4
Autumn
I was supposed to meet Drew in the lobby in less than five minutes, and I was second-guessing my decision big time. It wasn’t that I wasn’t ready to head down since I’d already changed out of my boring khaki dress pants and button-down blouse that I’d worn all day for my conference. I hadn’t brought anything date-worthy with me on this trip since it was supposed to be all business. Luckily, I had my favorite pair of jeans and a cute top that I’d packed for the trip home. It was the shoes that saved the outfit. The kick ass pair of heels notched it up from super casual to worthy of a first date in Vegas, as long as we didn’t go anywhere too fancy.
But the clothes situation wasn’t the reason for my hesitation. It was Drew and my reaction to him. He had me acting completely out of character. I couldn’t believe I agreed to meet him for dinner in the first place, but I’d been overwhelmed with disappointment when I’d realized it was too late to do anything other than go up to bed last night. Alone. And, I’d done some serious imagining of what would’ve happened if I’d asked him to join me in my room...which was another example of me not acting like myself. And then there was the fact that I’d seriously considered skipping out on one of my workshop sessions this afternoon to go shopping for a different outfit.
I’d been laser focused on my goals for a long while—undergrad, med school, residency. Guys didn’t interfere with that. Period. And yet here I was, skipping out on a networking opportunity to go on a date with Drew after thoughts of him had wreaked havoc on my concentration all day long. But I knew Bailey would ask me for details about my trip and if I told her about Drew after bailing on the date, she’d talk her husband into driving her and the kids from Nebraska to LA just so she could kick my ass.
“So I don’t really have a choice,” I muttered as I grabbed the handle to my hotel room door and wrenched it open. Although it was true, I was rationalizing the decision I wanted to make anyway...and that was fine by me since it meant I’d spend time with Drew.
Decision made, I was relieved to spot Drew as soon as the elevator doors opened on the bottom floor. Even more so when his attention landed on me and his blue eyes darkened a shade as his fingers stopped playing with a poker chip and slipped it onto his pocket. Then he strode purposefully towards me while I walked towards the lobby.
“I was starting to wonder if you’d changed your mind.”
I almost had, but it’s not like there was any way for him to know that. “I’m right on time.”
He tapped the face of what looked like a super expensive watch. Whatever he did for the casino must pay well. “You’re thirty-five seconds late, sunshine.”
“Thirty-five seconds?” I sputtered. He sounded worse than the Chief Resident had been about timeliness during my first year of residency. “That’s not even a thing.”
“It is when you haven’t been able to get the most gorgeous woman you’ve ever met off your mind all night and day.” The deep rasp of his words sent a shiver down my spine, and goosebumps broke out on my skin when he bent his head to brush his lips across my cheek. His hand went to my waist, and the heat of it burned through my top. “I’ve been kicking my own ass for letting you walk away from me, even though I got you to agree to dinner.”
Considering how much time I’d spent thinking about him today, I was incredibly touched by his admission. It meant I wasn’t alone in what I was feeling. My relief prompted me to confess, “I spent an awful lot of my day thinking about you, too. It’s a good thing the conference offers recordings of the workshops since I wasn’t paying attention like I should’ve been.”
“Recordings?” His hand slid from my waist to my lower back as he guided me around the corner to an elevator that stood by itself. He slid a key card into a slot to the right of the doors, and they opened. When they closed behind us, he pressed the top button before tugging me into his side. “Now that I know they’re an option and your mind is on me instead of your conference, I’m going to push hard for you to skip out on work and explore Vegas with me instead.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I don’t let men interfere with what I want to accomplish as a doctor.”
“I’m not just any man.” His hold on me tightened. “And I refuse to spend even a second thinking about how you might’ve been with anyone else. Not when I set this up so I have you all to myself.”
His declaration was a lot to take in, but I lost the ability to think clearly when the elevator doors opened. “We’re on the roof?”
Drew flashed me a satisfied grin at my gasp. “You deserve the best, baby, and you can’t beat this view anywhere else on the strip.”
He led me past a table covered with a crisp, white table cloth that had two place settings with silver domes most likely covering our dinner. In the middle of the table, there was a vase filled with lilies and two unlit candles. Off to the side, there was a wine chiller on a floor-length stand. The set-up was beautiful and demonstrated that he’d put quite a bit of effort into our date, but it was all blown away by the view. The strip was spread out in front of us, with all the sparkling lights, fountains, and people.
“This is amazing.” I tilted my head back to stare up at him. “A private dinner on the rooftop of the Lennox hotel is well outside the usual first date options. How’d you manage to pull it off?”
“I’m not without connections in this town.”
His response was humble, and I had the impression he was downplaying the extent of his network. “They’ve more than outdone themselves tonight.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet, sunshine.” He led me back to the table and got me settled into my chair before taking the one across from me. When he lifted the silver dome off the plate in front of me, there was a filet mignon, asparagus, and roasted cauliflower puree underneath it. “I plan to pull out all the stops when it comes to you.”
I smiled and leaned forward to whisper, “Want to know a secret?”
He swept the cover off his plate, set it to the side, and reached out to grasp my hand. “I want to know everything I can about you.”
“Although I plan to eat every delicious morsel on my plate, I would’ve been fine with an animal style burger, fries, and a shake at In-N-Out if that’s where you’d decided to take me instead.”
“Gorgeous, smart, and familiar with the not-so-secret menu at In-N-Out?” His thumb brushed over my knuckles. “You’re the perfect woman, sunshine.”
“Not hardly,” I laughed.
“You’re going to have to work hard to convince me otherwise.”
I cut into my filet and speared the first piece with my fork. “Would knowing how much I wish there was some hot sauce on the table to go with my steak change your mind?”
“Hot sauce on filet?” He took a bite of his meal, chewing while he thought about it. “It’s unusual, but definitely not a deal-breaker.”
“Even if I eat it on my eggs, too?”
“The last thing I’m ever going to bitch about when I’m having breakfast with you is how you take your eggs.” His blue eyes heated. “I’m more than willing to serve them to you in bed with as many bottles of hot sauce as you’d like if that’s what it takes to get you there.”
I almost choked on my piece of steak, and Drew took it as a
signal to back off a little while we finished our meal. He guided our conversation to more talk about favorites—the usual first date fare of colors, movies, books, and music.
“Rock-n-roll, huh?” He pushed his plate away, and I followed suit. “You wouldn’t happen to be a fan of Griffith Thorne, would you?”
That question was a no-brainer. The rock god with the blond faux hawk and sexy tattoos was one of my favorites. “Duh. Of course.”
Drew rose from his chair, stalked around to my side of the table, pulled me out of my seat with a gentle tug, and proceeded to kiss the heck out of me. My lips parted on a startled gasp, and he took full advantage as his tongue swept inside to tangle with mine. When he finally ended the kiss, his eyes held a possessive gleam as he looked down at me. “As long as I keep that freshly kissed look on your face, maybe I won’t feel the need to punch him when I take you backstage to meet him after his concert.”
“You’re taking me to Griffith Thorne’s concert?” I clapped my hands together in excitement.
“I hadn’t planned on it but if you want to go, then that’s what we’re going to do.”
“I do. I really do.” I shook my head and sighed. “But there’s no way we’ll be able to get tickets, let alone backstage passes. I checked about a month ago, and it was completely sold out.”
“Like I said, baby, if you want to go then I’ll make it happen.”
He sounded completely confident, but I refused to get my hopes up as we headed down to the lobby. I didn’t want to be disappointed after such an amazing dinner. Not when he’d already given me the best first date of my life. “Wait here for just a second,” he instructed before striding over to the concierge’s desk.
After less than a minute’s worth of conversation, the guy was handing an envelope over to Drew. The smug grin he flashed at me told me he’d managed to accomplish the impossible. Wow. He really hadn’t been kidding about those connections.