“Then someone dumped on you.”
“You think? What was your first clue?”
“Because you’re wary. Of men. You don’t get that way without some help. And I’m paying the price for what some other guy did.”
He knew he’d hit close to the mark when she looked away. Watching her profile, he could see her jaw clench.
“I’m not wary of men,” she finally said. “I just have a problem with the ones who don’t play by the rules.”
“And you think I fall into that category?”
“The first time we met you threatened to pick me up bodily and lock me in the broom closet. If I recall correctly, your exact words were that visiting hours were for everyone but you.”
“I was kidding about the broom closet.”
“I know. But not about breaking the rules.”
“Cut me some slack, Nurse Ratchett. My baby sister had just had a baby. First one in the family. I wanted to spend some time with her.”
“And you think you’re the only new uncle who feels that way? Picture what would happen if everyone acted the way you did.”
“The obstetrics wing would be full of lots of happy uncles.”
“Probably. Followed quickly by anarchy and chaos.” She shook her head. “Not on my watch. Mothers and babies at risk? Completely unacceptable. It’s my job to keep order.”
Joe couldn’t help admiring the fact that she took her job seriously. Protecting new mothers and babies. Patients in her care were lucky. He had a feeling anyone she cared about would be lucky. But there was a protective shield around her, emotionally speaking, and he wondered why she worked so hard at keeping it in place.
“The fact that I’m volunteering at the hospital does nothing to alter your opinion of me?”
“It would if I didn’t get the feeling that on the heels of your good deed was a rule waiting to be broken. Or a skirt waiting to be chased, so to speak.”
“Why would you think that?”
“By the time I’d met you twice, you were coming on to three different women.” She held up her hand and started counting on her fingers. “There was the blonde I saw you with when you visited your sister in the hospital, Trish Hudson, and Abby, the woman you practically stood up because you got sidetracked scoping out the volunteer program.”
“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘benefit of the doubt’?” he asked wryly.
“Yes. But I can’t help feeling that you don’t know the meaning of the word longevity or sincerity. And your heart is a revolving door. I’m sorry, but based on what I’ve seen it’s hard for me to believe your motivation is anything but self-serving.”
Joe considered himself a pretty easygoing guy. From the moment he’d walked into her office, he’d taken it in the shorts from Nurse Ratchett without fighting back. No more Mr. Nice Guy. It was time to set the record straight.
He rolled his sandwich wrapping into a ball and tossed it into a nearby trash can. Then he turned to Liz.
“All right,” he said seriously. “You win. I’ll tell you my ulterior motive.”
Chapter Three
Liz couldn’t believe she’d heard him right. “You’re going to tell the truth?”
“Yeah.”
Blow his cover? Come clean so soon? She couldn’t imagine why he would do that. But then what harm could it do? No doubt there were females at the hospital just as anxious to meet him as he was to meet them. She only wanted honesty from him. Although for some men that was too much to ask.
But what if she was wrong? What if he’d already told her the truth? His motivation might have something to do with wanting to help. But he wouldn’t turn his back on the opportunity to meet a woman. After all, Sam had given him the speech about the program.
“It’s Samantha, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Samantha?”
“She’s a tall redhead. It’s understandable that you would want to get to know her better. Although why you’d go to all the trouble of volunteering is beyond me. A simple phone call would suffice. As a matter of fact, why didn’t you take her to lunch? You’re slipping, Slick. Missed a golden opportunity there—” She realized he hadn’t said a word. He was just watching her run off at the mouth.
“Are you finished?” he asked.
“I can be.”
“Good. Because you’re way off base.”
“Am I?” she asked warily.
“Number one, I genuinely want to give a little time to the hospital as a volunteer for the reasons I told you. And for the fact that my sister and my niece received wonderful care. Not to mention my grandmother when she was there for tests.”
“Okay, if you say so.”
“Number two, and here’s the good part.”
He half turned toward her looking intensely serious, which was very cute. But he also had an earnest expression, so full of an emotion she’d accused him of not having—sincerity. It nearly convinced her that he would tell her the truth.
“I’ve been thinking about something for a while,” he said. “And this is work related.”
“What?” she asked, sipping her soda.
“On-site child care for restaurant employees in every location.”
He looked dead serious. She stared at him. “Say again.”
“It’s my job to be a liaison between management and the employees. To me there’s more involved than staffing and monitoring benefits. One of the biggest problems I see is child care. Finding reliable, affordable, trustworthy help is tough.”
“You could have hired a company to check this out for you.”
He shook his head. “Marchetti’s is a family-owned business. A good part of our success is directly related to hands-on managing. This is my ‘baby.’ Pardon the pun.”
Liz took off her sunglasses and looked at him. Was it possible that her first impression of Joe Marchetti was wrong? Could it be that he wasn’t the shallow philanderer she’d taken him for? But what about Trish and the way he’d used her?
“What do you hope to accomplish by observing a hospital newborn nursery?” she asked.
“For one thing, it will give me some idea whether or not on-site care is feasible for infants. I’m not sure we can provide that much help.”
“But it’s such an important stage.”
“I know. It’s a bonding time for mothers and babies.”
“You’ve done your homework.” When the compliment earned her an attractive grin, her heart skipped a beat. But she managed another question. “So what happens after you critique our facility?”
Liz found that she was warming to the idea. Even if he was fabricating the whole thing, the fact that he had given the subject so much thought elevated him in her eyes.
“I need to observe different child-care environments to see if we can furnish adequate attention for such a broad age range. Once they start kindergarten, the parents have more choices. Schools have programs in place for supervision.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “Wow.”
“What?”