Then again, neither did he and his father.
“Colborne is a residency student,” Fielding said curtly.
“Really?” Holly sensed the tension between the two men. “I didn’t know. That’s amazing.”
“It is,” Molson forced himself to smile tightly. He shoved his hands in his scrub pants pockets, so they wouldn’t be tempted to reach out to her in front of her dad. “Your dad has been kind enough to personally take me under his wing.”
Fielding gave him a suspicious look, wondering if he was being sarcastic. “I’ll see you for dinner.”
“Sure,” Holly gave them a smile and continued on her way.
“Keep your eyes to yourself,” Fielding curtly commented.
Molson dragged his gaze away from Holly and took a deep breath. This was not good. He knew that Holly was out of his league. Now she was also the daughter of the man who hated his guts.
He’d known this was going to well. Nothing in his life was ever easy, Molson reflected.
“Colborne,” Fielding glowered at him. “Get a move on.”
“Coming,” Molson muttered.
Holly thought about Molson’s offer of a date. She thought about nothing else all day.
No, that wasn’t true. She had thought about that kiss as well. Or non-kiss as it were. As a non-kiss it had evoked a lot of feelings. Ones she wasn’t sure she was ready to feel.
The butterflies, the excitement when he was around, the attraction. She had told herself it was because he could help her in the case against David, in making him pay for trying to harm Bethany. Now she knew better. Because she wanted to repeat that kiss.
Then she’d thought about the tension she had sensed between her dad and Molson. The two men were not getting along.
Holly was happy to see her last patient of the day leave. Finally, she could be alone and think about Molson. Laying on the couch, she coaxed herself through some basic questions, just like she would for any client of hers.
What did she want? Holly asked herself.
To find out what a real kiss with Molson would be like.
Why? Because she found him interesting. He was a mix of conundrums. He tried to give off this bad boy, I don’t care attitude, but the truth was that he cared very much. He thought he had done a wrong and he was committed to try to right it. She could respect that. Many people would have simply thought they were powerless to do anything. Molson was trying to take actions to change what had happened.
It was also interesting the way that he kept reaching out to her. Flattering, she corrected. She admitted she was flattered by his blatant flirting and attention. The first time they’d met, he’d winked at her. Now he wasn’t even trying to keep his fingers from giving lingering caresses. It didn’t seem to matter how many times she had batted his hands away, he’d come back, invading her space, smiling, making remarks. Never pushing more than what she was comfortable with but still flirting. Somehow, in such a short space of time, Holly had gotten used to Molson’s touch. She wondered if he really could manage to keep his hands to himself, to not crowd her space like he promised. He said she needed to make the next move.
Did she want to? Holly had to admit, she did. She wanted to know what a real kiss from him would be like. She was curious to explore where things might go.
He wasn’t her type at all. She’d always dated guys she felt her father would like. Since losing her mother during her childhood, Holly had been a daddy’s girl. She’d tried hard to make him proud of her. The only time that she had deviated from the plan was becoming a psychiatrist rather than a physician. She was still a doctor and so the compromise had been a minor disappointment to her father. She had dated doctors. Stand up guys who were clean cut, made good money, and were so very busy. Not that Holly wasn’t busy as well. She was, so she understood a hectic schedule. However, they were also bland.
It had been awhile since she had dated anyone. Limiting herself to doctors hadn’t made for many men to choose from. Then again, had her father ever asked her to only date from the physician pool or had she just done it in an instinct to please him?
Why was she always trying to please her father and not herself when it came to the men she dated? Molson was right about never fighting with her father.
Holly frowned. She couldn’t remember a single real argument they had. Oh, they disagreed but her dad would get his way and she would swallow any words of protest. He chose where they were going to eat when they met for lunch or dinner.
She loved her father, but was she letting him determine too many areas of her life?
What if she did go on a date with Molson. She doubted her dad would approve, even though Molson was working on becoming a doctor.
Maybe that was part of the allure. A late rebellion of sorts.
Well, if she was going to rebel, she might as well do it right. Holly smiled in anticipation at the thought.
She decided to cancel dinner with her father and go out instead.
