Winning The Doctor

“Women can’t drive trucks?”

“Hold on. I never said that. But you should be wearing jeans or maybe a cowboy hat. Not a sundress and heels.”

Liza stared at him, openmouthed. “I know I’m dressed a bit formally, but I’m here for a meeting, not a hoedown.”

He laughed again, and she couldn’t help but smile, feeling exasperated and pleased.

“Actually, when I drove up and saw your truck, my first thought was that someone was trying to break in.”

She took a quick glance behind her and shivered. “Into this old place? It looks like the Bates Motel. Besides, do I look like a burglar to you?”

Anthony leaned against his own vehicle, an easygoing quality in his stance.

“No. Not at all.” He grinned, regarding her. Not in an offensive way but rather curiously. More appreciative of...what? she wondered. Something. It was the unknown that made her blush.

She cleared her throat and carefully picked her way over the gravel, being mindful of reinjuring her ankle.

“I’m surprised anybody would know this place is here. It’s near the highway but still pretty secluded. I even drove past it a couple of times.”

He joined her on the cracked sidewalk that led to the motel’s office. “I know. But the sale was listed in a few local papers several weeks ago. Ever since, there have been some issues. A few more broken windows to christen the ones already here.”

“The location will certainly give your patients plenty of privacy, that’s for sure.”

She pointed to the long entranceway. “Those trees lining the private road in here must be sixty feet tall!”

“Yes, I’ve been advised to get rid of them, but I never will. Privacy aside, those trees are home to hundreds of birds.”

“The property is still zoned commercial, I assume?”

He nodded. “Absolutely. I checked with City Hall before I purchased it, and we’re good to go there. Of course, once I decide on the final design, we’ll have to submit it to the commercial zoning board for approval.”

“And there will be construction and other permits to secure as well. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything,” she replied confidently, as if she already had the job.

Anthony glanced down at her ankle again. “If you’re sure you’re okay, I’ll give you the grand tour.”

“I’m fine. I just need to grab something from my truck.”

Liza walked back to her vehicle, ignoring the whisper of pain in her ankle, and retrieved her camera. Taking pictures of the existing property would help her get a sense of scale, although she wished the motel were already torn down. It would have made visualizing another building in its place a lot easier.

“Let’s go,” she said.

Due to his long legs, Anthony edged out a bit ahead of her. He slipped his hands into his front pockets, stretching the fabric of his pants over his tight buttocks.

“As you can see, the property has been vacant for a while,” Anthony explained. “Once you get past the trees, it doesn’t look like much from the front. But I bought this place fairly inexpensively, considering that the value is in the land.”

Liza caught up to him. “From what I’ve heard, there’s been more and more outside interest in building in Bay Point since Mayor Langston instituted his redevelopment plan.”

“Yes, and I was lucky to get the property when I did.”

Liza breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad to hear that if this project doesn’t work out and you decide to go with someone else, the opportunities for commercial architecture and design projects are plentiful. It’s one of the reasons I moved to Bay Point.”

He pinned his gaze on her. “And the other reasons?”

She paused and turned away to fight back the tears that suddenly sprang to her eyes.

There was no way she was getting into the details of how the grief over losing her mom, and then her dad, had made life in Denver almost unbearable.

Liza turned back abruptly and forced a smile. “Sun, surf and a fresh start, what else?”

Plus the chance to work with a very hot man, she thought. An unexpected bonus.

Anthony grinned, seeming to be satisfied with her answer. “Keep that pretty smile on your face because you’re about to see something amazing.”

She followed him under an arch that connected one side of the motel with the other. Looking overhead, she could see the stucco was cracked in many places, weeds poking through like disembodied roots in some dank underground cave.

When they emerged, she gasped aloud.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Ahead of them was a clear view of the Pacific Ocean. Miles and miles of blue, hauntingly still water, framed by the orange glow of the sun rising in a clear sky.

“Amazing,” she said, inhaling quietly but deeply. The salty scent of the air was both delicate and mysterious, like a secret that would never be revealed.

Liza tore her attention away from the ocean and focused on Anthony. She had to fight the urge to pick up her digital camera and snap a photo of him.

With his powerful arms outstretched and the sun glowing behind him, he looked like he could be on the cover of one of those money or entrepreneurial magazines. The guy who’d captured the world and held it in the palm of his hand. A man who’d made it, and made it big.

Liza smiled. And it would be she, not some bureaucratic architectural firm that moved like a sloth and charged a king’s ransom for its services, that would push him to even greater heights.

Without warning, a quick fantasy of him in the same position but completely nude skittered through her mind. The sun glinting off his black hair, his arms outstretched, the lower half of him stirring to life right before her very eyes.

“I’d say the view is priceless,” she murmured.

He motioned her forward, and the fantasy ended. She followed him to the edge of the weed-choked patio.

When she looked down, she almost swooned, not realizing how steep a cliff they were on. All that was between them and certain death was a rickety old wooden fence. The kind with two long pieces of wood and a space in the middle, wide enough for a small car to plow through, like in those old cop shows from the ’70s.

Anthony peered down. “Stairs to the beach will be a requirement of the new design.” He pointed to the right. “There’s a narrow opening over there that may work.”

They both leaned against the wood, her barely grazing it, him with a bit more pressure, and she felt the railing wobble.

“Careful,” she warned, clasping his arm. Her voice was sharp, but only because of the flash of fear that had slid through her body, at the mere thought of something happening to him.

Even though she’d only known him for a very short time, she would be upset that he got hurt in any way, but she wasn’t about to reveal her feelings about him. Not only was it unprofessional, but also too embarrassing if he didn’t feel the same way.

His eyes met hers, but she didn’t let go. “What are you, my guardian angel?”

She pursed her lips and retorted. “If you fall off this cliff, I can’t build you a clinic, now can I?”