Page 23 of Doctor Charmer

Her chin remains lowered, her eyes hidden. Her hands fiddle with one another in front of her, a different type of nervousness bouncing off her.

“I knew it.” She lifts her chin, that gorgeous smile lighting up my office. My heart. “You are so in like with me.”

Chapter Twelve

Reggie

My shift ended hours ago, but I make up administrative reasons to stick around the hospital. The minute I look up at the knock at my door, I realize I should have hidden in the doctors’ lounge.

Louise Derby from HR is standing in my doorway with a scowl on her face.

“Plastics is on the fourteenth floor. They may be able to do something with that permanent scowl on your face.” I give her grief because she does the same to me. When she moved into this role a year ago, she never once came to me with an open mind. She let my reputation speak for me, and she’s assumed the worst from day one. I became public enemy number one. A guilty conviction without a trial.

“Security is on the first floor. They’re measuring to find the sized metal bracelet to put on you when they lead you out the building.” She steps into my office without an invitation. It’s right on brand. “Dr. Morgan, I just want to go home. Submityour paperwork, and I’ll no longer have an issue with you or your department.”

“Until the calendar rolls over in a few days and we begin this dance all over again.”

She huffs. “I really don’t want to get Dr. Riggs involved.” She mentions the head of the hospital, a threat she’s floated in front of me before. “But I will.”

“I won’t tell you how to do your job, and you should do the same.”

She’s unaffected by me. I learned that a long time ago when I tried to charm my way out of not complying with her request. That’s how I could get out of submitting the paperwork for the last two years.

“He’ll be at the holiday mixer tomorrow night.” She puts a deadline on my compliance. All it does is raise the stubborn streak I carry.

“I’ll make sure he’s drunk before you get there.”

“I’m just trying to do my job. Do you take anything seriously?” She scolds me like I’m in middle school, and I guess from her perspective, I am acting like a twelve-year-old.

I stand and walk to her, waving a dismissive hand in her direction. “Happy holidays, Mrs. Derby.”

She strides backward, a look of disbelief on her face. I slam the door in her face and walk back to my desk.

A soft tap on my door has me back on my feet. I whip open the door to find Dr. Carmichael standing in my doorway in the same spot Louise stood moments ago. She glances down the hall. “HR?”

I shake my head. “Don’t ask.”

She follows me into my office with a giggle. “I know better than to ask. But I guess it serves you right for hanging around. I thought you’d be long gone by now. Didn’t you just pull a double?”

“Says the doctor who is matching me hour for hour. Don’t you have a fiancé at home waiting for you?”

“I was on my way home when I got the page. Ice victim, hip fracture.” Doctors are a strange breed. One person’s tragedy feeds another’s fantasy. Angie’s eyes sparkle from completing a surgery. It’s like a performance high for a musical artist. We’re all addicted. It’s incredible that any of us ever find partners who tolerate this lifestyle.

“Your favorite season.”

“Got to love Rhode Island winters.” She snickers and stops two feet in front of me. “Let’s see. It’s seven thirty. Visiting hours end at eight. If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, I can have Chef Marian prepare a special dinner for two for you.” Angie doesn’t pull any punches. She knows me better than anyone in the building.

Angie has a special relationship with the head chef in the cafeteria. Before meeting her fiancé, Brayton, she’d work fourteen hours on a regular basis. She’d skip meals, survive on granola bars and nuts. Chef Marian is good friends with Angie’s dad and promised him she’d look after her. She began to prepare special plates for Angie to make sure she had at least one nutritious full meal a day.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

She snickers. “I think you do. A certain, tall, gorgeous volleyball coach sitting around the fifth floor, bored.”

“Wait, how do you know she’s bored?”

“I just passed through there to check in on Griffin. He was practically sitting on Chelsea’s bed, the two of them giggling and whispering, playing some card game. Ivy was curled up in that unforgiving hospital chair, her face buried in her phone, playing Candy Crush. Go rescue her.”

“Won’t be too much, too soon?” I don’t hide my insecurities from Angie. I no longer have to hide anything when it comes to her.

---