Page 8 of The Billionaire's Fortunate Accident
“Oh.” His lips formed one thin line as he wore a sheepish expression. “So that’s what you were talking about. Sorry about that. I, well, I don’t believe they do.” He looked at the uniform then shook his head. “Well, I shouldn’t have said anything about what I was thinking. That’s what should’ve happened. Sorry. Really, I am. The booze got to me last night.”
“Bet that happens a lot,” Tammy said as she turned and left us.
I wished my flushed face would cool off so he wouldn't notice my complete embarrassment. “Kids, huh? So quick to speak their minds.”
“Drunk guys seem pretty quick to speak their minds too.” He reached over, touching the back of my hand as I reached for my burger. “If I said anything that put you off, please forget about it and know that I’m not that guy.”
“Done.” His hand on mine made my stomach tense and my toes curl inside my non-slip work shoes.
Removing his hand, he smiled, happy with my answer. “I told you that I’d be back every night until you agree to go out with me. I do remember that.”
“And here you are. Even though I told you that I have no time to go out with anyone. Do you remember that?” I took a bite of the burger and saw his eyes widen.
“You didn’t even check what's inside that first. You really should, you know that, right?”
“I’m really sorry about what happened to your burger, Stone. But I think that was a fluke or something. That’s never happened before in all my time working here.” I took another bite to prove that I wasn’t afraid of our food.
Looking at my tray, he pointed out, “There isn’t one healthy thing here, Jessa. What kind of doctor are you going to be if you eat crap like this?”
“As of right now, I’m still unsure. Besides, right now, I only have time to eat crap. When I’m home, I do eat pretty well. You know, sandwiches and such.”
“Sandwiches aren’t good for you,” he said with a laugh. I loved the way his chest moved with the sound.
“I eat once a day in the cafeteria at the hospital. It’s in a hospital, so it must be food that’s good for you, right?” With the schedule that I kept, I didn’t really have the kind of time required to worry about nutrition. “I’m lucky to get a few bites of food into my system as it is. So, I don’t worry about what kind it is. Fuel is fuel.”
“I’m a chef,” he stated. Then he crossed his arms over his chest, looking at me as if what he said should mean something to me.
Which it didn’t. “You cook anywhere I should know of?”
The way he dropped his arms and his face fell told me he didn’t have a good answer for that. “No. I’m not currently cooking anywhere.”
“So, no job then. Want to cook here?” I grinned to make sure that he knew that I was only joking. A chef would never cook in a dive like this.
“No thanks. And I do make money. I just don’t do it with my cooking skills.”
“Yeah, you look like a man who haa a job. A good-paying job at that.” I picked up a fry and dipped it in ketchup before tossing it into my mouth.
Leaning forward on his elbows, he closed some distance between us. “Let’s get to why I’m really here, Jessa. The date. When can you find time to go out with me?”
“There is no time for that. I’m not lying to you. I’m not trying to put you off either. I really wish there was time for something like that. But there just isn’t.”
“Tell me what your average day looks like, and I’ll see if I can carve some time out of it.” He was so set on taking me out.
My mind was boggled by the man. He seemed to have it all in spades. The great looks. The great body. He looked like he had some pretty good money too. His personality wasn’t half bad either. Why he was willing to sit in this greasy spoon just to get me to go out with him genuinely perplexed me.
Eating my fries, I thought about my schedule and if I should speak with him about it. I didn’t owe the man a thing. I didn’t owe him any explanation as to why I couldn’t go out with him.
But then, I suddenly heard myself rambling on before I’d even decided whether I should answer. “I wake up at five, take a five-minute shower just to wake myself up. Then I drive to the hospital and make rounds with whatever physician I can catch up with. Around ten, the rounds are usually done, and I take a thirty-minute break. I eat something in the cafeteria, sometimes resting my head on the table for a brief nap before going to the pediatric ward to help with the newborns. Once a doctor comes to make the rounds and check on the patients, I go with him or her and see how that all works. I do this so I can decide what type of doctor I’d like to be.”
“I think you’d make a great pediatrician.” He sighed as he looked at me like I was some kind of an angel. “I bet the babies love you.”
“Nope. They don’t care for me much at all. I’ve tried holding them, rocking them, even feeding them. They just don’t seem to care for me. So, when I'm there, I do the other things in that department. I stock up the formula and diapers. I read patient files. I grab things for the nurses who tend to the babies. I do everything but actually tend to the babies in there.”
Shaking his head, he said, “I can’t see that.”
“I’m not lying to you, Stone. I guess I give off a bad vibe.” I didn’t know what else it could be. “It’s not like I don’t care for babies. They just don’t care for me.”
“You know what I bet the problem is?” he asked, nodding as if he were all-knowing. “I bet you have this vibe of being so busy that you don’t even feel like you have the time it takes to sit down and really give a baby a good rocking. No time for cooing at them while feeding them their bottle.”
