Marrying Mallory (5 page)

“Your friends must think highly of this guy.” 

She shrugged. “Jeremy’s a great guy and he’s a minister. My
friends seem anxious to pair me off with the perfect guy. They feel sorry for
me because I put my ex through law school and then he cheated on me.”

“What kind of law does he practice? I might need a lawyer
someday.”

“Criminal domestic law.” She grinned at him. “Hey, I hope
you aren’t charging me by the minute.”

He smiled back at her. “With some patients, I feel like
charging more, but you don’t fit in that category. After you talk to Sharon,
how about going to Starbucks? There’s one down the street. That way if you have
anymore questions about nose surgery, you can ask away. And another reason to
accept is you should get to know me better before I meet your friends. Over
coffee you might realize I’m not suitable for Heather and you can take your
invitation back.”

“I’d like a cup of coffee, but I’m sure I won’t renege on my
invite.”

He stood. “I’ll introduce you to Sharon now.”

After he walked Mallory to Sharon’s office, he chatted for a
few minutes before leaving for his room.

He sighed as he leaned back his chair. He was done for the
day since Mallory was his last appointment. Had he just asked a patient out for
a cup of coffee? What was he thinking? Well, she’d invited him to a dinner
party. That was a first in his office too.

Actually going to a coffeehouse with Mallory could be
considered business since they’d probably talk about her surgery. He chewed on
his bottom lip and thought how the dinner party might be a stretch to classify
it as a business opportunity. Okay, so big deal. He was going to see Mallory
again. If she did go ahead with the surgery in June, he’d be able to ask her
out on a date later in the summer. He’d never asked a patient out before
because he’d always wanted to maintain a professional relationship.

That wasn’t true. Mallory was the
first
patient he’d
ever wanted to see outside the office.

***

He realized he’d made a mistake having coffee with Mallory.
He liked her too much which wasn’t appropriate for a patient—doctor
relationship. Add to that, he thought she was beautiful. Her dark brown hair
shone in the bright sunshine that streamed in through the window by their
table. Her brilliant green eyes mesmerized him. Incredible eyes with such a
sparkle to them that he loved staring at them. Her warm smiles got to him too.
He’d noticed in the office Mallory had a tiny scar that looked like a dimple
when she smiled. He’d wondered then what had caused the scar but hadn’t wanted
to ask her.

Maybe he should tell her that she could skip the nose
surgery. Mallory’s face had so much character with her strong cheekbones,
overwhelming smile, beautiful eyes and personality that an imperfect nose was
of small importance.

“Thanks. This is nice to relax after a rough day with
seventh graders.” She took a sip of coffee. “And I love the smell of coffee.
When I was growing up, I always woke up to the aroma of coffee brewing. My mom
had to have coffee first thing in the morning. She wasn’t a morning person and
needed her jolt of caffeine.”

“How about you? Do you get up at the crack of dawn?” He bet
she looked cute even in the early daylight hours.

“I usually don’t have any trouble getting up.” 

Should he talk to her about not having the surgery? Sure, he
should. It was his obligation. “Mallory, I know Sharon put your name on the
calendar for your surgery, but I’m not so sure you need to have anything done.
Look at Sarah Jessica Parker. She has a strong nose.”

“But my nose is bigger than hers.”

“You might think your nose is imperfect because of the size,
but I do think it gives your face character.”

“Well, I can do with a little less character on my face.”

“Your nose is large but it’s aristocratic…like Princess
Diana.”

“And look what happened to her. Prince Charles loved
Camilla.” She snapped her fingers. “Guess what? Camilla has a small nose.”

“But Princess Diana was considered beautiful.” Like you, he
wanted to say but didn’t.

She sighed. “I bet you’re afraid I won’t be happy with my
appearance because I still won’t have the perfect small nose. I understand that
you can only do so much, but it’ll definitely be a big improvement over what I
have to live with now.”

“I’m happy to do your surgery but if you should change your
mind, I’ll understand.”

She gave him a warm smile. “You’re stuck with me. I’m not
changing my mind on this. I loved seeing the imaging of what I’ll look like
after surgery.”

Mallory was definitely serious about having rhinoplasty.
Part of him was glad because he’d be seeing her again several times, for sure.
But he wasn’t certain he liked that it’d be as his patient. “Then I’ll see you
in June for your surgery.”

She cleared her throat. “What made you decide to become a
plastic surgeon?”

The abrupt question caught him off guard. He thought about
that for a moment. “I was impressed how plastic surgery made a difference in my
sister’s appearance. When we were still young, a stray dog came in our backyard
and attacked her. Amy had to endure many surgeries.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“I’m still not sure why the dog went after her instead of
me. We were both playing outside.”

Her cell phone rang. While she pulled it out of purse, his
eyes shifted to her mouth. Mallory had full perfect lips.
Ideal for kissing.
Big oversight spending time with Mallory outside the office. Now he was
noticing her lips.

After glancing at the caller ID, Mallory said, “Good, it’s
Elizabeth. I’ll ask her more about the dinner party.”

***

“I think I’ll get a muffin. Would you like one?”

“No, thank you.” After Mallory held the cell phone to her
ear, she said, “Hi, Elizabeth. What’s up?”

“Heather said she told you about the dinner party. I think
it’ll be lots of fun. Don’t you?” Elizabeth asked.

“I’m looking forward to it. Is it okay if I bring my plastic
surgeon? He’s perfect for Heather.” Mallory mentioned that fact quickly because
she didn’t want Elizabeth to assume she was interested in him for herself.

“You just made my life easier. I was trying to think of
someone for Heather.”

She groaned. “Oh no, that means you
are
having this
dinner party for me to see what a great guy Jeremy is.”

“Cut the dramatics.” Elizabeth laughed. “You already knew
that. Seriously, I think you and Jeremy would make a cute couple.”

“But—”

“But you’re not interested in Jeremy. Yes, I know. I hear
you. You sure you aren’t falling for your surgeon.”

“Of course not. I just met him.”

“Hey, if he’s willing to come, then he must be smitten with
you. Maybe he’ll give you a discount.”

“It’d be nice to get a lower price, but I wouldn’t use him
like that.” She was worried now. Was Dr. Whitman attracted to her? She figured
he didn’t have anything better to do on a Friday night and just hated to go
home to an empty place. When he’d asked her to Starbucks, she decided to accept
because she wasn’t having the weekly dinner with the girls. Also she’d already
missed Toby, so accepting his coffee invitation delayed her trip home. The
house would be so empty without Josh.
Don’t be ridiculous. He couldn’t think
I’m interested in him. I mentioned not wanting to date.

“He can be your backup guy if you dismiss Jeremy as a
possible boyfriend. By the way, Jeremy’s great with kids.”

Dear Lord, Elizabeth’s wearing me down by constantly
trying to fix me up with someone. Please help her to realize that I’m not
comfortable with the whole dating thing
again. Thank you, Lord, for your
blessed help
. “Oh yeah, what night did you want to have it?”

“I’m thinking a week from this Saturday. Does that sound
good to you?”

“It’s okay with me. You can tell me later where and all the
details.” She saw Dr. Whitman carrying two muffins to their table. “I have to
go, Elizabeth. I’ll tell Dr. Whitman he’s invited.” After a quick bye, she set
her phone on the table and said, “Elizabeth’s happy to include you in her
plans.”

“I didn’t want to eat alone and these muffins are good for
you. They have berries in them and are low calorie. Not that you need to lose
any weight, but I’ve heard Amy say often enough how the other muffins have too
many calories for her to enjoy.” Dr. Whitman handed her a muffin.

His fingers touched hers before releasing the muffin. Just
this slight gesture suddenly seemed too special. What was she doing having
coffee with her doctor?

“It occurred to me while I waited in line that you need to
call me Seth at the dinner. I know your friends realize you came to see me
about plastic surgery, but what about your minister friend?”  

He wants me to call him Seth
. Things were getting
personal, but really would it matter if she called him by his first name
instead of Dr. Whitman. And he was thoughtful to think ahead about how she
should introduce him to Jeremy. She grinned. “It might be weird to call you
doctor instead of by your first name, especially since it’s with my friends and
not a business event. I’ll call you Seth and please call me Mallory.”

He removed the muffin from the paper holder. “Do we need to
have a story ready on how we met?”

Her grin widened. “What story did you have in mind?”   

Chapter Five

“Hey, stories should be up your alley. You’re the English
teacher.”

“I don’t know how to say we met. But Jeremy might not ask.
If he should ask what you do, just say you’re a surgeon. And don’t offer any
additional information.” Geez, she couldn’t believe how bossy she sounded. And
she just met Dr. Whitman…or Seth.

He swallowed a mouthful of muffin. “How about we pretend
that we don’t know each other?”

She raised her eyebrows. “We don’t know each other. Sure,
we’ve met as doctor and patient. And you can look at my patient information
form I filled out to learn more about me…by the way, you know how women lie a
bit when they answer the weight question on the medical forms, well, I didn’t.
Just so you know.” She didn’t want Seth to think she was one of those women who
lied about their age and weight. Although she had lied once about her weight
for her driver’s license, and afterwards had felt so guilty. Toby had told her
that was ridiculous since she’d been pregnant at the time and wouldn’t be that
weight for long. She hadn’t believed him so had called Elizabeth. For once,
she’d agreed with Toby that no one would expect her to put the pregnancy weight
on her license.

“I never thought you lied about your weight.”

She frowned. “You looked at my weight.”

“I might have glanced at it.” He gave her an embarrassed
look. “Okay, I did look at it. But you have a nice weight. I mean you’re a
perfect size.”

“I think you are too. Your weight, I mean.”

“Back to explaining how I was invited—”

She broke off a piece of muffin. “I think you’re enjoying
this whole situation.”

He chuckled. “It’s not everyday that a patient on her first
visit invites me to a dinner party.”

“You’re right. I’m surprised I did but you’re single and
Heather’s single. Like I mentioned, they might not be so occupied with fixing
me up with Jeremy if you go. You’ll be someone new, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy
meeting my friends.”  

“We can have Heather introduce me to Jeremy. Since she’s a
nurse, he’ll assume that’s why I was invited.”

“Okay, but I don’t want to lie.” She grinned. “Especially to
a minister.” 

“You better warn your friends to keep quiet. I have a
feeling they might let it slip.”

She nodded. “I better. Elizabeth’s pretty chatty.”

“I did have an ulterior motive in going to this dinner
party, but now I might not be able to capitalize on it.”

“Okay, you have my attention. What’s the motive?”

“I was going to pass out business cards, and tell them I’ll
give $100 off the price of any plastic surgery they have.”

He couldn’t be serious. Could he? She assumed he had plenty
of patients all the time. She stared at him, noticing his amused eyes. He was
teasing her. She’d play his game. “I want a business card and $100 off my
surgery…or wait, I invited you to this event so I should get more off.”

“I guess it’s negotiable.”

She laughed. “Fess up. Obviously, you were kidding about
passing out cards about your practice. You mentioned having a story ready to
avoid telling them the truth.”

“You caught me.” He paused to sip his coffee. “So where is
this dinner thing?”

“I don’t think Elizabeth knows yet. I’ll call you when she
decides.” Maybe she should talk Heather up to Seth. Her friend deserved someone
like him. He seemed like a super guy. Too bad she couldn’t date him. And he was
easy on the eyes. Actually he was even better looking than the photo on his
website. She had a cute photo of Heather in her purse. She pulled her wallet
out of her bag and flipped to a picture. “I thought you might like to see what
Heather looks like.”

He leaned across the table.

Pointing to Heather, she said, “She’s the one with black
hair. And Elizabeth’s the blonde.”

“That’s a nice shot of all of you. The hiking trail in the
background looks familiar to me. Was it taken at Kelleys Island?” 

She nodded. “We like the trails there. Heather’s a great
hiker. Do you like to hike?”

“I do. My family used to go camping a lot when I was a
child. And we went to Kelleys Island.” He took another look at the photo. “I
heard they built a new boardwalk to the North Pond Nature Preserve. I’ll have
to go and check it out sometime.”  

“Were you tent or RV campers?”