Road to Recovery (2 page)

Out of the corner of her eye, she took
note of his stance and tried not to laugh as the image of a peacock
strutting on a treadmill came to mind. Chest puffed out, stomach
mostly sucked in, arms swinging in a practiced move. She bet he
watched himself walk in front of a mirror, too.

But his choice of clothing made her
chuckle even more. Bright blue sneakers that actually matched the
bright blue of his T-shirt and the same blue stripes on his shorts.
Really? Who matched like that to work out? The same people who
introduced themselves as Doctor, obviously.

Unlike Mr. Perfectly Coordinated, she
packed her bag each day without thought whatsoever. The last thing
she wanted was attention at the gym. Thankfully, all her yoga pants
and athletic shorts were black or gray, just in different lengths.
So any T-shirt she grabbed matched. Easy and efficient, exactly how
she liked it.

She could feel his eyes on her while
she watched the television. It started to give her the creeps, but
she pretended he didn’t exist and kept pushing through her workout
hoping he would get the hint.

“
And you are?” he
asked.

Nope, not getting the hint. “Brooke,”
she replied without shifting her eyes toward him.

“
I haven’t seen you around
before. Are you new here?” he asked politely.

Trying not to sigh too loudly, Brooke
realized she was going to have to actually talk to the guy. No use
making enemies already. He didn’t seem to get the message, or more
likely did and didn’t care. His type never did.

“
Yes,” Brooke replied
patiently. This time she at least looked at him, but then quickly
turned back to the boring news.

He chuckled, not the least be fazed by
her short answers or obvious disinterest in him. “You want to grab
a bite to eat once I’m done? I’m warming up and then I’m going to
lift for thirty minutes or so,” he said as his chest muscles
flexed.

She tried not to laugh at the clearly
practiced pectoral move she saw out of the corner of her eye.
Instead, she mustered a polite smile that didn’t quite reach her
eyes and glanced back at him briefly one more time. “No,
thanks.”

Not put off by her reply, he added
persistently, “I’d really like to get to know you a bit more.” He
paused and ran his eyes from her head to her toes, his mouth
forming a cheesy grin. “I think we would really hit it off.” Then
he winked.

The wink did it. The
I’m-not-interested vibes she was sending out weren’t being
received. She had dealt with his type plenty before. She thought
she’d made herself clear, but obviously not clear enough. Time for
the direct approach.

“
Sorry, just not
interested,” she said politely, hoping
that
would be clear enough.

With a snort that clearly stated he
didn’t believe her, he hopped off the treadmill and said, “Give it
time. You will be.” Then did his best strut across the gym, like
the peacock she imagined earlier.

Brooke snorted to herself, rolled her
eyes, and was extremely thankful her elliptical bike beeped,
indicating she was done.

Stepping off, she tried not to wince
at the pain. As she grabbed her water bottle and reached down for
her bag, she heard, “He never takes no for an answer. Just be
prepared. He will pester you again. Thinks he is God’s gift to
women. A treat for the eyes, just nothing else of substance to him.
He isn’t happy unless he can claim he has gone through all the
single or married nurses before someone else. Bet he even keeps a
list next to his bedside.” She ended with a laugh at her own
joke.

“
Good, then I should be
safe since I’m not a nurse,” Brooke said with a genuine smile at
the woman to her left who had witnessed the exchange with the slimy
doctor.

With a chuckle and a smile of her own,
the petite redhead said, “I’m Cori. Thanks for the entertainment.
It’s Brooke, right? Sorry, didn’t mean to eavesdrop. But I couldn’t
seem to help myself. Not too many people turn him down flat like
that.’’

There was something about her—the easy
smile, the humor in her eyes and the honesty that she extended
Brooke when she didn’t need to. Especially in her position, most
people only came to her when they wanted something, or wanted to
complain. Very few people were friendly without having an agenda of
their own. “Yes, it’s Brooke, and thanks for the warning, but I’m
sure he will move on fairly quick.”

“
Doubt it. Plenty of men
here, doctors and other staff alike, feel the hospital is a picking
ground for a date. I should say date loosely, more like looking for
a good time, if you know what I mean? The guys not hitting on you
are the guys that are already taken. Don’t get me wrong,” she
rushed on. “There are some good ones out there, but they’re not
easy to find. Guess most of us are used to it by now, but the new
and young, they seem to get roped in and then heartbroken and more
drama, sort of an endless cycle.” She ended the mouthful of words
with a dramatic sigh and a shrug of her shoulders.

The pain started to get worse and
Brooke wanted to go home and take a hot bath to get rid of the
stiffness that had set in. Swinging her bag over her shoulder, she
said, “I bet. Well, it was nice meeting you.”

“
You, too. Hey, if you
aren’t a nurse, then what do you do here?”

Raising her eyebrows, she replied,
“Human Resources. Work conduct, policies and procedures, to be
exact.’’

Cori let out a laugh, eyes twinkling
with mischief. “Figures.”

***

Lucas Mathews had been watching Brooke
out of the corner of his eye for the last forty-five minutes. He
had noticed her twice before in the gym. But today he watched her
move from machine to machine, efficiently adjusting the weights and
doing her reps as she minded her own business.

She was pretty, nothing outright
stunning, but something about her kept drawing his eyes back. She
was maybe five foot six, average height, dark hair, which was
pulled back in a messy knot on the top of her head. From his
distance he couldn’t really tell the color of her eyes, most likely
brown.

She seemed like a person on a mission.
He stayed back as he watched her, and only when he was sure she
didn’t know his eyes were on her.

A few minutes after she had climbed on
the elliptical, he stepped on a treadmill a few down from her.
Close enough to see her but not crowd her and glad he was close
enough to hear her conversations. When Mike saddled up next to her,
Lucas knew what was coming. The same reason Mike chatted up any
woman in the building.

Mike was a brilliant doctor, highly
recommended, but too full of himself for Lucas’s tastes. He could
barely tolerate being in the same room with him. It had indeed been
entertaining to watch Brooke turn him down without a bat of her
eyes.

Even more entertaining was overhearing
her second conversation with the little redhead. So this Brooke was
the woman they brought in for him to work with. He had yet to
formally meet her in the two weeks since she started. They hadn’t
even crossed paths, unless the gym counted.

Lucas was known to flirt and chat up
women himself. Always fast with a laugh and grin, never taking life
seriously. Though he knew when someone wasn’t interested in him,
unlike Mike.

Of course, if he was honest with
himself, it rarely happened. Girls had been throwing themselves at
him since high school. At six foot three with golden boy looks,
having been a jock and a brain combined, it seemed everyone wanted
a piece of him then.

College proved to be even more of the
same. Toss in the fact that he came from old money, and every girl
eyed him as the next big catch. He would have been stupid not to
take what they were offering back then.

But now, at age thirty-four, it was
getting old. He would like to say he was more discriminating at
what offers he took. Or at the very least tried to stay discreet
about it. He didn’t have a new woman every week or even every
month, but he never had any serious relationships either. Nor did
he lack female company when he wanted or needed it.

Lucas watched Brooke walk out the
doors of the gym when his own treadmill beeped, ending his workout.
Grabbing his gear, he headed for a quick shower and change, then
decided he would run back to his office and grab a few files for a
bit of work this weekend.

Brooklyn, a.k.a. Brooke, A. Malone,
age twenty-eight. Held a degree in Human Resources and MBA from
Penn State. Five years of experience working her way up the chain
of various HR positions for a large construction/development firm.
Last position held as Corporate Compliance Director. Lucas finished
scanning the information he was able to obtain on
Brooke.

He thought that was a lot of
responsibility for someone her age. Then again, he remembered how
well she handled Mike. Straightforward, direct and to the point,
yet polite all the same. Professional was the first thing that came
to mind. Even in the unprofessional environment of the hospital
gym.

What surprised Lucas was the lapse
between her last job and her current job with the hospital. Almost
nine months. Although there was nothing in the file to indicate
there were any problems from her references. Maybe she was burned
out and needed some time off.

He was feeling a bit guilty for
obtaining the information, even though it was within his right to
look it over. So he set it aside and went back to the case files on
his desk. He had a lot to do and not a lot of time to prepare.
Knowing that he would find out more about her in time, he pushed
Brooke to the back of his mind and returned to the cases in front
of him.

Ten minutes later, his mind was right
back on Brooke. He couldn’t figure out what it was about her. He
told himself it was only curiosity since he would be working
closely with her. She looked all serious and methodical throughout
her workout. Almost like she was ticking things off a mental
checklist, moving efficiently from one machine to the next without
breaking stride.

He could see she wasn’t just going
through the motions either, but actually worked out. She was
sweating and her breath labored as she went through her reps, very
little pausing in between.

He thought he caught her wincing a few
times, but as quickly as he saw it, it was gone. Could’ve been
pushing herself too hard. There was no denying she seemed stiff
when she got off the elliptical, she actually stopped and held the
arm rails to steady herself before she reached down for her
bag.

He couldn’t help but admire someone
who put that kind of effort into working out, rather than just
making an appearance as they pranced around the gym pretending to
do something.

She was different. Most of the women
in the work gym were either trying to land their future husband, or
overweight and trying to get in shape—in order to land their future
husband. She didn’t seem to fall into either of those categories.
She didn’t watch herself in the mirrors, didn’t fix her hair or
glance around checking to see if anyone watched her. And she
definitely wasn’t out of shape.

Her lean calf muscles were visible
below the bottom of her black yoga pants. Though her legs were
mainly covered up, Lucas could see the muscles in her thighs flex
while she rode the elliptical bike. Too bad she had on a long baggy
shirt that covered her to mid-thigh, preventing him from seeing
much more. He had a feeling the rest of her was as toned as her
calves and thighs. Undeniably, she had a body that was used to
physical activity.

His phone buzzed, pulling him away
from thoughts of Brooke and pushing him back to the work at
hand.

***

Brooke turned the hot water on full
blast. The master bath with the spa tub and multiple jets was what
sold Brooke on the townhouse. She wished she had a little bit more
space, but since she lived alone, it would do. She really didn’t
entertain much anyway, but she would have preferred a bigger second
bedroom that she could have converted to a home gym and office
combo. As it was, she barely fit her desk and daybed in the room,
thanks to the built-in shelving unit.

Luckily she had a full gym at her
disposal at work. That did make things convenient, although she
preferred working out alone. If things got too crowded she could
always try going in the mornings before work.

Once the tub was filled, Brooke shut
off the water and turned on the jets. She climbed in slowly, the
steam rising, then jerked back when she lowered herself, took a
deep breath and inched down further. She fought her way through the
heat, knew she needed it to soothe her sore and overworked muscles.
Better to be uncomfortable now than later.

She really hoped she could get through
the night without pain medicine. Hating the way the pills made her
feel and terrified of getting addicted to them, she had finally
figured out a routine that helped get through most of the pain, and
only gave into the urge for medicated relief when she didn’t have
to work the next day. Even then, it was less frequent.