Hell. There was every reason to be nervous.
She sat, not at her desk, but at a little stuffed chair underneath the small window at the back of her office. She wore lavender scrubs that made her golden skin glow and bright white tennis shoes. Her shiny hair was pulled up in a perfect twist at the back of her head and her glasses were different today, still with the thick frames but clear instead of black. She frowned down at her phone as she furiously typed out a message with one hand and clutched a half of what looked like a peanut butter sandwich in the other.
Eli wasn’t totally sure exactly what level of interest this woman held for him. But he was damn sure that his heart was skateboarding around his ribs. She packed a hell of a punch.
Realizing that she had earbuds in and hadn’t noticed him come in, Eli stepped to the side and waved one hand in the air.
Tia jolted when she noticed him, the earbuds flinging out of her ears. She rose up immediately. “Eli!”
Flustered, she attempted to shove the sandwich into the pocket of her scrubs, and then stared in confusion at the phone in her other hand.
Eli tried to bite back his smile. Sure, he wasn’t entirely certain of the feeling that he had growing for her, but it was still a good boost to the ego whenever your unexpected presence was enough to have a woman jamming a sandwich into her pocket.
Tia cleared her throat, tossed back her gentle, side swept bangs and set her things—sandwich included—on the windowsill. Crossing the room to him, she held her hand out for a shake.
“Eli,” she said again. “I didn’t expect to see you.”
He nodded, took her hand, and smiled at the buzzing warmth that took up residence between their palms. “That’s kind of the point of a surprise visit.”
“Oh.” Her eyes narrowed behind her glasses as she zoomed in on the plant in his hand, and Eli was jolted by just how silvery her irises looked behind the clear frames. “Right. So how are you feeling?”
She gestured to a chair reserved for visitors and seated herself behind her desk. Eli forewent the chair, not liking the idea of having a desk between them, and instead opted to place the plant on her desk and saunter over to her window, check out the view.
“I’ve been better. But I’ve also been worse.” For some reason, a memory seared through him at that moment. Screeching brakes, a car horn. An old woman crying over top of him as the world faded. He pushed thoughts of the accident out of his head. He looked away from the view of the cafeteria courtyard and his eyes snagged on the half-eaten sandwich. He couldn’t help the smile that broke out over his face. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your lunch.”
Her cheeks tinged slightly. “No, uh, worries about that. It’s not like it was a gourmet dining experience or anything.” She paused, and Eli knew it was a cue for him to fill in the blanks on why the hell he was randomly popping in to her office.
He found that he wasn’t in any particular hurry to fill in any blanks. He glanced around the room, big hands jammed in the front pockets of his worn jeans. “Nice office you’ve got.” He sauntered over to the gigantic bookshelf that covered an entire wall. There wasn’t a single book under two inches thick. “Jesus. Did you read all these books, Doc?”
“Yes,” she answered solemnly, her serious mouth pressing those luscious lips together.
It was a hell of a combination, Eli had to admit to himself. Something that was both luscious and serious. She was sexy. No reason to deny that fact in his own head. Sexy as hell. But in such a somber way. There wasn’t even a hint of teasing or flirtation about her. She simply watched him sidle around her office with those big eyes, as bright as polished silver.
He found that all the tricks he usually used to soften up a woman, teasing, flirty nicknames, showing off his physique, it all seemed so silly under that bright, serious gaze of hers. It suddenly all seemed like exactly what he’d called it. Tricks. And he didn’t think she could be tricked. More to the point, he didn’t want to trick her. He wanted to talk to her. And goddammit, he wanted to say thank you.
Eli tugged a hand through his hair, slightly longer than he usually kept it. He turned away from the books and faced her dead on, forced himself not to shove his hands in his pockets like a student in the principal’s office.
“I came to say thanks.” He inwardly winced at his casual wording and tone. He felt nothing even remotely close to casual right now.
“Oh.” She blinked. “For the surgery?”
He nodded, continued to stand. He suddenly felt too big for this office. His 6’ 5” frame was well below the ten-foot ceiling, but his arms felt too long, his feet too big. It was his grace and dexterity that had taken the football world by storm when he’d been drafted all those years ago, but right now he felt like a 350-pound offensive lineman in a dollhouse. “For what you did for me.”
“What I did was my job, Eli.” When he just continued to stare at her from across the room, Tia finally shifted in her seat. “Please. Sit down. You’re barely three weeks out from an extremely intense accident and surgery.” And when he didn’t so much as move a muscle: “For the sanity of your surgeon, please sit down.”
That was enough to have him stepping across the room and sitting himself down in the chair across from her. He didn’t particularly care for the seating arrangement, but he had to admit that it was nice to get off his feet. His ribs were killing him.
He let out a breath and stretched his legs out before him, crossing his feet at the ankle. “I brought you a plant.”
Her eyes fell to the perky little aloe plant. She sucked in her bottom lip and reached forward to fuss with the placement of the colorfully painted pot on her desk. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to. I—” He cut himself off before he swore but just barely. Tugging at his hair again, he leaned forward on his knees, winced, and leaned backward again. “Honestly, I want to do a hell of a lot more than buy you a plant, Tia. I have this knot in my chest.” He laid a big hand over his heart and would have been pleased at how much the sight loosened something deep inside Tia. “And it’s because I have to thank you. I have to find some way to thank you and have you accept it. You saved my life.”
This time, Tia was the one who found she couldn’t sit still. She rose from the desk with a sort of smooth, measured grace. She had an economy of movement, Eli thought. Not a second of waste. Probably a good quality to have in a surgeon. He watched in fascination as she walked over to the window and picked up her peanut butter sandwich, the bitten half and the fresh half. “It’s very common for a patient to feel an overlarge amount of gratitude for their surgeon. I did something that you could never have done yourself. I get it. It’s like when you threaded the needle on that 60-yard pass to Overshire in the Superbowl four years ago.”
Eli grinned at the image he got of her as a football fan. “You felt an overlarge amount of gratitude for me?”
“Of course,” she nodded solemnly, absently took a bite of her sandwich. “It needed to be done, I wanted it with every fiber of my being, but I could never in a million years have done it for myself.”
Eli considered her words. He supposed he saw her point. Ever since he’d been drafted into the NFL he’d had to deal with the huge feelings of his fans. The love, devotion, occasional ire, and of course, the gratitude. He understood that being on the receiving end, just for doing your job, wasn’t always the easiest position.
“So if this is such a common occurrence for you, how do you tend to let people thank you?”
Tia polished off one half of her sandwich and held out the other half to Eli. Charmed, he took it without protest.
“What do you mean? I let them say thank you and we all get on with our lives.”
“Well, I said thank you. I brought you a damn plant. And it’s still not enough.”
Tia balled up the sandwich bag and tossed it, across the room, and into the trash can with a confidence and surety that Eli admired greatly. “I don’t know what to tell you, Mr. Bird. That soun
ds like your problem. Not mine.”
And now they were back to Mr. Bird. Great. Just great.
“Come to a party with me.”
“Excuse me?” She was halfway through slipping her doctor’s coat on when she went stock-still, staring at him like he’d lost his royal mind. Maybe he had. A football party was no place for this tidy, elegant doctor.
“Well, not with me, exactly, as it’s at my house, and I’ll already be there. But I really want you to come. Tomorrow night.”
She slid her coat on the rest of the way. One of her dark, perfectly sculpted eyebrows rose. “Three weeks out from major surgery and you’re hosting a party?”
“Marcus and Jay are hosting it. It was my idea though. I’m sick of everybody just swinging by at all hours of the day to see if I’m alright. I want to have one block of time where I sit on the couch, and everybody and their mother can come through and confirm I’m alive and then I can just get back to resting and healing.”
Tia weighed her head from one side to the other. “Makes sense, I guess. As long as you don’t overdo it.”
“I won’t.” Eli motioned to himself reclined in the chair. He took a huge bite of the sandwich and spoke with his mouth full. “I’m being very restrained these days.”
Tia nodded again, and he thought he detected a small hint of humor around her eyes. “If you’ll excuse me, my break is up and I’ll need to head down to check in for my shift now.” Maybe not on the humor, then.
“Tia,” Eli reached out one of his long arms. She’d probably thought she was far enough away that he wouldn’t be able to reach her. She went still as a deer in headlights when his warm palm landed on her shoulder. “You’ll come?”
“I—” She cleared her throat. “I don’t know.”
“It’ll be fun. There’ll be good food and good drinks—that I will not be partaking in—and it’ll go a long way towards repaying this debt of gratitude that I feel. You know, if I can give you a good relaxing night in exchange for the one where I made you perform hours worth of surgery on me.” He smiled, but he knew it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
Tia frowned. “You’re talking like that accident was your fault. You know it wasn’t.”
Eli frowned too, on the inside. He didn’t want to have this conversation right now. He just wanted to hear her say yes. A thought occurred to him. What if she wasn’t free? What if she was hesitating because it would be a night away from her boyfriend or husband or, god, tinder hook-up. The part of him that knew it was none of his business smacked the jealous part of him in the face. He forced himself to spit out the words, going for broke.
“You can bring whoever you want and split whenever you want.”
“Oh. Well. I’m on call tomorrow, so maybe I’ll be able to come, but I wouldn’t be able to drink.”
“Of course. Great. Perfect.” Eli knew he was making an ass of himself, but he’d never been able to stop himself from smiling when he was happy. And he was grinning now. The thought lanced through him that she’d only agreed to coming once she’d known she could bring someone. It dimmed his smile a little bit.
Tia’s phone buzzed on the windowsill and made both of them look over at it. She frowned, crossing the room. And then frowned even more when she opened whatever text it was.
“Let’s trade numbers,” Eli said, really wanting to lock this thing down with her.
She exited out of whatever text strand was making her look so glum and handed her phone to him. He handed her his own and quickly input his number, trying not to smile and give away the joke at how he’d identified himself in there.
“Alright,” he couldn’t help but grin again as he walked backwards out of her office. “Tomorrow night. Anytime after six. I’m glad you’re coming. And that thing probably needs sun and water. Honestly, I have no idea. I just liked the pot. And I’m really glad you’re coming tomorrow. Ok. Wow.” He shook his head at himself. Smooth, Eli. A real ladykiller. “I’m gonna go now. But. Just. Yeah. See you tomorrow.”
He was out the door and shaking his head at himself in less than a second, but if he’d popped his head back into her office, he would have seen Tia Camellia with one hand up to her cheek, eyes wide and bemused, and a huge smile on her face.
CHAPTER THREE
“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my GOD!” Laura clamped her hands down on Tia’s as she jumped in the air and shook her light, curly hair all over the place. “I can’t believe we’re about to go to a party at Elijah Bird’s house because he personally invited you!”
Laura did a little booty wiggle dance that immediately cut out the very second that she took in her sister’s outfit. “T. That can’t possibly be what you’re wearing.”
Tia frowned and looked down at the jeans and soft white v-neck she’d picked out. “What? It’s comfortable and flattering and—”
“God awful.” Laura pushed her way through Tia’s house toward the bedroom closet. “Seriously Tia, all of your high school wet dreams are about to come true. A date with Elijah Bird. And you pick a grocery shopping outfit?”
Tia followed behind, knowing better than to put up a fight when her sister got into this sort of mood. “I’m on call tonight. There’s no point to getting all dolled up. And it’s not a date.”
She rounded the corner and peeked into her closet, sighing when she saw Laura tearing shirts off the hangers. “It is totally a date, T. He came to your office specifically to ask you. And then he gave you his number and took yours.”
Tia bit her lip and tried not to smile when she remembered what had happened about ten seconds after they’d exchanged numbers. She’d received a text. And she saw that instead of inputting his name in the contact info, he’d put three emojis. A football, a clenched bicep, and a flame.
She’d had to laugh out loud when she saw it. She didn’t have to fawn over the content of the text as well—his address—but she had. She was a surgeon, for god sakes, a very busy one. But she hadn’t been able to help herself from taking out her phone every now and then, glancing down at the text, allowing a little thrill to run through her.
But it was the next day now. And those little butterflies he’d given her had fully turned into slippery knots of anxiety. And Laura was not helping.
“It’s not a date if there are fifty other people there who he also invited.”
Laura turned back, holding up a pair of black skinny jeans that still had the tags on them. Two strappy red heels dangled off the fingers of her other hand. “You’re allowed to wear that v-neck still as long as you wear these things with it and add a little jewelry and let me do your hair and makeup.”
Tia, well accustomed to this, folded her hands over her chest and haggled. “No makeup and minimal jewelry.”
Laura folded her own hands over her chest. “A necklace, earrings, no rings or bracelets, lipstick and mascara.”
“No lipstick and you’ve got a deal.”
The sisters shook hands briskly and Tia whipped the pants out of Laura’s hands. She changed and then sat perfectly still while Laura did whatever she was going to do. Tia was used to it. And usually she was grateful for it. She and Laura balanced one another out. Tia kept Laura on track and Laura showed Tia how to relax and cut loose.
Tia had never had any problem relaxing in the confines of her own home, but Laura had been the one to show her how to have a good time when they were out and about. And Tia had long ago realized that wherever her sister was, the fun was. So she’d stopped resisting Laura’s efforts to dress her up like a doll.
Tonight, though, when Laura stepped away and let Tia see her own reflection, her stomach flipped. Wow. She really looked nice. Her hair fell in shiny waves over her shoulders, two small green stones winked at her ears and a thin gold necklace kissed her collar bones. Laura had been light on the eye makeup, but somehow they were still popping, even behind the large blue glasses she was currently wearing. And when she stood, she saw that the skinny jeans hugged her ass nicely and the bright red heels made her legs
look even longer than they already were.
This was how she was going to look when she walked into Elijah Bird’s house.
“You alright?” Laura asked, her pushiness immediately falling away when she saw the look of mild nausea pass across Tia’s face.
“Yeah. Just nervous, I guess. I’m so glad you’re coming.”
“We’ll stick together until you get your feet under you.”
Tia nodded and the two of them headed out toward Tia’s car.
“I hope Jay Brady is there tonight,” Laura said, pulling down the visor to do her lipstick in the little mirror. “The man’s got an ass like an Abercrombie model.”
“And you would know this how?” Tia raised an eyebrow as she pulled smoothly onto the street.
“I spent one, glorious night with that ass about a decade ago.”
“You never told me you hooked up with Jay Brady!” Tia exclaimed.
Laura waved a hand through the air. “It was not a love connection. Trust me. But still. You’d have to be dead not to admire the pure perfection that is his body.”
Tia grew quiet, worry drawing her brows together. She was on the fence about this party anyways. And then to learn that her sister had hooked up with Eli’s best friend and never even told her? And that friend was gonna be at the party tonight? Tia’s stomach flipped.
She pulled up to a stop light. “I really think this might be a bad idea.”
Both she and Laura knew that if she was saying it out loud, she was still on the fence. If she’d really thought it was a bad idea, she would have turned the car around and taken no arguments from Laura. But part of her was obviously wishing for Laura to talk her down.
“Because Jay and I rolled around one night in college? No. Come on, T. It was nothing. Less than nothing. And I promise that it won’t get in the way of our effortlessly cool entrance where we captivate the room while somehow magically not drawing too much attention to ourselves.”
Bachelors In Love Page 4
