in sync with her on that one. The image of Shelby’s innocent smile flashed in his mind as he added a heartfelt, “Me either.”
“I guess I lived a pretty sheltered life,” Jillian mused. “I didn’t know much about any of this stuff until I started working in the ED.”
Alec found himself wanting to know more about Jillian Davis. He leaned forward. “Did you grow up here in Milwaukee?”
“Yes.” She shrugged a graceful shoulder. “My parents were older when they had me, and they were a bit over-protective. As they were both college professors, I ended up spending a lot of time in classrooms. Not that I minded. I loved books.”
“So you were good in school.” He could easily see her, studying intently in the library.
“Good enough to be granted a college scholarship.” She paused when the waiter brought their food to the table. “This looks delicious.”
For a few minutes they concentrated on their respective meals. Alec glanced at her, his gaze drawn to her lovely face. She’d mentioned having a sheltered life and he could see how that might be the case. Heck, as far as he was concerned, Jillian shouldn’t have to take care of any victims of drug abuse. He took a bite of his chicken marinara, wishing the ugly side of his job hadn’t touched her. No one liked dealing with criminals at any level. Unfortunately, there was little he could do except continue his investigation and then hand over the details to his boss.
Which reminded him of one more thing. “At some point I’d like to see your medication dispensing machine.”
“Stop by while I’m working and I’ll show it to you,” Jillian offered. “The way the machines work isn’t a big secret and when you get the list from Administration, make sure you ask for the names of the staff members who accessed it during those time frames.”
“I will. Thanks for the tip.” The way Jillian dug into her pasta with gusto made him grin. He could appreciate a woman with a healthy appetite.
She was beautiful. Successful. Financially secure. He hid a grimace. She probably made at least twice as much money per year as he did. She was way out of his league.
So what was he doing here, watching her eat? What was the point of fantasizing about asking her out again? If he had the chance, he’d take her out to a fancy restaurant for a nice, quiet dinner. One where she might agree to invite him to her place afterwards.
The phone at his waist chirped loudly. He glanced at the display, and then flashed Jillian an apologetic smile.
“Excuse me, this is my daughter.” He opened his phone. “Hi, munchkin, what’s up?”
“Daddy!” Shelby shrieked in his ear. “I slid down a water slide and my whole head went underneath the water!”
A moment of panic made him tighten his grip on the phone. “Are you all right? Are you hurt? Did you cry?”
“No, silly.” To his relief she giggled. “I just held my breath. I didn’t like it when water went up my nose, though.”
Swimming lessons, he thought, relaxing one finger at a time from the death-like grip on his phone. Shelby needed swimming lessons, and fast. “You’re supposed to blow air out your nose, so water doesn’t come in.”
“Ew. Gross.” He chuckled, imagining the scrunched expression on her face. “Auntie Alaina is calling me so I have to go, Daddy. I love you.”
His throat tightened. He’d never, ever get tired of hearing her say that. “I love you, too, Shelby. See you later.” He cleared his throat as he snapped his phone shut.
Jillian stared at him, her eyes wide with shocked surprise. Then she pulled herself together, although he noticed her smile was strained. “Your daughter sounds adorable. How old is she?”
“Six. Almost seven.” He tried to think of a way to explain without going into the whole complicated story. “She’s only lived with me for the past year, since her mother died.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Jillian’s expression softened. “That must have been very difficult.”
“Kids are incredibly resilient. Shelby seems to have adjusted fairly well. So have I. We make a pretty good team.”
Jillian glanced away, making him realize he’d given the impression that he wasn’t interested in expanding that team.
A fact he hadn’t meant to state so boldly.
She reached for her water glass but as she lifted it, the stem slipped from her fingers and fell back onto the table. The glass didn’t break, but a little water sloshed over the edge. “I’m such a klutz!” Jillian exclaimed as she leaned over to mop up the mess, avoiding his gaze. “And, actually, Alec, I’m sorry but I need to get going. I have a number of things I need to do today.”
He couldn’t let her go, not like this. Reaching across the table, he caught her hand. “Jillian, wait.”
She froze, staring down at their joined hands. Then she looked up at him, her gaze uncertain. “For what?”
Stroking a thumb over the soft skin of her hand, he held her gaze. “You dropped the forceps in the ED and now this. Jillian, you’re not a klutz. But you certainly seem upset. I hope you don’t mind my asking, but is something wrong?”
There was a long pause, but then she tugged her hand from his. “I honestly don’t know. But, really, I do need to get going. Please, excuse me.” She picked up her purse. “Thanks for lunch, Alec. I hope you hear from the hospital administration soon so you can find the person you’re searching for.”
He watched her walk away, feeling bad about the abrupt way she’d pulled away from him. He also couldn’t help wondering what was wrong. She’d said she didn’t know but, as a physician, she must have an idea.
He signaled for the check, sternly reminding himself that Jillian’s medical problems weren’t any of his concern. His problem was to find the person stealing percocets from the hospital and putting them in the hands of children.
No way was he searching for anything on a personal level. Especially not a potential wife for himself or mother for Shelby.
* * *
Jillian spent the rest of her weekend trying to wrench the image of Alec talking to his daughter out of her head. She had thought him an attractive man before she’d known about his daughter. Yes, it had been a bit of a shock to find out he was a dad, but seeing him in his sensitive caring mode had made trying to pry him out of her mind even harder.
Reading professional medical journals helped to a certain extent, because there was always so much to learn. After a couple of hours, though, her mind drifted back to Alec. Disgusted, she considered calling the ED to see if they needed additional help. Anything was better than sitting around, dwelling on her lack of a personal life.
Especially when the void hadn’t bothered her until now.
When her phone rang early Saturday evening, she was surprised and just a little disappointed when the caller was one of her colleagues, Craig Bartlet.
“Hey, Jillian. Would you do me a favor?”
“Sure.”
