CHAPTER ONE

RICO AGE 34

He walked out of the exam room feeling a number of emotions. He expertly suppressed them, or so he thought, as he handed his nurse the patient file. He needed a minute to himself, so he went into his office and closed the door. The gold nameplate on the door was engraved ‘Rodrigo Chávez, MD’. He was a Primary Care Physician.

Although his practice was relatively new, he’d seen many patients during his years of training. No patient ever had this effect on him. Never.

“Get it together, Rico,” he said to himself. “What the hell is wrong with you?” He shook his head and took a deep breath. He went on with his day and chastised himself every time he thought about her. His nurse knew him pretty well.

“Are you okay, Dr. Chávez?” asked his nurse, Jill Brown. “You seem preoccupied.”

“I’m good, Jill,” Rico answered her.

“Is there anything you need me to do?” asked Jill, not believing him.

“No, really,” Rico assured her. He quietly scolded himself again for letting anyone see past his outward cool.

He was relieved when he finished with his final patient for the day. He didn’t stick around to do his normal paperwork. Instead, Rico got into his brand-new black Mercedes and decided to pick up some Chinese food to take home. While he was waiting for the food, he thought about her again.

Her name was Cayce Connors. She was 41 and a complete train wreck. He always spent extra time with new patients to learn as much as possible about them. Cayce was a very attractive redhead, although that normally would not have made Rico think twice about her. But as she revealed herself to him little by little, as he listened to her answer his questions, he knew she was different.

Rico was no stranger to women. He was an extremely handsome Puerto Rican man. He had thick, straight black hair he liked wearing short on the sides, but a little longer on top. He had dark, hooded eyes, a strong chin and although he shaved every morning, he had a 5 o’clock shadow by mid-day. But when Rico smiled, the world stopped. He had deep dimples and perfect, white teeth. That smile could light up a room like nobody’s business. He was aware of this weapon and used it when necessary.

He was in great shape and his body was nicely chiseled with the perfect amount of definition. He had a minimal amount of chest hair. Rico could rock one of those calendar photos of the guy without a shirt and jeans unbuttoned a bit. He had several people tell him he looked a lot like actor Eddie Cibrian.

Rico didn’t realize just how much he affected members of the opposite sex. He was truly oblivious. Everywhere he went, women looked at him. Women stared at him. He was single by choice, but he thought he had been in love several times. He knew he wanted love in his life.

Rico had always been an honest person and made sure his girlfriends knew that his career and schooling was the most important thing to him. It was paramount. He didn’t understand it when women started getting demanding and becoming ‘jealous’ of his dedication to his chosen profession. It annoyed him that women wanted to ‘marry themselves a doctor’, but weren’t willing to give the space needed for this career. At least that’s the way things had turned out for him so far.

Cayce Connors had him curious. Curious of everything about her. Rico realized she had a sex appeal that was rare. That in itself made her desirable. But that wasn’t it. She fascinated him. She had a way of communicating that drew him in. He wanted to hear more. He also had a burning desire to help her. He thought about his notes he wrote in her file and also thought about his mental notes he could not put down on paper.

It was quite possible Cayce had Bipolar Disorder. She was very animated and had a great sense of humor. It was obvious she was very smart, but had made some horrible life decisions. As stable as Rico was, she was the opposite. She used cocaine and that just fueled her manic symptoms. She smoked cigarettes. He would NEVER be with someone like that. He had never been attracted to a ‘BAD GIRL’. That’s why it didn’t make any sense to him that he was enamored of her. He’d seen sexy. But Cayce was a different kind of sexy. She was fun and fearless. It really surprised Rico when she hit on him!

Rico was a bit shocked, but he felt a jolt inside, that lightning inside the body that makes you catch your breath. He was pretty sure he kept that hidden, but he’d never had that reaction to anyone he had just met. It was crazy. What’s worse was he wanted to take her up on her offer!

“Okay,” he said to himself. “That’s NOT going to happen. I’m NOT going to be a fool.”

It took all he had to say goodbye and leave that exam room. But he was seeing her at a follow up appointment. Maybe it wouldn’t feel the same when he saw her again. He hoped so anyway. But Rico found himself thinking about Cayce more than he should have. He did not want or need this distraction. He made a conscious effort to laser focus at the office. He would make sure Jill Brown did not catch him again.

The following day, it was Wednesday and he was meeting some colleagues for happy hour after work. They were all in the same physician’s group and had become friends. Rico didn’t make a habit of picking up women in a bar, however, if there was a mutual attraction with someone, it could happen. His friends were more likely to flirt and/or hit on women. And two of them were married. Rico was the most reserved one of the four and also the youngest.

They met the same night every week, they just went to different places. Dr. Sam Benson was in the same office with Rico. He was older in his late 40s and looked a lot like Robert Redford. Women were always approaching him. He was married with children, but he was the one that always ended up leaving the bar with a woman. Rico didn’t want to know. He didn’t understand infidelity, so the less he knew, the better. Plus, he didn’t want to be put in a position to have to lie for Sam.

Dr. Kenneth Jones was a urologist and was a really funny guy. Rico liked him the best. He was in his mid-40s, average looking, but his personality made him more attractive. Ken was recently divorced, so he was on the prowl most evenings. Rico thought more power to him, at least he was single.

Dr. Theo Drummond was an oncologist and the closest to Rico’s age. He was a handsome 39-year-old and was also married with kids. Rico noticed Theo flirted heavily, but never acted on anything. At least as far as Rico knew. He wasn’t sure how he felt about flirting when you’re married. He guessed technically it wasn’t cheating, but it would really hurt your girl’s feelings if she knew. Rico had never been married, so he had no experience with a spouse, but it really bothered him that Sam and Theo removed their wedding bands when they went out. That was just wrong.

The men had already eaten and were having a good time. Ken was telling some funny story and the guys were laughing. The men had learned long ago not to reveal their profession. They always told ladies they were car salesmen. Rico loved that. There was a group of ladies sitting a few tables over who sent a round of drinks to the guys. Sam invited them over and made introductions.

For Rico, nothing put a damper on a guy’s night out more than Sam combining women in the mix. It’s not that he didn’t want to meet new women, but he wanted to meet them on HIS terms, not Sam’s. Rico leaned over and whispered to Ken.

“I can’t stand it when he does this…” whispered Rico.

“I know you don’t like it,” Ken whispered back. “It doesn’t work out for me very often.”

Rico actually hated it when Sam did this. As usual, Sam took his pick of the ladies first. That was also wrong. Rico thought he or Ken should have first pick. They were single.

One of the women sat next to Rico and began talking and flirting. It was almost comical to him. He wanted to laugh out loud. She definitely was NOT the woman he would have chosen in the group. She was pretty drunk and her manner annoyed him. Mercifully, he didn’t let her go on too long before he stopped her.

“Look,” he said to her. “You ended up picking the wrong guy tonight.”

She looked surprised. “Why do you say that?” she asked.

“Because nothing’s going to happen,” Rico answered.

She looked almost hurt, then, pissed. “Glad we got that straight!” she said disdainfully. She got up and left the table.

Rico stood up, put his money on the table and bid his friends goodbye. He was irritated with Sam and was just not in the mood to play tonight. He walked out of the restaurant and to his car. He got behind the wheel and started the car. As the engine turned over, Rico realized his thoughts shifted to Cayce Connors.

“Damn!” he exclaimed out loud. “I went all day without thinking about her! Rico, what is your issue? None of this makes sense.”

He got home and kicked back on his couch with a beer and a book. For some reason, his thoughts went back to his last relationship. She was...