Melt (Steel Brothers Saga #4)(35)

“Not at all. You want to get a coffee?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “Kind of why I’m here, I guess. Sorry, seeing you kind of derailed me for a minute.” He walked over to the line where a few people stood already.

I stared at my laptop screen and caught my breath. Oliver Nichols. Wow. I hadn’t seen him in over a decade. We’d gone to med school together, and right after graduation, we had a little one-nighter. Then he went off to California for his internship and residency, and I came here to Grand Junction to do mine.

I warmed from my head to my toes. He was so gorgeous, no silver yet in his auburn hair. He still had those twinkling blue eyes. He had been the best-looking male student in our class. Also had the best personality. Always jovial, always smiling. I had never thought he would look my way, but after a few drinks in the hot tub at a friend’s graduation party, things had gotten…friendly.

I pretended to go through e-mails, but I couldn’t concentrate. I could feel his gaze upon me. We’d never vowed to stay in touch or anything. After all, he went to California and I stayed here. I had looked him up on the Internet from time to time. He specialized in pediatric nephrology and had ended up doing several fellowships. With all that education, he hadn’t been in practice very long at this point.

He had also authored several very well-respected papers. Of course nothing I would read, since I knew absolutely nothing about pediatric nephrology beyond the basic anatomy.

My lips suddenly felt dry. I grabbed my purse from where it was hanging on the back of my chair, pulled out some lip balm, and smoothed it over my lips.

Why in the world was I so freaked out? Oliver and I had never had a relationship. He had never even looked my way most of med school. I hadn’t dated anyone during those times, at least not seriously. I hadn’t had the time, and once I started internship and residency, I’d had even less time.

He sat back down across from me, holding a large coffee cup. “I can’t believe it. How are you, Melanie?”

“I’m fine. What are you doing here? Have you left California?”

He nodded. “I’m spearheading some research over at Valleycrest Hospital. They’re setting up a pediatric nephrology unit.”

Impressive. Though everything Oliver Nichols did was impressive. “How long will you be in town?”

“A few months, at least. It’s possible they may want me to stay on, in which case I’ll open a practice here.”

I nodded. “What an incredible opportunity. You’ll love it here.”

“So what have you been up to?”

“I’m in private practice as a psychotherapist here in town. In fact, my building is right next door. I don’t live too far from here either. I have a downtown loft.”

“So you never left here after your residency?”

“No. The city grew on me. And I’ve got to tell you, the Western slope of Colorado has the best peaches and apples you’ll ever taste.” I smiled shyly. “They’re in season right now, but not for much longer. Be sure to sample them while you’re here.”

“I absolutely will.” He eyed my laptop. “I’m not interrupting your work, am I?”

“No, I just felt like sitting over here instead of my office this morning. I don’t have a session until eleven.” I looked at my watch. Ten twenty.

“Yeah, sometimes it’s nice to get out of the office.”

I nodded. Silence for a few moments. Normally, silence didn’t bother me much. I was a natural introvert. But right now, with dashing Oliver Nichols sitting across me, the silence felt like tension in the air. Funny how it hadn’t felt that way with Jonah Steel…

“I’ll be looking for a place to stay. Where did you say you live?”

“A couple blocks away. Bainbridge Lofts.”

“Have any rentals in there?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I own.”

“Maybe I’ll take a look over there. I’m meeting a realtor later today to help me find something for the next six months. And as I said, it may turn into a longer situation.”

I nodded again. No wonder Oliver and I had only had one night. We clearly didn’t have much to say to each other.

“So fill me in on the last fifteen years or so of your life, Melanie. Are you married? Have any kids?”

“Never been married. No kids. How about you?”

He took a sip of his coffee. “Divorced. For two years now. I have a couple kids. Two boys. Ages six and eight.”

“Are they still in California?”

“Yeah. This was a tough decision, coming here. But they offered me a lot of money, and the more money I make, the better college funds I can set up for Josh and Corey. I’ll miss them, but I’ll be flying out every other weekend to hang out with them. It’ll be like a big event for them.”

“That’s nice.” Inside I was dying a little bit. Here he had two kids, and I hadn’t had a significant relationship in God knew how long.

He smiled at me as he drank. “I have to tell you, Melanie, you haven’t changed a bit. You look the same as you did the first year of med school, bright-eyed and ready to learn. The only difference is your hair should be flowing over your shoulders.”

I’d worn my hair up, as I often did for work. My cheeks warmed. Something about this felt all wrong.