Page 9 of Look on the Bright Side

Her fork clattered against her plate. “Holy crap. Are you serious?” Ten percent of her student debt wiped out just like that?

“Yes.”

Wow. A lot of money. But that wasn’t how she wanted to pay off her loans. It wasn’t honorable. She wanted to be an oncologist, beloved, devoted and, sure, well paid.

“I’m sorry, Dr.Santini. It’s, um, very nice of you to consider me, but no. It’s not really my style.”

He paused, looking at that fascinating spot over her head. “I could get you back into the oncology program. In Hyannis or somewhere in Boston.”

Lark blinked a few times. “How…how could you do that?”

He shrugged. “I carry a lot of influence. I went to Johns Hopkins with the president of Dana-Farber. You’re not stupid, just embarrassingly emotional, from what I hear.” He glanced at his watch. “Twenty-five grand, and I introduce you to the right people, and the rest is up to you.”

“What if you think I’m an idiot? It would be unethical to recommend me to a profession you think I can’t hack.”

“I said I’d introduce you, not recommend you.”

Still, it would be like Bill Gates saying, There’s a young programmer I want you to meet. Obviously, she’d have to carry the ball into the end zone on her own merit. But she could do that. She would do that. “You don’t think that would be unethical?”

“No. I would never do something that would breach my ethical standards.”

“Like ask a younger doctor who works at a hospital where you’re a god to pose as your girlfriend?”

He glared at her. “You know what? The offer is off the table. I thought, given today’s professional humiliation, you might be interested in what is a completely unromantic business arrangement. Forget I asked.”

“Wait. Hold on.” She took a bite of cake, staring at him while she chewed. “What aren’t you telling me?” Because there was something, she was sure. Being single wasn’t so awful that a person would rent a date. In fact, she had the impression Lorenzo Santini liked being single. Jesus never dated, after all.

He shifted. Folded his napkin very precisely. “My grandmother was put on hospice a few weeks ago. I don’t want her to die concerned about me being too…alone.”

Oh no. Those were two powerful words right there. Hospice…and alone. She herself knew the feeling all too well.

Dr.Satan had an Achilles’ heel, and it was a sick old lady. Her eyes stung with tears. If Grandpop was dying—please, God, never—and told Lark all he wanted was for her to be with someone, wouldn’t she do the same thing Lorenzo was? Just to soothe his soul for a month or two?

And let’s be honest. That introduction wouldn’t hurt. If she didn’t get back into the oncology program here on the Cape, she’d at least have a chance to try again in Boston. There was a damn good reason she’d chosen that field in the first place.

Besides, a few parties this summer in pretty places with pretty clothes…she didn’t have much of a life outside the hospital and family stuff. Maybe this would distract her from the yawning hole in her life.

“I’ll do it. No money. Maybe the introduction. We’ll see. But I’m a softie where grandparents are concerned.”

His shoulders loosened a centimeter or two.

“This is where you say thank you,” she said.

“Thank you.”

“So a few family parties, the wedding, and then we break up.”

“Yes. And if my grandmother dies before that, your services will no longer be required.”

She almost wondered if he’d prefer that. She stuck out her hand. “You have yourself a girlfriend, Dr.Satan.”

He didn’t blink. Guess he knew his nickname. “I don’t want a girlfriend. Just show up and be pleasant.” He glanced at her hand, took out his wallet and pulled out an Amex Black card. “Can we be done now?”

TWO

LARK

“No! It’s not possible! You cannot be dating Dr.Satan,” barked Luis Gonzalez, her friend and a nurse at Hyannis Hospital. “When did this happen? How? My whole worldview has been shot to hell. I feel like I did when my parents got divorced. Betrayed. Stunned. Unsafe in the world. It’s like Snow White hooking up with Voldemort.”

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