Resisting the New Doc In Town Page 4

  ‘And there goes Reggie,’ Bergan stated as her friend disappeared.

  ‘Is she always that bright and bubbly?’

  ‘Always.’ Bergan nodded for emphasis, a small smile on her lips. ‘Even when she’s upset, she’s still more bubbly than I am on a good day!’

  ‘And she’s one of your closest friends?’

  ‘Why does that surprise you?’ Bergan straightened her shoulders. Richard was still chewing and hadn’t yet swallowed his mouthful so she took the opportunity to keep on talking. ‘Do you think that because we’re so different that we wouldn’t be friends?’

  Richard swallowed. ‘That’s not what I meant.’

  ‘Then what did you mean? Reggie and I are incredibly similar. We just show our feelings in different ways.’

  He looked up at the sky as though hoping the answer to the question might just fall down and hit him on the head. ‘I only meant that, as you’ve already told me, you don’t like mixing business with pleasure and, well…Reggie seems to be the epitome of someone who does the opposite. I find it…interesting that you’re good friends. That’s all.’ He held his hands up, indicating he had no other secret agenda.

  Bergan started rewrapping her salad roll, as though intending to leave. ‘You’re not the first person to be surprised that someone as nice as Reggie should be friends with someone like me, who is far too often closed off and brusque.’

  ‘That’s not what I meant, Bergan.’

  ‘Reggie is loyal, trustworthy and filled with determination to spread sunshine among everyone she meets, and a lot of the time people take advantage of her generous nature. She’s had a tough life, and yet she’s still happy and nice, wanting everyone to be as happy as she is. And, yes, that can be exhausting to be around all the time, but there is nothing I wouldn’t do for her and vice versa.’ When she went to stand, Richard instantly reached out a hand and caught hers in his.

  ‘Wait. Don’t go. Please?’

  ‘Richard?’ She looked pointedly at her hand, but he didn’t let her go.

  ‘We’ve got off on the wrong foot, Bergan. I apologise if you thought I was insulting your friend or even questioning your friendship with Reggie. It’s clear you’re very loyal to her and I can also see how people might take advantage of her, but I am not that sort of person. I admire your loyalty to your friendships, but I truly didn’t mean any disrespect with my questions.’ He held her gaze and she could see the exasperation in his eyes. He shook his head. ‘This whole morning, this whole day…it hasn’t gone the way it usually goes when I start at a new hospital.’

  As she lowered herself back onto the bench seat, appeased by his words, Richard let go of her hand. The instant warmth from his touch had been enough to send shock waves ricocheting throughout her entire body and her knees actually wobbled. Sitting down had been the best option to get him to stop playing havoc with her senses.

  His words also made her feel quite contrite. It couldn’t be easy for him, having to change hospitals every month, starting afresh with a new set of people. ‘How does it usually go?’

  ‘I introduce myself to the head of department in a timely and unhurried fashion. We swap paperwork, discuss schedules and then, if time permits, take a tour of the facilities, not only so I can get my bearings in the A and E department and meet a few staff members, but also to see where I’ll often be lecturing, as that’s part of my fellowship duties.’

  ‘Sounds…ordered, structured. Nice.’ She took a sip of her water. ‘So why was today’s beginning so different?’

  ‘I can make a load of excuses about alarms not going off, jet-lag and noisy neighbours…’ He smiled at the last part. ‘But I won’t because it doesn’t change the fact that I was late. Again, I offer my sincerest apologies.’

  ‘Apology accepted.’ Bergan swallowed her mouthful. ‘So where’s this paperwork I need to look at?’

  Richard shrugged and gave her a sly smile. ‘Actually, I left it at home.’

  ‘But you said we’d be working over lunch,’ she protested.

  ‘We are. We’re improving public relations.’

  ‘Is that what we’re doing?’ She didn’t sound as though she believed him and took another bite of her roll.

  ‘Actually…’ Richard finished his sandwich and balled up the wrapper before tossing it into a nearby bin ‘…that’s not the only reason I wanted to have lunch with you.’ He spread his arms wide. ‘And I couldn’t have picked a better setting. Close to the hospital, pretty trees and shrubs, no people. I should thank Reggie for leading us here, although I’m not sorry she had to leave.’

  ‘It was her plan to leave all along.’

  Now it was Richard’s turn to frown at her. ‘What do you mean?’

  Bergan swallowed her mouthful and took a sip of her water. ‘Reggie’s a born matchmaker. She can’t help it. Spreading sunshine to everyone she meets is her mission in life.’

  This news also helped Richard to realise why Bergan had been so touchy when Reggie had first left. She would have known that Reggie had dragged them outside simply so the two of them could be alone to talk more freely, and, as he’d already deduced, Bergan didn’t seem the type of woman to willingly open herself up to anyone. He nodded, processing these thoughts. ‘Is that so? Then I have even more to thank her for.’

  ‘I don’t get it.’ Bergan ate her last mouthful, frowning at him in confusion. ‘I thought you only agreed to come out here so you could spend time with Reggie.’

  ‘No. Not Reggie. You.’

  ‘Me?’

  ‘From the first moment I saw you at the Moon Lantern festival, I’ve been wanting to ask you out. On a date,’ he clarified.

  His words so surprised Bergan that she swallowed the wrong way and started to choke. Richard was up from the bench and around to her side of the table like a shot, patting her on the back to ensure nothing was lodged in her windpipe.

  Bergan took a sip of water then turned to face him, not too happy when he lowered himself onto the bench seat beside her. ‘Sorry, you want to do…what now?’

  ‘Ask you out on a date. Dinner? Tomorrow night?’

  Bergan stared at him, unsure what to do or say. Tingles flooded her body and a surprising warmth washed over her. Richard liked her? The answer should be instant and of the negative variety, but instead she sat there, actually contemplating what it would be like to go on a date with Richard. He was certainly very handsome so she could well understand the appeal there. He was highly intelligent and that also appealed to her. It wasn’t as though she didn’t know anything about his past because, thanks to his parents, she did.

  ‘Please say yes,’ he whispered, and to her astonishment she found really wanted to.

  CHAPTER THREE

  BERGAN REACHED FOR her water and took another sip, gently edging back as she needed a bit of distance from his persuasive presence.

  ‘Um…’ She swallowed, coughed once, then forced herself to meet his eyes. She’d been turning men down when they asked her on dates for quite some time and her friends had often joked that she was an expert at freezing people with just one look, but for some reason none of that seemed to matter as she looked into Richard’s perfectly blue eyes.

  They were eyes that reflected his emotions and even though now they looked eager and earnest, she couldn’t wipe the memory of earlier when she’d noticed something akin to pain and sadness there. It was clear there was more to Richard than she’d seen so far, but what would happen if she said yes to his question?

  He was only here for one month…but perhaps that was a good thing. There was no way she’d ever get attached to any man within such a short space of time. She was the type of woman who liked to take things slowly…very slowly…and the average male was far too impatient to spend the time pandering to her whims. Of course, there was a logical reason why she was the way she was, but ordinarily most men couldn’t be bothered to take the time to find out what it was.

  As Richard’s time was clearly limited, surely that mean
t she could go out with him a few times—just as friends—and then wave him goodbye when it was time for him to return to Paris?

  Bergan sighed slowly, continuing to look into his handsome face, knowing she could probably spend the rest of the day sitting here, staring at him. He really was a very attractive man, even though he’d teased her. He’d more than made up for it during the emergency and it was clear that intellectually they were on the same wavelength.

  She wanted to go. She wanted to say yes to his question, but as a smidgen of logical thought returned, she remembered she was always busy on Tuesday evenings.

  ‘I…’ She licked her lips and gently shook her head. ‘I can’t.’

  ‘Because you won’t date colleagues?’

  ‘There is that.’

  ‘Then think of us as neighbours.’

  Bergan couldn’t help but smile. ‘I don’t date neighbours either.’

  ‘Then who do you date?’ Richard sat back and spread his arms wide.

  ‘I don’t.’ Bergan shifted uncomfortably on the seat and capped her water bottle, knowing she should put an end to this type of conversation as it couldn’t lead anywhere. ‘At least, not in the way that normal people date. Usually, I go out with someone Reggie has set me up with—mainly to stop her nagging me—because she keeps telling me I’m going to grow old by myself and she can’t even bear to think about me being alone.’

  ‘So I need to go through Reggie to get you to agree?’

  She didn’t answer him and stood instead. ‘We’d better get back.’

  Richard was by her side so fast she barely had time to register he’d moved. He placed a hand on her upper arm and carefully turned her to face him. ‘Have you been hurt in the past? Because I’ve been hurt, too.’

  ‘So you think we should console each other?’

  Richard shrugged one shoulder and gave her that cute half smile of his, the one that seemed to always churn the newly acquired butterflies in her stomach. What was it about him that she was having such a difficult time resisting?

  ‘That’s one idea to run with.’ He paused then shook his head. ‘Would it help if I said I don’t really know anyone here? That although we might call it a “date”, it would really be more like two acquaintances hanging out and getting to know each other a bit better. A friendship date. We don’t even have to go out to a restaurant or anything like that. Pizza? My place?’

  Bergan smiled, for some reason pleased with his charming insistence. Friendship date? He really did want to spend time with her…but why? She decided it was best to tread carefully. ‘I don’t eat pizza.’

  ‘Chinese take-out? Or a lovely curry?’

  She tipped her head to the side, her long auburn plait falling down her back. ‘I already have plans tomorrow night and the next night and the one after that.’

  Richard dropped his hand and shoved it into the pocket of his trousers. ‘Are you just saying that to let me down gently or are you serious?’

  ‘Deadly serious.’ She turned and started walking back towards the hospital building, binning her rubbish as she went.

  ‘Busy every night.’ His tone was thoughtful as though she’d just given him a puzzle he needed to unravel. ‘You’re either here, working late, finishing up paperwork, or…’ He watched her for a moment and Bergan couldn’t help but look at him in expectation to see what other reasons he might pull from thin air to guess how she spent her evenings. He snapped his fingers. ‘Or you’re at the drop-in centre.’

  Bergan stopped walking in stunned disbelief. ‘How do you know—?’

  ‘About the drop-in centre? I was at the Moon Lantern festival, remember?’

  ‘Of course.’ She closed her eyes for a moment, unable to believe he had figured things out, before she continued walking.

  ‘It isn’t common knowledge?’

  ‘It’s not a great secret, but neither do I advertise my involvement.’

  ‘So tomorrow night you’ll be at the drop-in centre?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Mind if I tag along?’

  That surprised her. ‘Do you really want to?’

  ‘I have experience with homeless and troubled teens. Believe it or not, they have them in Paris, too. A couple of us help out providing “no-questions-asked” medical support at a few of the youth centres.’

  Bergan looked at him, trying to see whether he was just saying these things in order to impress her, but there was sincerity and truth in his face and mannerisms. ‘You can come if you want to. The centre is always looking for volunteers and especially ones who are trained.’ They headed into the hospital and walked towards A and E.

  ‘OK. Sounds like a plan. What time?’

  ‘I usually get there around eight o’clock.’

  ‘Great. Why don’t I get take-out, we can eat and then head in together? It seems silly to take two cars when we’re going and returning to the same place. Save petrol and the environment.’

  Bergan couldn’t help but smile as she glanced at him. ‘Sneaky. Don’t think I’m unaware of your fake nonchalance, Dr Allington.’

  Richard chuckled as she swiped her security card across the sensor, allowing them access to the A and E department. ‘Am I that transparent?’ His eyes were twinkling with merriment, but he watched as the smile slowly slid from her face.

  ‘I hope you are.’

  ‘Because you don’t take kindly to deception.’

  ‘Not at all.’

  ‘Good to know where I stand, Dr Moncrief. Honesty is the only way to proceed.’ Then he touched his fingers to his forehead in a salute before turning on his heel, collecting the manila folder with his paperwork from the nurses’ station and heading off towards the corridor that led to Personnel.

  Bergan watched him go, taking in his long legs, his firm, straight back and very broad shoulders. She stood there until he disappeared from view, not only because she was completely confused by the way she’d reacted to the man but also because, with the way he’d given her that cheeky grin and corny salute, she was fairly sure she was unable to move her legs.

  Tomorrow night she had a date…a date with Richard.

  *

  ‘Have you met Bergan and Mackenzie yet?’ Richard’s mother, Helen, asked him over the phone.

  ‘Yes. In fact, I’m having dinner with Bergan tonight and then we’re heading to the drop-in centre.’

  There was silence on the other end of the line, and although he was used to the delay that still sometimes happened on international calls, he knew he’d no doubt just shocked his mother.

  ‘Dinner? As in a date? With Bergan?’

  ‘Don’t make a big deal out of it, Mum. Besides, it’s more like a friendship date. You know I don’t know many people here.’

  ‘Friendship date?’ Helen sounded as though she didn’t believe him. ‘Are you forgetting who you’re talking to? I’m your mother, Richard. You can’t pull the wool over my eyes, even if we are half a world away. I know your tone of voice, my darling.’

  Richard closed his eyes, belatedly wishing he hadn’t said anything. ‘Bergan’s nice, even though she does seem…I don’t know, to be wound a little tight.’

  ‘She has every right to be, given what she’s been through. Look, Richard, I’m not saying don’t spend time with her, just…be careful.’

  ‘For her? Or me?’ He opened his eyes and walked to the bedroom, crouching down to look under the bed for his shoes. He’d already ordered their dinner but still needed to drive to the restaurant to pick it up.

  ‘Both, but of course I’m worried about you, darling. I’m your mother. I know how difficult it was for you after Chantelle’s death, how it was difficult for you to engage with your colleagues on a social level. I know it’s the reason why you accepted the fellowship, not only to travel but to force yourself out of that hole you found yourself in.’

  ‘Don’t pull any punches, Mum,’ he murmured as he sat on the bed and shook his head. ‘I have dated since Chantelle’s death.’

&nbs
p; ‘Once or twice in how many years?’ Helen asked rhetorically.

  ‘I thought you’d be happy,’ Richard countered, thinking of the way he’d been captivated by Bergan from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her. He had no idea what it was about the woman that seemed to intrigue him so much, but not even bothering to find out wasn’t an option. It was why he’d been a little insistent with her, wanting to discover just why she’d caught his attention.

  ‘I am, darling. Of course I am, but…Bergan…well, just be careful.’

  Richard looked at the clock then groaned. ‘I’ve got to go, Mum. I don’t want to be late.’ After saying their goodbyes, he rang off, tossing his phone onto the bed before pulling on his shoes. He hadn’t expected reticence from his mother and it made him wonder what was in Bergan’s past that had made his mother hesitate.

  ‘No time like the present for finding out,’ he said out loud as he grabbed his phone and walked through the house, picking up his keys and heading to the door. He was taking steps forward. They might be little steps at first, but forward he was moving.

  *

  Bergan couldn’t believe how flustered she was as she went through yet another change of clothes, checking her reflection in the mirror, worrying that she might be too overdressed or too underdressed.

  ‘Argh!’ She stared at her reflection, looking at the casual skirt that came to just above her knees, a plain top and an old cardigan. ‘This is stupid.’ She turned and stalked to her dresser, picked up her phone and pressed a pre-set number. ‘This is stupid,’ she said a moment later when Mackenzie answered the call.

  ‘What’s stupid?’

  ‘Me. Richard’s going to be here in five minutes with dinner and I’ve changed my outfit seven times.’

  Mackenzie couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘Calm down. You’re only having an informal dinner, it’s not as though you’re out at a five-star restaurant.’