The Maverick Who Ruled Her Heart. Susan Carlisle
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toward the rear. When he reached the woman she was speaking to one of the attendees and he waited. When the final person was out the door he said, “This is the second time we’ve met and I still don’t know your full name.”
A look he would have called disappointment if he didn’t know better flashed through her eyes. Should he know her? He’d not kept in touch with anyone who still lived in Golden Shores except Chad, and he no longer lived here.
“I’m Kelsey Davis. Hospital nutritionist.” She started picking up the papers on the podium in front of her.
Davis. Maybe she was one of Chad’s sisters? But which one? Then again, Davis was a common name: there were a lot of them in the world. Surely more than one family in Golden Shores had the name Davis.
“Nice to meet you, Kelsey. I look forward to working with you.”
“Hey, Kelsey.” A man stuck his head inside the door.
He and Kelsey looked at him.
“Hey, Mike,” Kelsey said with a smile.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” the young man, who had blond hair and the build of a weight lifter, said.
“Not a problem. I’m on my way out.”
The man stepped into the room. As Jordon left he heard the man say, “Are we still on for tonight?”
Kelsey had never been more surprised than when the man from the party turned up in her classroom. More startling than that was the fact that J-man was the doctor she’d be working with regularly. She gotten over being nervous around boys along ago, but for some reason J-man, uh, Jordon made her stomach queasy. He’d been her first love. Now he didn’t even remember her!
She’d not seen him since her brother and he had gotten arrested. Right before they had both disappeared. Jordon had been part of the reason her brother, Chad, had issues with their father. Only Chad had never come home. Part of the blame for why her family had become so screwed up was rooted in that long-ago night.
Where Chad was concerned she had a love/hate relationship with him. She’d adored him. He’d been the oldest to her youngest and she’d idolized him. When he’d left without saying anything to her she’d been devastated. As the years had gone by she’d grown to resent him too. Because of him her once happy life had crumbled and she couldn’t seem to get all the pieces back into place. At least with China that was starting to happen. She wasn’t even sure she ever wanted to make the effort with regards to her parents. Getting out of Golden Shores, closing the door on the past had always sounded like the best answer.
Now J-man was back as a doctor. Life really was crazy. If it hadn’t been time for her to leave town before, it surely was now. Until the new job came through, she’d stay out of his way as much as possible.
At noon Kelsey carried her tray from the cafeteria to the table where Molly waited under the tree. She slid into the open spot next to her.
“Hey, how’d it go this morning? Did you meet the new doctor? He’s the talk of the hospital.” Molly picked up her sandwich.
“That’s not a hard thing to be. This hospital isn’t that big and most of the people who work here have known each other most of their lives.” Except Jordon, who had no idea who she was or the part he’d played in her young life.
“So are you going to tell me what you think about him?” Molly studied her.
Kelsey was well aware of who Dr. King was. Too aware. She didn’t want Molly to know everything she thought about him. “He’s nice enough and seems to know his medicine.”
Molly put down her fork and looked at Kelsey like she had two heads. “That’s all you’ve got to say? Kelsey Davis, I’ve known you since middle school and that’s the least I’ve ever heard you say about a male. He must have really done something wrong.”
Molly had no idea. She’d moved to town the next summer. About Chad and how she’d felt about J-man were the only secrets she’d ever kept from Kelsey. “Okay, okay. What do you want? That he’s the best-looking man I’ve seen. Dark hair, hazel eyes, shoulders from here to eternity and a butt to die for!”
Molly giggled. “That’s more like it but I detect a note of cynicism. Problem?”
“No. He just reminds me of someone I used to know.”
“Someone you didn’t like.”
She’d liked him too well. “I liked the person just fine but it was during a bad time in my life.”
“Hello, beautiful ladies. Mind if I join you.”
Kelsey looked up to see Adam standing there. He worked in X-ray and had gone to school with her and Molly.
“Sure,” Molly said. She nodded toward the other bench.
Jordon followed Mark to the only outside table available. He took a spot opposite him, gave the food on his tray a dubious look and made a mental note to remember to bring his lunch as often as he could.
A loud burst of laughter came from the table to their left. Jordon knew without looking that Kelsey Davis was there. He’d noticed her along with another blonde with long hair, and he wasn’t surprised to see a man sitting with them. Was every man drawn to her?
His mother had the same personality. People gravitated toward her, especially men. His father had proudly said more than once that “his Margaret was the life of any party.” Jordon had loved to hear her laugh. It had always made him smile. Until that night when the sound had woken him. Her tinkling lilt had drawn him to her until he’d realized she’d been talking suggestively on the phone to a man other than his father.
He glared in the direction of the other table.
“Kelsey and Molly seem to be having a good time. They must be up to something.”
“Up to something?” Jordon took a bite of his oven-baked chicken.
“Yeah, they’re always planning a party or some outing or something.”
Jordon grunted acknowledgement.
“You’ll like working with Kelsey. She’s a lot of fun.”
“What’s her story?”
Mark shrugged. “I don’t know. The usual, I guess. Grew up here, lives here and will die here.”
“You knew her before you started working here?”
“Yeah. We went to high school together. She has a bit of a reputation as a party girl. She enjoys having a good time but I never hear anyone saying anything but good things about her now.”
“Does her family still live around here?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“She looks so familiar. I used to know some Davises, I just thought she might be kin to them.”
“Why don’t you ask her?”
“Maybe I will.” He glanced at Kelsey’s table again. But this woman couldn’t be the young girl he’d once known. She giggled at something that had been said then turned, meeting his gaze. Time ground to a halt as they stared at each other before he forced his attention back to his unimpressive meal.
Either way, she wasn’t someone he needed to get involved with.
That evening he was walking toward his car when he saw Kelsey getting into an aging small compact that didn’t fit the persona he’d seen so far. It was nothing flashy, as he would’ve expected. She pulled out of her spot and passed him with little more than a glance. How could he be so aware of her when she didn’t seem to even notice him?
MIDMORNING