“No, that’s fine — I’m still working on this.” Bella gestured to the mojito.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah.” Bella sipped it again.
“Do you always get cocktails?” He smiled.
Bella nodded. “I don’t like the taste of straight alcohol. Mojitos are my favorite, but I like a bunch of different cocktails.” In fact, Bella had been considering taking a course and adding mixed drinks to her catering repertoire, but she didn’t mention that.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had one,” the man admitted.
“A mojito?”
“Uh-huh.” He nodded, and Bella’s eyes widened.
“What?” She shook her head. “That can’t stand.” She lifted her hand for the bartender. “A second mojito for the gentleman,please.” As the bartender went to make one, Bella turned back to the man. “Sorry, I don’t think I caught your name.”
“Luke,” the doctor told her, holding out his hand. Bella took it. His hand was warm and steady around hers, and he didn’t squeeze too hard or not enough. His palm was smooth and uncalloused, perhaps from so much handwashing. A glance down showed that he wasn’t wearing a ring, and Bella’s heart skipped a beat.
“Bella,” she said. She raised her eyes to his, and something passed between them — something unspoken and warm. Amid a conference focused on self-promotion, they had introduced themselves only with their first names, no titles or positions. Bella liked that. She got the feeling it would set the tone for the rest of their evening — provided that they were going to spend more time together.
And Bella wanted to. It had been a long time since she’d flirted like this. Years of trying to date had left her feeling sad and distant, as men tended to find her a little bit “too much” — too driven, too closed-off, too independent. She didn’t get the feeling that was what Luke was thinking.
“Nice to meet you, Bella,” Luke said.
“Nice to meet you, too,” she replied. “Now, try your mojito. It’ll change your life, I swear.”
Luke raised his eyebrows as he lifted the straw to his lips and took a sip. As he put the drink down, he appeared thoughtful, his eyebrows drawing together. Then he nodded.
“I like it.”
“Thank goodness, because if you didn’t, I would’ve had to leave right now,” Bella joked.
“Well.” Luke took another sip of his drink. “We can’t have that, can we? Not when we’re just getting to know each other.”
Bella smiled down at her own drink. Maybe this day wasfinallyturning around.
CHAPTER 5
LUKE
Luke glanced at the beautiful woman sitting beside him. Bella. She wore jeans, a plain dark blue blouse, and no jewelry beyond small diamond studs in her ears. Her long brown hair was pulled back neatly with two clips, leaving not a single strand out of place, and her green eyes sparkled.
Normally, Luke didn’t talk to people when he didn’t have to, particularly when he was tired and in a bad mood. And he definitely didn’t talk to strangers who kept tapping one finger against their glass as though they were filled with a nervous energy they couldn’t quite let out, like Bella was.
Something about Bella drew him in, though. He wasn’t sure if it was her perfume, which smelled somehow like dessert, or her bright smile, or the way she talked. He only knew that he wasn’t ready to stop talking to her yet.
“I have a question,” Bella said, crushing the top of her straw between two fingers before lifting it to her pink lips for another sip.
“All right,” Luke said.
She glanced at him, mischief glinting in those emerald eyes. “What’s the weirdest thing you heard a doctor say tonight?”
Luke chuckled. He swept his gaze over the room, as though seeing one of the doctors might spark something, then grinned.
“One guy asked a question after my talk,” he said. “He wanted to know about the role of good nutrition in emergency medicine.”
“Good nutrition?” Bella’s brow furrowed. “As in, doctors in emergency medicine should eat balanced diets or something?”
