Page 1 of Unwanted Vows

PROLOGUE: NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER, 2014

ANDREW

“After you,” I say to the woman beside me, holding the door open for her with all the chivalry of a knight in shining armor. She gives me a small smile of acknowledgement before slipping past me. Her perfume wafts over me pleasantly.

My friends are giving me a big sendoff. My date, a lovely brunette I met while interning, clutches my arm tightly as we enter. She’s a med student at the teaching hospital where I am putting in my final moments of learning.

Technically, she’s off-limits to me since she is in my chain-of-command. But there is something about her studious gravity spiked with unexpected moments of humor, that I simply cannot resist.

The party is already in full swing. Volunteer hostesses are handing out drinks, while indulging in a few themselves. Some of them are already a little tipsy. I can practically feel their eyes on me, desperate to get a date with someone who will be a doctor someday.

I love that Maddy is receiving looks of confusion, what with her modest jeans and T-shirt. It’s kind of amusing to be able to show them that being available isn’t the same as being desirable.

I tuck her a little closer to me, “you okay?.” She looks up at me and her eyes meet mine, a soft smile tugs at her beautiful lips and it takes everything in me not to haul her over my shoulder and drive back to my apartment and ravage every inch of her.

“Yes of course I’m fine”, she whispers her smile growing and I feel her lean closer to me.

A cute little thing with a buxom figure and a costume that barely keeps her from public indecency brings me a drink. “Do you two want something to drink?” she asks me, offering up a bright smile. She completely ignores my date and speaks solely to me.

“My date,” I say, with significance, nodding in Maddy’s direction, “can decide what we are going to drink tonight.”

“A Coca-Cola for me. But don’t let me hold you back,” Maddy says. She sounds a little annoyed, which I hope has to do with the pushy reception that we got from the serving girl. “I know this is your last night before heading out to wherever.”

“I’ll have a cola, too,” I say to the serving girl, before turning back to Maddy. “There’s a village that needs the help of a doctor.”

“That sounds exciting,” she says, accepting a drink from the waitress. She makes a sudden exclamation of disgust. “Gah! What’s in this?”

I sample my drink. “Cherry punch and a hefty dose of vodka,” I say. “You don’t like it?”

Maddy shakes her head, making a face. “It reminds me of fruit scented dish soap.”

I laugh. “That’s the quality of alcohol most college students can afford.”

Now she makes a different face, squinting up her eyes and glaring at the drink. “I’m not sorry I’ve been avoiding these parties all this time if this is what the drinks are like.”

“The goal is usually to get drunk, not to enjoy what you are drinking,” I tell her. “Honestly, I don’t usually like these things either. I’d rather be in Africa dealing with lions and tigers and treating patients.”

Suddenly, she smiles. She recites to herself, “I am Madeline. I say pooh-pooh to roaring lions in the zoo.”

“Maddy, what are you talking about?”

She chuckles a little pushing the drink away from her with another moue of distaste. “It’s a children’s book, titled ‘Madeline’. In it, an orphan child is both brave and fierce, but she gets appendicitis and has to have surgery. There’s a whole series, actually. It was my inspiration to study medicine. My mother read it to me when I was little. When you mentioned lions it made me think of the book.”

“And this silly book about talking to lions inspired you to become a doctor?” I ask, twiddling the stem of my glass. I take another sip of the contents. The mixture bears a strong resemblance to cherry cough syrup added to Coca-Cola. “This really is awful,” I say. “Would you like for me to get us something different?”

Relief washes over her face. “If it is not too much trouble. Maybe just a Coke? With nothing else in it?”

“Sure,” I say, raising a finger to flag down one of the waitresses. This one is wearing a bustier that has her ample bosom nearly spilling out of it.

“Hey,” she says impatiently, as if she wants us to just hurry up and order.“What can I get the man of the hour?”

“Two plain Cokes, with nothing added.”

“Awww,” she says, “Where’s the fun in that?”

“Being able to find the door,” Maddy quips, placing her hand on mine and glaring at the woman.

I feel amused and a little annoyed all at the same time. We’ve only been an item for a week, and yet she’s already claiming me.

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