He gave a warm chuckle, apparently thinking I was joking. “I’m honored you came to one of our meetings. I’ve been hoping you would.”
“Really?” I frowned.
“Of course.”
“My… Realtor, Mrs. Numi, brought me.” I flicked an annoyed glance toward Mrs. Numi. She was laughing and having a gay old time with her Realtor pals. I swear she truly had forgotten I even existed.
Lincoln winked. “Mrs. Numi is wonderful at bringing us new members.”
“Oh, I’m not joining.” I hesitated. “To be honest, I’m only here because I didn’t know how to get out of it.”
He grinned. “As expected, you don’t pull your punches. I’ve heard that about you. This room is full of phonies. Your candor is refreshing.”
Really?
“You should think about joining,” he said. “We do a lot of good in our community and around the world.”
“I’m sure you do,” I murmured. “I’m not really a club type of person.”
He leaned forward, looking amused. “Are you a help other people type of person?”
I blinked at him. “Uh… I’m a doctor.”
“Exactly!” He grinned. “You help people by default. You’d be a perfect fit for the Rotary Club.”
He wasn’t deterred in the least by my lack of enthusiasm, which flustered me a bit. “I… I don’t have a lot of free time.”
Lincoln pulled his thick brows together. “No? I didn’t think you were open for business yet.”
My face warmed because, of course, that was true. “I will be very soon.”
“I see.” He bit his bottom lip, his gaze shrewd. “I won’t beat around the bush. We need you, Dr. Thornton.”
“Do you?” I asked weakly.
“Absolutely. The Rotary Club needs a strong group of dedicated professionals eager to give back to the community.”
I wasn’t sure I felt like I owed the Rainy Dale community anything other than to be a good doctor. I certainly didn’t feel beholden to them. If anything, they owed me. But I bit my tongue so I didn’t say that out loud.
“Most of the Rainy Dale business leaders belong to the Rotary Club. Why, it’s almost mandatory.” He smiled.
“That’s… great,” I said lamely.
He glanced around the room. “Everybody who’s anybody is a member. Just look around. We have Mayor Gaynor over there in the corner talking to Tom Glenn—he’s on the city council. Of course, youalready know Mrs. Numi—she comes to all the meetings. Then there’s Harry Todd, who owns the florist shop. Oh, and the Raidens even made an appearance tonight. Michaelalwayscomes, but Angela doesn’t usually make the meetings.”
I stiffened at the mention of the Raidens.
Lincoln didn’t seem to notice how uncomfortable I was as he continued. “Even Sheriff Callum is a member. He shows up when he can, although he’s a busy man. Of course, you’d know that better than me.”
“Sounds like you have plenty of members already.”
“Nah. We always need more. New blood is essential for a group like this.”
“I see.” I sipped my drink and almost gagged. I was going to strangle Mrs. Numi if she ever bothered to speak to me again.
“Oh, and even Liam James made it tonight. He’s a new member. Michael Raiden recruited him.” He stopped talking abruptly. “Oh, my goodness, I’m so sorry, Dr. Thornton.” He gritted his teeth. “It just occurred to me the Raidens and Liam James probably aren’t your favorite people at the moment.”
“No. They’re not.”
