“Julia, be nice,” Liam said with a frown.
“What? You know as well as I do the damage she caused. Her and her two minions have completely smeared my name.” Julia put a hand on Hayden’s shoulder. “But you don’t have to worry about that. She’s in an unhappy marriage, and she’s bound to try to land you.”
If the warning was coming from anyone else, he might think she was being overdramatic, but he knew how the wives could be. He wasn’t surprised they’d smeared her name. She was gorgeous and was a doctor. They would be completely jealous.
Liam clapped him on the back. “If you ever want a beer or something after work, I keep my fridge stocked. You’re welcome anytime. Just come on over.”
“I’ll probably take you up on that. Thanks.” He was liking Julia and Liam more and more by the minute.
“Also, you should join us for dinner on Friday. We’re going out. We can show you part of the town,” Julia said.
“Thanks, I’d like that. I’ll stop by later this week and take you up on that beer.”
Julia and Liam walked to their house, hand in hand. He felt a small pang of hurt in his heart. He’d never have that. Wine, he needed more wine.
By Friday Hayden remembered why he liked hospitals better, and he was itching to get into the trauma side of things. Every patient he treated at the clinic was vapid and shallow.
That afternoon, he and Mike were seeing their last patient, but he’d get to start with his own the next week.
A woman sat on the table with caramel skin and glossy black hair. To Hayden, she was beautiful just the way she was, but he had a hard time seeing physical faults in others. He loved it when women embraced their unique beauties.
Mike read over the client’s chart. “You said you want a nose job. Exactly what do you want done?”
The woman held out a picture of Angelina Jolie. “I want to look like her. People tell me I do, except my nose. Can you make it look like that?”
Mike examined her for a second. “Of course. Though you know, if you want to look like her, you’ll need more work done.”
Hayden nearly rolled his eyes. He’d seen this all week.
Every patient that came in would ask for one thing, and by the time they left, they had signed up for three other surgeries. Hayden studied the woman’s face. If he were going to do an Angelina Jolie lookalike on her, he’d probably give her lips a boost and maybe narrow her jaw. He guessed Mike would go for more.
“What else do you suggest?”
“Lip injections, slight narrowing of the jaw, lift your cheekbones, and an eyelift.”
The woman hung on his words. “Okay. All of that. When can you do it?”
Mike pointed at him. “Dr. Jorgenson is free all next week. Would you like to come in on Monday?”
The woman nodded eagerly. Mike scribbled on the chart and handed it to her. “Just give this to the secretary, and she’ll get you all sorted out.”
Hayden tried to follow the woman, but Mike caught him.
“We do cocktails the first Friday of every month with all the rest of the plastic surgeons in Phuket. You should come and meet everyone. Each month we rotate houses. Tonight it’s at Dr. Pritchard’s house. Next month it’s at mine. Here’s the address. See you at seven.”
That was all Hayden needed. More time with the vain people of the world. He couldn’t wait until next Tuesday. It would be his first day at the hospital, where people actually needed the surgeries, instead of being talked into procedures that would make them look fake.
Thankfully he had an excuse. He wondered why Julia wasn’t invited for cocktails.
“I’m afraid I have plans tonight. Sorry, but maybe next month.”
Mike frowned. “Okay, next month.”
Chapter 7
Even though Anna promised herself she wouldn’t, she cried when Eileen left. She didn’t know what she was going to do without her. Who would she watch Dancing with the Stars with? Who would she eat tacos with on Tuesdays? She didn’t know how to live without Eileen.
Just before Eileen left for the airport, she gave Anna an expensive bottle of wine.
“To remember me by,” she said.
Anna nearly threw the bottle away. She didn’t want something to remember her by. She wanted her to stay. Who would share this bottle of wine with her now?
Anna arrived home from Eileen’s, and she threw her keys on her end table. She opened the bottle of wine and poured herself a glass. She needed it more tonight than any other one. She already missed Eileen. She sat down on her couch, opened her email and saw a message from school. It had her schedule, set to start August twentieth. She was taking five classes: College Algebra, Biology 101, World Civilization, English 101, and Psychology.
The email also had her bill. She’d received a scholarship that would give her enough money to cover eighty-five percent of her expenses. Her grandpa had left enough money for her to pay for the rest for the first year. The scholarship would be key. She had to maintain a 3.5 GPA to keep it for the rest of the four years. She was damn lucky to have received the scholarship.
The email also contained details of a possible work-study program for up to thirty hours a week. That would be enough to cover her rent and food. She clicked on the “accept job” link and switched over to her Instagram account. She was done thinking about depressing things like real life.
She nearly cried again when she saw the picture Eileen posted of the two of them, just before she got on the plane. Eileen had a wide smile, but Anna could see the sadness in her own eyes. She envied Eileen. To have that kind of life.
Anna poured herself another glass of wine and flicked over to Hayden Jorgenson’s pictures. She’d stalked him more than she liked to admit. He posted a lot. Most of his pictures were of his dog, Una, but he also posted pictures of Phuket. Everything looked so foreign, so exotic. So not Michigan.
What would he do if she showed up on his doorstep? Would he welcome her or throw her out? She typed, “cheap flights Phuket” into Google. Several websites popped up. She clicked on the first site, and it listed several flights. The prices were all ridiculously out of her price range. Except the one leaving on the twentieth. She opened it up. It was a long flight with a ten-hour layover in Bangkok. The return flight wasn’t for a month later. A whole month in Phuket, while she was supposed to be in school. What would she do if she showed up and he said, “Sorry, I was just joking?” Because that was entirely possible. Probable actually.
She poured herself another glass of wine.
It would definitely be the dumbest thing she’d ever done. Not only would she be risking him throwing her out, but she’d also lose her scholarship, and she’d have to start all over again when she returned.
But what was the last dumb thing she did? She swallowed the glass of wine in three gulps.
Before she could stop to think about it, she pushed the buy button and typed in her debit card number. She’d purchased one roundtrip ticket to Phuket, Thailand. She closed her computer with a grin.
Anna woke up the next morning with a feeling of dread. Why had she bought that ticket? Surely she could fix this. She logged onto the website and quickly scanned the fine print, and one thing was very clear. There were no refunds. She called them up and got the same answer. Her money was gone. On a stupid drunk whim.
Now she had to go. Seemed stupid to waste the ticket. She couldn’t afford school anyway without that money. She’d go, and if it was a bust, she’d come back and work for a semester and try school again in January. Her dreams would be on hold for a few months. Though the loss of her scholarship left a pit in her stomach. Too late now.
She pulled up Instagram and stared at the picture of the man who started it all. Would he throw her out or welcome her? There was only one way to find out.
The next couple of weeks flew by. Preparing to be gone for a whole month was a lot of work. She had to stop at the animal shelter and let them know she wouldn’t be in anymore. She’d started volunteering
there once a week when her grandpa was sick. She’d wanted a dog, but she couldn’t take care of one with grandpa.
She turned off her internet and prepaid her rent. The day before she left, the doorbell rang. She dropped the shirts she was packing and flung the door open.
Shoot. She’d forgotten about the flowers. She accepted the bouquet of lilies and picked up her phone.
Judy answered on the first ring.
“Hey, it’s Anna. I need you to suspend the flowers for a month. I’m going out of town.”
“Okay, let me know when you get home.”
“Of course.”
She hung up the phone and inhaled the lilies. When she was young, her mother grew lilies. It was a scent that helped her remember her mother. The entire funeral for her parents had been full of lilies. The first bouquet had arrived the week after her mother died and continued to this day, once a week. Anna had tried to get the name of her benefactor on more than one occasion, but the florist was tight-lipped.
Anna put them in her lily vase and went to her room. She had no idea what to take to Phuket. She packed her two bathing suits, of course, all her shorts and tanks. She threw a couple of dresses in there just in case, but had no idea why she would need those.
She spun around and inspected her bookshelf. She’d have to take books she’s already read since she couldn’t keep books from the library that long. She packed three of her favorites.
She was ready.
Or maybe not.
She sat on her bed and stared at Hayden’s business card. She’d thought about calling him a couple of times but had chickened out. What if Eileen was right, and he didn’t want to see her? The rational part of her brain argued that it was better to know that now instead of when she was thousands of miles from home. But she was afraid of his reaction. He could tell her not to come if she was still in Michigan, but he’d never turn her away if she came that far. At least that’s what she was betting on.
She put his card in her purse so she wouldn’t lose it, and looked at the letter from college one last time. It informed her that they would not hold her scholarship and that she would have to reapply if she wanted to be reconsidered. It still stung, but it was too late now.
She dropped the letter in the garbage and zipped up her suitcase.
Chapter 8
Two weeks into his Phuket stay and Hayden was miserable. He hated the men he worked with. He’d started at the hospital, but instead of finding joy in helping those who couldn’t help themselves, Hayden felt depressed by the sheer amount of poverty. Those people he treated had nothing and no way to better their lives. He now understood how food and clothes were so cheap. They couldn’t afford anything else. Even if he dumped his entire fortune into the local hospital, it’d be gone in a few years, and then the people would be back to where they started. He felt helpless. It wasn’t something he was used to feeling.
On Monday night he sat at the table and watched Ubon cook, still amazed that everything was done outside. It was nice to sit outside after being cooped in all day, even in the humidity. Ubon cooked an enormous spread. Far more than he could ever eat, but he couldn’t convince her that he didn’t need that much even though her cooking was amazing. Julia and Liam had joined him a couple of times over the past week, but he didn’t want to seem desperate by inviting them over every night. Julia was as smart as they came, and he always felt more relaxed by just being around Liam. Plus, it kept the witches away.
Speaking of.
Chloe strolled up his walk with a dish in her hand. It was probably another dessert. She loved to bake, but didn’t like to eat, so she often brought them to him. He didn’t know how to tell her they weren’t that great. Plus, he wasn’t crazy about her. But she was better than Maria, Mike’s wife. She’d been by a couple of times as well. Thankfully she lived on the other side of town.
He waved to Chloe and then cringed when he saw Victoria sauntering up behind her. She was Dr. Pritchard’s wife, and she lived on the other side of Chloe. At least Chloe was subtle in her moves to get into his bed. Victoria practically crawled into his lap when she showed up.
Ubon scowled at the women.
“I know how you feel,” he said to her, and she held her hands up. He kept forgetting she couldn't understand a word he said. Mostly he remembered to text her when he needed something, but he muttered to her a lot.
Una started barking, and Hayden shushed her. She didn’t listen. She loved Chloe. Victoria, not so much.
Chloe set her dish down on the table with a flourish. “I made an apple tart.”
“Thanks. You know, you don’t need to make anything for me. Ubon does a great job.”
Victoria took the chair next to him. She put her hand on his knee. “But there are things Ubon can’t do for you,” she purred into his ear.
He pushed her arm away, and his phone buzzed in his pocket. It was probably Mike trying to convince him to go golfing with him tomorrow. He was unbelievably torn. Hayden liked golfing as much as any other doctor, but it was way too hot here. Besides, he was going to the hospital, and he enjoyed that a hellava lot more than hanging with Mike, who seemed to think it was his personal mission to be Hayden’s best friend. But he wanted an excuse to get rid of the women.
Chloe dropped into the seat on the other side of him and jabbered about how she made the tart, and he gave her his full attention.
The phone stopped ringing, and he took a big bite of his Pad Thai. He’d just swallowed when the phone rang again. Damn. That man was persistent.
He pulled his phone out so he could hit the ignore button, but he didn’t recognize the number. An American number. Weird.
He stood. “Ladies, excuse me for a moment.” He stepped into the inside kitchen and answered the phone.
“Hello.”
“Hey, this is um, Anna. Do you remember me?”
“Anna?” His heart fluttered. She was hard to forget, and her face had shown up in those lonely hours when he couldn’t sleep.
“Yeah, do you remember me? We, uh, we…”
“I remember you. Cute, blonde, and legs that go on forever.”
He couldn’t remember giving her his number, but it was nice to hear a voice from the States. A voice that was somewhat sane. Plus, it would keep him inside here instead of out there with the witches. He peered out the window at them. They seemed to be arguing about something.
He turned his back to them. “So to what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Um, I’m at the airport.”
He’d give anything to be there with her. Going somewhere that wasn’t here.
“Where are you headed?”
“I’m already here. You told me if I ever make it Phuket, to find you.”
He stood up straighter. He had said, that, hadn’t he? But he remembered her apartment. She didn’t come from money.
“I thought you said you couldn’t afford the trip.” He wasn’t quite sure what to think of her showing up. He’d never had a woman follow him like this. She could end up being psychotic. But he wanted to think the best of her. Especially since she’d saved him from the witches.
She giggled. “I can’t. I literally spent my entire savings on the plane ticket. Can I come stay?”
He sighed. This was the last thing he expected right now. He relished the memory of her, but that’s because it was perfect. If she came now, what would that do to his memory? She didn’t belong here.
“How long will you be here?”
“Couple of weeks.”
A couple of weeks he could handle. It’s not like he didn’t have the space. Plus, it might keep away the witches. But he didn’t want to introduce her to his world. This wasn’t her.
Hayden ran a hand over his face. “Sure. I’m going to text you the address. Show it to a cab driver, and he’ll bring you out here.”
“Okay, see you soon.” Her voice was full of excitement. He hoped she wouldn’t be too terribly disappointed. He’d let her come stay, but he wasn’t about to p
lay boyfriend. Or even holiday lover. She was the kind of girl he’d fall hard for, and he didn’t want to risk it.
He sent her a picture of the address written in Thai and stepped outside.
“Ladies, I’m afraid you’ll need to leave. I have a guest coming. Chloe, thank you again for the dessert.”
Neither one moved to get up. He didn’t want to be rude, but there was no way in hell they were going to be here when Anna arrived.
“Seriously, you need to go.”
Victoria stood and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Another night then.”
He wasn’t paying attention to her though. Chloe had Ubon cornered and was whispering furiously to her. Ubon didn’t look scared, but she didn’t look pleased either.
Chloe gave him a wave, and they both pranced down his walkway to the beach. He shook his head at them. He’d love to get a gate put in, but then he would ruin his view.
He sank down in his chair again. At least more of this food would get eaten. He pulled out his phone and sent Ubon a message.
What did Chloe say to you?
He pointed to her phone, and she picked it up. Her face fell when she read the message.
To put the apple dessert in the refrigerator.
He doubted that’s what she said, but he didn’t know how to convince her that she could trust him.
Forty-five minutes later, a car pulled up to the side gate. He opened it with the remote, and in came a car.
He met her at the car door. She might have surprised him, but that was no reason for him to be rude. Besides, he was looking forward to the conversation. He loved that about her.
He took her bag from her while the cab driver hauled her suitcase out of the trunk. He paid the cabbie a couple thousand bhat, which was more than he should’ve, but he didn’t care. The little bit extra for him was next to nothing, but for the cabbie that was food money for an entire month.
“Come on, there’s food. I’m sure you’re hungry after a long flight.”
She nodded. Her eyes were tired, but they still sparkled with excitement. Her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail. The next two weeks would be long if she looked that amazing with no effort. But he couldn’t bring her to his room.
Monkeys and Mayhem (Omega Mu Alpha Brothers Book 4) Page 4
