But her mind instantly drifted back to Dr. Hot.
She ran a hand across the however-many-thread-count luxury sheets, and couldn’t help but smile. She imagined having some fun with her fellow sci-fi freak playing dress up. How about the good girl and the bad guy? Him, as Anakin Skywalker, and her as Padme. Hmmm…
She touched her hip. His hand had been there only an hour ago.
The gorgeous surgeon with the come-to-bed eyes was definitely turned on by her. It lit a fire inside her. Why? He must see women a whole lot prettier than her every single day.
But they’d connected. There had definitely been a spark from the second she’d laid eyes on him. She flopped back on the bed. Wow. Colt Travers. If only.
Working at Seacliffe would get her back on track. Maybe in the meantime she could have some fun? Because Seacliffe definitely had some major distractions.
Three weeks. Three weeks. Three weeks. She chanted the words over and over in her head.
Could she really hold out that long? Or more importantly, could he?
Chapter Five
It was official. Magdalena was a complete cow.
Not only that, it appeared the whole world revolved around Magdalena. Or so she thought.
She had eight “people” with her. And it still wasn’t enough. She was speaking to Selena as if she were her lapdog.
If she referred to her “Colty” once more, Selena was going to slap her.
Magdalena was currently holding court and talking at the top of her voice. “Do I smell dog in here?” Her perfect nostrils twitched as she sniffed the air around her. “I hate dogs. Mangy mutts.” She looked over a Selena. “Get some flowers to get rid of that smell. But they must be deep pink roses. Only deep pink roses—Charlotte Armstrong’s. Nothing else will do.” She waved her hand dismissively as she swept out of the room.
Revenge was a dish best served cold, and Selena knew exactly how to do it. She picked up the phone. “Mrs. Merkel? Hi, it’s Selena at the clinic. How would you like to come and join Dr. Travers for lunch today? You will? Fabulous. Oh, don’t worry, you can leave Toto with me. I’ll be happy to walk him for you.”
She replaced the receiver with a smile. Perfect.
Magdalena and Mrs. Merkel in one room? She couldn’t wait. The sparks would fly. Magdalena was bound to hate dogs and Mrs. Merkel would waste no time in letting her know that the world did not revolve around her.
“What you looking so happy about?” said Colt huskily.
Shivers down her spine at the mere sound of his voice. Wow.
She spun around in her chair. “Do you know what? We’re going to have to lay some ground rules. You’ve got a terrible habit of sneaking up on me and I don’t like it. It’s got to stop.” She almost chanted out loud Three weeks, three weeks… Anything that might stop her pulse rate from rising.
His eyebrows lifted in amusement. It seemed as if he spent most of his time hiding his laughter around her. He lowered his head and whispered in her ear. “How are you getting along with Magdalena? Has she complained about the smell or the temperature yet?”
Selena pasted a grin on her face. “Nothing I can’t handle. By the way, Mrs. Merkel called. She wants to have lunch with you today. I said you’d be more than happy to.”
There was the slightest waver in his smile. His voice lowered, laden with innuendo. “Did you set me up, Selena? Worried in case I distract you from work?”
She pretended to be shocked. “Colt, as if I would do something like that.” She batted her eyelids at him. “I responded to a client request, that’s all.”
The twinkle in his eye remained. “No problem. Now, let me take Magdalena out of your hair.” He straightened up and strode across the waiting room. “Magdalena, come with me. I’m so sorry to have kept you.” He kissed her on both cheeks.
Selena watched her skinny-ass sashay across the room. Not a tiny pick of fat on her skeletal but muscular frame. The fifty different types of fitness DVDs she constantly plugged on the shopping channels were obviously working. She wondered what part of her body Magdalena wanted surgery on.
Did she really do the DVDs, or did was it all just Photoshopping and airbrushing?
She breathed a sigh of relief. Magdalena was gone and it was time to get back to work. She already knew that her main task today was billing. Working in Seacliffe had piqued her curiosity. She could see the basics. Name, address, and real date of birth. But she couldn’t see anything in advance about what procedures people were coming in for. That information was only appeared on the surgical lists for the day.
She pulled up the latest one for today. One TV weathergirl was getting her breasts enlarged and one comedienne was getting a face-lift. Selena was guessing it would be around her twelfth surgery.
As for Magdalena? Nothing would be revealed unless she turned up on one of the surgical lists in the near future.
Colt had talked her through all the changes that had been made at the clinic prior to the leaks. Someone had accessed information via the computer system, so in the meantime, they were back to using paper records kept inside a locked room with only the surgeons holding the keys. The computer system was due to get updated with better security measures in the next few weeks, and everyone was antsy. The way people were talking, it would practically take a DNA test to get into the new system.
It made sense. Selena wouldn’t really want anyone to be able to access her medical records at the touch of a button. The only time she’d know what was going on was when she was asked to type up the operating-room schedules.
Magdalena’s people were using the free time to get some relief from her, so the waiting room was empty.
Selena pulled up some of the internal accounts. One of her responsibilities was to enter some of the staff data around their hours worked. It hadn’t been entered for a few weeks.
She blinked.
It took her a few moments to get her head around what she was seeing. Helen Ridgeway owned the real estate outright, but there were also files about ongoing costs—and they were big. Staff costs were virtually nothing in comparison.
Seacliffe spent money a bit like she used to.
Plus there was a planned revamp of the spa area with a huge amount set aside for it. There was also a large percentage of the clinic’s profits filtered toward Helen’s House. Colt had mentioned it to her—they did a huge amount of free work for women and children suffering from domestic abuse. There was also a separate special fund for children’s facial surgeries. Although all members of staff earned a comfortable living, it was clear they really weren’t in it for the money.
Something clicked inside in her head. No wonder Helen Ridgeway had been so terse around her when they’d met the other day.
If the bad publicity continued, and the stars stopped coming here for their surgery, then Helen’s House would be affected whether they liked it or not. She cringed when she realized she hadn’t paid her bill and was having to work off the costs. All the staff in the clinic were big supporters of Helen’s House.
No one had mentioned it to her. Not even Helen Ridgeway, and that woman had the scariest presence ever. She’d spoken to her in the corridor the other day.
So far, she’d only said around ten words to Selena. And that was plenty.
“Hey, Selena. Have you finished inputting the staff hours?”
She spun around in her chair. Lucille, one of the girls from the accounts office, was standing behind her. Her face was red and her hair all over the place.
“What’s wrong?”
Lucille was one of the first people in the clinic to go out of her way to make Selena feel welcome. And she hadn’t mentioned the fact Selena was actually paying off a bill, even though she must have known.
Lucille looked over her shoulder, shuffling the pile of papers in her hand and pushing her glasses back up her nose. “What do you mean?”
Selena stood up and gestured toward the coffee room. There was no one in the waiting room right now. The next
patient wasn’t due for another half an hour. She lifted the papers out of Lucille’s arms. “Let’s go grab a coffee and sit down for ten minutes.”
She shut off her computer and walked to the nearby coffee room, pressing the button on the shiny silver machine to deliver two lattes.
Even the staff room was pristine. The cream-colored travertine floor continued in here, with black, stylish units and a glass-topped table where the staff could sit. Selena pulled out one of the high-backed chairs. “Sit down, Lucille, while I go on a cookie hunt.”
She searched through a few of the kitchen units and eventually found a cardboard box. “Aha, I was sure I saw Colt bring these in this morning.”
She sat down at a small table and pushed some of the nearby patisserie’s chocolate chip and raisin and oatmeal cookies across to Lucille. “So, what’s wrong?”
Lucille let out a sigh. “I’m sort of struggling with some of the figures. Barney, the accountant, delegates a lot of the work. Most of the time, it’s fine. I’m familiar with all the system. But sometimes I feel in over my head.”
“Is there anything I can help you with?”
Lucille sighed. “Do you have a magic ball?”
“No, but I did get an MBA from Brown, specializing in accounts.”
Lucille’s mouth dropped open. “Really?”
Selena nodded. “Really.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Listen, I know I might not be great with my own finances, but that doesn’t mean I’m not capable of helping you out. Do you want me to look over the figures with you? I’m good at spotting anomalies. I might be able to see something that you can’t.”
Lucille let out a long, slow breath. “That would be great, Selena. I don’t want to go back to Barney and let him know I’m struggling with this.” She lifted up the pile of papers. A colored catalog slipped out and landed on the floor.
Selena bent to pick it up. She couldn’t help but smile. It was a catalog from one of the shopping channels. “You don’t? Do you?”
Lucille’s face flushed as she laughed and reached out for the catalog. “Don’t tell anyone, but it’s my guilty pleasure. They sell fabulous jewelry.” Their hands brushed together. “I do try to stick to a budget.” She gave Selena a sympathetic smile. She understood, but she wasn’t going to criticize.
Selena nodded. Wow. Apart from Colt, no one else had really paid any attention to her. The girls she’d socialized with when she’d been with Mark had turned out to be fair-weather friends. She hadn’t heard from them since Mark had flung her out. Maybe Lucille could be her first real friend in LA.
She took a deep breath and gave Lucille’s hand a squeeze. “Then maybe we can help each other.”
…
Helen had her arms folded across her chest. “It’s been a week, Colt. The lawyers are already circling. You didn’t follow the proper procedures when you fired Lara.”
His stomach sank like a stone. Why was a feeling of dread circling him? Colt lifted up his hands in exasperation. “She was texting her friend the name of the patients in the waiting room. She broke confidentiality. A total nonstarter. She had to go.”
Helen nodded. “I agree. Unfortunately, our lawyer doesn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean your hasty decision is going to cost us. At a time when we can ill afford it.”
Colt swallowed. He knew exactly how the stretched their finances were right now. He shook his head. “I don’t understand. It’s included in the contract she signed. If you breach patient confidentiality, you’re out of here.” He swept his arm out in a grand motion.
“You replaced her the next day. It looks almost as if you planned it.”
“What?” He’d heard it all now. “I planned the fact Selena’s ex would throw her out of her apartment and she’d be hit by a flying shoe? I planned the fact she’d stop at this clinic to get her head stitched?”
Helen raised her eyebrows. “The timing does appear to be convenient, but you’re right.” She tapped her pen on the table.
Colt refused to shift under her unnerving gaze. She tilted her head. “I notice things, Colt. You seem to be quite taken by our temporary receptionist. Is there anything you need to tell me? Did you know her before she worked here?”
Helen Ridgeway was a woman who noticed everything about everybody. The undercurrent between Selena and himself hadn’t been missed. Every time he was in the same room as her, all he could do was look at her. She hadn’t helped matters when she’d teased him about her underwear. He’d already admired her hot-pink thong when it was wrapped around her stiletto heel.
It had haunted his dreams almost every night since.
He pulled his shoulders back, meeting Helen’s gaze. “What do you want to do?”
“Lara wants her job back.”
He shook his head fiercely, trying to push the thought away that he’d have to fire Selena. “Absolutely not. How could we trust her around any patient information? She’s already proved unreliable.”
Helen’s voice remained steady. “But she didn’t sell the story to the press.”
“She didn’t?” Now Colt was genuinely surprised. When he’d caught Lara texting, he’d immediately assumed it was her who had sold the story to the press a few weeks ago. “How on earth do you know that?”
Helen took a deep breath. “I have my sources.”
“What does that mean?” He flung his arms in the air in frustration. He was a partner in this clinic. Helen’s husband might have been the founder, but everything happening affected him, too. “Helen?”
She might be like family to him, but sometimes she frustrated the hell out of him. Sometimes she spoke to him as if he was still some fifteen-year-old boy with massive burns, requiring plastic surgery.
She shook her head. “The celeb that was exposed made a last-minute appointment. Lara was off those few days. She had no access to the information. We still haven’t found the source.”
“And how are we going to find the source? We can’t afford any more leaks. We’re lucky the Feds aren’t knocking at our door.”
Helen shook her head. “It gets worse. I’ve just had a call from our lawyer, and I think we’re about to make the papers again tomorrow.”
“What?”
She put her fingers on either side of her head, circling them as if she were trying to stave off a headache. “Polly Perkins. Remember her? Had bigger implants last week? Someone’s leaked it to the press.”
Colt slammed his hand off the wall in frustration. “Not again! Who is it this time? Where are these reporters getting their stories?” He ran his fingers through his hair. “We’ve got to put a stop to this, Helen.”
Helen scowled. “I know. This is serious. You know I’ve hired a company to update our IT systems.”
He nodded. “They were here last week, and I’ve changed all my passwords.”
“Well, that’s not all they’re doing. They’re also investigating the whole system. I’m hoping they’ll be able to track down the log-ins and who accessed the information that was leaked.”
“They can do that?” Colt held up his hands. “We’ve got over fifty people working here, and let’s face it, any one of them could have accessed the information.”
“That’s why I’m getting specialist help, along with a specialist attorney.”
He raised his eyebrows. “At what cost?”
Helen shook her head. “Let me worry about the cost. I’m trying to keep things quiet. The less people that know about this, the better.”
It made sense. He knew that. But Colt shook his head. “Even if it wasn’t Lara who caused the leak, she was still in breach of her contract for the text she sent. I don’t want to see her around here again.”
“And neither do I, but if giving her the job back means she doesn’t cost the clinic a small fortune, then it’s something we have to seriously consider.”
Colt’s words were definite. “Well, I won’t be considering it at all.” Not for a second. Selena was
already getting under his skin. He was counting down the three weeks until she’d paid her outstanding bill, and he knew she didn’t have a way to pay it back otherwise.
Helen raised her eyebrows. “I don’t think you’re being entirely rational here.”
“I guess as partner I don’t need to be.”
“Are you trying to play hardball with me? Because this could get ugly.”
“Helen’s House is every bit as important to me as it is to you. Do you think I want to tell those people they can’t have the help that they need?”
“I know that.”
“Then why do I feel as if we’re fighting?”
“I might need to make an executive decision to fire Selena and take Lara back.” Her voice wavered slightly, as if she wasn’t quite as in control as she wanted him to believe. “If we use the proper procedures, we can always fire Lara again.”
“You can’t do that!” His voice raised a few octaves.
“Why not? Selena doesn’t have a contract here. She’s only working to pay back what she owes.”
Colt clenched his teeth, taking a deep breath before he spoke. “Are you willing just to write off her debt then? Because other than that it’s unethical, Helen. You know it is. And I’m getting tired of the way you like to make decisions without consulting with any of the other partners.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You think I don’t know the refurb of the spa is really an expensive favor for a friend?” Her eyes widened, but he wasn’t finished. “And let’s talk about the salary we’re currently paying your grandson, Josh. What is his purpose around here anyway?”
It was a low blow, and he knew it. But Helen’s business decisions were contributing to the problems, and this clinic was his livelihood as well as hers. He was here because he wanted to be, not because he had to be. He worked here almost entirely because of the connection to Helen’s House and the kids’ charitable plastic surgeries.
Her head tilted to one side. “Are you forgetting who helped you get here?”
Low blows worked both ways.
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