Page 33 of Hidden Desire

Sage snickered. “Don’t mind at all. Just bummed you didn’t wake me. Didn’t you hear my stomach growl?” Sage grinned and Stassi sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Do you want me to warm you something up?” Stassi asked. “It was delicious, by the way.”

“I can get it.” Sage looked Stassi up and down, then grinned. “You look good all wrapped up in that towel. Good enough to devour.” She wrapped her hand around Stassi’s neck and pulled her to her. Words like that were impossible to ignore. And she didn’t want to.

“You better get out of that bed, or you’ll never get anything to eat,” Stassi teased.

Sage groaned. “You just want to see me naked. I know how you are.”

Stassi laughed. “You caught me.” She tossed Sage’s robe to her. “But just in case…”

Sage snickered and put the robe on. “Maybe it’s the fact that you like to take clothes off of me, that you really like.”

“You’re naughty.” Stassi shook her head but couldn’t keep the laughter down. She could get wrapped up in similar moments like that and never question why she felt that Sage was her ultimate destiny.

When Sage stood to her feet and closed her robe around her, she reached for Stassi’s hand, and they left the room together. “This is nice,” Sage replied, as if to read Stassi’s mind. Stassi gave a slight nod, despite her inner voice telling her that things were moving way too fast.

“I will do the deed. Do you want it all?” Stassi let go of Sage’s hand and moved to the refrigerator to grab the food that needed to be warmed up.

“Yes, please.” Sage took a spot at the table and Stassi moved around the kitchen, like she owned the place. When she looked over to Sage, Sage had her eyes drawn down to the table, lost in another thought. She looked up and met Stassi’s gaze. “I have a meeting with Noah Benton on Wednesday.”

Stassi arched an eyebrow. “Who?”

“Oh. Right. Noah Benton is the hospital's CFO. I’ve had numerous appointments scheduled with him to discuss the staff’s demands. Unfortunately, every attempt I’ve made has been refuted by him. He’s either had to cancel or reschedule. This last time I was in his office, he practically dodged me like a bullet.” She shook her head. “It’s hard to be taken seriously when they won’t even listen to your pleas.”

“That’s rough,” Stassi mumbled. Watching Sage, she felt a certain amount of guilt. She couldn’t tell Stassi the truth about her father, because then she would be seen as one of those people. She didn’t want people to look down upon her because she was the daughter of the hospital’s owner. But also the longer she kept the secret, the harder it’d be to tell her. “Hopefully, you’ll get to actually talk with him this week.”

“That’s the plan.”

The microwave dinged, and Stassi was able to turn away from Sage’s wandering eyes. She grabbed the plate but didn’t anticipate how hot it would be and winced in pain. “Ouch.” It dropped from her hand, splattering the plate to the counter. Food went everywhere, and the corner of the plate broke off.

“Dammit, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” Stassi turned to Sage, holding her hand against her as her hand burned.

“Are you alright?” Sage jumped up and hurried to stand next to Stassi. She reached for Stassi’s hand, causing Stassi to pull back instinctively. Her eyes clouded over, and she quickly nodded. She wanted to tell Sage everything about her father and how he was the typical rich patriarch but had lost his fortune, which caused her to look for a job… a job that he was able to get her.

“I’m fine. Just a little sore.”

Sage scrunched up her face. “It’s red and will likely blister if we don’t do something. Here put your hand under the cold water while I get some things.” Sage guided Stassi’s hand to the sink and then rushed from the kitchen. With the cold water running on her hand, Stassi turned to the mess in the kitchen. She scowled and tried to pick up the pieces, but Sage ran back into the room. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll get it. Give me your hand.” Stassi held out her hand as Sage put cream on the burn and then bandaged it up.

“Not just an Occupational Therapist,” Stassi began.

Sage snickered and shrugged. “In school, you learn lots of skills—so I have a broad range of foundational knowledge. How does that feel?”

“Better,” Stassi said, looking at Sage’s handiwork and then at the mess. “But I’d feel even better if I could get this cleaned up and give you some food.”

Sage nodded. “Fine. We’ll clean it up together.” And that’s what they did. The truth never did get revealed that night, but as they worked in the kitchen to pick up the mess and discard the broken dish, Stassi felt even closer to Sage. Maybe everything would work out in the end and Sage didn’t have to know right at that moment who her father was. She just hoped that Sage’s meeting with the CFO went well, though, for everyone’s sake.

Sage

“Have you planned on what you’re going to say?” Marcus asked.

Sage held the paper up in her hand. “I’ve been preparing this for months. I think I have it.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “Exactly what I thought when I went into the budget meeting.” She shook her head. “They’re ruthless, I tell ya. Couldn’t even get a word in. When they were ranting and raving over their reasons, it was clear they believed they thought they were the only ones that mattered.” Lena crossed her arms in a huff. “Clearly, they just don’t care.”

Sage shook her head. “I can’t believe that. Or, rather, I don’t want to believe that. We give our heart to this place and to get shucked around, we can’t stand for that.” Sage looked past Marcus and Lena. She had hoped that Stassi would be there. She knew that it wasn’t likely since they had decided that they would keep their relationship quiet, but it would have been nice to see her face. Besides, Lena already knew, and it was likely that Marcus strongly suspected it.

Sage glanced at her watch. The minutes were inching closer. She was relieved that he hadn’t up and canceled on her, but based on the last encounter, anything was still possible. “How much longer?” Marcus asked.

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