“You see, the way it works is the women bid on the men. That money goes to the hospital. But then the guys have to take out the women who placed the winning bids on a fancy date and spend a lot of money. I think I’d rather give that money to the hospital. Instead of spending it on a date. Don’t you think that’s better?”
He paused to let the reality of that sink in. He wondered if Calee had been so caught up in outdoing Quinn Vogler’s daughter that she hadn’t even realized that being in the auction meant that a woman who was not her mother would expect to go out on a date with him.
He paused, waiting for the implications to sink in.
But Calee and Amanda were standing there staring at him, not giving him the horrified reaction he’d expected.
“Because you do realize that, by being in the auction, I would have to go out on a date?”
“It’s not like you’d be cheating on mom or anything.” The voice came from behind Calee. Liam’s gaze shifted to Amanda. She may have been the quieter of the two, but sometimes she seemed ages wiser. In fact, Joy used to call Amanda her “old soul.”
“Well, no, I suppose not,” Liam answered, feeling as if the last of his reasons for not participating in the auction were flying out the window fast.
“I guess I’ve been worried about how you two would feel if I took another woman out on a date. I didn’t want to commit to the auction because I was afraid it would upset you.”
Calee and Amanda looked at each other. Despite the fact that they were as different as night and day, they were as close as close could be. They stuck together. Calee, the more assertive of the two, always looked out for her sister and usually spoke for her, as well. Every so often the girls might get into a tiff, but no one besides the two of them got away with saying a cross word about the other without suffering the consequences.
Sometimes, like now, it was as if they had a secret, silent language in which only they communicated. It was almost telepathic. Liam saw them at work now.
“Dad,” said Amanda, who had apparently been elected spokesperson for the matter at hand. “Just because some woman bids on you in an auction and you take her out, doesn’t mean you have to like her. You know, you don’t have to like her, like her.”
Those matter-of-fact words, which weren’t snotty or hateful, just truthful, were the well-placed punch in the gut he thought he’d avoided earlier when they had first started talking about the damn auction and the possibility of him spending time with someone who was not Joy. Only these words landed a little harder because now he felt foolish.
“Well, of course not,” he said.
“But you wouldn’t have to kiss her or marry her or anything like that,” said Calee.
“So you’re telling me that you two want me to participate?” Liam asked.
“Yes!” Calee cheered. Then she grew uncharacteristically serious. “Just as long as you don’t let Mrs. Herring win you.”
Chapter Three
Liam was early for the lunch meeting with Kate. She had called first thing that morning and said she’d come up with a plan to get him off the hook with Dunlevy. She wanted to discuss it with him.
A plan, huh?
Yes. One she’d rather not talk about over the phone. Or so she’d said and asked if they could meet for lunch. His first inclination, as he stood at the nurses’ station, had been to decline and tell her that he’d decided to go through with the auction, but then he decided it couldn’t hurt to hear what Kate had to say.
Now, as he waited alone at the table for two in Luigi’s Italian Kitchen in downtown Celebration, he glanced at his watch. Eleven fifty-five. It was good to have a few minutes to take a deep breath. The morning had been hell. No different from any other day, except that he’d been forced to find a stopping place in the middle of his rounds. Usually he didn’t take a lunch break; he’d grab something in between patients or meetings. It was strange to find himself outside the hospital walls at this time of day.
If Kate could offer a viable option other than the auction, he wanted to hear about it before he tipped his hand.
As he took a sip of the water the server had set in front of him, he glimpsed Kate entering the restaurant and stepping up to the hostess stand. Liam stood and waved. She said something to the hostess and then flashed a smile at him as she began walking toward their table.
He was warmed by the kindness she exuded, in spite of the fact that he’d acted like such a jackass in the meeting yesterday. Then again, she was a smart woman and probably realized it was her job to court anyone and everyone who could further her cause. The old saying about catching more flies with honey than vinegar came to mind. However, Kate seemed to radiate something more genuine than a person who was simply out to market her business purposes.
“Dr. Thayer,” she said, extending her hand. “Thanks so much for agreeing to meet me on such short notice.”
He nodded. “Please call me Liam.” He pulled out her chair and helped her settle herself before reclaiming his own seat across the table from her.
“Actually I was glad you called,” he said.
Her blue eyes widened, an unspoken question.
“I feel I owe you an apology. I didn’t mean to be so difficult in the staff meeting yesterday. It was a tough morning, and your bachelor auction caught me by surprise.”
She waved away his words. “No apology needed. After I stepped back from the situation, I realized one size doesn’t necessarily fit all when it comes to projects like this.”
The server appeared and introduced himself. His eyes softened when he looked at Kate, and his gaze lingered a little longer on her face than was strictly professional. He wasn’t inappropriate but obviously a healthy, heterosexual man appreciating a beautiful woman. It dawned on Liam that Kate Macintyre probably had that effect on most men who crossed her path. His colleagues were cases in point.
Liam cleared his throat.
“Would you like some wine?” Liam opened the cordovan-colored leather-bound list of offerings that the server handed him and glanced at it. “I can’t indulge because I have to get back to the hospital after lunch, but please go ahead.”
“I love wine,” she said. “But if I have a glass right now, I’ll have to go home and take a nap. I’m such a lightweight. So no, thank you. I’ll just have iced tea.”
Liam snapped the list shut and their gazes connected. It was her eyes that exuded the warmth, he realized. Even though they turned down slightly at the outer edges, they were kind eyes that always seemed to be smiling.
The way they sparkled made him think that she would probably be a fun person—an optimist...or even an instigator, but in a good way.
Not to mention her eyes were the most beautiful shade of blue. An azure iris rimmed by a navy border. A color combination that made you look longer, trying to figure out just what made them so striking.
And it was then he realized that, like their waiter, he also had been staring a hair too long.
“Two iced teas, then,” he said and handed over the wine list before the server left to get their drinks.
“So, as I was saying a minute ago,” he continued. “I’m sorry for being so difficult. Sometimes it’s a challenge getting the kids ready and out the door in time for school. Do you have any children?”
She held the menu open in front of her, but her gaze held his. For a split second he thought the light in her eyes dimmed a bit. “No, no children of my own. But my brother and his wife have a son. I love my nephew, Cody, as fiercely as if he were my own. He’s the reason my family decided to get involved with expanding the services the hospital offers to children, but that’s another story.
“What’s important is that I understand why you might feel uncomfortable about the bachelor auction. I didn’t realize any of the staff had children.” She tilted her head to the side and quirked a brow. “Not that anything about this auction will be scandalous. It will be completely G-rated, I assure you.”
“No scandal, huh?” he a
sked.
She shook her head. “None. Maybe a little mischief...”
As the words hung between them, she bit her lower lip, and her blue eyes danced with what Liam imagined might be all the mischief she claimed the auction lacked. For a fraction of a second, he contemplated what sort of mischief might be running through her mind.
Until she said, “I do have my own reputation to consider. Maybe we should go light on the mischief, too. Especially because I don’t want to scare you off. Please know I was only joking.”
She reached out and touched his hand. Her skin was soft and warm.
“Of course,” he said, backpedaling from all thoughts of mischief and her soft, warm skin as fast as he could, especially when she pulled her hand away.
“Why don’t we figure out what we want to eat,” he said. “Then I’m eager to hear about this new plan.”
Kate studied the menu so that she could regroup and gather her thoughts.
She was nervous, hence the babbling on about nonsense. Why was she suddenly so uneasy? Liam Thayer was reserved and maybe a bit gruff, but that was nothing to get anxious over, she reminded herself as she perused the menu.
Normally she was a pro at meetings like this. Just what was it about Dr. Liam Thayer that threw her off her game? Maybe she was a little worried about suggesting her alternative plan. It was a paradox, really. She stood behind this bachelor auction event.
As she’d said to Liam, it wasn’t anything scandalous. She wasn’t asking Celebration Memorial’s doctors to perform like Chippendales. When she’d discovered that the seven of them were single, she’d simply grabbed on to the obvious fund-raising opportunity. Because what single woman in Dallas wouldn’t want a date with a handsome doctor?
However, what she’d failed to factor in was that single didn’t necessarily mean each and every one of them would be available...or elated by the idea. The possibility of any of them having kids or girlfriends hadn’t even entered her mind. It was a dumb oversight, and she was lucky that only Liam had balked.
She knew how protective her brother, Rob, had been of Cody before he’d met and married Pepper. Kids changed everything. Because Kate hadn’t taken that into consideration, she was determined to make this right with Liam. She was going to make sure he had the opportunity to be on good terms with his boss and to look out for the best interests of his daughters.
They made small talk about different menu items. They’d both eaten at the restaurant before—no surprise because it was enjoyed by most of the people in Celebration—and pointed out their favorite dishes to each other. Finally, after she ordered the plank-grilled salmon with seasonal vegetables and he ordered the wild mushroom ravioli with a wedge salad, she said, “So tell me. What exactly is it about the bachelor auction that you object to?”
He didn’t answer her right away, and his expression was so neutral that she couldn’t get a read on what he might be thinking.
“I hope that doesn’t sound insensitive, but I have to ask, because I have a feeling what it might be,” she said, filling the silence. “Yet I don’t want to assume.”
She forced herself to stop talking. It was an uncomfortable question made worse by his continued silence, but she needed to know. Especially if they were going to get past the awkwardness and move on to something that worked. She held her breath, forcing herself to be quiet until he answered.
Finally he did. “It was exactly what I told you yesterday. I have kids. I think it sets a bad example.”
“Do you have boys or girls?”
He frowned. “Does it really matter?”
“No, but I’m interested.”
A raised brow and a vague light that passed over his face had her stomach doing an odd clenching number, and she was suddenly scrambling to clarify.
What? Did he think she was interested in him?
“What I mean is...I’m curious.”
He was drumming his fingers on the table. He looked down at his hands for a moment, then back up at her. She worried that the wall he’d erected around himself yesterday in the meeting might go back up. But then he blew out a breath and said, “I have two girls, Amanda and Calee. They’re thirteen-year-old twins.”
“Aah, twin girls,” she said. “That’s so sweet. I wouldn’t mind having twins someday. But they don’t run in our family, plus it’s unlikely I’ll even get married anytime soon.”
What was wrong with her today? Had she left her filter at home?
Liam didn’t say anything. But his gaze bore into hers, and the heat from it warmed her cheeks. Obviously Liam Thayer wasn’t interested in her genetic predisposition or her hopes and aspirations for the future beyond raising funds for the children’s surgical wing. His actions up to now suggested he might not even be interested in hearing about that.
Still, he had agreed to meet her for lunch.
He had a restless, intense edge about him—drumming his fingers once again on the table, scowling, shifting in his seat, glancing at his phone. She wondered if the man knew how to loosen up. Yet she hadn’t really been around him for any length of time to get a realistic read on him. He was working today. As a doctor, that meant he was on the clock even on his lunch hour. He was probably anxious to get back.
When he wasn’t looking through her with that piercing gaze, he seemed vaguely annoyed with her, as if it should be clear that she was taking up his precious time.
She knew she shouldn’t take it personally. He’d been through a lot of trauma losing his wife. Now he was raising two teenage girls on his own. She wondered if he was this stern with them at home. Teenagers needed room to grow, to try on different attitudes and personas. But she wasn’t here to offer parenting advice. Besides, that definitely wasn’t her field of expertise. She was just here to do her job, and that required focus.
Regrouping her thoughts, she decided to stick to her spiel about the pediatric wing. Although, to get to the heart of why she’d asked him to meet her today, she would need to delve into his personal life a little. She braced herself and decided to dive in.
“Do you think the auction will send a bad message to your girls, or is it the date afterward that bothers you?”
She had such mixed emotions. What a lonely life it would be for someone like Liam to take himself off the market. However, she suspected it was the date more so than the auction that bothered him. And the alternative plan she was ready to propose to him hinged on him not wanting to go through with the post-auction date.
“As I’ve said before, the event will be tastefully done, and your children won’t be there to see their father being auctioned off. It’s being taped for an episode of Catering to Dallas, but that show won’t air for several weeks.”
His gaze darkened a bit. She felt like her persistence might be pushing him away. She hadn’t meant to be pushy or to make him feel as if she were doing a high-pressure sales pitch on him. Again she forced herself to stay quiet through another awkward silence.
“Actually, my daughters don’t watch much television. But truth be told, they’re sort of excited about the auction. They know the daughter of one of my colleagues. Since her father is doing it, they want me to join in. Still, I suppose it’s the post-auction date that bothers me. My wife hasn’t even been gone two years. The girls have taken the loss of their mother hard. I don’t want to add to their grief by going out with someone new. I don’t think they fully comprehend this auction means I will take someone out on a date.”
“That’s perfectly understandable. I’m so sorry for your loss, Liam. I can’t even imagine how difficult that must be.”
He lowered his gaze again, toying with the edge of his napkin, finally taking it off the table and putting it in his lap.
There were different kinds of loss and different kinds of pain that went hand in hand with them. Kate had known the pain of losing both her parents and watching her nephew, Cody, recover from the accident that had claimed his grandfather’s life. Before her father’s death, she’d watched him sink in
to a dark, drunken depression over the loss of her mother.
She’d also known the pain of losing an unborn child. But the miscarriage wasn’t something she allowed herself to think about at great lengths—because that inevitably led her to the memory of the engagement she’d walked away from, and...well, it really was like Pandora’s box, and she didn’t want to open it.
Still she couldn’t fathom what it must be like to lose a spouse...a soul mate. The mother of the children over whom Liam was so protective. She felt bad for him, but since she was already batting a thousand today, she decided to spit out the proposition before she lost her nerve.
“Were you serious when you said you would be willing to write a check to the foundation in lieu of participating?”
His demeanor brightened. “Yes, that’s what I’d prefer to do.”
“Here’s what I’m thinking,” she said. “As you know, Dr. Dunlevy is adamant that every senior staff member participate in the auction—especially you, since you’re in charge of pediatrics. How would you feel if I bid on you with the funds from that check you are so eager to write? For all intents and purposes, you will be auctioned off. You’ll look great in the eyes of your boss, but you won’t have to go through with the post-auction date. Essentially you will buy your freedom. But that part will be our little secret. What do you say, Dr. Thayer?”
Chapter Four
It was a brilliant idea.
It was pure genius, and for a moment, it was as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
“I think it’s a fabulous plan,” he said. “You’re really willing to do that for me?”
She beamed her one-thousand-watt smile. “I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it.”
However, as they ate their lunch, the initial relief wore off, and Liam found himself doing internal battle with a barrage of logistical questions. One of the most pervasive was whether he should offer to take her to dinner or provide some sort of post-auction compensation over and above his secret donation...as a thank-you. After all, he was enjoying their lunch and her company. A casual dinner wouldn’t be so bad since she knew exactly where he was coming from—that he wasn’t interested in anything more than friendship.
Celebration's Family (Celebrations, Inc Series Book 5) Page 4
