightly harsh. “Hello Hailey,” he said with a smile. She smiled back shyly.

“Hi Greg. How have you been?” she replied politely.

“I…uhh,” he said and chuckled shakily, embarrassed. Now that he was in front of her, he wasn’t really sure what he should say. “I’ve been looking for you. I owed you lunch.”

“Yeah about that.” She shrugged casually. “I decided it would be better if I just went back to my room,” she replied. “I’m here with friends for a weeklong bachelorette party so I’m really not looking for a hookup.”

Greg’s smile froze. “A bachelorette party?” Greg suddenly understood why she had left. It wasn’t because of the picture he had thought she had discovered in his suitcase. She was at the hotel for her bachelorette party, and she had left because having lunch with him hadn’t been right.

“Okay,” Greg said, clearly disappointed. “I’m sorry for bothering you guys. Please have fun,” he added with a heart-melting smile directed at her group of friends. Abruptly, he turned around and left without a backwards glance.

***

“Why did he have to be so hot?” Hailey whispered to her friend Kate. It was actually Kate’s bachelorette party that Hailey had meticulously planned.

“Who is he? He had such big hands! Yum!” Kate said with a giggle, and Hailey couldn’t help but laugh.

“He’s the guy I told you about. The one whose room I collapsed into that night when we were all dead drunk.”

“Oh my God! And you didn’t sleep with that?” another one of her friends exclaimed.

Hailey sighed and glanced away from the broad, masculine back of the man who had been on her mind for two days now. “I’m glad I didn’t. He’s married.”

“Did he tell you that?” Kate asked.

“No! That’s what bothers me the most. He didn’t tell me. I saw a picture in his suitcase. It was a woman and a toddler who looked insanely exactly like him. I left as soon as I saw it.”

“You know what Hailey? I think he just assumed it was your bachelorette party you were talking about. It was the way you said it,” Kate trailed off.

Hailey let out a long sigh. “I know. I hate that he asked me out. It ruined the whole persona of the sweet, sexy doctor.”

“Oh God, he’s a doctor too? Pity he’s married.”

Hailey stayed silent, watching Greg talk animatedly to his companion at his table. She couldn’t deny he was incredibly good-looking, but neither could she forget that he was married. Dating married men was a rule she never broke. No matter what.

Ten minutes later, Kate took Hailey’s arm and pulled her out of her chair.

“Ow! What happened?” Hailey cried, and Kate dragged her away from their group of friends.

“Listen. Remember how we talked about doing fun things at my bachelorette party? All of us? Not just me?”

“Yeah?” Hailey mumbled.

“Go and talk to that doctor. You’re polluting the pool with all that lust you have for the man. Just go talk to him. What’s the harm in that?”

“No!” Hailey cried. “He’s married… are you crazy?”

“Hush, Hailey! I’m hardly asking you to sleep with him. Just go and tell him it’s not your bachelorette party… it’s mine… and then have dinner with him or something. Just for fun. I think you need a dose of that man.”

Hailey rolled her eyes at her friend, but she was desperate to follow her advice. The few moments she had spent with Greg had been fun. She loved his eyes and try as she might, she couldn’t get them out of her head. She knew it was wrong if Greg was married and she went out on a date with him, but it wasn’t a date unless she called it one. She could just offer to have dinner with him, since she was leaving for Seattle in the morning anyway.

Hailey clutched her friend’s arm happily before shaking her head and frowning. “This is so wrong.”

“No, it isn’t. It’s not a date, mind you. He’s a married man. Dinner and conversation. That’s all. No biggie!”

Hailey nodded gleefully, and straightened her sundress over her bright orange bikini.

Chapter Four

“Can I talk to you, Greg?”

The sound made him turn around in surprise. Greg was embarrassed and had spent the last several minutes trying his damndest to hide it. He’d talked nonstop to Thomas, hoping Hailey would see him and know that he had put her out of his mind. He was pissed at himself. She was there for a bachelorette party and he’d been drooling after another man’s fiancée for two days.

“Uh, sure,” he said with an automatic smile. Just the sight of Hailey with her brown hair glinting in the sun made him light up. He introduced Hailey to his friend and after they exchanged pleasantries, Greg walked away with her, far from the hustle surrounding the pool to the air-conditioned lobby inside.

Greg pointed to the sofa and she sat down slowly across from him, crossing her legs.

“I just wanted to say, despite what I made you believe earlier, it’s not really my bachelorette party,” she explained.

Greg stilled, and then exhaled. “Wow. Okay,” he said with a self-conscious laugh. He was suddenly very nervous.

“So I was thinking… if you’re free tonight, you still owe me dinner,” she said, forcing herself to be bold.

Greg looked straight into her eyes, and then his gaze dipped lower to her lips. Hailey shifted in her seat and pinned a smile on her face.

“Actually, I’m leaving town in an hour. I’m driving back home.”

“Oh,” Hailey gasped and her smile faded. She felt like a fool. Now Greg was turning her down. “That’s fine. I’ll see you around then,” she said and stood up.

To her complete surprise, Greg took her hand in his and pulled her gently back down. His grip was warm, his hold strong yet gentle at the same time, and it made Hailey tingly all over.

Greg’s eyes darted down to her bright orange bikini. It contrasted beautifully with her flawless, dark skin. He tried not to look at her breasts encased in the fabric of her bikini top, but it was hard to keep his eyes off her. Her legs were long and lean, her stomach toned and hard, lined prominently enough to show she worked out.

He forced his eyes back to her face, and prayed that Hailey hadn’t seen the direction of his eyes. He didn’t want her to think he was a pervert.

“I don’t mean to offend you. I actually have to get back home because I need to go to work tomorrow afternoon. Do you live here? In Sacramento, I mean?”

“No. I’m from Seattle. I’m headed back on Thursday.”

“Seattle? Really?”

“Yes.” She smiled. “Why?”

“I’m from Seattle, too!”

“Oh that’s…”

She was about to say wonderful, but stopped herself just in time. Being in the same city with a man who was married and whom she was obviously very attracted to was not going to be wonderful at all. Not for her, and not for Greg.

Greg was lost in thought, his brow furrowed, and Hailey watched his eyes turn dark and bright at the same time.

“Okay Hailey. I know this proposition might seem odd to you. But would you consider going back with me? Like on a road trip? I’d really enjoy your company on the way back.”

Hailey’s heart flipped over in her chest. Greg was so cute. When he smiled, it was as if he had to make an effort to do that, but his eyes sparkled. He was genuinely interested in her.

Her conscience cried out in her head that Greg was married and that she should turn him down, but her heart trampled all coherent thought and she nodded with a grin.

“It sounds like fun,” she said, and saw Greg visibly relax.

“Okay great!” Greg exclaimed and then tightened his hold around her hand. Heat traveled from her fingers all through her arm and ended in a painful knot in her core.

***

Hailey left to tell Kate she was leaving, then to go pack. She knew she was treading on dangerous ground. Greg was likable, way too much, and although she was hoping there was another explanation behind the family picture he had in his suitcase, she knew it was stupid to hope.

She needed to make sure she kept it strictly friendly with him. She had never been flirty or easy, and it wasn’t often that she liked someone as much as she liked Greg. Her heart cried that she barely knew him at all, but she wanted this. She wanted to get to know this wonderful enigmatic man who had been on her mind for the past two days.

How wrong could that be?

Chapter Five

Hailey’s friends hadn’t been too happy to see her go two days earlier than planned, but Hailey had made up her mind. Kate didn’t mind at all, although she gave Hailey another lengthy lecture on just having a good time with Greg and not taking him seriously.

Hailey agreed and she hoped it would be as easy to resist him as Kate made it sound.

Hailey packed her stuff in a hurry and slipped on a pair of denim capris, pairing it with a white flowery top. The top was see-through, lined with lace, and she wore a white chemise under it.

She stood in front of the mirror, carefully applying some mascara and lip-gloss. She wanted to look her best, but she was not a fan of overdoing the makeup.

Satisfied that she looked passable, she opened the door and saw Greg leaning against the wall, about five feet away from her hotel room door.

“I’m all set!” she said and he smiled, looking at her face appreciatively.

“You look beautiful,” he said before he had a chance to think. “I mean…” he stumbled over his words. “The first time we met you were drunk, and the next morning you had mascara all over your face, so this is much better.”

Damn, what am I saying!
Greg cringed in his head. He had forgotten how to talk to women.

He looked up as Hailey laughed openly, her face horrified. “You’re so mean!” she cried, sliding her hand into the crook of his arm as he pulled her suitcase behind them.

Greg smiled as he looked down at her from his considerable height. Although Hailey was tall, almost five-foot-nine, his six-foot-four frame made anyone seem diminutive.

He was glad Hailey had a sense of humor and wasn’t offended by his idiotic statement.

As the elevator door closed with them inside, Hailey tugged at his arm and he looked down. “When I saw the smudged mascara and eyeliner later in the bathroom mirror, I was hoping it had happened after you left,” she whispered, and Greg laughed.

The sound rose up from his chest and made him shake, and as the elevator slowly made its way down, they were both laughing.

Greg felt liberated. He was glad she had agreed to come with him. It felt good to have a good time, laugh, and smile with an amazing woman.

Hailey felt his arm under her hand, and it was strong and bunched with muscle. Heat emanated from his arm through the fabric of his shirt, traveling down her spine, making her feel lightheaded. Greg was sweet and straightforward, and she could tell there was nothing fake about the guy.

The only thing that bothered her was the photo she had found in his suitcase. She was sure he didn’t know she’d seen it. It was what it was. He was married with a child. Period. Everything would be fine as long as she didn’t do anything stupid with him.