by Eve Langlais
“What else can I do? How are you coming with those?”
“Just about done. Want me to draft the talking points for the press conference?”
“That would be great. It would give me time to get a few other things taken care of, like the two-hundred-plus and counting unread emails in my inbox.”
“Ouch. Well, let me know if you need help with anything else.” Nate rose and walked toward the door and Val took an involuntary step back. His brows rose as he held on to the door jamb. “I was just going to close this so I could concentrate.”
“Yes, of course. Sure.”
Why does he have to look and smell so damn good?
Spinning on her heel, Val went back to her own office and shut the door. “If he can concentrate, so can I.” With that, she sat down to sort through her ever-increasing email load.
*****
Later that afternoon, Val was supervising the setup for the press conference when Nate handed her the talking points. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to him since he’d agreed to write them, as she’d gotten involved in putting out fire after fire stemming from her email and voicemail boxes. As she read, her eyes widened in shock and a flush spread up her neck to her face. Pointing to the page, she asked, “What is this?”
“Talking points.”
“Like hell.”
“What do you mean? What’s wrong with them?”
Glancing at the page in her hand, she said, “They’re inflammatory. They’re over the top. And you’re promising things we don’t know if we can deliver.”
“Better than letting them think you’re burying your head in the sand.”
Val faced him square on. “We’re not burying our head in the sand!”
“You aren’t exactly following my advice, either.”
“Oh, so you are in charge? I wasn’t aware of that.” She knew her lip had curled into a sneer, but this guy pushed every button she had, especially that niggling little voice in the back of her mind that told her she was losing her grip on things and possibly her job.
He put up his hands in supplication. “Of course not. You and Doug are in charge, but he brought me in to help and so far you’ve argued with nearly everything I’ve suggested.”
“That’s because–”
Any further arguments were cut off by the approach of Doug’s secretary, who told them Doug was stuck with a potential donor and wouldn’t be able to make the press conference. Val looked out at the crowd of reporters and cameramen assembling and sighed.
“You can’t cancel now,” Nate warned. “You’re going to have to do it.”
“What about one of the other executives?”
Nate raised an eyebrow. “You want to trust one of them not to say something inadvisable with no advance preparation?”
Wincing, Val said, “No.”
“Then you’ll do it. You’ll be fine.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“Look, I’ll stick around for a bit and make sure everything is going well. If you need a little confidence boost, just look over at me.”
Val regarded him. “What’re you going to do, get out pompoms and start cheering?”
The corner of Nate’s mouth twitched and Val’s gaze was diverted briefly to it before she recovered herself. “I’ll do whatever I have to. I always do.”
“Ah, is that what you tell your slimy clients when a sex tape shows up or they’re caught beating their wives?”
As soon as the words left her mouth she regretted them, but she couldn’t bring herself to take it back, despite knowing it was a defense mechanism against allowing him into her heart. Nate just gave her one of those sardonic smiles and moved to the back of the room. Val turned to greet Dr. Zhang, who had just stepped into the auditorium. They conferred briefly and Val couldn’t help feeling like pond scum for inferring all his clients were horrible people. Still, she wondered what he saw in the line of work he’d chosen. Was he so focused on money that he didn’t care how he got it? And why did that thought bother her so much?
She didn’t have time to ponder that question. Instead, she walked on unsteady legs up to the podium and pulled the microphone toward her. After greeting the assemblage and identifying herself for anyone who didn’t know her, she explained that Doug had been called away and that she would be the hospital’s spokesperson during the press conference. Taking a deep breath, Val began to read the statement Nate had prepared, despite her misgivings about it. There was no way she was crazy enough to go off-script and wing this. Val made sure she was using eye contact and speaking slowly, but with inflection. When she finished, she looked up. Instantly a dozen hands shot into the air.
Taken aback, she paused for a moment and looked over at Nate. He just nodded and she took another breath, and then another. Pointing toward the reporter from one of the TV stations, she told him she’d take his question first.
“What exact steps is CCC taking to find Dr. Godlowski?”
“At this time we’ve been told not to divulge specifics, but we’re working directly with local and national law enforcement agencies to locate Dr. Godlowski.”
The woman next to the reporter waved her arm and Val turned her attention toward her. “You mentioned national authorities. Has the FBI or some similar organization gotten involved?”
“I believe with any similar incident the FBI is part of the investigation,” Val answered.
Another reporter piped up. “This isn’t just an incident, Val, it’s a crime. Will the hospital press charges against Dr. Godlowski if he’s found?”
Val gripped the podium. “I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”
“Can you tell us where you think he might have gone?”
“As I said, I can’t discuss specifics about the investigation.”
The reporter rolled his eyes. “Is there anything you can discuss? At this point you and your hospital are being viewed as slow and uncaring by the public. How do you respond to that?”
“It’s unfortunate if someone feels that way, but we truly are doing the best we can. It’s only been a few days.” She glared at the man, even though she knew he was only doing his job. Much as she’d tried, she’d never learned to hide her emotions the way anyone in PR should. At a time like this, when showing weakness would allow the wolves to sniff the blood in the air, she particularly wished she was better able to school her expression.
The reporter snorted. “It’s been more than ‘a few days’ since Dr. Godlowski was reported missing. You’ve dragged us all down here twice now and yet haven’t provided anything of substance to explain exactly what you’re doing about a multi-million dollar theft.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way–”
“Don’t be sorry. Give us something we can use.”
“I would if I could, believe me,” Val retorted. “You think we’re deliberately being obtuse?” The reporter’s silence said it all.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Nate storming the stage. Grabbing the microphone from the podium, he spoke into it. “Thank you all for coming. Ms. Chase will not be taking any more questions today.” Grabbing her by the elbow, he ushered her away from the crowd of grumbling media.
“What the hell was that?”
Nate ran a hand through his hair. “I couldn’t let them keep hounding you like that.”
“It’s my job to deal with that kind of stuff.”
“I disagree. It’s not your job to placate some incompetent journalist who couldn’t find something to report on if it bit him.”
Dr. Zhang approached them and Val turned to her. “I apologize for this. I didn’t think things would get that crazy. And I’m sorry we wasted your time. I promise very soon we’ll get started on some publicity for your new program.”
The doctor waved off her apology. “I’m just glad I didn’t have to face the firing squad. I don’t envy you right now.” She squeezed Val’s shoulder briefly and then strode off toward the walkway to her building.
Nate took Val’s elbow again and steer
ed her toward the bank of elevators. “Is there a back way to your building? I’m not letting you go through the lobby. You’ll get mobbed.”
Val nodded. “Yeah, we can go through shipping and receiving.”
By the time they’d taken the long way around to her office Val’s anger at Nate’s high-handedness had evaporated, leaving her feeling more grateful than anything. If he hadn’t been there she probably would’ve tried to appease the crowd and possibly said something she shouldn’t. That was one thing she’d never been good at in PR—knowing when it was better to walk away. She’d had the same trouble in other positions and had tried to curb it over the years, but it wasn’t easy. Her natural inclination was to avoid or try to gloss over conflict, even when her training and experience told her that wasn’t the right way to handle things. Hell, she’d tried to do that not long ago with this situation. She’d wanted to try to sweep the whole thing under the rug. What had she been thinking? There was no way to shrink away from a situation like this.
Nate took her keys out of her hand after she fumbled them trying to unlock her office. Once they were inside he shut the door behind him. Approaching her, he cupped her face in one hand and, much as she hated herself for her weakness, she leaned into his solid warmth. “Are you all right?”
“Yes. Thanks for coming to my aid back there. I probably would’ve stayed and beaten the dead horse to a bloody pulp if you hadn’t stepped in, and that wouldn’t have done anybody any good. I just hate that there’s all this negativity surrounding the hospital. They do amazing work here, saving lives every single day, getting closer to a cure for one of the most deadly diseases on the planet, and all the media can focus on is the idiotic, selfish actions of one doctor.”
Nate tilted his head. “You really believe in this place, don’t you?”
“I do. I believe with all my heart that we’ll find the cures for cancer and that CCC will be at the forefront of those discoveries. You know our slogan, ‘With CCC, cancer can’t win?’ I really, truly believe that. The research being done here is groundbreaking. It would be a huge loss to the entire fight against cancer to lose this place.”
He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip, murmuring, “You amaze me.” Withdrawing his finger, he replaced it with his lips, just a brush of his mouth to hers. Then he drew back and said, “So, who’s going to report all this to Doug?” Val groaned and Nate smiled at her. “Tell you what. I’ll talk to Doug. Why don’t you take off for the day? You’ve been working like a dog.”
Val frowned. She had so much work to do. “Maybe if I take my laptop home to answer email that would be okay. At least I won’t get bugged or interrupted there.”
“Good girl. I’ll speak with Doug and have him call you if he has any questions.” Leaning down, he planted a soft kiss on her neck. “Go rest.”
She shivered and backed away. Pulling her arms across her chest to keep her suddenly chilled body warm, Val sighed. “I will.” If I can with the memory of your lips on mine. Val was seriously losing it. Here the hospital was in mega crisis mode and she was getting distracted thinking about what incredible things Nate might be able to do with his hands. A good night of sleep would help. It had better.
Chapter Eight
When Nate woke the next morning and checked his phone, he saw Doug had left him a voicemail. Not good. Geez. The man had left it at 5:30. Nate kept his phone on vibrate, so he hadn’t heard it ring. Plugging Doug’s number into his phone, he ran his hand over his face. If whatever was going on was bad enough that Doug had left a message that early in the morning on a weekend, he probably wouldn’t have time to shave. Pulling clothes out of the closet, he threw them on the bed as he waited for Doug to answer.
“Nate, thank God.”
“What’s going on?”
“I need to talk to you and Val about our annual black-tie gala. It’s coming up tonight and it never even occurred to me to cancel it, but one of the board members suggested that very thing to me late last night.”
“Cancel it? Why?”
“She said it looked bad for us to be partying it up while Dr. Godlowski is still on the loose.”
“I don’t agree, but we can talk about it when I get in. Have you spoken to Val?”
“She’s on her way. When can you make it to my office?”
“Twenty minutes.” Doug hung up and Nate jumped into the shower and then dressed. Eighteen minutes after ending the phone call he rushed into Doug’s office. Val was already there. He nodded to her and made a quick mental note of how her tongue flitted over her lips when she saw him and he wondered what had caused that reaction. Forcing those types of wayward thoughts out of his head, he sat and faced Doug. “Okay, so let’s hear the whole argument from this board member. So far I’m not buying it.”
“I think her idea has merit,” Val responded. “How is it going to look if we dance the night away in evening gowns and tuxedoes, asking donors for money in the middle of this crisis?”
“I disagree. You need to show that it’s business as usual here,” Nate argued. “If you postpone, or worse yet, cancel, you might as well put up a billboard that says ‘It’s our fault this happened. Mea culpa.’ And if you do that you might as well shut the doors.”
Val pivoted to face him. “Why is everything so cut and dried to you? This is public relations, not calculus. There are a lot of variables to be considered.”
Doug held up a hand and Nate’s mouth closed on his retort. He had no idea why Val fought him about every suggestion he made but, oddly, it didn’t annoy him. Instead it captivated him, creating this insane urge to debate everything just to see the color on her cheeks rise. He idly wondered what else would cause her cheeks to gain that color. Doug had started speaking and Nate tuned back in hastily, hoping he hadn’t missed anything important.
“…so I don’t think we should cancel it entirely. The question then becomes—postpone or go on with the gala as if nothing is awry?” Before either Val or Nate could make their argument again, he continued. “This really isn’t a decision we should be making in a vacuum. I’ve asked my secretary to contact the other board members to get their take on the situation. I also asked the committee chairs for the event, as well as the Director of Development, for their thoughts.”
“That makes sense, since they have a stake in our decision,” Val replied. Nate wasn’t used to this “whole team” approach. Usually whatever decision he made only had to be vetted by a few people. He was still deciding which way he liked better. Both had their merits, but he had to admit he liked being a part of this particular team, at least for the time being. Working toward something important like a cure for cancer was quite a heady feeling, like nothing he’d ever experienced. For the first time in Nate’s life, he was part of something bigger than himself.
But after all this time, could he go back to being managed by someone else, even for a short time? It was entirely possible staying here to help was a very bad idea. Even so, he owed it to Doug.
“I guess the best thing to do is wait,” Doug answered. “I’ll let you both know what the consensus is and we can go from there.”
Val stood. “Great. I’ll be in my office most of the day catching up on things if you need me.” Doug waved, already picking up the phone, and Nate followed Val out of the room. His gaze strayed toward her round bottom, encased in a knee-length taupe skirt that he longed to hitch up so he could feel the soft skin of her bare thighs.
Turning to him, Val said, looking him up and down, “Sorry to drag you out of bed.” She glanced at his face and he ran his hand over his chin again.
“What? You mean this? You don’t like it?” As they stood at the elevator he grabbed her hand and rubbed it down his cheek. She pulled back quickly, but there was no mistaking the hot expression in her eyes. Yeah, she liked it, no matter how much she teased him.
He considered going for another kiss, then dismissed the idea when he remembered her reaction the last time he’d tried to get close on the elevator and decided
discretion was the ticket to getting her to open up to him. They walked back to the PR department together and then parted ways. He’d finally managed to wrestle his inbox to a manageable size and was on a call with Lesli when Val stuck her head in the door of his office.
“Doug wants to see us again. He said to bring lunch.”
Nodding, Nate rose and followed Val to the parking lot outside the hospital. A food truck sat there with a sizeable line-up in front of it, even though it was Saturday, and Nate frowned. “Shouldn’t we just go to the cafeteria?”
“Shush. Russ and his guys get through the crowd fast. The menu is pretty simple. Tacos, burritos, salads, but you better make up your mind before we get up there. People get impatient.”
Nate threw her a look. “You mean you get impatient.”
“Is there anyone more important than me?” she asked him, smiling.
He looked down at her and saw her swift intake of breath. “Not many at the moment.”
The reverie was broken by the line moving. When they got to the front Val ordered a quesadilla for herself and a three-pack of chicken tacos for Doug. Nate asked for a burrito bowl and they stepped to the side to wait for their lunch. After receiving it, they went straight to Doug’s office and sat around the small conference table. Val distributed the food and Doug took a few big bites before setting it down.
“Man, I love Russ’s. I’m always bummed when I can’t make it down there.” Wiping his mouth on a napkin, he took a swig of his cola and regarded Val and Nate. “The consensus seems to be to go through with the gala as planned. I want both of you to attend.” Picking up his taco again, he took another bite and Nate watched as his eyes closed in bliss. It was such a simple thing—just a taco, but with all the stress Doug had been under, seeing him able to enjoy anything was good.
His brain finally registered what Doug had said. “Wait. You want us to attend? Can I ask why?”
Doug nodded. “I’ll need both of you there in case something about Dr. Godlowski is brought up.”
Nate glanced at Val. She looked as surprised as him. “But…” Val started to protest before closing her mouth and sinking back into the chair.