a hospital was a good place to meet women. She’d been burned like that before. What other reason could a guy like him have for being here?
“But if I remember rightly, your sister had her baby almost a year ago. As the saying goes, what took you so long?”
He shrugged. “Time got away from me.”
“So why now?”
A shadow crossed his face as he remembered. “My secretary gave birth recently, a very small baby. It turned out that she was a failure-to-thrive infant.”
“That’s rough,” Liz said, sincerely sympathetic. “What happened?”
“She’s doing okay now, but they came too close to losing her. It took extra attention and stimulation. Not to mention that I lost the best secretary I’ve ever had.”
“Really?”
“She quit because she didn’t have family to leave the child with and didn’t trust anyone else. I admire her commitment because they’ll have it tough financially. Anyway, the point is that after the birth, and during the extra time in the hospital, she couldn’t hold the baby twenty-four hours a day. The cuddlers filled in and made a difference. I decided there was no time like the present to do something worthwhile.”
“I’m glad the baby is doing well,” Liz said. “But think about this. We integrate our volunteers into the schedule. The nurses count on them to pick up the slack when it gets busy. You’ve seen firsthand how important it is that they show up.”
He frowned. “And your point is?”
“You’re a single guy with a busy social calendar.”
“And how would you know that?”
“Because you look like—” She stopped. What was this need she had to keep tossing him crumbs that would swell his head to the point where finding a hat to fit would be impossible?
“Never mind,” she said. “Picture this scenario—you meet someone and you’d like to take her out on the spur of the moment. But you’re scheduled to be here with the babies.” She held one hand out. “Here we have Miss Nubile.” She held out her other hand. “And here we have Miss Crankypants Infant screaming her head off. Which female do you think you’d pick?”
He scratched his chin. “Tough choice. Is Miss Nubile a blond or a brunette?”
“Which are you more partial to?”
“Tall redheads.”
With an involuntary flash of disappointment, Liz figured a short brunette like herself was safe from him. “Okay, let’s make Miss Nubile a tall, titian-haired temptress.”
“Okay, let’s.”
“I knew you were impossible the first time we met.”
“Thank you very much,” he said brightly.
She sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. “My point is that when you don’t show up because you and Miss Nubile are tripping the light fantastic somewhere, it’s the babies who lose out. The role of touch is critical in child development. We need people we can count on for this program.”
“You’re prejudging me.”
“Not you specifically, but men in general—”
“So this third degree has to do with the fact that I’m a man.”
More than you could possibly imagine, she thought. But she only said, “Our average volunteer is female.”
“Aren’t there laws against gender discrimination?”
“Not discrimination. A screening process to protect the babies.”
“I would never hurt them.”
“I’m not suggesting you would deliberately harm them, but neglect—”
He stood suddenly and his agreeable, flirtatious facade disappeared. “I don’t neglect children, Liz. I firmly believe that they are our most precious natural resource.”
Funny, she thought. She liked his anger more than his charm. She believed it. She stood too. “That’s something we see eye-to-eye on.”
“By definition I thought you had to take anyone who shows up.”
“True. But I won’t approve any volunteer who might reflect badly on the program. It’s not firmly established yet.”
“No?”
She shook her head. “It’s just about a year old. We’re coming up for review soon. Some members of the hospital Board of Directors feel the volunteers could be better used elsewhere. I don’t want to give them any ammunition to cancel the cuddlers. I have to insist on high standards.”
He looked down at her, way down. “Spell it out.”
“Reliability is a must. And a minimum commitment of one three hour shift a week. We require you to work four weeks in the newborn nursery before going to the Neonatal Intensive Care.” She shrugged. “Those are the rules.”
“You’ve got yourself a new recruit. When is the orientation?”
“Saturday. Ten a.m. Sharp.” She glanced at his paperwork, making sure he’d filled it out completely. “Tardiness isn’t an excuse.”
“I’ll be here.”
“Read and sign the back of this please,” she said, sliding the paper across her desk.
He picked it up and scanned the words. Liz knew it was an agreement to adhere to all hospital rules of safety and confidentiality. It also said a volunteer could be terminated from the program for any reason deemed sufficient by the Director of Volunteers. She didn’t suppose Essie Martinez would consider booting Joe Marchetti before he started because he was too good-looking.
“May I borrow your pen?” he asked.
Hoping she wasn’t making a big mistake, she handed him one and he signed the form. “So we’ll see you bright and early Saturday morning?” she asked.
“I’ll be here.”
She gathered a file from her desk and started for the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me—”
“Where are you off to in such a hurry? Hot date?” he asked, preceding her out the door.
“Sort of. I moderate a new mothers’ support group on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.” She thought of something as she locked her office. “Sooner or later all the cuddlers are required to attend. I think it gives the program some continuity. Maybe you would like to join us now? Unless you have somewhere to go?”
“No, now is fine,” he said without hesitation.
Good, she thought, wondering if this would scare him off. It was never too early to separate the men from the boys, test his mettle.
