He'd clearly underestimated her. He wouldn't make that mistake again.
Despite himself, he smiled at the challenge.
Chapter Two
A grape Popsicle in hand, Benny was on her way back to finish up with her sixth patient of the day when the sound of a deep, masculine voice from inside the exam room slowed her step. Her pulse instantly quickened as she recognized the voice.
She stepped inside, pinning on her brightest smile. "Here you go, Chance," she said to her seven-year-old patient, pretending she didn't know there was a visitor. She stopped when she saw him. Her throat felt like it was constricting. "Dr. Seeley, I-I didn't expect to see you here," she said, but it came out so quietly and choked she didn't know if anyone even heard it.
He was sitting on the stool, his legs kicked out and crossed in front of him. He seemed to fill the whole room with his presence-which she supposed wasn't too difficult in the small, confining space. He turned his dreamy, greenish-gray eyes-eyes that even the glasses perched on his nose couldn't hide-on her and grinned before returning to Chance. "Couldn't miss a chance to see how one of my favorite patients was doing. Sorry I wasn't able to squeeze you in today, buddy, but I assure you, you are in extremely competent hands."
"Aren't you the sweetest? It was a shame that we missed you, though," Chance's mother said in a fawning voice. Apparently Benny wasn't the only one awed by his presence. "But we'll see you in two months at his well visit."
"I look forward to it," Dr. Luke Seeley said, rising to his feet. He glanced down at Benny and winked. "Thanks, Dr. Sorensen."
She managed a quick nod but looked away under the intensity of that gaze. Why was it that speech seemed to escape her whenever she was in the presence of this man-or any man, for that matter, that she found remotely interesting?
She'd been working at the practice for almost two months now, and if she were to count the number of actual conversations she'd had with Luke Seeley, she would only need one hand. It was mortifying, really, her complete inability to function in his presence. She was sure every one of the other four pediatricians-and the office staff-had noted the fact.
"You have one of Dr. Barnett's patients waiting for you in room three," Roz said, her voice toneless.
"Thanks, Roz."
Roz was officially her RN, who took the preliminary information from the patients before Benny saw them. Roz had been Dr. Martin's nurse before Benny arrived, but for reasons unexplained, she was reassigned to Benny and Dr. Martin was assigned the more friendly and kindhearted Cindy. After having worked with the woman for two months, Benny had some suspicions about the reassignment. Her cool stare alone when Benny took too long with a patient could practically freeze water. But it wasn't like Benny was in the position to ask for a different nurse. She was the newbie. She only hoped that with time, the woman would thaw a little. Glacial would be an improvement.
Outside room three, Benny took the clipboard from the door and read through Roz's notes.
"Thanks for helping me out with that one," Luke Seeley said from behind her. She froze. "Ms. Taylor can be a little more thankful than I'm comfortable with sometimes."
She turned, reminding herself he was only human, not a god, and that it was okay to talk to him. "Sure-"
But she'd misjudged his proximity and the clipboard she'd been holding sailed to the floor. Crap.
She bent down to grab it a second after he had apparently made the same decision. Blinding pain shot through her face as her nose connected with his head. She stumbled back, only to have two hands steady her.
"Whoa. You okay?" He was looking into her eyes and she blinked, trying to focus. "You're bleeding. Hold on a minute." He let go of her and watched for a second, as if to make sure she wouldn't collapse, before walking the five feet to the counter area behind them to soak a paper towel. "Here, hold this to your nose and pinch. Lean forward."
"I think it's okay," she said, pressing the towel around her nose. She could imagine what she looked like standing there, red faced and holding a Brawny towel to her face. If she could, she'd hide her entire body behind it.
He smiled and handed her back the clipboard. "Good. Just make sure you watch out for walls, doors, and low-hanging cabinets."
"O-okay," she mumbled as he walked away.
Kill me now.
Instead, she turned the doorknob and walked into the exam room, shutting the door behind her. She didn't think she was going to leave it again. Ever.
Where was her usual quick wit and her ability to one-up any jibe, which she was famous for in her family? She was a basket case any time she got within ten feet of him.
The small scream from the five-year-old girl staring up at her brought her back to reality. Benny looked down over the paper towel still pressed to her nose to see the unmistakable bright red splattered over the front of her white lab coat.
Great. Now she'd terrified a kindergartener.
Please let this day end soon.
But the torture had really only begun when, after being sneezed on, hit in the face by a two-year-old who didn't like the tongue depressor in his mouth, and dropping a container of cotton swabs after she tried to reverse direction when she spied Dr. Seeley again, she arrived at her parents' home for her celebratory birthday dinner.
Not just any birthday, but the big 3-0.
She was officially old.
She walked into the kitchen where her mom and her sister, Daisy, were finishing preparations over the stove, and Kate, her sister-in-law, grated cheese. Kate was as helpless in the kitchen as Benny and was doing the task that Benny usually got stuck with. Arriving late had its benefits.
At seeing her daughter's arrival, her mom wiped her hands on a towel and rushed over. "Feliz cumpleaños! Happy birthday," she exclaimed, a sentiment echoed by Daisy and Kate before her mom kissed her and wrapped her small arms around her, squeezing tightly. "How's my doctor daughter?" her mom asked and stepped back, beaming at her.
Benny flushed at the phrase, but she knew it was only because her mother was so proud that she used it whenever she talked to someone about her. Her friends, her dentist, their priest, and the clerk at the grocery store. "Good, Mama. A little tired thanks to the Hugh Hefner wannabe next door."
Kate looked up from her task. "Uh-oh. Did your neighbor throw another party?" Kate had actually been over on one of the nights when Benny's walls felt like they'd fall in from the music next door.
"Of course." Benny slid onto the bar stool next to Kate and stuffed some of the cheese into her mouth. "He has no consideration for anyone but himself. I even had the luxury of meeting him last night." In short order, she described the previous night's events that led to her graceful exit. She didn't share how she'd stewed another hour over the horrible jerk and kicked herself for not at least throwing on a robe or running a brush through her coarse, frizzy hair-particularly after she'd caught a glimpse of herself in the bathroom mirror.
Daisy laughed then covered her mouth quickly. "Sorry, Ben, I just wish I'd been there to see you march through the party in that getup." She tossed her long, silky black hair over a shoulder, a vision as always in a white tank top and skinny jeans that clung to a slim figure-despite giving birth to three beautiful children. Daisy had always been a tough act to follow growing up. Especially when Benny had been the chubby tomboy without any of the style, grace, or prettiness of her older sister.
"Have you complained to the home owners' association yet?" Kate asked. "I imagine there must be something in the CCR about noise control."
"CCR?" Daisy asked.
"Covenants, codes, and restrictions," Kate clarified. Benny's sister-in-law also happened to be an attorney, something that had come in handy recently when Daisy was filing for divorce. "It's basically a set of rules that all tenants or owners have to abide by, and violating those could end up in a fine."
"I already called the board this morning," Benny said and sighed as she remembered the woman's indulgent tones when she mentioned Henry Ellison's name. "I got the distinct impression they were just humoring me. He probably has them all wrapped around his well-manicured finger."
"If you want, I can help you draw something up. Make them listen to you."
Benny considered the offer. Kate had already done enough by helping Daisy, and Benny hated to take up any more of her time. "I just met him last night, and for now, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and hope things improve. But if not, I'll give you a call. Thanks, Kate." It was time to change subjects. Henry Ellison had already plagued too much of her time. "Has anyone heard from Cruz and Payton lately?" she asked, referring to her older brother and his new bride who were still on their honeymoon in Mexico.
It was like an epidemic, the way both of her brothers, single for so long, suddenly found the women of their dreams and married them in quick fashion. She wasn't jealous. Not really. How could she be when the women they married were so freaking fantastic and her brothers were so happy? She didn't want to throw herself off a bridge at all, even if it was going on six months since her last relationship tanked.
"I heard from Payton yesterday," Kate volunteered. Payton, coincidentally, was Kate's best friend and had been her maid of honor when she married Benny's other brother, Dominic, last spring in Puerto Vallarta. The maid of honor and best man had ended up traveling by car across Mexico and had somehow managed to fall in love and get married-not necessarily in that order. "They're heading to Guadalajara tomorrow and are expecting to be gone another week."