How to Marry a Doctor (Celebrations, Inc.)

by Nancy Robards Thompson

Chapter Twelve

  Anna was surprised when Jake’s text came through. She didn’t think he’d contact her since it was after ten o’clock, much less ask if he could come over.

  Dylan had dropped her off about fifteen minutes ago and she was glad she hadn’t immediately changed out of her cocktail dress and scrubbed her face free of makeup. All that she’d had time to do was kick off her shoes, take down her hair and brew herself a cup of tea.

  After she’d texted Jake back, she remembered he was on call. So she added some water to the kettle so she could offer him a mug of something nonalcoholic when he arrived.

  As she bobbed her own tea bag up and down, more for something to do with her nervous energy rather than to hurry up the tea, she couldn’t help but wonder what was so urgent that he needed to talk to her tonight.

  Unless he’d been worried about Dylan putting the heavy pressure on her and was dropping by to make sure she was in for the night, safe and sound. Dr. Tyler had tried to make a campaign for a nightcap, but Anna had nipped that in the bud right away. And to Dylan’s credit, he hadn’t pushed. Although he had told her he’d like to see her again. That was the part of dating that never got any easier—how did you let someone down easy and tell them you just weren’t feeling it?

  He was a great guy. Any woman in her right mind would be thrilled to spend an evening with him. He was good-looking—even if he wasn’t her type. But why wasn’t he? He was handsome, successful and funny. He didn’t chew with his mouth open. Yet that indefinable je ne sais quoi was missing, and no matter how Anna tried to concentrate on the good, all she could think about was that she just wasn’t that into him.

  He wasn’t Jake.

  Damn you, Jake Lennox. Have you ruined me for all men?

  If Anna could’ve slapped herself, she would’ve. She was sitting here pouting like a petulant child who was moping because she didn’t get exactly what she wanted.

  Buck up, buttercup. You don’t always get what you want.

  Sadly, she couldn’t even convince herself that Dr. Tyler might be what she needed if she just gave it time.

  No, what she needed was to be on her own for a while. This dating bet with Jake had started out as fun, but suddenly it had turned so serious. And that wasn’t fun.

  Or maybe what wasn’t fun was the possibility of Jake changing his mind about Cassie. It had dawned on her that maybe he could tell how down she was at the wedding and didn’t want to completely ruin her night with the confession that he actually was feeling it with Cassie.

  Okay, now she was just assessing.

  But just to be safe, maybe she should fix Cassie up with Dylan. They’d make a good couple.

  Anna had gathered the flowers from the Fourth of July centerpieces and put them in a large vase, which sat in the middle of her kitchen table. The flowers caught her eye and took her back to that night one week ago. It hadn’t been too much later than it was right now when things began to heat up with Jake.

  Anna’s heartbeat kicked up as she remembered the way he’d leaned in and kissed her on the dock, pulling her onto his lap and then coming back to her house to finish what he’d started.

  Her breath hitched in her chest. What if that was why he was coming here tonight? He might not even realize that was what he was doing.

  And that was exactly how things just happened between two people who knew better, who swore that they wouldn’t fall into that friends-with-benefits trap. They started dropping in for late-night visits and—Oh! Oops! Gosh, I didn’t mean for that to happen... And pretty soon they’d established a pattern of Oh! Oops! Gosh! I promise it’ll never happen again...after this one last time.

  And damn her all to hell. She wasn’t going to call him and tell him not to come over.

  For a split second—actually, it was more like a good several minutes, a fantastic several minutes—she played out her own Oh! Oops! Gosh! production in her head.

  What was she doing? The only thing that might be worse than having slept with Jake was to continue sleeping with Jake, knowing full good and well how he felt. He was her drug, and she needed to go cold turkey if she had any self-respect at all. Good grief, this wasn’t only about that; it was about self-preservation.

  She grabbed her phone and pulled up Emily’s number. Before she could change her mind, she texted, SOS! It’s urgent! Need you to come over now and save me.

  She’d just pushed the send button when Jake knocked at the door.

  So, he was still choosing to knock and wait, rather than doing their special knock and walking in the way he always had in the past. Then again, it was pretty late. She had locked her door behind Dylan, not that he would come walking in uninvited, but it just felt like an extra barrier between her and her date and the night.

  And now Jake was here.

  She padded to the door in her bare feet and looked out the peephole. There he was—all six foot four of him, with his perfect hair and perfect face and those perfect arms that had held her so close she didn’t know where her body ended and his began.

  Oh, dear God, Emily, please get here as soon as you can.

  As she unlocked the dead bolt and pulled open the door, it dawned on her that she and Emily had never seriously talked about the SOS call. In fact, they’d sort of joked about it. Emily was probably working tonight. Of course she was on Saturday night.

  Oh, crap.

  Oh, well... Maybe she should ask for a sign from fate. Toss it up to the heavens. If she should sleep with Jake just one more time, Emily would not show up. If it was a bad idea, her sister would come to her rescue.

  In the kitchen, the teakettle whistled, as if calling her on her BS.

  I know, I’m a weak, weak woman. So shoot me.

  Well, she would probably want to be put out of her misery if she let it happen again... But others had died for much less.

  “Good evening, Dr. Lennox. Won’t you come in?”

  That was corny, she thought as she stepped back to allow him inside. Oh, well, that was what they did sometimes. That was why they were so darn good together—

  But Jake wasn’t moving. His feet were planted firmly on the front porch, and Anna was sobered by his stiff demeanor. He didn’t look like a man who’d come to seduce a woman who would be oh-so-easy to take.

  Oh, God! He’s going to marry Cassie.

  Anna actually took a step forward and looked out on the porch to see if maybe Cassie was waiting there to deliver the happy news with him. But no, he was alone.

  “Are you going to come in? Or are you going to stand there and let the mosquitoes in?”

  Jake flinched. “Sorry.”

  He moved inside like a man on autopilot—or maybe someone who wasn’t feeling well.

  She shut the door behind him and turned the lock. “Are you okay?”

  “No, not really—” He made a face. “What’s that noise?”

  “Oh! It’s the teakettle. I put on some water to make you a cup of tea since you’re on call tonight.”

  Anna hurried back to the kitchen to stop the racket.

  “What kind of tea would you like? I have English Breakfast, Earl Grey and peppermint. The peppermint is caffeine-free, but the bergamot in the Earl Grey supposedly has properties that will lift your spirits.”

  “I don’t care,” he called from the other room. “Whatever you have handy.”

  She glanced at her phone, which was lying on the kitchen counter, to see if Emily had responded. Nothing. Not a single word in response to her SOS.

  Hmm. Okay, then.

  They’d have a cup of tea—she opened a package of Earl Grey, just in case Jake needed the caffeine—and see where fate led them.

  Anna carried the two mugs of tea into the family room, set them on the trunk that she used as her coffee table, and took a seat on the couch next to Jake, leaving just enough room to be respectable, but not enough room to send the keep-your-hands-off-me signal.

  Careful, Anna...

  Oh, shut up. Loosen up. Maybe Jake was rig
ht; maybe she needed to stop overthinking things.

  “Is this about the house?” Of course it wasn’t. Although she was curious and it was a neutral subject. “Have you made a decision about whether or not you’re going to buy it? I love that house. I can’t imagine you living anywhere else.”

  “Good, because Roger accepted my offer today.”

  “Jake, that’s fabulous news. I’m so happy for you.” She threw her arms around him and it felt so right. “And selfishly, I’m glad because that means you’re staying put. Because I can’t imagine being that far away from you again.”

  He pulled back slightly and looked at her. For a heartrending moment, she couldn’t read him.

  God, had she said the wrong thing?

  “I mean...since I just moved back. And all.”

  He was just frozen. Looking at her. She’d always known what he was thinking. Sometimes better than she’d known her own mind. But now...? Not so much.

  “What’s going on, Jake? I’m worried about you.”

  “Don’t be,” he said. “Or maybe you should be. Because I don’t know what’s happening to me. One minute, I was so sure where my life was going and what I wanted and what I didn’t want. The next, everything was different. I just started seeing my life from a whole new perspective.”

  Uh-oh. Maybe this is about Cassie.

  They had looked awfully cozy at the wedding, talking and laughing.

  Oh, my God. He is here to break the news to me gently. Of course, it wasn’t as if Cassie was a complete stranger. Not even really a blind date. They worked together. He’d said it himself, he wanted someone like Anna, but not Anna... Jake was getting ready to settle back into another stretch of monogamy. Only it was with Cassie, and if anybody had the potential to move mountains and change his mind, she was the woman. And Anna had insisted they go out.

  Oh, what have I done?

  Jake scrubbed his face with his hands and gave his head a quick shake. “I’m sorry I came barging in here so late, and I start right in with what’s on my mind and I didn’t even ask you how things turned out with Dylan.”

  “That doesn’t matter. I need to know what’s going on with you.”

  Her heart was hammering so fast and loud that she was afraid he could hear it.

  “Well, I can’t say anything else until I know how everything went with Dylan. I need to know—are you going to see him again? It’s important, Anna. Because whether or not you are could have a direct bearing on what I’m about to say.”

  Why? “What difference does it make?”

  The look on Jake’s face was so serious, she decided to quit playing games.

  “He’s fine. He’s nice. I guess. A little possessive for my taste. Ha! I feel like I’m channeling you.”

  Then, the strangest thing happened. Jake was smiling at her in a way that made her lose her breath and she knew, she just knew that he was going to lean in and—

  But at the sound of the front door opening, he flinched and diverted his lean toward his tea.

  What?

  Emily bounded into the room. “I got here as soon as I could.”

  * * *

  Maybe it was because of Emily’s abrupt entrance or maybe it was because she was giving him the look of death as she all but escorted him out, saying that she and Anna were having a girls’ night and no guys were invited.

  For the second time that night, Anna did not get to hear what Jake needed to tell her and seemed to be having so much trouble saying.

  Damn her sister.

  Damn that SOS text. Why had she been such a chicken, when in the end all she wanted to do was make love to Jake?

  She’d followed him out to the porch, trying to ignore the fact that Emily was lurking in the living room. Anna had reached out and shut the door, putting a barrier between them and Emily.

  “Jake? What were you going to say?”

  Jake glanced back at the door and then at Anna. “Not now. Go back inside with Emily and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  Then his phone rang.

  “It’s the hospital. I need to take this. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Rather than leaning in to kiss her, as she was so sure he was going to do before Emily arrived, he picked up the call, saying good-night with a distracted wave.

  She’d asked for a sign from fate and if this wasn’t as clear as crystal, she didn’t know what was. Still, all day Sunday, she waited for Jake to call as he’d said he would. She didn’t want to call him since she wasn’t sure how late he had been at the hospital dealing with the emergency.

  Finally, at a quarter past two, she got a text. From Jake.

  I know this is short notice, but are you busy tonight?

  Defying common sense and her better judgment, Anna’s heart leaped.

  She didn’t even wait a respectable amount of time to text him back. She grabbed her phone and typed, No plans, why?

  Good. I’ve made arrangements for you to have one last date. I’m sure this guy is the one.

  What? Was he kidding? He had nearly kissed her last night and now he was fixing her up on another blind date?

  She typed, Sorry, I don’t think so. I’m just not up for it.

  How humiliating. Obviously, he was trying to pawn her off on someone to get her off his case.

  She started typing again, Look, Jake, you don’t need to pair me up with someone to get me off your case. I get it. I understand.

  As she hit Send on the second message, a message from Jake came through.

  Please, just do this for me? This is the last date. I promise. I will never try to fix you up with anyone else again after tonight.

  Oh, for the love of God. Was he really doing this?

  She was about to type No and then turn off her phone. Instead, she opted for the path of least resistance.

  I will meet him for a cup of coffee and that’s it. And I’m driving myself. Then I’m off the hook. And just so you know, in case he doesn’t want to waste his time, I’m giving him fifteen minutes max. And the clock will start the minute I walk in the door.

  She probably sounded like a major B about it, but this hurt. And Jake was clueless. Or maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he knew exactly what he was doing. If he’d come over last night to disengage, this date from out of the blue had completed the job for him.

  A couple of moments later, Jake texted back, Actually, he has a seven o’clock reservation at Bistro St. Germaine. I guess you could have coffee in the bar. So, maybe get there a little early so they can give away the reservation if you really don’t want to have dinner with him.

  Really? Bistro St. Germaine?

  She texted Emily, Are you working tonight?

  But Emily didn’t respond. She was probably tired of coming to her sister’s rescue. Especially since, after Emily had scared Jake away last night, Anna hadn’t been very gracious.

  Anna had been in such a snit that Emily had opted for going home about half an hour later, once she knew that Jake was at the hospital and there was no risk of him coming back.

  In fact, since he was going to such great lengths to pair her up with somebody—anybody, it seemed—it was pretty darn clear that there was no risk of him coming back at all.

  It was just as well. She would give him space and maybe in a little while they could figure out how to be them again.

  Even so, in that half hour last night, Anna had endured her sister’s lecture of why she should avoid guys who didn’t want to commit.

  Hello? Wasn’t that why she’d called in the first place? But she just let Emily say her piece.

  It was just as well that her sister didn’t return her text now.

  To clear her head, Anna decided to go for a run. With each step, with each pounding of the pavement, she took out her frustrations and let off steam. Until she’d worn herself out, until she was so numb she felt nothing.

  As she dragged herself back home, exhausted and emotionally spent, she vowed to take care of herself for a change. She’d spent so many ye
ars contorting and configuring her life to appease Hal, and in the time she’d been home, she’d let herself fall for another man who didn’t want the same things she did—

  She stopped herself.

  Really, Jake hadn’t done anything wrong. He hadn’t lied or cheated. He may have led her on a bit, but she’d gone willingly, knowing what he wanted didn’t align with what she wanted. So really, if anyone should shoulder the blame in that regard, it was Anna.

  But that was where she was going to take care of herself.

  She wasn’t going to beat herself up.

  Facts were facts: she and Jake were magnetically attracted to each other, but it simply wouldn’t work.

  End of story.

  Around five-thirty, Anna freshened up, and prepared to make herself presentable. She washed her hair and blew it dry.

  She kept her makeup very light, because she didn’t wear much anyway.

  Then she surveyed her closet and decided on a cute little shift with a bold blue and white print. It seemed brighter and happier than she felt.

  The run had helped her let go of some of the sting of Jake’s rejection-disguised-as-a-fix-up. It still hurt, but it had subsided to a dull ache. By that time, she’d decided she couldn’t take it out on the guy who was meeting her tonight. Sure, she was only going to give him fifteen minutes, but she wasn’t going to be rude or mean or vent her frustrations to him. After all, his only sin was that he wanted to meet her.

  She would let him know that while she appreciated his interest, this meeting had been a mistake. It wasn’t a good time. She simply wasn’t available right now. Not when her heart belonged to another.

  A man who couldn’t return her feelings.

  When she got to Bistro St. Germaine, there was a space open on Main Street in front of the restaurant. It must have been her lucky day.

  She glanced at her clock on her dashboard. Right on time. The sooner she went in, the sooner the meter would start ticking and the sooner she could leave. As she let herself out of the car and approached the restaurant, she rehearsed her preamble about bad timing and leaving early and being sorry to waste his time.

  Wait. What was his name?

  Oh, great. In the haze of her hurt and fury, she hadn’t even asked Jake for the guy’s name. He should’ve told her that up front. She thought about texting Jake to ask, but she really didn’t want contact with him right now.