Falling for the Billionaire Doc

by Amy Ruttan

  Henry sighed and scowled. He ran his hand through his perfectly coifed brown curls and sighed again as if in resignation.

  “Fine. How about I agree to listen to your reasons for not closing down Aspen Grace Memorial Hospital? Has anyone actually done that? Because from what I understand that’s been mostly falling on deaf ears.”

  Drat.

  He was right, of course. No one but the chief of surgery, Mandy and Sif the cat had listened to her, because no one would give her the time of day. She passed out flyers, attended meetings, but nobody seemed to get it.

  Now she had a chance.

  Dr. Henry Baker was a majority shareholder at AGMH. He was on the board of directors, though usually absent, and the governor’s son.

  She wouldn’t get this opportunity again, and even though it seemed no one has been listening she must be making an impact. She was sure of that, because here Dr. Henry Baker was.

  No matter how much he scoffed at her and didn’t want to negotiate terms with her, he was offering the chance to at least listen to her.

  “Okay,” she said, pulling her hand back, wanting distance between her and Henry.

  Henry moved away from her.

  “Good.”

  “Is it okay to go?” Mike asked, glancing in the rearview mirror.

  “Yes,” Henry said.

  Kiera leaned back against the leather seats. Henry wasn’t saying much, but he looked annoyed. She had a feeling he had thought this might be easier. He clearly hadn’t been expecting someone like her, but honestly, she hadn’t been expecting him either.

  “Thank you for taking the time to listen to me, Dr. Baker. I appreciate it.”

  Henry rolled his eyes again, sighed and nodded curtly. “Well, it’s not like I had a choice.”

  “You could’ve let me go back to my picketing.”

  “No, that’s not a choice,” he said drily. “I just hope this whole thing comes to a quick conclusion. I don’t have much time, Dr. Brown.”

  She pressed her lips together, irritated that he had chided her as if she were a disobedient child.

  So infuriatingly arrogant. Sexy, but arrogant.

  What was coming over her? She’d never felt this kind of draw to a man before.

  Kiera had never really experienced lust. Not even with Brent.

  She had been attracted to Brent, but it wasn’t like the spark of electricity she was feeling now.

  She slid farther away from him, trying to distance herself physically from the pull of attraction.

  “I hope so too, Dr. Baker, because, quite frankly, I don’t have time for this, either, and neither do the people whose access to good, quality, affordable medicine you’re threatening.”

  Mike snickered in the front seat and Henry scowled at him.

  Kiera sat back against the seat and pulled off her woolen beanie, satisfied that she’d gotten in the last word. This time, at least, because she had a sinking suspicion that this wasn’t over.

  She imagined she had a fight ahead of her, but it was one she was willing to take on. Even though her boss and Mandy told her it was a battle she wasn’t going to win, she was not easily swayed.

  Dr. Henry Baker might seem scary and unapproachable to everyone else, but she wasn’t everyone else and Aspen Grace Memorial Hospital was her home.

  The home that she had to protect.

  CHAPTER TWO

  KIERA CLEANED HERSELF up in her office, and she thought it might be for the best to let Dr. Baker calm down. He hadn’t said much to her since Mike had dropped them off at the hospital

  Instead, he had made his way to the boardroom, and she had come straight here. It was good to put some distance between them.

  For her own protection.

  Plus, they hadn’t exactly started off on good terms.

  She knew he thought she’d be easy to deal with, when in fact it was the opposite.

  Kiera knew exactly what happened when a new, flashier, private practice came into town. She’d heard all the promises before. How the free clinics or other charitable works would be kept open, but inevitably they never were.

  They were always the first thing to get the chop.

  Always.

  And Kiera wasn’t going to let that happen to AGMH.

  There was a knock at the door, and she turned around to see Dr. Carr hovering in the doorway. He crossed his arms.

  “What did you do?” he asked.

  “What do you mean what did I do?” she asked innocently.

  Dr. Richard Carr was her mentor. He had taught her everything she needed to know about being a surgeon. And when she’d decided to leave Denver and the private hospital she had worked at, Richard had been the first person to offer her a job.

  He’d been the only one to encourage her in college because he was the only person she had trusted here. Dr. Carr was kind, and they usually agreed on most things. Except this. She knew they didn’t see eye to eye on this.

  Richard cocked an eyebrow and looked at her with disbelief as he came into her office and shut the door behind him.

  “Dr. Baker is here. You know he’s a majority shareholder in the hospital, right? And the son of the head of the board of directors.”

  “And Governor Baker’s son. I get it. I know who he is.”

  “He has the power to fire you,” Richard said, seriously. “So, I’m asking you, what did you do?”

  “Nothing. I was protesting at the construction site—like I often do when I have a free moment—and he showed up. He was apparently under the impression that we were going to have a meeting at the hospital.”

  Richard sighed and crossed his arms. “Were you carrying around one of your signs?”

  Kiera bit her lip, her cheeks flushing as she lifted up the sign she had so proudly made. It had been Mandy’s idea to add glitter to the dollar-sign eyes.

  Richard’s eyes widened and he scrubbed a hand over his face. “Lord, have mercy.”

  “Richard, I wasn’t on the actual property. Just the sidewalk around it, and last time I looked this was a free country.”

  He sighed. “It might be, but you’re also a surgeon at this hospital and you might have just screwed yourself over.”

  “He was prepared to talk to me,” she said. “He was willing to hear me out.”

  Richard was surprised. “He was?”

  “Yes. It’s why I’m here. I’ve decided to be professional. No signs, no flyers. No ranting and raving. I can be a professional when I need to be.”

  A half smile tugged on the corner of Richard’s lips. “Yes. I have seen this before.”

  “What made you think I was in trouble?”

  “Dr. Baker is livid. He’s pacing in the boardroom. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the man so agitated. Not that I’ve seen much of him and definitely not since I was hired as chief.”

  Kiera found that odd. Usually a majority shareholder would take more interest in the hospital, but she knew from an internet search, when she had gotten back to her office, that Dr. Baker worked in a glitzy private clinic in Los Angeles and was something of a playboy.

  Had a new, gorgeous, fake woman on his arm every week.

  Usually, Hollywood elite.

  He was privileged, and Kiera wasn’t going to back down because Dr. Baker was throwing a hissy fit. Even if it cost her her job.

  The thought scared her because then there would be no one to advocate for the free clinic. There would be no one willing to work it or give it so many hours. What would people do? She couldn’t let them down.

  It’s not your sole responsibility.

  Only she’d learned from the best. Mandy’s dad, Dr. Wilfred Burke, had given help to those who couldn’t afford it.

  He’d given her so much.

  “I promise to be on my best behavior, Richard.”

/>   Richard sighed and walked over to her. “You know I think of you as a daughter. I’ve known you since you were a struggling kid in college. Working odd jobs to pay to become a doctor. You were so selfless and so determined. You had it. You have it in you to be a great surgeon, and one of things I love about you is your determination to help others, but you can’t do that if you’re fired. Kiera, be smart about this. You’re fighting for a great cause, but AGMH is falling apart at the seams. You know this and so do I. We’re bleeding money, and the last thing the hospital needs is to piss off the majority shareholder.”

  Kiera sighed. “I know. I promise, Richard.”

  Richard nodded. “Well, good luck.”

  “Thanks.”

  Richard left, and Kiera took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

  She could do this.

  All she had ever wanted was to be a doctor. She wanted to help the less fortunate. She knew firsthand what it was like not to eat or have a roof over your head. Or to have parents too high to notice you.

  Then to spend a year bouncing from group home to group home, waiting for family.

  Miserable and scared.

  She’d had no real family until the day she came to a foster home in Aspen. A widower, with a daughter her age.

  Then she had had a family.

  Then she had belonged.

  Dr. Burke had been a good family physician, and he had helped those who couldn’t afford care. His selflessness had inspired Kiera to become a surgeon and Mandy to be a nurse.

  Mandy was her sister, her best friend.

  She owed this to Mandy and to the memory of Dr. Burke. She had to be able to listen to what Dr. Baker had to say to her, just as he had been able to listen to her.

  It had been a two-way street.

  And they had been able to be professional.

  With one last look in the mirror, she straightened her white lab coat, rolled her shoulders back and headed to the boardroom at the end of the hallway.

  A ball of dread formed in the pit of her stomach and she felt nervous.

  For the first time in a long time.

  Don’t let him bully you. You got this. You’re strong. You’ve survived worse.

  Kiera knocked.

  “Come in.” His voice was deep and set her on edge.

  She opened the door, and at the end of the long, black polished table sat Henry Baker, his hands folded and his eyes staring directly at her. His mouth was pressed into a firm line, and suddenly that ball of dread, turned into a rock.

  She felt like she was walking toward her own doom.

  Don’t let him spook you.

  She had faced down scarier people than Dr. Baker. Of course, those other people had been patients, and they hadn’t held the fate of her job in their hands.

  They also hadn’t affected the fate of the hospital.

  That was the worrying bit.

  Henry was wearing a dark, well-tailored suit, and now that he wasn’t huddled down in his flimsy coat, she could clearly see how broad his chest was, and the color brought out the tan from the Californian sun.

  Her pulse began to race, her palms sweaty, and she was annoyed that her body was reacting to him again. What was it about him that made her lose control? She didn’t date doctors like him for a reason—she’d been burned by Brent. Lulled into thinking he’d cared for her when he was cheating and lying to her. She wasn’t making that mistake again.

  It was one reason she didn’t date anyone. She didn’t have time. She didn’t trust.

  “Shut the door if you will, Dr. Brown.” His voice was deep, serious, and if she had been someone else it definitely would have scared her.

  She closed the door and took a seat at the opposite end of the table, not waiting for his invitation, and folded her hands carefully on top of the table. She met his gaze and mustered every ounce of strength she had.

  There was a glimmer of amusement in his dark eyes.

  “Well, I’m interested in talking terms, Dr. Baker,” she said, breaking the tension and silence that he was obviously going for. “I’m hoping we can make this quick. This is my day off, after all.”

  She knew the moment she said that, she’d made an error. That glimmer dwindled into a dark ember of annoyance.

  But if she was going to go down, she was going to go down fighting.

  * * *

  Henry was trying not to see red. As an attending surgeon and a shareholder in other hospitals, he’d had to fire people before. He had reprimanded people. He had respect and he’d gained that respect from the way he handled himself in a boardroom.

  He’d taken courses on it at his father’s insistence when he was younger. Yet, everything he’d learned didn’t seem to have any effect on her.

  Why wasn’t this working? She was the most infuriating person ever.

  Henry could feel his blood pressure rising, and there was a vein in his temple that was beginning to pulsate. He hoped she couldn’t see it.

  Dr. Kiera Brown unnerved him. She made him feel hot, and also irritated. It was an odd juxtaposition.

  She made him want to pull out his hair and also take her in his arms.

  She rattled his control.

  And he didn’t like that one bit.

  Now that she was out of her bulky winter wear, professionally dressed and her red hair braided back, he could take it all in. A spattering of freckles across her cute button nose, pink full lips.

  Even the cat’s-eye glasses she wore complemented her. They were sexy.

  She appeared to be professional. As he would expect from a member of staff of one of the hospitals he held shares in, she was a far cry from the woman he’d picked up earlier.

  For a moment he forgot who she was.

  Until she opened her mouth.

  Then his head started to ache.

  “I believe I’m the one who called this meeting, Dr. Brown, so I think I should be the one starting off the talk.”

  She nodded her head in deference. “Fine, but as I said, I have a lot of things to do.”

  “I thought you had a day off?” he asked.

  Her green eyes narrowed. “Yes, but I have to get back to what I was doing, and surprisingly I do have a life outside of this hospital.”

  “And I don’t?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know what you do in your free time. Frankly, that’s not my business, just like what I do isn’t yours.”

  He clenched his fist. “It does when your free time activities involve my hospital.”

  “Your hospital? With all due respect, Dr. Baker, I’ve never seen you step foot in Aspen Grace Memorial Hospital. Until now, that is.”

  He rubbed his temples and stood up. “Can we just get on with it? Why are you arguing with everything I say?”

  “Are you going to fire me?” she asked bluntly.

  Tempting. He kept that thought to himself. He wasn’t allowed to fire her although, for her insubordination, he was sorely tempted to do just that. His father had made it clear that Dr. Brown was a valuable and well-liked surgeon both at Aspen Grace Memorial Hospital and in the town of Aspen.

  His father didn’t want his reelection to be tainted with firing such a well-known and well-liked surgeon because she was exercising her right to protest.

  All his father wanted from Dr. Kiera Brown was to stop the picketing—of her own free will. Not because of the Bakers had persuaded her.

  Seduce her for all I care, flitted through his mind.

  The prospect had a certain appeal. Kiera was attractive, albeit infuriating.

  No, he wouldn’t stoop to that level.

  Henry really didn’t know how he was going to convince her to give up the campaign against the new hospital. And now questioned why he was even here and whether it might have been easier to ignore his father.


  Except he couldn’t.

  He owed his father this and then he’d be free.

  He’d no longer be beholden to him.

  “No. I’m not going to fire you, Dr. Brown.”

  “Oh.” Her eyes widened and she seemed shocked. She relaxed slightly. “Then why exactly am I here? I mean, you didn’t seem quite eager to negotiate terms before.”

  “And I’m still not.” Henry walked down to the end of the table where she sat and leaned over her. He got a whiff of her perfume. It smelled vanilla. It reminded him of a bakeshop.

  One that was filled with sweet and sinful delicacies.

  Get a hold of yourself.

  “Look, tell me what you want. Tell me how I can get you to stop protesting against the new hospital and just do your job. Quietly.”

  Kiera leaned back and crossed her arms. “I’m doing my job.”

  “Protesting is not your job.” Henry stood up and scrubbed his hand over his face. “Just tell me what I can do, Dr. Brown?”

  “Keep the hospital open. It’s that simple.”

  “It’s not,” he stated.

  “Why?”

  He sighed. There was no way he was getting into the complicated reason why he was here. He just wanted this dealt with so he could leave this all behind him.

  “Henry, are you in here?”

  A sense of dread traveled down his spine and curled into the pit of his stomach.

  Oh, God. What was she doing here?

  “Who’s that?” Kiera whispered.

  “My mother. Just play along and we’ll get her out of here fast.”

  Kiera looked confused. “Play along? Okay?”

  The door opened and his mother sashayed into the boardroom. She was dressed head to toe in designer clothes. It had been a while since he’d seen her. She came to California from time to time, but she never visited him.

  He rarely wanted to make time for her. And the feeling was mutual. His mother was not the mothering type.

  She only ever wanted to see him when it suited her.

  Which was never.

  He’d been disappointed enough by her absence in the past.

  No one there to comfort him as a child.