She woke groggy and lightheaded. Where usually that was helped by a big cup of coffee, the venti caramel macchiato she’d picked up on her way in just wasn’t doing the trick today. And things only went from bad to oh-my-God-when-will-it-end when one of the board members burst into her office, scaring the hell out of her.
“Tell me about these leads.”
Val shrank back in her chair. The bear of a man intimidated her at the best of times, and this certainly didn’t make it onto her list of top moments at CCC. Jabbing the sharp end of a letter opener into her palm a few months ago was more fun than this. “There’s not much to say.” She concentrated on wiping off the water she’d spilled on herself, not meeting the man’s eyes.
“Bullshit.”
Val took a precious few seconds more to rub her aching temples before speaking. “Look, the FBI might have a few leads, but they haven’t told us much and we decided to tell the public even less.”
“I’m not the public! The Board of Directors is not the goddamn public! Why are you keeping us in the dark?”
“It wasn’t our intention to exclude you–”
The man scoffed. “Why should I believe that?”
“Because I don’t have any reason to lie to you. What good would it do me?” She tried to put her hands out in a placating gesture but the man advanced another step.
Nate slipped in through the door to her office and closed it behind him. “Problem?”
The man rounded on him. “I don’t like the way I’m being treated. As a member of the Board of Directors of this hospital, it’s my right to know what’s going on with this investigation.”
Nate nodded. “I agree. And Doug is planning to reach out to the board, he just hasn’t had a chance to yet. We had to get to the media before someone else did, considering the leaks we’ve already experienced. Now, I understand you want to be kept in the loop but, frankly, your hurt feelings are the least of our worries right now.”
Val knew her eyes were big as saucers, but Nate didn’t even glance her way. Instead he held the man’s gaze with his own steely one, and finally the man backed up a step.
“Fine. But we expect to be kept informed.”
“Of course,” Nate answered in a soothing tone. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, Val and I have some things to discuss.”
The man left and Val rested her head on her steepled fingers for a moment before looking up. “Thank you. I don’t know why, but for some reason that guy rubs me the wrong way.”
Nate finally turned to look at her. “You look pale.”
“I’m fine,” she answered automatically, and tried not to shrink under his scrutiny.
He came around and leaned on the desk, his groin entirely too close for comfort.
“Have you eaten?”
“Breakfast? No. I rarely do.”
“How did you sleep?”
Ugh. Nate being sweet and concerned irritated the hell out of her for some reason. “What are you, my mother?”
Nate smirked. “Most assuredly not. But if you aren’t going to admit you’re not taking very good care of yourself I won’t bug you any more about it. For now.”
“Thank you.”
She looked up at him, wetting her parched lips. His gaze followed the movement, and when she focused on his eyes she saw the unmistakable heat lurking in their depths.
“I want you.”
“Nate–”
“What excuse are you gonna use this time? I’ve made a catalog of sorts from them.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Pardon me?”
He leaned down, so close that his hot breath fanned across her face. “You heard me. What reason is it this time? Are you running away again?”
“I’m not running.”
“Only because I’m blocking the way out the door.”
“That isn’t why.”
“Then tell me, Val. Tell me you don’t want me.” Val wanted to say that, but couldn’t force the words out. She wasn’t a liar. Wanting him and it being a smart idea were two totally different things. He gave her a humorless smile. “That’s what I thought.”
Nate pulled Val out of her chair, wrapping his arms around her. Much as her brain screamed at her to, she didn’t protest. It felt good, right to be in his arms, and she was too frazzled and exhausted to fight it. His head lowered and he captured her lips, groaning as he deepened the kiss. Her arms found their way around his neck and pulled him closer. She moaned as his wicked tongue snaked into her mouth, plundering her depths before withdrawing again. Before she could get a good breath in he was back, covering her lips once more.
“I want you,” Nate said, his voice husky and thick.
“I want you too.”
He lifted her onto the desk and spread her legs, pushing between them before kissing her again. His hands were under her shirt and roving over her breasts with teasing strokes before she even comprehended the movement, and her head fell back as he pinched her nipples lightly.
“You like that, huh?”
“Yes, God, yes.”
“Do you want more?”
“Yes, don’t stop. Please, Nate.”
“I’m not going to. I’m going to make you come, Val, without even being inside you.”
“Oh, God.” Endorphins rushed through her addled brain, making it even harder to process the sensations crashing over her. He pressed his hardness against her belly, as he swept her hair to the side to attack her neck with lips, teeth, and tongue. Val moaned again.
He lifted her breasts out of the delicate cups of her bra and began to pinch and pull at her nipples in earnest. “You like having your breasts played with, don’t you, honey?”
“Yes, Nate. I need you.”
“You have me.”
With desperate hands she grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him down for another soul-stealing kiss. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she exalted in the ragged breath he expelled. “Come for me, Val. Come just from my hands on your breasts and my kisses.” All she could force out was an unsteady moan, but it seemed to spur him on even more. “Give it to me, Val. Give me your orgasm.”
“Yes!” she cried just before he was able to cover her mouth with his and swallow the sound. Heat erupted into an inferno. She clung to him as her release slammed into her and took her right to the edge of insanity. Wave after wave of incredible sensation sizzled through Val’s veins. Finally she unwrapped her legs from around him and gently pushed him away.
Nate ran a hand through his hair, breathing hard. His hardness was apparent through his dress slacks, and she bit her lip. She repositioned her clothes and was about to slide bonelessly off the desk when the door burst open and Doug flew into her office. Nate swore, turning toward the window in what was probably a vain attempt to hide his erection, and she spun to face Doug. He looked from one to the other and she prayed she didn’t look like a woman who’d just had an explosive orgasm.
Yes, an orgasm. In my office. In the middle of the day. She barely tamped down a groan.
“What’s wrong, Doug?” Val was surprised by how steady her voice sounded.
“My secretary told me one of the board members was on a witch hunt and when he couldn’t find me he stomped away. I figured he might’ve come here. I’m, um, sorry if I interrupted something.”
Lifting shaking hands to grip the desk in front of her, Val nodded. “He did come here. But we handled him.” She glanced at Nate, who she could only see in profile. His expression hadn’t changed and he remained silent.
Huh. He’s letting me take some credit for something I didn’t have much to do with. Interesting.
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing specific. We placated him.”
“Should I be on my guard?”
Nate spun and stepped forward. Val’s eyes darted downward of their accord. He seemed to be perfectly in control again. She envied him his ability to do that—to compartmentalize his life in that way.
“I think he’s okay now. We told
him you were planning to update them, but dealing with the media took precedence. He seemed to buy it.”
“Okay. I was worried I’d come down here and find an angry crowd wielding pitchforks.”
“Not this time,” Nate answered with a half-smile.
“I’ll leave you guys to whatever you were doing then.”
Nate’s eyes shifted briefly to regard her before returning to Doug. “Sounds good.” He led Doug to the door and closed it behind the man before turning to face her. “Are you all right?”
Val fell into her chair with a plop. “We can’t keep doing this. I really can’t believe I let myself get carried away like that. Again.” Any of the good feelings her release had brought on had long since flown out the window, and she blew out an exasperated breath. Nate began to approach and she held out her hand to stop him. “Don’t.”
“Come on, Val. That was a fluke.”
“We’re at work! Well, I’m at work. You’re–”
“What? On vacation? Because as far as I can tell there’s not an umbrella drink in sight.”
Val rubbed the bridge of her nose. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Do you think this is all a game? That my career is a game to me?”
“No, of course not.”
“My work is important to me too, but I’m here, trying to help an old friend I owe a debt to. Trying to help you out.”
“I know, I just…” Tipping her head back, she stared at the ceiling, as if it had the answers she so desperately sought.
“Just what?”
She looked at him. “This job is important to me. This hospital is important to me.” Tears welled in her eyes and Val swiped at them, annoyed at the swing of hormones.
“It’s important to me too.”
“Why?”
He reached out and grabbed her by the back of her neck. Staring into her eyes, he said, “Because it’s important to you. And to Doug.”
“Then let’s concentrate on that.”
Nate frowned, his eyebrows drawing down. “If that’s what you really want.”
“It is.”
With a sigh, Nate went to the door. After placing his hand on the knob, he turned around. “I will make love to you again, Val. Count on that.” With one final, heated look, he left the room.
Chapter Twelve
The following morning Nate was in a meeting with both Val and Doug, trying to once again force back his raging lust, with little success. Doug’s secretary stuck her head in the office, asking to speak with her boss, so Doug left the room and Nate sat back. His gaze was naturally drawn to Val, whose head was down as she wrote notes. He cleared his throat and she jumped.
“Do you think we should go on, or wait for Doug?”
“We might as well wait, at least for a few minutes.”
“All right. I’m gonna go get some coffee. I’ll be back in a minute. You want anything?”
“Not coffee from this floor. If you’re going down to the cafeteria I’ll take a coffee though. It’s still not very good, but it’s better than anything they have around here.”
Nate smiled. “I can go to the cafeteria. Cream and sugar, right? Two of each?”
“Have you been spying on me?”
“I’m observant.”
“Yes, two creams and two sugars. Like I said, the cafeteria coffee isn’t as bad as what they have up here, but it needs to be doctored up to make it drinkable.”
“Of course.” The corners of his mouth kicked up. Val and her coffee...
“Are you laughing at me?”
“Maybe.” Now the grin broke through.
She sniffed. “I like coffee. Sue me.”
“I’d rather do something else to you,” he mumbled as he rose.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Nate jogged down to the cafeteria and returned about ten minutes later, juggling two large cups of coffee. He set Val’s down and at her murmured thanks found his dress pants tightening.
Down, big boy. It’s just a thank you. It’s not like she stripped and offered herself to you…
This was getting ridiculous. A few minutes later Doug opened the door and stepped inside before leaning heavily against it. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost and Nate regarded him with concern.
Val looked up from her notes. “Doug? What’s wrong?”
“The Board just fired me.”
Nate heard Val gasp beside him. “They what?” Her pen fell to the floor with a clatter.
“They fired me. I didn’t even fight them on it. Why would I? I deserve no less.” He ran a hand over his face and Nate’s temper flared.
He stood and began to pace, looking for any way to change the board’s mind. “Like hell you deserve to be fired! What grounds did they give you?”
Even Nate was surprised at the anger that shot through him about his friend being fired unfairly. Yes, he felt horrible for his friend, but he also knew deep down this was a mistake for the hospital itself–a place he cared more about every day. These people were doing something worthwhile with their lives. Anyone would be impressed if they could see it.
Doug turned surprised, yet tired eyes on him. “They said there had to be a scapegoat in order to change the perception of the way the case is being handled. They think the public wants blood.”
“But they didn’t say you’d handled the situation badly or anything like that?” Val asked, seemingly as incredulous as Nate.
“If you’re worried about your job–”
“I’m hoping I shouldn’t be,” she said. “But really I just want to know what happened and why they felt such a drastic action needed to be taken.”
“I can’t tell you more than what they mentioned. After they fired me they escorted me out of the room. In fact, security should be here any minute.”
Nate snapped into take-charge mode, unable to deal with this whole crappy situation until things were under control. “Before they block access to your office, which they will, the bastards, are there any papers or anything we need to take?”
Doug looked around, and Nate knew he probably wouldn’t be able to come up with much considering the shocked state he was in, but hoped he wouldn’t forget anything important. He couldn’t believe this had happened. Doug was a good man, one of the best he’d ever known. A scapegoat? What was the board thinking? This was a knee-jerk reaction that could be as bad for the hospital as Dr. Godlowski’s theft of the money. Now CCC had no clear leader.
Pointing to the folder that had been in front of him, Doug said, “Probably just that. Anything else you need you can probably get from my secretary. I don’t see why the board would withhold information you guys need to do your job.”
“You can never tell,” Nate answered. He had been hoping they’d gotten somewhere, and then the board did this. Running his hands through his hair, Nate shook his head. It didn’t make sense; at least not to him. Why fire someone who only had the hospital’s wellbeing in mind? It wasn’t like he’d been holding the door for Dr. Godlowski. Sometimes life sucked. And then there was the effect on Val. He knew how much she wanted this place to succeed. This was going to be a big blow to them all.
There was a knock on the door and a man stuck his head in. “Hey, Doug.”
Doug nodded to the man. “I’ll be with you in a sec. I just need to gather a few personal items.”
“We brought you some boxes,” the head of security said.
“Thanks.” The guard brought in the boxes then stood near the door, looking uncertain, and Doug said, “I understand your position. I know you’re just doing your job.”
Doug set about putting some family photos and other items into the boxes and Nate stood there, watching silently and feeling helpless. The situation left a distinctly bad taste in his mouth. He wasn’t used to not being able to twist the state of affairs to his liking. Now his friend was out of a job. He didn’t care about his own employment—he had his own company to go back to—b
ut at the same time, he couldn’t leave Val here to deal with this all by herself if they dismissed him along with Doug. Nate resolved that even if the board fired him too he would continue to help Val as long as she needed it.
If she doesn’t go down with the ship too.
Doug approached him and Nate pulled his old friend into a brief hug before stepping back and offering his hand. “Good luck, man. I’ll call you a little later. Go spend time with your lovely wife and kids. We’ve got this.”
“Thanks. I only wish I could’ve been here to help. I love this place,” Doug responded. His voice cracked on the last word and he shook his head as if to clear it. Then he glanced at Val. “Help her as long as you can.”
“I will. Don’t worry about things here.”
“You’re a good man, Nate.”
Nate waved the compliment off. “I’m only doing what’s right.”
Doug shook Val’s hand and left his office. Val and Nate followed shortly thereafter and went back to Val’s office. When they got there, Val closed the door behind her and dropped into her desk chair. He followed, folding himself into a guest chair. “So what do we do now?”
“The same thing we’ve been doing, just without Doug’s guidance.” He leaned across her desk and squeezed her shoulder. “You can do this. No matter what steps we have to take, no matter what we have to do, this hospital will survive. It will thrive. The work is too important for it not to.”
She looked surprised. “Thanks.”
He sat back and cleared his throat. “Anyway, we should keep working.”
“Yeah.”
*****
Nate and Val worked doggedly through the morning, including sending out a press release regarding Doug’s removal. They’d decided not to hold another presser and secretly Val was intensely grateful she didn’t have to face the vultures right now. By the time lunch came a lead weight had settled in her stomach. Nate insisted they go out to get away from the hospital for a break and she went without a fuss, knowing she needed to be on top of things later and hoping getting out of the oppressive environment would help, even if it was a brief respite.
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