Finding Dr. Right (Contemporary Medical Romance) by Lisa B. Kamps Page A

rummaged for the cell phone. “It’s Brian. Probably wondering where I am.”
    “I see.” A flicker of something lit his eyes for a moment then disappeared. He stood and motioned behind him with a quick point of his thumb and grinned, drawing her attention to a small group of fans who were hanging back from them. “I’ll let you have some privacy for that call.”
    Catherine stared after his broad back as he walked away, feeling like she had just missed something. She watched as two young girls sauntered toward Nathan, smiling and flirting with serious intent in their eyes. A knot of impatience swelled in Catherine’s stomach as she realized that the “girls” were in their early twenties. The laughing group suddenly made her feel old. She couldn’t remember ever being — or acting — that young.
    “Knock it off,” she whispered, stabbing at the buttons of the cell phone. Brian’s voice greeted her on the third ring.
    “I’m at the arena. I thought I’d meet you guys here but I guess not, huh?” Catherine said when he asked where she was.
    “Sorry. We would have waited if we had known. But Matty’s fine. He’s sleeping now.” There was a long pause as Catherine tried to think of something to say to ease the tension that had hovered between them the last few days.
    “Listen, Brian, about the other day. I acted like a jerk.”
    “You sure did.”
    Catherine felt her lips turn up in a small smile at the sound of humor in his voice. “Don’t rub it in.”
    “Not now, anyway. I’ll save it for later. So tell me why you’re still there. Are you with Nathan?”
    She glanced sideways at the smiling crowd, feeling like an interloper as they laughed at something Nathan said. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and looked away. “Hardly. In fact, I’m getting ready to go home now.”
    Catherine began the climb up the steps, careful to keep her distance from the crowd while keeping one eye on her footing as she made plans to have Matty dropped off tomorrow. She was dropping the phone back in her purse when she heard her name being called. The urge to stop and turn was overwhelming, but the memory of the young girls kept her feet moving. She didn’t need to make herself feel any older by seeing them up close.
    The light rail was her headache for the evening. Now, in addition to humiliating herself with her hasty retreat from Nathan, she had missed the train back home. The wait for the next one wouldn’t have been so bad, except for one thing.
    Nathan Conners had beat the train to the stop and was staring up at her from the driver’s seat of a flashy BMW convertible, its top down in spite of the chilly February air. His high-wattage smile was turned on her full-force as he tried to convince her to let him drive her home. Catherine glanced at her watch, then down the tracks, hoping the train would be early.
    “No, thank you,” she repeated through clenched teeth.
    “C’mon, Doc. One ride. It’s the least I can do.”
    Murmurs of encouragement grew from the crowd waiting at the stop with her. She gritted her teeth together, wondering what she should do. With a sigh, Catherine hitched the straps of her purse higher on her shoulder and grabbed for the door handle of the car, nearly yanking it off in frustration. Nathan was all smiles as he jammed the car in gear and sped away. Catherine braced her hand against the dash and reached for the seat belt, feeling only slightly safer when she had it securely fastened.
    “So is it always playtime for you?” Catherine raised her voice to be heard above the cold wind racing past them as Nathan maneuvered the small car along the dark city streets. He flashed her his crooked smile and shrugged.
    “You looked like you could use a laugh.”
    “At my own expense, right?” Catherine winced at the sharpness of her words, wondering why she always seemed to be so bitter around him. Brian was right. Nathan really did seem like a nice guy. So why did she always