Page 53 of Doctor Charmer

I don’t care about his reputation. Nor is the destruction of his career high on my list of things I worry about. What I want is to protect Sarah’s career. She’s just at the start, and we all make mistakes. I know I’ve made my fair share. They can be hard, painful even, but our mistakes shouldn’t be fatal.

I reach into my shirt pocket and pull out the business card. “This is our HR rep, Louise Derby. She’s fair. Call her and tell her the truth. Don’t expect warm and fuzzy from her—that’s not her thing. But you can trust her. She’s good at her job.” Louise may have become a thorn in my side, but the hospital is her client. She was protecting it. I see that now.

“They’ll confront Dr. Harriman. If he denies the relationship, they’ll launch an investigation. You’ll need to prove the affair. Are you sure you’re okay with all of this?”

“Do I want half the hospital to know I’ve been sleeping with a married man?” She shakes her head. One final glance across the diner gives her the courage she’ll need. “But I’ll do it.”

Her hands land on top of mine again. “Thank you, Dr. Morgan.”

I shrug. “Don’t thank me until you’re on the other side of this. Come to me when things get tough, and you need to vent or have any doubts.”

The waitress returns with our breakfast and scampers away to her next table.

“I’m starving,” Sarah says, digging her fork into the eggs.

I chuckle. “Figured you’d have an appetite after this revelation.” I turn my attention to Ivy. Her gaze is on mine, waiting for the signal. I flick my fingers at her, and the plastic smile she’s worn bursts into a genuine kaleidoscope that lights up the diner.

She turns, the edge of the plastic menu colliding with the glass of colorful mimosa in front of her. The spill falls perfectly across Dr. Harriman’s lap. He leaps to his feet too late to avoid the mess. He’s wearing light gray slacks, and the spill is clearly visible from across the room. It looks like a man with no bowel control. I hope someone in the diner captures it and the picture goes viral.

Sarah snickers in between bites of her toast. “Maybe he should wear Depends.” Her snicker isn’t filled with anger but disgust, anI can’t believe I fell for his crapjoke told to remind herself never again.

He marches across the diner toward the men’s room. The minute he’s out of eyesight, Ivy scrambles out of the booth. She pauses for half a second and salutes me, then rushes toward the exit, grabbing her coat from the hook.

“Looks like she escaped a close call. Good. After I finished these delicious eggs, I was going to walk over there and tell her to run.” Sarah takes a sip of her coffee, and I can barely believe how well she’s taking all of this. “She was gorgeous too; she can do so much better. Dr. Morgan, maybe you should race after her. She looks more your type, anyway.”

My uncontrollable laugh can’t be contained, and I nod.

“She most certainly is.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Reggie

My words of encouragement to Sarah as she heads to the hospital to meet with HR are quick. Louise, looking to get everything in order for the New Year, ordered her to return to the hospital to start the process right away.

My head still swims with the image of Ivy snuggled up with Dr. Harriman. It was part of the plan we devised but seeing her like that with another man plays tricks with my mind.

Sarah’s car barely pulls away before I’m on the move. I stride between a minivan and a pickup truck and press the fob to my car. Two seconds later, it starts, and I’m on the move when my phone buzzes.

“Did it work?” Ivy’s words echo through the Bose speakers in my car with a frantic energy that makes me wish she was sitting next to me.

“Where are you?” I ask, too amped to recall the details of the remainder of the plan.

“Headed to the café in Westport to meet with you and debrief,” she says, concern dripping in her voice. “What’s going on?”

“Scratch that plan. Meet me at my condo.” The words come out as a possessive demand, and I bite my tongue. “Please. I need to see you, to hold you, to kiss you. I need you.” Desperation. I hear them in every syllable that leaves my mouth. A foreign sound that I always envisioned would come across as weak. Instead, I feel the complete opposite.

“Did seeing me in the arms of another man get a certain someone all hot and bothered?” She disarms me with a flirty response that is a perfect counterpoint.

I twist the steering wheel, speeding around an Amazon delivery truck. “I think we both know the answer to that question.”

“We do. And I like it. So, all I had to do to get you to drop your charming playboy demeanor and tell me straightaway what you want was to have another man show some interest in me? If I had known that I would have done this days ago.”

My condo complex comes into view, yet I don’t slow down. “Get your cute bottom over here, and I’ll show you what I want. Straightaway.” I pull into my reserved spot and undo my seat belt. “Don’t bother to knock. I’ll leave the door open.”

Her giggle fills the cabin of my car, extracting a silly grin on my face. “You’ve got me good, Ivy.”

“Good,” she continues to tease. “Sounds like you got it bad. I can work with bad. Be there in five.”

---