Although, I’m afraid everything looks closed at this hour.”
“We can use the vending machines,” she told him. “And the coffeepot should be going.”
“Sounds good enough to me.”
They walked to the machines and loaded them with what change they had between them. Ridge purchased a sandwich and Nicolette settled for a package of cheese and crackers. They added foam cups of coffee to the food, then found a small round table near a wall of plate glass.
Except for the two of them, the dining area was empty and so quiet Nicolette could practically hear her own heart pounding in her ears. As she tore into the package of crackers, she told herself she was reacting to the man in a juvenile way. If she were smart, she would treat his flirting with indifference and give him the message that he wasn’t affecting her in the slightest way. But she’d never been a good actress.
Across from her, Ridge bit into the roast beef sandwich and grimaced at its dryness. “Not the best in the world, but at least it’s filling.”
“Did you eat dinner tonight?”
He shook his head. “I had two emergencies earlier this evening. Once I took care of them I drove home and had barely gotten in the house when the phone rang again. That call was Mr. Nelson, and I’ve been dealing with him ever since.”
Nicolette suddenly felt very guilty for thinking he would be one of those doctors who called in orders and expected the nurses to care for his patients. Maybe she had misjudged him, especially about his dedication to his patients. Yet she was sure she hadn’t misconstrued his brashness. He’d probably learned to charm women even before he headed to kindergarten.
“Sounds like you’re getting off to a busy start. You might wish you’d never moved to this area,” she suggested.
He shook his head. “I won’t do that. I really like it around here. I’ve already bought a place west of the city. Busy or not, this is where my roots are sinking.”
Curious, she studied him as he wolfed down the sandwich. “Do you have family in the area?”
He reached for his coffee. “No. They’re all in Houston.”
“You didn’t want to practice there?”
To Nicolette’s surprise a bland mask covered his face. Maybe everything in his life wasn’t as cheery as he projected.
“I’ve lived in Houston all my life. My parents and grandparents are still there. But now that I’m out of medical school and practicing, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.”
She leaned back in her chair as she nibbled on a cracker. “Why is that? Or is that question too personal? If it is, you don’t have to answer.”
One of his shoulders lifted and fell. “I don’t mind telling you. The place was too big and fast. I don’t want to spend my life like a hamster racing uselessly on a wheel.”
For the first time since Nicolette had met him, his eyes were solemn, maybe even sad, and the sight touched her in a way that surprised her. She wanted to know more about him. She wanted to understand him. She suddenly cared whether he was happy or sad. And that was dangerous.
“Is that what you thought? That your life there was useless?”
A corner of his mouth lifted faintly. “No. I’ve had a nice life, a fine education. But I never planned to stay there. From the time I was a young boy, I knew I wanted something different for myself.”
“You mean different from your parents and grandparents?”
He nodded. “My father and grandfather are both doctors, too. In fact, my father still has a practice there. He’s a neurologist. Gramps was a general practitioner, back in the days when those were still used,” he added wryly.
“So you became a heart doctor. That’s how you wanted to be different?”
“No. I didn’t want to build a practice in Houston. I wanted my life to be—” Grimacing, he paused, swallowed some coffee, then placed the cup down on the tabletop. “I didn’t want to live like my father and grandfather, Nicolette. They were both consumed with their jobs and consumed with all the social things that went with living in a huge city. There’s life beyond medicine, you know, and I want one. A life that means something.”
The conviction on his face struck her and she suddenly realized that he was not the shallow playboy she’d first imagined.
“And you think you can find that here?” she quietly questioned.
A wry grin exposed a portion of his white teeth. “I’m going to try my best. At least I’m finding I like the clinic and this hospital. And I like my new place. So that’s a start.”
And what about a woman to go with it, Nicolette wondered. But she’d bite the end of her tongue off before she’d ask him such a thing. It didn’t matter to her if he had a steady love interest. She’d had her turn with love and marriage, and the experience had left her spirit bound with scars. She’d be a fool to lose what little heart she had left to a man like him.
She drank a portion of her strong coffee while she felt his gaze roaming over her face and hair, touching her lips and lingering on her breasts. His subtle inspection made her extremely aware that she was a woman, a woman who’d not felt the arms of a man around her in years.
Resisting the urge to squirm, she asked, “Uh, did you buy acreage?”
“Two hundred acres. Not very much, but enough for five horses and a small herd of cattle.”
Her jaw dropped. “Livestock? You own livestock?”
He chuckled at the stunned look on her face. “That’s right. I’ve always wanted to do a little ranching and now I have the chance. True, I won’t have a lot of free time for it. But I’ll make the most of what I have.”
“What about the golfing, the boating and fishing? And traveling?”
Chuckling, he held up a hand to stem her questions. “Nicolette, where did you get this stereotype of doctors? We’re not all made from the same mold, you know.”
He was right, of course. But from the moment she’d spotted him standing in her waiting room this morning, maybe even before that, she’d formed her own ideas of the man. Now she was learning he was nothing as she’d first imagined. The fact left her shaken. It only proved that she was no better a judge of men now than she had been when she’d married Bill and believed all his hogwash.
“Sorry. But that’s what most of the doctors around here do with their free time. Not that’s there anything wrong with golfing or fishing. I just thought—” She paused and shrugged one shoulder. “Well, I’ve lived nearly all my life on a ranch and you—just don’t seem the type.”
This time he looked at her with surprise. “You live on a ranch?”
She nodded. “The Sandbur. It’s—”
“The Sandbur!” he exclaimed. “You are one of those Saddlers?”
“You know of the place?”
Leaning
