The Running Series Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 3

  As the first surgery got underway, Dr. Brooks asked me a lot of general questions about where I grew up and my college years. I told him about my studies at Northwestern and how a recruiter for PMC brought me to Dallas. I tried to decipher whether it was a deposition or if he was really all that curious about me on a personal level. It could have also just been small talk to make the time go by. I knew I was certainly curious about him and wanted to get to know the handsome stranger who could very well be the devil in disguise, especially where my career was concerned.

  Keep it professional, Alex, you’re just here to sign another surgeon and get Drew off your back.

  “Where did you do your medical school training?” I asked, steering the conversation back to business while still getting to pry just a little bit.

  “I did all of my training through the military, so I was in many different locations.”

  “Did you have a favorite?”

  “Yes, actually, I did. My favorite time was when I was stationed in Europe, specifically Austria. It’s a beautiful place, but less touristy than other parts of Europe. The fall season is breathtaking, and I love to snow ski. But mostly it was the really great scenic countryside.” I could see his eyes dancing above his surgical mask, when he looked over at me.

  “Do you ski, Alexandra, or like sports or outdoorsy stuff?” he asked, a different tone in his voice than I had gotten used to coming from him.

  Could his question mean he might have an interest in me as well?

  “Yes, I do like to ski…well, obviously not in Texas,” I laughed, causing a few snickers from the other surgical team members in the room. “And my deep dark secret is that I’m a sportsaholic. I played basketball all through school, and for regular exercise, I like running, Pilates, stuff like that. Oh, and sorry to break it to everyone, but I’m a huge Bears and Cubs fan. Sorry, Cowboys fans!” I said almost apologetically, not certain if they would actually try to run me out of the room for that confession.

  “Ha!” he yelled good-naturedly, shocking me. “Finally, we have another Bears fan!” he bragged as he winked at me. I couldn’t decide if he was just agreeing with me or he really did like the Bears.

  Interesting…maybe he’d lived in Chicago? I wanted to ask him about that next, but we finished the procedure, and I had to move my equipment.

  As we turned to leave the operating room, we discussed how well the surgery went and the thirty minutes he’d saved by using my equipment, which had him actually excited. Since he was still in a mask, I could only see those stunning eyes, but that was enough for me. They were gleaming.

  “Alexandra, on a busy OR day, I usually have four to five cases. Your equipment could give my team back about two hours of their day. That’s enough time to schedule a whole other procedure, reducing the wait time for the patient. Or,” he grinned mischievously, pulling off his mask, “for some time on the basketball court if no one minds?”

  “I’m really pleased you’re happy with the outcome of the demonstration. Obviously, it’s the conclusion I’d hoped you would come to.” Yes, keep it professional. Of course, what I really wanted to say was, If you weren’t such a stubborn ass and had actually bothered to look over the literature I left at your office a million times, you would know that by now! You would have had several days to hit the court already, you hard-headed jerk!

  “I have to get to a meeting with the hospital foundation committee about upcoming fundraising, but I would like to discuss your equipment options more. Would you be available to meet me for dinner tonight, say six thirty?”

  “Absolutely,” I replied coolly. “I have an appointment that should wrap up by five o’clock.” It was all I could do to contain my excitement, since I would spend some time with the mysterious Dr. Brooks, and I could honestly tell my boss I was making headway with the new surgeon. I’m sure he could see my breath quicken.

  “I’ll text you the reservation info later,” he said, rubbing my shoulder for only a second and walking off before I could say anything else.

  My shoulder practically burned where his hand had been. I would have to be careful tonight to keep myself under control. After all, I needed and wanted his business first, but after that, I planned to learn as much as I could about Grayson Brooks.

  I knew Drew was pacing the floor of whatever state he was in today, so I wanted to share the good news. He would want to know how the procedure went down, but also how receptive Dr. Brooks had been to the new equipment. I anticipated a million questions on how I managed to wrestle Dr. Brooks into an equipment demo.

  “Hi, Drew. Are you having a good day? Anything interesting happening?” Okay, so I was teasing him, but he’d get over it.

  “Alex, don’t jack with me. I’m not in the mood,” he half-growled. “Please tell me it went great.” I could hear the anxiety in his voice.

  “It went fine. He seemed impressed and scheduled a dinner meeting to go over some of the finer points,” I assured him.

  “And now I need to understand how you managed to get Dr. Brooks to say yes to a trial. What tricks did you use?” he demanded jokingly.

  “First of all,” I mocked, “I didn’t use any tricks. You told me to be myself and I was, but he turned me down. But after he thought it over, he reached out and left me a message and said he would be willing to give it a try. The demo went very smoothly. I didn’t need any tricks because it really is a great product.” I paused and finally heard him let out a long breath.

  It was the first time I realized this was just as stressful on him as it was on me. My career was just taking off, but he was established with PMC and still had to produce results.

  “Before you go all bossy on me, I’ve got this for now, so let’s not push him. He’s on board with hearing purchasing options and realizes the initiative, so I have him where I need him to be, after just one case. I will know more about the budget cycle after our meeting tonight.” Then I told Drew I had another appointment and needed time to prep for the dinner meeting with Dr. Brooks.

  My next big hurdle actually fell into the realm of a real emergency. I needed Cooper’s styling expertise, but he wasn’t picking up, and he didn’t answer my texts.

  That was just great. I had a true fashion crisis unfurling in front of me—what to wear to dinner with a sexy man who happened to hold my career in his hand right now—and my one-man styling team wasn’t around.

  While wrapping up my final appointment, I had missed Dr. Brooks’ text.

  Dinner reservations 6:30 at Sambuca’s in my name, can you still make it?

  I responded, Certainly, see you there.

  What were the odds? Of all the restaurants in Dallas, he picked a place in my neighborhood and one that Cooper and I had recently discovered. Was I being stalked?

  I had enough time to get ready for my dinner, but without having heard from Cooper still, the real challenge was going to be pulling together an outfit without resorting to my safety net of proven power outfits. I even reached for my faithful favorite dinner dress, but it was mostly brown and really didn’t enhance my non-existent boobs. I needed Cooper, where the heck was he?

  I abandoned the attempts at an outfit for a second in order to focus on my hair.

  After trying to wrangle my curls unsuccessfully, I’d finally decided to pull it back in another ponytail when a voice behind me snapped, “Oh no, you don’t. Let that hair down, girl.”

  “Cooper, where have you been? I need you! I have a dinner meeting with Dr. Brooks, and I am begging! You gotta do me a favor and please style me!”

  “All right, girl. I’ve got your back. You are going to look drilling-hot tonight!” And in a moment’s notice, he pulled together a sexy outfit in less time than it would have taken me to find a matching pair of socks in my laundry pile.

  “Wait a minute. Please define drilling-hot. Is that something I even want to look like?” I was stunned by this new terminology, especially coming out of Cooper’s mouth.

  “Well, I could revise it and s
ay totally effable, but you don’t like that word, so I came up with drilling-hot.”

  I made a note to myself to pick up some style catalogs, so I could pull together outfits because Cooper might not always be around to bail me out of fashion prison.

  Once I made it to the restaurant, I left my Jeep with the valet and mentioned to the hostess I was meeting Dr. Brooks. She led me to a table where a petite, blonde, very attractive young woman was sitting. I noticed she was wearing a very beautiful and very large wedding ring!

  Shit, he’s married! And even better, I get to have dinner with his wife!

  A sudden blush devoured my whole body; I could feel the heat burn up my neck to where I was sure it was coloring my cheeks.

  The blonde gave me a questioning look.

  Trying to find my voice and control the disappointment, I finally said, “Hello, I’m Alex Morrison from PMC. I’m supposed to be meeting Dr. Brooks.”

  “Oh, hi Alex. It’s very nice to meet you! I’m Zoe. Grayson is running late and should be here soon.”

  Great. Gorgeous and friendly. I wanted to hate her, but couldn’t.

  As we began to immediately size each other up, I realized she was really pretty, with long blonde hair and fair skin. She spoke with a soft Southern accent, which immediately charmed even me. She looked to be just a few years older than me. I could see how she and Dr. Brooks would make an attractive-looking couple.

  “I was out of the office last week, attending a conference and updating my continuing education credits for my nursing license. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet you in the office last Friday. I understand the procedures went really well today, and everyone was very happy with your product.”

  Oh dear, just lovely, not only was she married to him, she worked with him. I shouldn’t have been too disappointed since that really wasn’t uncommon, especially for a doctor who was just starting a practice.

  “Yes, I’m sorry I missed meeting Dr. Brooks’ entire staff. Today, the cases went really well, and the operating room team seemed to be pleased.”

  We were about to dive into painful small talk when Dr. Brooks finally appeared.

  “Good evening, ladies. So sorry for keeping you both. My meeting with the foundation ran later than I had intended, but it was very encouraging. Have you two been getting to know each other?”

  Why would I want to get to know his wife? Was he a twisted bedroom kind of guy? My alter ego took control for just a second, and I had to remind myself to get my mind out of the bedroom. That was no easy task with this sexy man sitting so close to me.

  “Alexandra, I don’t like to drag business out, so I’ll get right to it,” Dr. Brooks began. “I think the case went well today, and I can easily see how my patients and practice could benefit, as well as the OR team. The problem is always funding. With that being said, the hospital is limited on budget right now. They just can’t make any large purchases, which is why I have gone to the hospital foundation committee to see what options we may have with them. Unfortunately, they don’t have these kinds of funds left over at the moment. However, their fundraising gala will be in September, so we aren’t a long way off. We just need to plan quickly and be accessible to them.”

  He looked at me with an apology in his eyes. “Just so you know, you’ll be competing with other product requests by physicians who’ve been there longer and carry more clout than I do. You’ll need to surround them with attention and bring in your best proposal. It would even be to your benefit to join the committee and assist with some of the fundraising. Would you be okay with that?”

  “Absolutely, Dr. Brooks, I’d be happy to. I couldn’t ask for more. While you were putting this plan together, I worked up a backup plan that I already have on the drawing board. Our organization is small, a start-up. But we do need beta facilities to help us with product feedback and provide referrals. We’re also looking for a Medical Director who can perform a lecture series as leader of our faculty. For that person’s work and extra time, we often are able to get them teaching packages with a reduced or no-cost option. However, let me be completely honest, this does require a great deal of time on your part and a relationship with our organization that goes both ways. If you are open to discussing that proposal with the executives from PMC, I’ll call my boss right now and get that ball rolling.”

  Of course, I would love to spend more time with Dr. Delicious, but not if he was married to the Texas Cutie. Let the big dogs take it from here.

  As he indicated, I called Drew and asked him to arrange a meeting as soon as possible with Phillip, our CEO, and the rest of the PMC board. He would notify me when it was all set up, and then I wouldn’t have to keep thinking about gorgeous doctors and their equally gorgeous wives.

  Dr. Brooks signaled to the server to take our orders. There was no reason to be rude to Zoe, since it technically wasn’t her fault she had to go and marry Grayson, ruining my yummy plans, so I turned toward her to bring her into the conversation. Before I could really dive into some polite small talk, Zoe asked me if I was married.

  Wow, she didn’t wait long. She obviously wanted to know if I planned to be chase her husband, since we were going to be spending so much time together.

  “No, I’m not married,” I said with what I hoped was a reassuring smile. “Between working and finishing my MBA, I haven’t had the time to even think about dating, let alone marriage. And I’m not famous for my luck in the love department.

  “But I’m content right now. I’ve been very lucky in friendship and my best friend, Cooper Roberts, decided to relocate from Chicago to Dallas with me.” Before I could finish, I saw the two of them glance at each other, so I decided to go for it.

  “So, how long have you two been married?” And with a jolt, Dr. Brooks dropped his glass hard on the table and cleared his throat as if he was choking.

  Zoe came to his rescue with strong pats on his back in between her fits of giggles. “Oh, that is too funny!” she sputtered. “We are not married, not to each other anyway. Grayson is my older brother, and he is not married!”

  She took a sip from her water glass and calmed her laughter. “I just got married recently and have lived in the Dallas area since going to school here. That’s why Grayson decided to start his practice here when he left the military, but I am his nurse for the time being.”

  I could feel the redness burn my face again, or was it the wine? Maybe it was both. It could have been a combination of embarrassment at my slip and the satisfaction of knowing he wasn’t married. Of course, this upped the stakes for this dinner just a notch.

  As our entrees arrived, the musical entertainment took the stage. Tonight, a local jazz artist who was beautiful and had a lovely voice was headlining. The three of us enjoyed generic small talk about the Texas climate, my relocation, and the local happenings while the musicians warmed up.

  “Dr. Brooks, I am curious about how you picked this restaurant. Is it a favorite of yours?”

  “Alexandra,” he jokingly chided. “Please call me Grayson. After all, we’re going to be spending a great deal of time together. And as for Sambuca’s, I live pretty close and happened to be here this past weekend. I also happened to see you with your date. You seemed to be enjoying yourself, dancing on the patio.”

  Now, it was my turn to cough. I choked on my wine, giggling at the same time, as they stared at me. “Grayson, yes, I did enjoy myself. That man I was dancing with was Cooper, my roommate. And he wasn’t my date, since Cooper is gay. We have been friends for so long we’ve gotten pretty used to people mistaking us for a couple.”

  He and Zoe glanced at each other and grinned. After all, I had just thought the same thing about them.

  “Hey, big brother, spin me around the dance floor for a while.” They headed off as the jazz artist was doing a modern, but very velvety rendition of Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon”.

  Wow, both of them could dance very well. I enjoyed watching them show off. They looked comfortable doing it, as
if they had danced together a lot. That only added to his mystery, as far as I was concerned.

  As they enjoyed themselves on the small dance floor, Drew phoned me back to let me know the CEO, some board members, and a few venture capitalist guys would like to have a dinner meeting on Thursday with Grayson, and I should set up the venue. Game on.

  Finally returning to the table, Zoe apologized for leaving me alone. “We love to dance together. Grayson gave me away at my wedding, since our Dad had passed away. We took lessons, so he could do the father/brother dance with me at the reception. We both fell in love with dancing and live music.”

  “Well, I don’t dance well, but Cooper makes dancing fun, or whatever you call what we were doing out there.”

  To lock the business deal down before time got away, I addressed Grayson, “Can you possibly join my management team for a dinner meeting on Thursday for a discussion and planning of the beta site proposal?”

  “Yes, I’m sure I can work that into my schedule.” He told me to confirm it with Millie, of course, who probably knew his schedule better than he did.

  We chatted for a few more minutes before Zoe excused herself to go home to her new husband, leaving Grayson and me alone.

  “How long has Zoe lived in Dallas?” I asked, torn between wanting to stay and make small talk with him now that it was just the two of us, while also knowing the biggest business deal of my short career was hinging on the dynamic between Grayson and me. Still, I wanted to figure out how long they had lived here, what brought them here, and from where.

  “She moved here eight years ago to attend the nursing program at TWU, which is one of the best in the country. That’s where she met Brent, her husband, whose family is also from the area. I joined them here almost two years ago.

  “Do you have any family here in the area?” he asked as he refilled our wine, clearly letting me know he wasn’t quite ready to leave yet, either.