I nodded, even though I didn’t know what he was asking. The real problem was five minutes in his close proximity and my answer was going to be yes, no matter what.
His fingers sifted through my waves, pushing my hair behind my ear. “You have been the gold standard in my mind for two decades. No one had your energy or personality. Everyone fell short, so none of this negative talk.”
“Maybe we should take it back to the basics. Like, order some food and you tell me what you have been up to since I last saw you, when you were twenty-one?”
This got me a loud laugh and a smidgen of personal space. Daniel wandered back to his scotch, Rourke again following, but his scent continued to linger all around me, making me regret my suggestion to tone it down.
“Sushi? Thai? One thing I never do much of is cook, unless it’s quick and easy, so I know all the takeout spots.”
“Thai,” he said, picking up my dog—who rarely allowed anyone to do so.
“I guess sushi is one of the major food groups out west, so no need to get it here.”
“Aye, you got me. Actually, I don’t care for it. Had a rough night after an all-you-can-eat sushi with some golf buddies, way back on the tour, and it hasn’t been my thing since.”
“Oh,” was all I could muster up to say. A wise woman and doctor, and I’d lost my words.
“Why don’t you order a few dishes, ones you like, and I’ll get to try them all,” Daniel said as I started rifling through my phone for the menu.
“You sure?”
He nodded, setting Rourke back down and refreshing our drinks while I stepped into the foyer to call.
Back in Daniel’s presence, his aura overwhelming me, I swallowed bits of apprehension before speaking. Unsure why I’d done as he said, I still let him know it was going to be about forty minutes before the food was delivered.
“Do you want to stay in here?” he asked me, eyeing the hallway that led to a living area.
“No, come on, we can go sit somewhere more comfortable.”
He grabbed both our drinks and I led the way. The pre-pre-New Year’s Eve stuff hummed on the TV, and I sat down in the corner of my gray velvet sectional, Daniel snagging the striped chair across from me.
“I am digging your place. It’s homey.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please stop with all the compliments. You’re here. I fixed your knee. You stayed in Boston for PT. You got everything you wanted.”
This earned me another laugh. I wished I was sitting closer so I could feel the rumble vibrate through me.
“Tell me, med school and all that shite.” Daniel sat quietly, waiting for me to answer.
“Since I operated on you, and you found me to do so, you must know I left Arizona for Pittsburgh for medical school. I liked it there. There are a lot of cultures, foods, and fun people. My parents were obsessed with my not getting distracted, which would have been impossible. All I cared about was finishing and leaving that part of my life behind. I’d identified ortho pretty early as being the specialty I wanted, and I had to compete against the men, and be bigger, badder, and better. So that’s what I did.”
“Looks like you succeeded.”
He meant it to be nice, but it felt unfounded. He had no idea how hard I had struggled to make it to the top.
I nodded and went on. “Matched here for residency, and well, the rest is history. After I got my first job offer, I told my parents thanks for all the support, but I wasn’t needing their kind of love anymore.”
“Harsh…but true. You had dreams, many of them, and you achieved them. But you missed out on others.”
Wild thing was he knew this maybe better than anyone.
I felt a giggle bubble in my chest. “For about twelve seconds, I debated going to veterinarian school. And then quickly decided…no more school.”
“Probably smart.”
I nodded and took a sip of champagne, letting the alcohol burn my dry throat. “It is what it is…”
I saw him take in the room, his eyes scanning the perimeter. “No tree?”
