Page 134 of The Blessings of Christmas
“It must be great to have a father who’s interested in what you’re doing.” His expression turned darker.
“Why? Is that unusual?” Daddy always had wanted to know what she was up to. That’s how he put it. “What are you up to, Bitsy?” he’d ask.
Derek fooled with the buckle on his boot. “In my life it is.” He swept his eyes up to meet hers. “When I decided to turn mymedical training into pursuits that didn’t pay well, my father lost interest fast. In fact he was furious.”
“I’m so sorry.” She couldn’t imagine how that would feel.
A curious smile teased his lips. “You don’t recognize my name, do you.”
“Your name? I know you’re Derek Darling.”
The grin widened. “Yes. Have you ever eaten Darling Candies?”
She pressed a hand to her lips. “Oh my gosh. I love those chocolates!” And they were sold worldwide.
His gutsy laugh could probably be heard in the other room, and her eyes darted to the door. “You can be so refreshing.”
“What does that mean?” Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
He shook his head. “Don’t look so hurt. I like it.”
Getting up, he stretched. “Anyway, there’s an enormous trust fund that I can’t tap into until I’m thirty-five. My parents figure if I can last that long, then I can access that fund for my ‘hobbies.’ That’s how they think of my career.”
“Hobbies? But that’s not fair. Your work changes people’s lives.”
“I’m glad you see it that way.” Their eyes started doing a dance. His eyes saidYou really see meand hers answeredI value your work. Well, probably a lot more than that. She was never any good at hiding her feelings. The eye conversation went on for a long time but probably only thirty seconds. She loved every bit of it.
Jamming his hands into his jacket pockets, he turned toward the door. “Guess I should get going.”
Coming around the edge of her desk, she tried to pull her head together. “Oh, and Derek? Dr. D.?”
Grinning, he turned. “Derek, Victoria.” His voice bounced on his name and settled over hers with warm approval.Mercy, it’sso hot in here.She flipped a switch and the fan above began to whirr.
“Yes, well.” What was she about to say? “My editor asked if we had another picture of you for the article. More formal. Doctorish.”
“Doctor-ish?” He scratched his head. “Don’t know if I do. Graduation was a long time ago.”
Then it hit her. “Wait. You’re going into work. Just put on your lab coat. I’ll come and snap a picture.”
He shrugged. “Sure. Give me thirty minutes or so?”
“You got it.”
Mixed feelings churnedthrough his chest while Derek sat in his office at the urgent care center. He’d misjudged Victoria Pomeroy. And he felt terrible about it.
Okay there were reasons––like his miserable childhood and his endless struggles with his father. He'd taken that out on her, which wasn't right. She got along with her father, or so it seemed. And probably her mother too. The Pomeroys might be the perfect family who loved to spoil their daughter. That wasn’t her fault.
That hadn’t been Derek’s life. Not by a long shot. But no need to take that out on her. Sitting down at his desktop, he pulled up his emails. But he’d learned never to answer emails when he was preoccupied. And the same thing went for patient charts. Blowing out a breath, he rocked back in his chair. He had to pull himself together. Stop thinking about soft blonde curls and sky blue eyes. And he needed to put on his lab coat.
Seeing her shop slammed him right in the gut. Okay, maybe her father had helped out. But the place was humming along.Victoria must have worked hard for this kind of success. When she didn’t show up at the clinic, everyone had missed her, including himself. She’d made an impression. His people loved her. Despite her background, she wasn’t afraid of work. He admired that.
And then there were those eyes. They’d been appearing in his dreams. Her delicate beauty, like one of his grandmother’s cameos, had put him off. And now it turned him on.
Getting up, he grabbed the lab coat from the back of his door. Maybe he needed another shirt. If he wanted to solicit money from professionals, he should look professional. Derek always kept a shirt and tie in the bottom drawer and it only took a second to pull them on.
Somehow she'd wangled something from her father that he’d been trying to get for months. And it made him feel like the crud on his boots that this was how he’d started out. He’d intended to use her connections. Now that felt so wrong.
Her last name was the only reason he’d allowed her to stay at the clinic that day. Then she asked to volunteer. He’d expected her to waste his time. But by then, she was working on a newspaper story that could make a difference.
