by Connie Cox
Mark picked out a table for them in a nook far away from the cluster of tables the teens had pushed together.
“Seen but not heard,” he said. “I want to make sure he knows I’m keeping an eye on him.”
Only a sparse handful of adults were present and they certainly weren’t hovering like Mark was.
While she’d never had money for pizza at Aaron’s age, she remembered gathering together with her friends without such strict supervision. Was that why Aaron was so angry? His uncle held too tight a rein on him?
Not her business. She had enough family of her own to worry about. She didn’t need to add her co-worker’s family to her list.
“Help yourself at the pizza bar,” their server said as she took their drinks order.
Eva had expected Mark to order a beer. It’s what Chuck had always done on pizza night. Instead, he ordered sweet tea, just like she did.
Eva stopped herself right there. She would not compare every man she met to Chuck. Her husband was gone and there would never be another one just like him.
As the servers brought out fresh pizzas, the teens swarmed the buffet bar, jostling each other as if they hadn’t eaten in a week.
“Should we wait until they finish?” Eva looked toward the bar.
“If we do, we might never get to eat.” Mark swiped her plate from in front of her along with his own. “Pepperoni and onion, right?”
“Yes. You remembered.”
He gave her an open smile. “Wish me luck. I’m going in.”
Eva watched with admiration as Mark politely and authoritatively broached the crowd to snag enough pizza for their supper.
“Madam.” With a flourish, he set her plate in front of her. “If this isn’t enough, I can go in for more.”
Eva had always had a healthy appetite, more so than her petite friends, and it looked like Mark had judged her just right. “Two pieces. Perfect.”
Mark also had two pieces of Sweep the Swamp pizza, along with a side order of bread sticks with extra marinara sauce for dipping. He obviously liked his pizza with everything on it, including shrimp and crawfish tails.
“I’ll share these.” He pushed the plate of breadsticks her way.
“I’m good with what I have. Thanks.” Contentedness filled her as she realized she spoke the truth about more than pizza. Right now, at this moment, she was good with what she had.
“Wow.” Mark widened his eyes at her.
“Wow, what?”
“That’s one beautiful smile you keep hidden there, lady.”
Yes, she was smiling. Eva felt the fullness of her cheeks and the lightness in her heart.
And a warmth, as if Chuck were there, approving of her, of this, of Mark.
She hid behind a slice of pizza, letting the feeling sink in. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” Mark dipped a breadstick and gestured to the pizza bar. “The locusts have swarmed.”
The bar held nothing but empty platters and a single upside-down piece of pizza.
The volume from the teens’ tables was muted as they dug into their food.
Eva watched as a cheerleader picked a slice of pepperoni from her pizza, studied it, then nibbled half of it before putting it back on her plate.
Next to her, Aaron scoffed down his own overflowing plate. From the looks of things, he wasn’t picky about the kind of pizza he preferred as long as it was edible.
Mark saw what caught her attention. “I used to eat like that. But those days ended when my football days did.”
“Did you play college ball, too?”
“I wanted to, but I couldn’t keep my grades up and play football. Too many hours of practice. Too many missed classes when travelling to the games. The coaches said I could have gone pro. Maybe. Maybe not. Now I’ll never know.” Uncertainty shadowed his eyes. “It was a hard choice.”
“What made you choose medicine?”
“All the wrong reasons.”
“Such as...?”
“My dad’s a doctor. I thought if I followed in his footsteps, maybe he’d approve. Maybe he’d be proud.” Mark put down the breadstick he’d not taken a bite from. “What are you? Some kind of hypnotist? I’m telling you things I never even told my ex-wife. And we’ve just met.”
“Maybe it was just the right time to say it out loud.” Eva searched for the right thing to say that respected his revelations but didn’t encourage more of them.
While she admired his honesty, she felt uncomfortable with it. She didn’t want to be this man’s confessor. She couldn’t handle her own past pain much less anyone else’s.
At least, that’s what she’d been telling herself all these months.
But she had been born to listen, to draw out hidden hurts, to help heal them. It was a part of her, the reason she’d done well as a substance abuse specialist. Knowing that Mark found that in her gave her hope that she hadn’t lost that major part of herself.
But she had successfully broken the mood. She could see that in Mark’s body language as he leaned back in his chair and looked past her, glancing around the room instead of meeting her eyes.
There was that lopsided, subtle smile again.
His crooked half was one part plastic politeness, and the other part regret that he had revealed such a tender part of himself to her.
“In the end, it was a good decision. I don’t think I could have kept up the drive to play professionally through all the injuries those guys sustain. I like waking up in the mornings knowing my knees will bend and my back will straighten.”
She shouldn’t ask. She shouldn’t turn the conversation deeper while he was trying to lighten the mood, but she asked anyway. “And medicine? Was that a good decision?”
Mark grinned, a real one this time as his eyes sparkled. “I love the E.R. The challenges, the pace, pulling off the occasional miracle. Growing up, I never related to my dad. But once I started practicing medicine, I finally understood what drove him. That satisfaction of making people better. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Eva had felt like that once. Glorying in that satisfaction of making people better. But now she was afraid she’d never feel like that again.
He held up a piece of pizza. “My turn to eat. Your turn to talk. So what about you? Why did you choose your profession over sports?”
“You ask that sarcastically, don’t you?”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “I just can’t imagine you sweating.”
“Then you need to expand your imagination.” She gave a moment’s pause along with a flirty grin before she defended her athletic prowess. “I was pretty good at basketball.”
“How good?” he challenged. Everything about this man seemed to be a challenge.
“Sports scholarship material.” But she’d turned it down. Chuck had insisted on carrying the financial burden, supplementing her academic scholarships by working overtime as often as he’d been able to get the hours and signing on for student loans even though he’d known it would put them in debt for years.
Investing in their future, he used to say.
“So you played basketball through college?”
“Nope. As good as I was at basketball, I was better at books. Academic scholarship.” She fluffed her hair, knowing it would distract him. “Besides, to practice medicine, I don’t have to sweat the way I do when I practice sports. And my hair is a mess when I sweat.”
He leaned in and leered. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you sweat.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. We could have a friendly game of one on one.”
A totally different kind of one on one popped into Eva’s head, just as Mark had intended, she was sure.
“We’re talking basketball, right?”
He looked mock surprised. “Of c
ourse. What else would I be talking about?”
She wasn’t sure what made her say it, but she answered his challenge. “You’re on, buddy. Any time. Anywhere.”
“That’s what I like to hear.”
Eva started to rethink her rashness. Too much, too soon.
But she’d promised her sister-in-law, Susan. She’d promised to accept invitations. To stay out of her apartment as much as possible. To stop brooding by herself in the dark. She’d promised to try.
She hid her uncertainty behind a flirty wink. “You bring the ball and your A-game.”
“I always do.”
Eva found herself gazing into Mark’s eyes, trying to figure out if they were more bronze than green as light flickered in their depths. Fascinating.
“Excuse me, aren’t you Dr. Veracruz from the TV show?” an elderly woman interrupted. Eva hadn’t even realized the woman was there. How much had she heard?
While Eva didn’t often have fans interrupt her supper, it did occasionally happen. In front of Mark, it made her feel pretty proud.
“Yes, I am.”
“I hate to bother you but my friend and I saw your show on heart attacks and she thinks she’s having one.”
Eva looked to where the woman pointed to see another elderly lady sweating profusely through her gray complexion.
Immediately, she was on her feet and rushing over to the table.
She felt Mark right behind her.
“Call 911,” she directed the elderly woman. “Then bring us the phone.”
Mark helped the woman out of the booth and onto the floor as Eva dug in her purse for an aspirin.
As Mark found the woman’s pulse, Eva put the aspirin into the elderly lady’s mouth.
“Chew it up, honey. That’s the way,” she murmured encouragingly.
She heard Mark talk to the emergency dispatcher, who was pushing the call through to the emergency personnel. Eva could already hear the ambulance’s siren getting closer as Mark updated them on the woman’s vitals.
Within seconds, the emergency crew was there with their stretcher.
“Mira thought she was having indigestion. But I watch your show every day, Dr. Veracruz. And I remembered what you and this young fellow said.”
“We’re ready to roll,” one of the paramedics said to the elderly friend. “You can ride with us, ma’am.”
And just like that, it was over.
Mark gave her a deep, thorough look. “Your show just saved a life.”
Great happiness bloomed inside her, happiness bordering on euphoria. “Yes, it did.”
His eyes sparkled as they gazed into hers. They were so clear. So bright. So alive.
Then the sound of chairs being scraped back from the teens’ tables broke through her fixation.
Mark blinked, releasing her from his stare.
“It’s curfew for most of these kids.” He looked down at his watch, giving her a sheepish glance from under his lashes. “I guess I lost track of time and you haven’t finished your meal.”
Eva’s pizza had cooled and congealed, making it totally unappealing. “I’ve had plenty. In fact, I don’t think I could take in another thing tonight.”
The effects of her emotions filled her more than food ever could.
Mark nodded as if he understood the full meaning behind her words. “Me, too.”
He stood and pulled her chair for her. “When will I see you again?”
His voice, coming from behind her, so low and deep, sent shivers through her. She swallowed twice and concentrated on his question.
“Tomorrow after the show the camera crew and I will tape a few more segments. What time will you be able to join us?”
“Since I’ve got the night shift, I’ll go in to the hospital a couple of hours from now. After my shift, I’ll run home and catch a little sleep before I join you in the late afternoon.”
Eva hadn’t even thought about how Mark would work his regular schedule around his filming schedule. “How will this work for Fridays when we tape mid-morning?”
“I’ll leave straight from work for the studio.”
He’d been late last Friday for his guest shot. Had the producers thought of all that could go wrong here?
Eva had to remind herself that Mark’s scheduling wasn’t her problem even though covering for him was her responsibility if he didn’t make it on time.
Mark gave her a cocky grin. “Don’t worry. It will all work out.”
That’s what Chuck used to say. But she was a worrier and a pre-planner. And it hadn’t all worked out.
All the worrying in the world hadn’t prepared her for the shooting that had taken his life.
“I could, couldn’t I, Uncle Mark?” Aaron called to them from the front door of the pizza parlor, several yards away.
“You could what, Aaron?”
“I could pull an airplane like that guy on that reality show.” The shadows cast by the fading sunset hid the boy’s acne and called attention to his profile, only slightly similar to his uncle’s.
The braggadocio was typical of a teenage boy. Her brother had thought he was invincible at that age, too.
Eva shouldn’t count it as a symptom, shouldn’t suspect—that’s why she was on leave. PTSD affected her ability to make the kinds of diagnoses a substance abuse specialist needed to make.
Mark was a doctor. He would see the signs in his nephew if there were any to see, wouldn’t he?
No, he wouldn’t. Not if he was like most relatives. Steroid abuse was one of those problems that could too easily be mistaken for teenage angst.
“I’ll walk you to your car.” Mark put his hand on her elbow, making her feel secure in the falling twilight.
“You don’t have to,” she said from the habit of asserting her independence, but she wanted him to.
“I want to.”
Deep inside, that felt good. “Okay.”
Outside her car, she clicked the locks open and he opened the door for her.
Bracketed between her open car door and Mark, she turned and looked up to thank him for the lovely evening, as her grandmother would expect her to.
His lips were a mere fraction of an inch from hers. It would be so easy. One little word and she could remember what if felt like to be desired. To be wanted. To be touched. To feel the power of being a woman again.
“Thanks,” she whispered, “baby.” With the slightest of movements, she closed the gap.
Mark’s lips met hers. Tender. Masculine. And, oh, so needed. That’s what his kiss was.
Her mind went spinning off the earth as her body leaned into him without her consent. His arms came around her, pulling her even closer.
The scent of him filled her, every cell of her. His taste fed her, giving sustenance to the part of her that had starved for so long.
His moan mingled with hers, creating a harmony she had only felt with—
Abruptly, her body was under her control again. Guilt swamped her as she realized the last man she’d kissed like that had been her husband.
She didn’t even know Mark.
She put her hands between them, pushing him away.
He looked up, his eyes dazed. “What?”
“I don’t know why I...” She looked past him, to the rising star behind his shoulder. “It’s not a—”
“Date,” he finished for her. “Only pizza.”
“Only pizza,” she echoed, still not thinking straight.
“For the record, I like the taste of onions. At least, I do when I taste them on you.”
“I’ve got to go.” She had no need to be anywhere. She just knew she didn’t need to be here.
He gave her more space by checking the time on his phone. “Me, too. Got to get t
he kid home then on to work.”
“Okay, then.” She slid into her car seat and buckled her seat belt, then firmly put her hands on the steering wheel.
“Okay, then.” He started to close her car door for her, but paused. “See you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.” Her powers of higher-level speech seemed to be totally banished to that place she’d lived in before his kiss. That place she needed to get back to right now.
“Mark?”
“Yes, Eva?”
“This won’t affect our work, will it?”
Mark’s face, even softened by dusk, went stone cold. “No. It won’t affect our work.”
Click. Her mind slid back into place with a harsh snap.
“Okay, then. See you tomorrow,” she repeated to him, but in a purely professional, no-nonsense tone.
With a nod he closed the door between them, ending their date that wasn’t a date with a finality that made her feel as if she’d just been startled awake from a lovely dream.
Would this dream fade from her memory like the ones where Chuck visited her just before she awoke in the morning?
It would have to. She needed to be focused, sharp, fully grounded in reality to do her job. And her job was all she had.
CHAPTER FOUR
MARK DIDN’T HAVE to tell Aaron to abandon the driver’s seat and take the passenger seat instead. His scowl was fierce enough that even his rebellious nephew didn’t argue.
Despite Aaron’s preference for country music, Mark tuned the radio to screaming rock and cranked it up loud. The driving beat surrounded him, matching his mood exactly. But the heavy metal guitars and pounding drums couldn’t beat the feeling of stupidity from his head.
He knew better! He knew better and had done it anyway. He had let himself be attracted to a woman just like the last one.
Saying he was holding her back in her career, Tiffany had left him with nothing but a broken heart. She’d even taken his dog. Then she’d given Buddy away to some guy she’d met at the dog park and had dated less than a week. Spiteful wench.
And then what had he done? Gotten sucked in by the same kind of woman.
Sure, Eva was dark were Tiffany was blonde. Eva was a minor television celebrity where Tiffany was an up-and-coming trial lawyer. Eva liked pizza. Tiffany hated it.