at Dex in a special way, the way he would run over to help her with anything remotely heavy so she wouldn’t have to carry it. “That’s sweet that you guys are so close.”
“Yeah…” He dropped his gaze again.
“You quit your job because of her.” It started to make sense now. Cleo’s sadness, along with her husband’s, came from Dex’s decision to leave the building.
“Yeah.” He grabbed his beer but didn’t take a drink. “When I quit medicine, I asked if I could work with her. I wanted an easy, stress-free job. Dad said no, but my mom caved. I enjoyed the job. I enjoyed spending more time with my mom. I enjoyed seeing my dad every day when he came home from work.”
Now I knew exactly where Dex got his hotness from because Cleo’s husband was one good-looking guy. He had to be in his fifties or sixties, but he looked like he was in his thirties. It was amazing how you could preserve your youth if you worked hard at it. And it didn’t look like he got Botox or plastic surgery.
“But they’ve always been disappointed in my decision to leave my field.” He swirled the beer in his bottle, his elbow resting on the table. “It’s always been a source of tension. Then my father crossed the line a couple weeks ago. We haven’t spoken since. I left the job because I realized I couldn’t see either one of them regularly.”
When I looked at our interactions in retrospect, it was obvious how close he was with his family. They were a tight-knit group. It was heartbreaking to think that had changed permanently. “What did he do?”
He stopped swirling his bottle and looked at me. “Some woman emailed me and asked me to operate on her husband. I informed her I was no longer practicing medicine. She went to my dad’s office and somehow convinced him to ambush me in their condo. She sobbed her eyes out and pleaded until I agreed to take his file.” He dropped his gaze and looked at his beer. “It was just a betrayal…”
I couldn’t believe he’d told me because he’d always been so private, but now that we weren’t coworkers anymore, there was no reason to keep his life a secret.
“We got into a fight…” He shook his head. “Said a lot of bad shit. But I’m just so frustrated that my father won’t accept my decision. He’s never going to accept me as I am until I do what he wants.”
I didn’t offer an opinion or advice on the matter because I didn’t know any of them well enough. I just sat in silence and let him vent his pain.
After a long silence, he turned his pretty eyes back on me.
I stared back, seeing a man so handsome that he took my breath away all the time.
“You have nothing to say?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t think it’s my place to have an opinion. But I’m happy to listen to you.”
He stared at me a little longer as if surprised. “My siblings like to shove their opinions down my throat.”
“Well, that’s their job,” I said with a light chuckle. “They wouldn’t be siblings unless they did that.”
“True.” He took a final drink until the bottle was empty and pushed it aside to the edge of the table. He turned quiet and contemplative again, staring at the surface of the table and then across the bar like he wasn’t looking at anything in particular, just staring.
I should hold my tongue, but I couldn’t. “But I’ll say this…”
His eyes shifted back to me.
“I’ve seen the way your parents love each other. I’ve watched them together because they’re so cute. The way they say goodbye when they step off the elevator in the morning, the way your father looks at your mother when he comes to her desk, and…I see that she loves you far more than she loves him, which is saying something.”
He looked away, almost embarrassed.
“I imagine that your dad is just like your mom….and he loves you with all his heart.”
He released a heavy sigh, like he knew I was right.
“He probably just wants the best for you, Dex. I’ve gotten to know you during our time working together, and you’re kind, funny, humble, just an all-around good person. You get that from them, I imagine. And I saw the way you leaped into action for Mr. Carlton, the way you saved his life and even went all the way to